BLACK FLAG — Nervous Breakdown (review)

BLACK FLAG — Nervous Breakdown album cover EP · 1979 · Hardcore Punk Buy this album from MMA partners
4/5 ·
siLLy puPPy
BLACK FLAG was and always has been guitarist Greg Ginn’s baby in that he developed the concepts and has remained the primary songwriter and head honcho through the band’s many incarnations and stylistic shifts. The band started out as Panic in 1976 in Hermosa Beach, CA and adopted the simplistic punk rock constructs of the Ramones in which they added more atonal dissonance, bizarre tempo shifts and a much more exaggerated hardcore attitude which same say qualifies BLACK FLAG as the very first hardcore punk band to emerge after punk’s explosive assault on the world however there is some who claim Sweden’s The Rude Boys to have emerged first with their single “Stranglers (If It's Quiet Why Don't You Play) / Punk Will Never Die!”

While the band would firmly cement their classic sound once lead singer Henry Rollins joined in time for the debut full-length “Damaged,” BLACK FLAG released three EPs with completely different with only Ginn as the common denominator. NERVOUS BREAKDOWN was the first of these EPs and may seem insignificant with a mere four tracks amounting to 5 minutes and 13 seconds of playing time but it’s this very short yet explosive slab of raw primeval outrage in sound that qualifies as the very first example of hardcore punk upping the levels of intensity with more caustic distortion, faster tempos and more erratic unpredictabilities. This stuff made the Ramones look like school boys.

While Chuck Dukowski would play bass on the first two EPs, this was the only release that featured Keith Morris on vocals and Brian Migdol on drums. While Morris was certainly no match for Henry Rollins perfect demeanor and vocal angst, he did more than an adequate job capturing the spirit of punk. Hard to believe but this short specimen of music still is available as a CD single but can more easily be found on the more comprehensive compilation “The First Four Years” which covers all of the loose fodder of these early years. Perhaps not the longest introduction into the newly birthed hardcore punk scene but successful in shouting a big fuck you to the world at large.
Share this review
more

Review Comments

Post a public comment below | Send private message to the reviewer
Please login to post a shout
No shouts posted yet. Be the first member to do so above!

Review Index

Member Zone

Username:
Password:
Stay signed in

Metal Subgenres

Artists Alpha-index

MMA TOP 5 Metal ALBUMS

Rating by members, ranked by custom algorithm
Albums with 30 ratings and more
Master of Puppets Thrash Metal
METALLICA
Buy this album from our partners
Paranoid Heavy Metal
BLACK SABBATH
Buy this album from our partners
Moving Pictures Hard Rock
RUSH
Buy this album from our partners
Powerslave NWoBHM
IRON MAIDEN
Buy this album from our partners
Rising Heavy Metal
RAINBOW
Buy this album from our partners

New Metal Artists

New Metal Releases

The Goblin Sessions Heavy Metal
THEM
Buy this album from MMA partners
Tormenta De Arena Metalcore
VORAGO
Buy this album from MMA partners
Infinite Metalcore
FUTURE GHOST
Buy this album from MMA partners
Heretic Melodic Death Metal
SUNCINDER
Buy this album from MMA partners
The Skull Burned Wearing Hell Like A Life Vest As The Night Wept Mathcore
FRONTIERER
Buy this album from MMA partners
More new releases

New Metal Online Videos

OPETH`S Epic Headline Show at Bloodstock 2024 | YouTube Premiere | Full Set | August 9th, 2024
OPETH
666sharon666· 33 minutes ago
Opeth '§4' Visualizer/Lyrics Video
OPETH
666sharon666· 34 minutes ago
Future Ghost - Wolves (Official Music Video)
FUTURE GHOST
Bosh66· 1 day ago
Future Ghost - Nemesis Game (Official Music Video)
FUTURE GHOST
Bosh66· 1 day ago
Harrowed TwentyTenVideo
HARROWED
Bosh66· 3 days ago
More videos

New MMA Metal Forum Topics

More in the forums

New Site interactions

More...

Latest Metal News

members-submitted

More in the forums

Social Media

Follow us
Follow us on Twitter Become a Facebook fan RSS Feed