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| | My War | | | Music Artist : | | Black Flag | | Music Style : | | General | | Record Label : | | Sst Records | | Release Date : | | 1990-10-25 | | Store Price : | | $16.98 | | Artistopia's Price: $14.99 | | Usually ships in 24 hours | | |
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CD Tracks/Songs
Disc 11. My War
2. Can't Decide
3. Beat My Head Against the Wall
4. I Love You
5. Forever Time
6. Swinging Man
7. Nothing Left Inside
8. Three Nights
9. Scream
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Other Artist Albums
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Customer Reviews of This Album/CD |
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 The first Black Flag album I ever heard and the best one
Submitted on: 2009-08-05 |
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If you want punk rock with a metal edge, then this will do nicely. Black Flag really delivers the goods on this album, a raw, in-your-face collection of nine punk/metal songs that will have you screaming in your pillow at night and climbing the walls during the day. I love the raw sound of punk rock, and this album is no exception. The production is cheap, but isn't that the whole point? Isn't that expected of a punk rock group? Any true punk rock group is not going to be signed to a major record label and won't have top-of-the-line production and crystal clear sound. This is underground music, if you will. However, there are actually great melodies on this album.
The album starts off with the title track, My War. Henry Rollins is just plain awesome on vocals. He talks and screams and shouts more than he actually sings, but this is punk rock. The next track is Can't Decide, a melodic hard punk rocker. Beat My Head Against The Wall is the next song. Guitarist Greg Ginn does an awesome guitar solo in the middle of this song. The next track, I Love You, has somewhat funny lyrics, to me anyway. Forever Time follows, a solid punk song with attitude. The next song, The Swinging Man, has very good percussion and great guitar and bass. By the way, Greg Ginn plays both the guitar and bass guitar on this album. The bass player is listed as Dale Nixon, but it is actually Greg Ginn. The next song is my favorite Black Flag song ever, Nothing Left Inside. In fact, it's one of my top 10 favorite songs of all time, no matter what genre of music. This song oozes attitude and rawness and Rollins does a fantastic job with his screaming and moaning. The guitar solo is SO AWESOME and DIFFERENT. The lyrics are raw, powerful and maddening. This is the kind of song that you feel in your blood and veins. The next song is also a favorite, Three Nights. Pure rawness, slow tempo and heaviness with great screaming. The final track is called Scream. Slow, raw, heavy bass and lots of screams by Rollins.
This album's songs have lyrics that are down to earth and simple, yet are dark and full of attitude. If you like raw music that will get your blood boiling, then listen to My War and other great albums by Black Flag. It's good music to listen to when you're mad about something, or just need a burst of energy to get you through the day. The subject matter of so many Black Flag songs have to do with the "I'm in the gutter" mentality - the lowest of the low in life. Gotta love it.
I heard this album for the first time when I was 15. Black Flag has been a very influential group, and they definitely influenced my own band I was in when I was a teenager. Highly recommended.
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Legendary
Submitted on: 2009-06-10 |
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Legend has it that this record is more or less indirectly responsible for the entire Seattle Grunge thing that happened in the late 80s/early 90s. The story goes that up to the mid-80s, Seattle had a typical hardcore scene like any other city did. The Melvins were essentially a hardcore band at first, but at some point Buzz was heavily inspired by My War. He thought it was a genius move to play slow songs when everyone else was playing as fast as possible. So he started writing slower songs, and a lot of the people in the local scene dug it. Some of the other bands started to slow down as well. And it went from there.
I don't know if that's true, but it makes sense to me. This has been one of my favorite Flag albums for over 20 years. That said, it took me a while to acquire a taste for it. (At least an hour or so.) I wasn't going to shows yet and was totally unaware that they had changed so much since Damaged. Their new sound came as a real shock. I don't even know how to describe the music. It's doesn't fit into any clear "punk", "hardcore" or "metal" pigeon holes. It's just savagely raw, extremely angry, intensely depressed... hard rock, I guess? My War is definitely responsible for me becoming more open minded and not just listening to hardcore non-stop. It opened a door for me. |
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My War
Submitted on: 2009-01-14 |
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Black Flag-My War ****1/2
My War....when hardcore grew up and met John Coltrane and realized there is more to it. My War is in a not so subtle way, a punk masterpiece, one of the genres crowning achievements. It is a malignant tumour of an album, growing and infecting your musical taste and opinions, emulating a feeling of pain so profound Billy Corgan would give his right arm to be able to feel it.
The genius of Ginn reaches the top of the heap with this release, combining the work of the classic Damaged with a more subtle and experimental avenue of sound to create something unlike any other punk record ever made. But what really shines here is Rollins. His vocals reached the peak here, as never again would he sound so passionate without secreting a layer of cheese. Lyrically this maybe his moment. Yeah, his 'poetry' has always been flawed with the angst of a 11 year old military brat but something is charming about little Henry and it makes his lyrics enduring.
My War is the kind of album everyone needs at one point in their life or another, they are that band that once you discover them they never leave you. My War-My Album. |
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Perhaps the greatest punk album ever!!!!!!
Submitted on: 2007-05-20 |
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I know that some people complain that the Flag went metal starting with this album, but just listen to the songs. They bite with more ferocity than even the much critically praised "Damaged". My War is the sound of a band realizing that they don't have to be pigeonholed into a genre of music that they all but invented. Don't get me wrong, "Damaged" is a masterpeice, but this album just sounds better.
First time listeners be forwarned, this is not an easy listen. The low-fi recording and rawness of Black Flag make it something that the uninitiated listener will not understand, but give it a chance, listen to it a few times and you will hear the brilliance of one of the greatest punk bands of all time. |
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 I Always Wear a Smile....
Submitted on: 2007-04-26 |
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It is sort of a shame when I was in H.S. that I was more into the current '90s indie punk music. I missed many of the Trailblazers in the late '70 & early '80s.
Black Flag was one of the first "hardcore punk" bands. Fast-paced, Relentless spit-spewin anger. Their debut "Damaged" came out in 1982, which I was fortunate to first hear in High School. I'm just not into the humor heard on "Damaged"
I didn't get Black Flag's second lp,(w/ Henry Rollins) 1983's My War until years later, but I do prefer this one. Much longer songs, and the intensity may be turned down a notch, but it's still a Punk Rawk Scorcher. It also shows a more heavy dirge nod to Black Sabbath w/ a flash of mental illness, disease felt throughout "My War" - Even the cover art looks psychotic, Doesn't it?
...In a bright Blue sky backdrop.
Lead, Henry Rollins not only portrays fits of Anguish, & frustrated anger, but also some laid back loathing.
"Forever Time" is probably my favorite song on "My War" - Pure THROAT SHREDDING screaming TTIIIIIIIIIIIIMMME...
It Kind of reminds me of Black Francis's vocal shred on "Doolittle"s "Tame" - Doolittle by The Pixies was released a few yrs. later in 1989.
I'll take "My War"- when I am in a Angry mood over The Pixies any day, Kurt was watchin' both, but couldn't match this kind of RAW talent.
-"I Go by Swingin' Man! ...Feelin' no pain!" |
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