bidhardcore.com

Tasty jam from the far east today (for the Sox). Black Flag - My War; Japanese pressing on VAP. One of the coolest Black Flag rarities ever is this lp. I think VAP is a Japanese major, I know they licensed some other big name punk records like Discharge, Septic Death, GBH, as well as a lot of metal, and new wave. I believe this copy would have included an obi-strip if you bought it new, but other than that it looks to be in good shape. One cool thing about this edition of the record is it actually includes the lyrics to the album in English and Japanese. In the US you could mail away to SST for a special booklet of Raymond Pettibone art with the lyrics, but the lp didn’t come with a lyric sheet.

If you don’t know this album I don’t even know what to say. It’s one of the most controversial punk records ever, you either love it or hate it. Conventional wisdom at the time was that it was some kind of sellout, but listen to the infamous B-Side and tell me there’s anything compromised about what you hear. While it may not have been punk enough for purists in 1984, it has since been accepted by many as one of Black Flag’s definite masterpieces. I bought My War as a used tape when I was in high school and found it left me feeling sick to my stomach by the time the second song had started. The atonal leads colliding with Sabbath-esque sludge and minimal basement style production all pointed to one word. BLEAK.