Black Flag-My War

1984’s MY WAR is a sometimes-confusing transitional record for Black Flag. Hobbled by a lengthy legal battle with SST’s former distributors Unicorn Records, during which the band couldn’t even record under its own name, remaining members Greg Ginn, Henry Rollins and Bill Stevenson started from scratch when the legal dust had settled. Without even bothering to hire a new bassist (guitarist Ginn also handled bass, under the pseudonym Dale Nixon), the trio recorded MY WAR on its own. The six songs on side one are mostly speedy hardcore not far removed from the band’s most recent new record, 1981’s DAMAGED, and the title track and ‘I Love You’ are among Black Flags’ best in that style. The three lengthy songs on side two, however, point toward the blues-tinged heavy metal style the band would explore over its next several albums, like some amalgam of Black Sabbath and the Stooges.