In many ways Black Flag was the definitive hardcore punk band. Black Flag was an American punk rock band formed in 1976 in Hermosa Beach, California. The band was established largely by Greg Ginn, the guitarist, primary songwriter and sole continuous member through multiple personnel changes. They are widely considered to be one of the first hardcore punk bands.
Black Flag forged a unique sound early on that mixed the raw simplicity of the Ramones with atonal guitar solos and frequent tempo shifts. They were also known for the intense and evocative lyrics found that were found in their songs, most of which were penned by Ginn. Like other punk bands of this era, Black Flag gave voice to an anti-authoritarian, non-conformist message, featuring songs that dealt with isolation, neurosis, poverty, and paranoia, themes that would be explored further when Henry Rollins joined the group as lead singer in 1981. Most of the band's material was released on Ginn's independent label, SST Records.
Black Flag was—and remains—well respected among the underground culture. This is because of their DIY ethic. They are often regarded as pioneers in the movement of underground do-it-yourself record labels that flourished among the 1980s punk rock bands. Through seemingly constant touring throughout the United States and Canada, and occasionally Europe, Black Flag established an extremely dedicated fan base. Many other musicians would follow Black Flag's lead and book their own tours by word-of-mouth.
Black Flag's sound, as well as their notoriety, evolved in ways that alienated much of their early punk audience. As well as being one of the first hardcore bands, they were part of the first wave of American West Coast punk rock and are considered a key influence on the punk subculture. Along with being among the earliest punk rock groups to incorporate elements of heavy metal melodies and rhythm (particularly in their later records), there were often freestyles, free jazz, breakbeat and contemporary classical elements in their sound, especially in Ginn's guitar playing, and the band interspersed records and performances with instrumentals throughout their career. They began playing longer, slower, and more complex songs at a time when many bands in their genre stuck to a raw, fast, three-chord format. As a result, their extensive discography is more varied than other punk bands.
Throughout their career as a band, Black Flag became legendary, especially in the Southern California area. Much of the band’s history is chronicled in Henry Rollins’ own published tour diary Get In The Van. Black Flag were blacklisted by the LAPD and Hollywood rock clubs because of the destructiveness of their fans, though there are claims that the police caused far more problems than they solved.
Many members of the grunge scene cited Black Flag's My War album as influence since it was a departure from the standard punk model. Steve Turner of Mudhoney stated in an interview, "A lot of other people around the country hated the fact that Black Flag slowed down ... but up here it was really great — we were like 'Yay!' They were weird and ****ed-up sounding.".
Great punk band, great band in general. You must check them out if you are getting into punk rock.
There will never be another band like this.
One of my favorites.
Black Flag band members
Keith Morris - vocals
Greg Ginn - guitar
Raymond Pettibon - bass
David Horvitz - drums
Spot - bass
Chuck Dukowski - bass
Brian Migdol - drums
Robo - drums
Ron Reyes - vocals
Dez Cadena - vocals
Henry Rollins - vocals
Dez Cadena - rhythm guitar
Emil Johnson - drums
Chuck Biscuits - drums
Bill Stevenson - drums
Kira Roessler - bass
Anthony Martinez - drums
C'el Revuelta - bass
Dez Cadena - vocals, rhythm guitar
Studio albums
Damaged
My War
Family Man
Slip It In
Loose Nut
In My Head
Live albums
Live '84
Who's Got the 10˝?
Compilation albums
Everything Went Black
The First Four Years
Wasted...Again
Extended plays
Nervous Breakdown
Jealous Again
Six Pack
The Process of Weeding Out
I Can See You
I think the reputation of their fan base is largely true. I remember a year or two after I graduated from high school there was a rumour going around that Black Flag was going to play a lunchtime concert at the school one particular day so I went down to check it out and the area in front of the school gym (where all the bands would play) was literally invaded with punkers wearing jeans, leather jackets or vests, various colors of spiked hair and some hardcore punkers with clothes pins in their nose and such. It was quite the scene and while campus officials were in major crowd control mode, it suddenly became clear to me what the punk scene was like just 15 miles away in the clubs in Hollywood. And Black Flag never showed up.
Here is a heavy punk rock band! I don't listen tothem that much because of how heavy they are, but that is what is so amazing about them, I do play "I don't Care" and I think they have a song called "Riot" or "Riot Squad"... maybe that's someone else.... I'll have to check out some albums though, especially their first few
and jeese Dave ^^
Van Halen, Black Flag, what didn't you have at your high school?
and jeese Dave ^^
Van Halen, Black Flag, what didn't you have at your high school?
lol, everyone else?
Van Halen made sense because they were from only a few miles away in nearby Pasadena, and they would play anywhere they could plug in. The rumour about Black Flag playing sounded too far fetched because they weren't a local band. But I'll be darned if a hundred or so punkers didn't show up anyway. Not even sure where they heard the rumour from because there weren't any punkers in our town.
hahaha... I stole the picture from the "Dead Boys" thread....
I went through my punk phase and think I might have looked worse than they did... good thing I don't think I have any pictures if I did at least they wouldn't have been naked....
back to Black Flag though...
here's a cool one
this second one was the one I was thinking of, but said "Riot" or "Riot Squad"... Bad Brains did Riot Squad, just got the names mixed up
Black Flag 
Linear Mode
