Live '84

by

Black Flag

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This is, so far, the best readily available recording of Black Flag live. This needs to be said.

If you liked their earlier, punkier stuff, there's enough on this to keep you more or less happy. If, however, you accept that Black Flag transcended hardcore to become simply one of the best rock bands ever, then this recording scores over their later live album "Who's got the 10 1/12?" on three counts: firstly, they just sound louder on this one; secondly, this has better material; and thirdly, this was one of the best Flag lineups ever. Henry Rollins hadn't yet given up singing the songs, as opposed to shouting them; Greg Ginn was discovering what a creative guitarist he could be; Kira Roessler still liked being in the band, and Bill Stevenson was the best drummer Flag ever had. The sound recording is a bit muddy and thick, but then so was the band, so it sounds great that way. Live '84 is a primary document of a fantastic band playing some of its best songs as hard and as fast as possible, and that was the point of Black Flag.

Superb.

this is decent...the band's slower and more experimental side shows through a lot on this album. the instrumentals ('the process of weeding out' and 'i won't stick any of you...') are a waste-i'm sorry but i think black flag played some of the worst instrumentals ever. the songs themselves are performed pretty good, with excellent versions of 'stick it in,' 'i love you,' 'my war,' 'nervous breakdown,' and 'the bars.' 'swinging man' is just plain strange, but not terrible. more jazz than punk, but still with that edge to it. the recording is fairly grainy, and the vocals fade in and out on songs like 'six pack.' speaking of vocals, rollins's voice sounds completely shot/hoarse on this and it blends nicely with the raw feel of the music. definately not a first purchase by black flag, go for 'damaged' (duh), 'my war,' 'the first four years,' or 'wasted...again' instead.