The First Four Years is a compilation of the material released by
the legendary California hardcore band, Black Flag. It was
released in 1983 by SST Records, which put out (almost) all of the
band's material, primarily because it was a label run by the band's
guitarist, Greg Ginn. The release code is SST 021. It was first
released on vinyl but a CD version has been released since then
also.
Although Black Flag could be referred to nowadays as "that band
Henry Rollins started off with" 1 none of the 16 songs on
this record feature Rollins, as he didn't join until after this stuff
was produced. If you want to hear Rollins, then start off with the
legendary Damaged. This record contains everything up to the point
when he joined, and it does sound quite a bit different to Rollins era
stuff. Not just because it lacks the gravel voiced man himself, but
the music is less heavy, the guitar less distorted. That's not to say
this is easier listening in any way, although it's probably not as
harrowing as Damaged, some of the songs on this album are an audio
assault. But if you are listening to Black Flag in the first place you
should be prepared for that.
Track Listing
- Nervous Breakdown
- Fix Me
- I've had it
- Wasted
- Jealous Again
- Revenge
- White Minority
- No Values
- You Bet We've Got Something Personal Against You!
- Clocked in
- Six Pack
- I've Heard it Before
- American Waste
- Machine
- Louie Louie
- Damaged I
The records these originally appeared on are as follows:
People might also want to know the lineup changes relative to each
song. With Black Flag this isn't a terribly easy proposition, so I'll
tell you what it says on the CD inlay:3
Greg Ginn - guitar on tracks 1-16
Chuck Dukowski - bass on tracks 1-16, vocals on track 9
Brian Migdol - drums on tracks 1-4
Robo - drums on tracks 5-16
Keith Morris - vocals on tracks 1-44
Chavo (Ron Reyes) - vocals on tracks 6-8
Dez Cadena - vocals + guitar on tracks 11-14, vocals on tracks 10,
15, 16
The lineup changes almost once every release, with the lead
guitar and bass being the only real constants. As has been noted
Black Flag, some of these songs do have quite a bit of a
blues influence, although if you've never heard Black Flag you might
get the wrong impression. This is not music to put on at a kiddies
school disco, this is raw music and the singer(s) are clearly not
happy with the world. Jealous Again might seem like a relatively
simple "ode" (haha) from someone to their partner, but the tone of
voice and breakneck delivery speed make it anything but a love
song. I've seen this referenced as one of the greatest punk songs of
all time5, and while I wouldn't go that far, it's certainly
very good.
Six Pack has what seems like an endless run in to the main song,
but when it comes you won't be disappointed. I'm not sure if the band
were Straight Edge, I suspect not, but they clearly had something to
say about the generic beer guzzlers that seemed to populate their
world.
It's hard to attach a specific subject or purpose to many of
the songs, but they are mostly about a specific mindset of being
pissed off. This isn't the "fuck you mom I won't tidy my room"
pissed-off-ness of nu metal, this is serious stuff. Songs like
Nervous Breakdown, I've Had It, and the almighty Damaged I
are songs that the word "abrasive" could have been invented for. Some
songs have a more clear purpose - White Minority is a stream of
invective against the racist attitudes still present in
America. You bet we've... sounds like a criticism of a guy who stole songs from the
band. I'm a bit at a loss to suggest who this might be.. couldn't be.. surely?. Although
if you think that sinister pipe link was a bit ominous, bear in mind
that a version of Wasted which is different, but still clearly the
same song at heart, appears on the legendary Circle Jerks album,
Group Sex. Who knows.
It's hard to pick out individual songs to put at the figurehead of
this collection, although if I had to it'd probably be Jealous
Again. The feeling you come away from the album with is that it
defines a certain time very well.
The packaging for the album shows a load of the previous record's
sleeves all put on top of each other. The artwork for Black Flag
albums is eclectic to say the least, with most of it very stylised
depictions of people. The cover for Jealous Again is probably the
best example of this, with what looks like two high school girls,
one hitting the other with a baton. On the back, one of the girls
points a gun at a guy who appears to have a bullet hole in his
head. Her speech bubble says "Before you die, tell me that you love
me". Other album covers are probably not quite as random, but the
cover for Six Pack shows a person crouched in the corner of a room
with what appears to be blood stains all over the floor. Every record
has the customary typeface for the band name, and also the 4 black
"bars" that also came to signify the band.
The inside of the inlay card is just heaps of gig flyers on top
of each other. I wish I was around to see some of these gigs - Black
Flag, Minutemen and the Adolescents, anyone? It also seems that
for most of the gigs where Black Flag headlined, they got the same art
style for the flyer, leading to some truly, uh, interesting pictures.
Overall, this is pretty much an essential purchase for Black Flag
fans, or anyone who wants to get into the band. It saves you having to
buy a heap of EPs which are probably very hard to find these days
(although I grabbed myself a new, still shrink wrapped copy of
Jealous Again on vinyl on eBay not too long ago). If punk is your
thing, and you want to know where it started, then grab yourself a
copy of this. You can probably buy it direct from SST on their
website, but I got mine through Amazon.co.uk's Marketplace through some
American business.
1 - This isn't even correct, as Henry Rollins' first proper band was
State of Alert aka SOA in Washington DC. He'd occasionally sung
for the Teen Idles (at this point he was known as Henry Garfield)
but only in rehearsals.
2 - I confess, I don't know what Record Labels these codes
signify. Can anyone help me out?
3 - Forgive my laziness.
4 - This guy left to form another great band, the Circle Jerks.
5 - I think I read this on an Amazon review, and it has to be said
people who bother to review stuff on Amazon usually either love or
hate the stuff they are reviewing.
Sources:
Owning the Album
Random punk knowledge