Black Flag: Damaged after Four More Years

I’ve gushed – in the past and will continue to do so – about the importance of Black Flag as not just a band, but as the people who helped solidify viable touring routes through the States. The band released its own music – as well as the work other important figures, like the Minutemen. And while there are unquestionably a number of people who hail the earlier recordings from Greg Ginn and company, sans Henry Rollins, Black Flag existed longer with the East Coast native on vocals than without him.

That alone should solidify Rollins’ import even if he’s a muscle bound, over read, disposable figure at this point.

For those listeners who still find the Keith Morris and Chavo era of the band more their liking, there’s not too much to dissuade them from that opinion. Those songs and the accompanying performances are as strong as anything else recorded in the seventies. Of course, the Black Flag really impacted the nation’s punk scene with Rollins in the van.

So even if the Ginn led ensemble had existed for three or four years prior to the release of Damaged in 1981, it was with this album that its legacy was cemented. Even the cover image of Rollins standing in-front of a smashed up piece of glass has become iconic in the punk world. Granted, it’s odd he donned the cover of the disc seeing as other members had served in the band longer, but it seems even at that point Rollins was destined to be star. Maybe that accounts for his short shorts.

Either way, Damaged counts a clutch of venomously classic tracks replete with enough sing along choruses and choked out guitar noises to please every punk from coast to coast. Again, given the band’s history and rotating line-up, it’s odd to some of these songs reworked. “Six Pack” wasn’t ever Black Flag’s strongest moment – and it’s still not with Rollins on vocals. But it does count as one of the group’s more anthemic outbursts.

With that track and “Rise Above” representing rehashed Black Flag glory, songs like “No More,” with its slow, plodding opening seems to presage future permutations the ensemble would roll through. It’s occasionally hard to understand what point that excruciating floor tom section is for. But if you get an earful of some Bad Brains’ introductions, it all makes sense. So while First Four Years is for the collector, completist and fanatic, Damaged has a bit for everyone.