The First Four Years

Last updated

The First Four Years
Black Flag - The First Four Years cover.jpg
Compilation album by
Released1983 (1983)
RecordedJanuary 1978 – April 1981 at Media Art Studios in Hermosa Beach, California
Genre Hardcore punk
Length24:40
Label SST Records
Producer Spot, Geza X, Black Flag
Black Flag chronology
Everything Went Black
(1983)
The First Four Years
(1983)
My War
(1984)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [1]
Alternative Rock 9/10 [2]
Encyclopedia of Popular Music Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svg [3]
MusicHound Rock 2/5 [4]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svg [5]

The First Four Years is a compilation album by the American hardcore punk band Black Flag. It was released in 1983 on SST Records. The compilation consists of all of the group's material released before Henry Rollins became the band's vocalist in 1981. It essentially collects the extended plays Nervous Breakdown (1979), Jealous Again (1980), Six Pack (1981), and the single "Louie Louie", with two tracks from various artists' compilation albums.

Contents

Tracks 1–4 are taken from Nervous Breakdown, tracks 5–9 are taken from Jealous Again, tracks 11–13 are from Six Pack, and tracks 15–16 are taken from the "Louie Louie" single. Tracks 10 and 14 were originally released on the New Alliance Records compilation albums Cracks in the Sidewalk (1980) and Chunks (1981).

In 2007, The Guardian included the album in their list of "1000 Albums to Hear Before You Die". [6]

Track listing

All tracks are written by Greg Ginn, except where noted.

No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Nervous Breakdown" 2:08
2."Fix Me" 0:57
3."I've Had It" 1:26
4."Wasted" Keith Morris, Ginn0:51
5."Jealous Again" 1:52
6."Revenge" 0:58
7."White Minority" 1:03
8."No Values" 1:45
9."You Bet We've Got Something Personal Against You!" Chuck Dukowski, Ginn0:52
10."Clocked In" 1:30
11."Six Pack" 2:19
12."I've Heard It Before"Dukowski, Ginn1:38
13."American Waste"Dukowski1:32
14."Machine"Dukowski, Dez Cadena 1:25
15."Louie Louie" Richard Berry, Additional lyrics by Cadena1:18
16."Damaged I"Ginn, Cadena4:05
Total length:24:40

Personnel

Production

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Greg Ginn</span> American musician

Gregory Regis Ginn is an American guitarist, bassist, singer and songwriter, best known for being the leader, primary songwriter, and the only continuous member of the hardcore punk band Black Flag, which he founded and led from 1976 to 1986, and again in 2003. The band announced another reunion in 2013. Since the breakup of Black Flag, Ginn has recorded solo albums, and performed with such bands as October Faction, Gone, Confront James, Mojack, and others. He was 99th on Rolling Stone's list of "The 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Black Flag (band)</span> American hardcore punk band

Black Flag is an American punk rock band formed in 1976 in Hermosa Beach, California. Initially called Panic, the band was established by Greg Ginn, the guitarist, primary songwriter, and sole continuous member through multiple personnel changes in the band. They are widely considered to be one of the first hardcore punk bands, as well as one of the pioneers of post-hardcore. After breaking up in 1986, Black Flag reunited in 2003 and again in 2013. The second reunion lasted well over a year, during which they released their first studio album in nearly three decades, What The... (2013). The band announced their third reunion in January 2019.

<i>Nervous Breakdown</i> (EP) 1979 EP by Black Flag

Nervous Breakdown is the debut EP by the American hardcore punk band Black Flag, released in January 1979 through SST Records. It was the label's first release.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chuck Dukowski</span> American musician

Gary Arthur McDaniel, better known by his stage name Chuck Dukowski, is an American punk rock musician most well known for being the bass player, and occasional songwriter for Black Flag.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Robo (musician)</span> American drummer

Julio Roberto Valverde Valencia, better known by his stage name Robo, is a Colombian-American drummer. He came to prominence in the early 1980s with punk band Black Flag, and more recently has been a member of Misfits.

<i>My War</i> 1984 studio album by Black Flag

My War is the second studio album by American band Black Flag. It was the first of three full-length albums released by the band in 1984. It polarized fans due to the LP's B-side, on which the band slowed down to a heavy, Black Sabbath-esque trudge, despite the reputation the band had earned as leaders in fast hardcore punk on its first album, Damaged (1981).

<i>Slip It In</i> 1984 studio album by Black Flag

Slip It In is the fourth studio album by the American hardcore punk band Black Flag, released in 1984 on SST Records.

<i>Damaged</i> (Black Flag album) 1981 studio album by Black Flag

Damaged is the debut studio album by the American hardcore punk band Black Flag. It was released by SST Records on December 5, 1981.

<i>Family Man</i> (Black Flag album) 1984 studio album by Black Flag

Family Man is the third studio album by the American hardcore punk band Black Flag. Released in 1984 through SST Records, it features spoken word tracks by vocalist Henry Rollins and jazz-indebted instrumental tracks. It is also the first album to feature bassist Kira Roessler. "Armageddon Man" is the only track on the album in which Rollins and the instruments are together.

