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Black Flag’s Damaged lp on Unicorn/MCA (original pressing) is not really a rare record. 5,000 were produced and although a lot ended up in cut out bins, a large number are still in circulation. Still there are few records that are just cooler to own. Everything about this lp is a landmark, but the infamous “As A Parent I Found It An Anti Parent Record” sticker placed over the MCA logo just sends it over the top as far as coolness/collectibility. It’s perfect. Even though its been pointed out there are, musically, some problems with Damaged (the mix is extremely uneven, Rollins delivery being arguably flat, the song TV Party in general), it’s still a flawless record when taken as a whole. The questionable aspects do nothing to dull the full impact of it, and Greg Ginn’s ambitions are fully realized. It was dangerous, inspiring dozens of bands across the country and breaking the minds of every youth that was exposed to it. It’s scuzzy and thuggish and the logical conclusion of Black Flag phase I. It’s one of the most perfectly titled records ever made. It’s everything it ought to be, and everything it had to be to make hardcore matter.

In some ways Damaged is a little too much of an archetype now. It has become the Paranoid of the Black Flag catalog. It gets unfairly dismissed in favor of later releases that contain more experimental, or that are referenced less by outsiders. Do not make this mistake. There’s a reason it’s the Black Flag everyone knows.