Bad Brains, “Bad Brains” (ROIR, 1982)
The band that can be credited with inventing both NY and DC hardcore, in their first, most wall-blasting incarnation. You almost can’t believe that this stuff could be so melodic, so fast, so structurally twisted, and so technically spectacular at the same time, but it is.
Try A/1, A/3, B/3, B/4
4/11/11

Bad Brains, “I Against I” (SST, 1986)
Following a hiatus in the wake of their trailblazing proto-HC early work, Bad Brains returned in ’86 with a record that has been described as “a cross between Van Halen, Black Flag and the Police,” which only begins to hint at how original and cool this is. Dub and metal influences, once discrete, are now interwoven into a booming, shimmering, immense Halloween fun-house of tightly coiled sound, the perfect backdrop for HR’s yearning, alienated, soulful voice, as he finally finds his own equivalent of his reggae idols’ hymns of exile and freedom.
Try 4, 5, 10
10/13/11