02/15/12: Black Flag - The Complete 1982 Demos (1984)

02/15/12: Black Flag - The Complete 1982 Demos (1984)

1. What Can You Believe
2. Yes, I Know
3. Slip It In
4. Modern Man
5. My War
6. Black Coffee
7. Beat My Head Against The Wall
8. Can't Decide
9. I Love You
10. Nothing Left Inside / Scream
11. I Love You*
12. My War*
13. Interview*
14. Swinging Man*

     Here comes more of my recently learned Black Flag history. I have been reviewing some of their full lengths, but I had always wanted to check this out. There should only be 1 or 2 more Black Flag releases to go through after this.
     I had always wondered about why their releases came out the way they did. They released "Damaged" in 1981, then they didnt release anything again until 1984 where they released 5 albums throughout '84 and '85. It ends up they were stuck in a lawsuit with their original record label and could not release any music under the name Black Flag until the suit was resolved. They went around that by first releasing a compilation titled "Everything Went Black" under each individual band members names instead of Black Flag.
     During 1982, they recorded a large batch of Demos that would eventually make up the albums "My War" and "Slip It In" (My favorite 2). I don't know how they are circulated now, but it is a widely distributed bootleg and not an official release by them. The 14 Tracks include mostly songs from the previously mentioned 2 albums as well as 2 completely unreleased songs and a live radio performance and interview.
     I had been avoiding these demos basically because i assumed the production quality would be awful. I was definitely proven wrong there. The recordings are actually really nice for Demos recorded in 1982. It really was a collection of many of my favorite Black Flag songs and there were actually a couple versions on these demos that I prefered to the official releases. The 2 unreleased tracks were solid as well seeing that they were from my favorite period of their careers. And Finally the radio session is a really nice bonus. The 3 songs they chose are great. Hank and the band kill it. The recordings are really nice here as well. And to top that all off there is an 8 minute interview with the guys from right after the lawsuit was over and they were able to release My War after over 2 years without ny releases.
     This Bootleg ended up being a must-listen for any Black Flag fan. Great collection. (046)