Album: Damaged
Artist: Black Flag
Release Date: December 5, 1981
Genre: Hardcore Punk
Length: 0:34:58
Label: SST Records
Producer: Spot/Black Flag
Rolling Stone Top 500 (2012): #340
Rolling Stone Top 500 (2020): #487
1,001 Album Book: Yes
After listening to this, I may do exactly what the album cover is depicting because I'm so angsty now...
Under-appreciated at release, Damaged is the debut record by punk band, Black Flag that has gained recognition as one of the most influential punk records ever released. Damaged also marks the band's first album with singer Henry Rollins who would wind up staying with the group until their initial break-up in 1986.
The album opens up with "Rise Above" which starts off with a crisp drum beat and the classic sound of punk distortion from the guitar. The scream vocals from Rollins mixed with Greg Ginn's distinctive guitar playing opens up the album with the perfect sound to showcase Black Flag's intensive, "devil-music" vibe that is sure to make any angsty teen feel in their element.
"Six Pack" is the third track on the album and shows off the bands musical abilities with the slow build-up over the first forty seconds, going from driven bass groove, then to the chipping of the hi-hat leading into the jungle toms that perfectly closes off with fast-paced frantic playing from the entire band. This song shows the band isn't just a punk band and actually has musical abilities with the background vocalists singing "Six Pack" after each line of Rollins' scream-singing sound.
Two of the most important things within the punk genre is the heavy use of bass guitar and drums and Black Flag show this off heavily throughout the album. Aside from the distorted guitar and the anger inducing vocal performance, the most prominent aspect of the record is the pairing of the bass and drums, which is especially noticeable on the song "What I See", "TV Party", "Gimmie Gimmie Gimmie" and "No More".
"TV Party" is an awesome track that shows the fun vibes punk music brings out of youth. The chorus being sung by the background vocalists provides an almost party-like, frat-house, sound along with Henry Rollins' lead vocal performance. The song exudes a type of feel that makes you want to hang out with your friends and mosh with them inside of a sweaty room that smells of beer and angst.
One thing that is tough for punk records to do well is to make each song exciting to listen to since it is such a particular sound for the genre. Damaged gives the listener the comforting hardcore punk sound while maintaining the ability to diversify most songs so you aren't left feeling like you listened to the same song for thirty minutes, although the second half of the album does start to drag on for too long. Luckily all of the songs are overall pretty short and a lot of the songs that start to feel too similar to the others are the shorter tracks on the record.
A very shocking thing about this album is how real the lyrics can get. Punk music is often found to be lyrics about things like politics and "sticking it to the man" but Damaged focuses more so on the lyrics that would pertain to the feelings of being a teenager or in your 20s and gives the soundtrack to help people dealing with things have a non-violent outlet to let their feelings out.
I enjoyed this album even though it is far from my favorite punk album. The sound throughout is so hardcore punk and that's definitely not the mood all the time. I do appreciate it and if the mood was set correctly for me, maybe I would like this album more but being content with life right now and happy is hard to fully appreciate this record. I will listen to parts of it, especially my favorite songs but the back half of the album dragged on a little too long as a lot of the songs didn't feature anything exciting to set them apart from one another. When I'm in a bad mood though, I think the entire album would be perfect to get the anger out of my soul and back to my current state of bliss...
Favorite Songs: "Rise Above", "Six Pack", "What I See", "TV Party", "No More"
Least Favorite Songs: "Spray Paint", "Thirsty And Miserable"
Production Quality:
Mix = 6.5/10 (Originally wanted to give the mix a 5/10 but the garage-like feel almost makes it more exciting to listen to)
Innovation = 9.5/10 (Incredibly influential hardcore punk record)
Songwriting Quality:
Arrangement = 5/10 (Some songs are too similar to others)
Lyricism = 8/10 (Surprisingly deep lyrics for a punk band whose focus is anarchy)
Instrumentation Quality:
Vocal Timbre = 8/10 (Not my favorite punk vocalist but fits the feel of the band and record to a T)
Instrumental Timbre = 8.5/10 (Same thing as above)
Group Chemistry = 10/10 (Along with jazz, punk has to be one of the hardest and most trusting genres of music where chemistry has to be at the top of the priority list for the band members)
Overall Likability:
My Personal Rating = 7/10
Overall Rating: 7.6/10
Any confusion on how the rating is weighted/calculated, please look at my "About" page.