<i>Everything Went Black</i> 1982 compilation album by Black Flag

Everything Went Black is a compilation album by the American hardcore punk band Black Flag. It was released in 1982 through SST Records. The compilation comprises early songs recorded before Henry Rollins became the band's vocalist in 1981, and was initially released without the group's name on its cover, due to their lawsuit with MCA/Unicorn. Instead, the names of the group members were listed on the first release.

<i>Live 84</i> 1984 live album by Black Flag

Live '84 is an album released by Black Flag in 1984 on SST Records. It is a live recording of a show played in 1984 and features mostly tracks from My War and Slip It In. A video was shot simultaneously and was briefly available through SST; the now-out-of-print video has been widely bootlegged.

<i>In My Head</i> (album) 1985 studio album by Black Flag

In My Head is the sixth studio album by American punk band Black Flag. It was released in 1985 on SST Records, and was their final studio album before their breakup in 1986. The CD reissue adds three of the four songs that later appeared on the I Can See You EP, replicating the original 1985 cassette release which came out concurrent to the LP.

<i>Wasted…Again</i> 1987 compilation album by Black Flag

Wasted…Again is an album released by American hardcore punk band Black Flag in 1987 on SST Records. It is a "best-of" compilation released after Black Flag's breakup in 1986.

<i>Jealous Again</i> 1980 EP by Black Flag

Jealous Again is the second EP by American hardcore punk band Black Flag, and the third-ever release on SST Records.

<i>TV Party</i> (EP) 1982 EP by Black Flag

TV Party is the fourth EP by American band Black Flag, released in 1982. It was self-produced with Ed Barton and originally released by SST Records on the 7" vinyl format. The title track is a satire of boredom, drinking and America's obsession with television; the original version was also released on the band's 1981 album Damaged.

<i>Group Sex</i> (album) 1980 studio album by Circle Jerks

Group Sex is the debut studio album by American hardcore punk band Circle Jerks. It was released on October 1, 1980, by Frontier Records. The album consists of 14 songs in 15 minutes and is considered to be a landmark album in hardcore punk. It was included in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ron Reyes</span> American singer

Ron Reyes is an American musician most noted as the second singer for the Los Angeles punk rock group Black Flag.

<i>What The...</i> 2013 studio album by Black Flag

What The… is the seventh studio album by American hardcore punk band Black Flag. The album was originally announced to be released on November 5, 2013, with 3 promotional singles being released between May and July. However, on November 5, What The… was only released through online streaming sources such as Spotify and Rdio, and a physical release date was pushed back to December 3, 2013. It is the band's first full-length studio album since In My Head (1985), marking the longest gap between two studio albums in their career, as well as being their first recording with vocalist Ron Reyes since Jealous Again (1980) and drummer Gregory "Drummer" Moore. This album also marked the first time since My War (1984) that guitarist Greg Ginn played bass on a Black Flag album under the name Dale Nixon. Three weeks after the album's release, Reyes was fired mid-show during a performance in Australia due to differences with Ginn. The band's manager and professional skateboarder Mike Vallely replaced Reyes on vocals.

The Complete 1982 Demos is an unreleased set of demo tracks intended for a follow-up album to Black Flag's debut album Damaged (1981). The tracks recorded show the band moving in a riff-driven, heavy metal-inflected direction, away from the pure hardcore punk of the first album. Due to legal issues, the album was never recorded, though most of the tracks were re-recorded for later albums. Though never officially released, the recordings have been widely bootlegged.

References

  1. Dougan, John. "The First Four Years – Black Flag | Songs, Reviews, Credits, Awards | AllMusic". AllMusic . Retrieved July 3, 2015.
  2. Thompson, Dave (April 12, 2000). Alternative rock. San Francisco : Miller Freeman Books ; Berkeley, CA : Distributed to the book trade in the U.S. and Canada by Publishers Group West ; Milwaukee, WI : Distributed to the music trade in the U.S. and Canada by Hal Leonard Publishing. ISBN   9780879306076 via Internet Archive.
  3. Larkin, Colin (2011). "Black Flag". The Encyclopedia of Popular Music (5th concise ed.). Omnibus Press. ISBN   978-0-85712-595-8.
  4. Gary Graff, ed. (1996). MusicHound Rock: The Essential Album Guide (1st ed.). London: Visible Ink Press. ISBN   978-0-7876-1037-1.
  5. Considine, J. D. (2004). "Black Flag". In Brackett, Nathan; Hoard, Christian (eds.). The New Rolling Stone Album Guide (4th ed.). Simon & Schuster. pp.  77–78. ISBN   0-7432-0169-8.
  6. "Artists beginning with B (part 1)". The Guardian . ISSN   0261-3077 . Retrieved June 2, 2023.