220. Rollins Band - the end of silence

220.RBendofsilence,
originally uploaded by jrd550.

Before he hosted bad tv shows, had bit parts in movies, went on spoken word tours and covered himself in red paint to play a 'liar', he fronted Black Flag, a punk band that i honestly don't know much about, but that along with the Dead Kennedy's, Fugazi, etc, formed the basis of the hardcore punk movement. Anyway, this I believe was his first solo effort, and the band is incredibly tight, loud and furious. The majority of tracks are seven minutes plus, with arrangements as complex as Mr.Rollins personality. I always loved the track 'Tearing', where Henry sings 'sometimes things don't work out, and sometimes happens all the time'. Having heard it again for the first time in years I'm afraid the album hasn't aged as well as I had hoped. Henry's vocals sound strained and the songs are annoyingly long instead of epic. Still the band consists of great musicians, a group of guys he would later trade in for his next album, the songs are poignant and well intentioned.

7 out of 10