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| | Family Man | | | Music Artist : | | Black Flag | | Music Style : | | General | | Record Label : | | Sst Records | | Release Date : | | 1990-10-25 | | Store Price : | | $16.98 | | Artistopia's Price: $16.98 | | Usually ships in 24 hours | | |
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CD Tracks/Songs
Disc 11. Family Man
2. Salt on a Slug
3. Hollywood Diary
4. Let Your Fingers Do the Walking
5. Shed Reading (Rattus Norvegicus)
6. No Deposit - No Return
7. Armageddon Man
8. Long Lost Dog of It
9. I Won't Stick Any of You Unless and Until I Can Stick All of You!
10. Account for What?
11. Pups Are Doggin' It
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Other Artist Albums
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Customer Reviews of This Album/CD |
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 Bizarre, disturbing and funny
Submitted on: 2009-08-06 |
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Family Man is a real change-up for not only Black Flag fans, but also fans of this type of music. A spoken word album was a new concept, and Black Flag experimented with it. The end product is an album that will make you laugh, shake your head, and be in awe of the instrumental songs later in the album.
The listener gets to experience the twisted and disturbed mind of Henry Rollins (I personally think Rollins is totally sane and just does this sort of stuff for entertainment purposes), at least when it comes to being the vocalist of Black Flag. Rollins delivers poetic passages, talks about pouring salt on a slug and getting a kick out of it (dark humor, if you ask me), talks about hopelessness (No Deposit, No Return), and sticks up for those rodents known as rats. He also shares his views on the suburban family man. It's one of those things that's funny, but it's not funny. Dark humor.
The "second side" (I used to own the cassette tape) is instrumental music that's quite good. Greg Ginn does some of his finest guitar work.
If you crave something different and can stomach some sick spoken word passages, then listen to this album. It's not exactly the best Black Flag album, but it has some bright spots. |
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The Other Half
Submitted on: 2007-11-21 |
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| Henry Rollins' monologues are an unintended joke, okay for one or two listens; they quickly become redundant. Sure, he sounds pissed off (as usual) and oh so menacing (as usual), but so what? He also sounds stupid. "Salt On A Slug" is as profound as it gets (the title says it all), which isn't saying much. Thanks for the tortuous insight, Henry. But when Ginn, Roessler and Stevenson get into the King Crimson-meets-Black Sabbath-meets-Guru Guru instrumental mode sans Hank, you can be sure they transcend pretty much any genre and not just hardcore. Grinding, wailing. Self-defining. The music rules and doesn't give a damn. |
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 I've talked dirt before. . .it never sounded quite like this. . .
Submitted on: 2007-09-24 |
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"I come to infect, I come to rape your woman, I come to take your children into the streets. . .I come for YOU, family man."
Black Flag was a busy band in 1984. They had been put on hold for years because of a tedious legal battle spawned by the controversial release of "Damaged," and could not release any music that used the name Black Flag or their famous four-bar logo. Because of this time off, the difference between "Damaged" and the albums that were released in 1984 may be a bit jarring for listeners. There was no transition to the almost-metal hardcore found on the latter releases.
After the smoke of the jarring transition clears, what is left is some really amazing music. Like "My War" and "Damaged" before it, "Family Man" is very much divided into two sides. "Damaged" side one is chant-along anthems, where side two is dark, angry, frustrated, and unrelenting. "My War" has a similar breakdown, where side one is shorter, more standard songs, and side two is made up of only three songs. Nightmarishly slow, emotive, and expressive, side two polarized many Black Flag fans; what was the band who invented hardcore doing to the genre? It sounded like reinvention.
"Family Man" is even more polarizing. Side one is completely made up of spoken word performances by Henry Rollins; audiences are forced to face the deepest insides of Rollins' psyche through a series of poems and readings that range from black humor (Salt On A Slug) to diary-like mumblings (No Deposit-No Return). Side two is almost completely instrumental, featuring great musicianship by the guitar-god Greg Ginn, the spastic Bill Stevenson (also of the Descendents) and new-comer Kira Roessler on bass. All three muisicians shine amazingly in the quirkily-titled tracks. Each song begins with the band performing the "head" (a la jazz performers) then carrying the listener through a series of variations, each becoming more and more spastic and wild.
The one track to feature vocals and music becomes the centerpiece for the album, and that is Armageddon Man. The format musically is the same as the other tracks on side two, but amidst the insanity is Henry Rollins' almost stream of consciousness ramblings. In the same way the band will repeat an idea and vary it, Rollins will make a statement and then "jam" on it for a bit. For example, "dirt getting stuck in my mouth, dirt getting stuck in my eyes, seeing everything through dirt, all I see is dirt, all I know is dirt, just talking dirt, talking dirt, digging dirt, loving dirt, rolling in dirt, dirt river, dirt sliver, dirt lover, dirt undercover, dirt overcover. . ." He is using his words to express what is happening musically, and the band responds in kind. Many times, it's not sure if Stevenson is following Ginn's lead, or Rollins'.
"Family Man" is a huge artistic statement that was a huge risk to release to single-minded punk fans, but has stood the test of time. A dark journey to take, but a rewarding and cathartic one nontheless. |
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The Long Lost BF Classic
Submitted on: 2006-06-01 |
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| I know a lot of people will disagree with the title, but I don't care. Yes, it's not as good as "Damaged", "Slip it In" or "My War." But those albums were the absolute cream of the crop hardcore. This is something that few bands have ever tried, before or since, and more or less belongs in it's own category. It's not hardcore or metal, its art. One half is Rollins spoken word, the other Greg Ginn instrumental. Each holds its own. Yes, most punks don't like poetry. But then again, most punks listen to From Autumn to Ashes and Big D, so they're dumb. As poetry, it holds up pretty well. It's good and creepy enough to get and keep one's interest, and spoken well enough to draw you in. Next the instrumentals. Greg Ginn is one of my favorite guitarists, and this shows why. Name one other punk band ever that had the talent to do instrumentals. One. Few, if any, because they ddn't have talent. Yes, that's what's great about punk, I know. But change it up a little while to keep me interested. Like Black Flag. |
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Father on Fire
Submitted on: 2006-05-20 |
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If you've ever wondered what early Rollins spoken word is like, this is a good place to start.
More like poetry, the first part of this release is Rollins in rare form. Raw, brutal and funny -- it's easy to see why he rubs some people the wrong way.
The instrumental pieces on the release are standard Black Flag, only not as frantic. It's like all the fire had been taken out of the band, but it somehow fits the overall package.
This is definitely not the best Black Flag release, and may only be for completists, but it is worth listening to if only to get a taste of early Rollins. |
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