Re: Black Flag

[Giuseppe Zangara]

Damaged <<< Slip It In

 

Black Flag's first full length is considered the pinnacle of the group's career, but Slip It In (the first non-Damaged BF album I've listened to) has so much more going on both musically and lyrically.

 

Here I invite you to discuss, but I don't recall seeing much Black Flag talk on this board, so who knows.

[nl5xsk1]

Musically, I'll agree with you. Ginn was writing longer, more difficult songs by the time Slip was released; personally, though, I find that a lot of the songs seem to be long just for the sake of being long. They tend to repeat riffs rather than expand off of them. Basically, they weren't really a punk band anymore (hell, wasn't it this era that Ginn started wearing Grateful Dead shirts on stage?)

 

Lyrically, I'd have to give the nod to Damaged ... even with anchors like TV Party and Six Pack weighing it down. I just think songs like Rise Above, Depression & Police Story outweigh the thoughtless songs. Plus, when you compare the eras that they came out ('80 vs '84) the songs on Damaged just seem more heartfelt.

 

Final verdict, Damaged > Slip It In, but just barely. And, personally, give me some Dez or Morris over anything from the Rollins era any day of the week

[Giuseppe Zangara]

Even though Slip It In has its share of lyrical eye-rollers ("Rat's Eyes"), Rollins' vocabulary/delivery had grown beyond the terse, monosyllabic grunts found in greater wealth on Damaged. And "Police Story" was what I was thinking about in terms of lesser Flag moments.

 

And what the fuck, dude. "TV Party" is great.

[Giuseppe Zangara]

And the instrumental "Obliteration" may be a little repetitive, but Ginn does some wicked free jazz soloing all over it that more than makes up for its weaknesses.

[JangoFett4Hire]

For Rollins-era, I think I'd take In My Head over either.

[Steviekick]

I love "TV Party" specifically for the dated TV references.