In My Head (album)
In My Head | ||||
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Studio album by | ||||
Released | October 1985 | |||
Recorded | October 1984, January 1985, March 1985 | |||
Studio | Total Access Recording, Redondo Beach, California | |||
Genre | ||||
Length | 37:12 47:31 (original cassette and CD reissue) | |||
Label | SST (045) | |||
Producer | Greg Ginn, Bill Stevenson, David Tarling | |||
Black Flag chronology | ||||
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In My Head is the sixth studio album by American punk band Black Flag. It was released in 1985 on SST Records, and was their final studio album before their breakup in 1986. The CD reissue adds three of the four songs that later appeared on the I Can See You EP, replicating the original 1985 cassette release which came out concurrent to the LP.
After building a reputation for confrontational hardcore punk, late-era Black Flag turned to a more experimental, heavy metal-inflected sound, in particular on their last two albums. Greg Ginn intended In My Head to be his first solo album.[1] The cover is a collage of six drawings by Ginn's brother Raymond Pettibon which SST cut up and used without paying him and without his permission, resulting in Raymond cutting ties with the label.[2]
Reception
Review scores | |
---|---|
Source | Rating |
Encyclopedia of Popular Music | [4] |
The Great Rock Discography | 6/10[5] |
MusicHound | 3.5/5[6] |
Punknews | [7] |
The Rolling Stone Album Guide | [8] |
Sounds | [9] |
Spin Alternative Record Guide | 6/10[10] |
The album received very positive reviews upon release. Robert Palmer, writing for The New York Times, found the music to be "intriguingly, sometimes dazzlingly fresh and sophisticated, but the band hasn't had to sacrifice an iota of the raw intensity and directness that are punk's spiritual center." He compared the "polyphony of shifting shapes that is the principal guitar motif in the brilliant 'White Hot'" to "listening to the once-revolutionary guitar break from the Yardbirds' mid-60's hit 'Shapes of Things' while one's turntable goes up in flames." "Yet for all its sophistication," he continued, "this is jagged, abrasive rock and roll, music hard and direct enough to appeal to any punk or hard-rock fan. [...] 'In My Head' is the sound of heavy metal rock as it could be but almost never is, metal without the posturing, the pointless displays of fretboard prowess, the bashing rhythm sections and banal lyrics that have become endemic to the idiom."[11] It also notably received a full score from the English music magazine Sounds, which found it to be even better than the band's debut.[9]
Retrospective reviews have also been largely positive. Punknews found the album to be more innovative & better produced than its predecessors,
Track listing
All tracks are written by Greg Ginn, except where noted
No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
---|---|---|---|
1. | "Paralyzed" |
| 2:39 |
2. | "The Crazy Girl" | 2:46 | |
3. | "Black Love" | 2:42 | |
4. | "White Hot" |
| 4:59 |
5. | "In My Head" |
| 4:30 |
No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
---|---|---|---|
6. | "Drinking and Driving" |
| 3:16 |
7. | "Retired at 21" | 4:56 | |
8. | "Society's Tease" | 6:09 | |
9. | "It's All Up to You" | 5:14 |
No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
---|---|---|---|
1. | "Paralyzed" |
| 2:39 |
2. | "The Crazy Girl" | 2:46 | |
3. | "Black Love" | 2:42 | |
4. | "White Hot" |
| 4:59 |
5. | "In My Head" |
| 4:30 |
6. | "Out of This World" | 2:13 | |
7. | "I Can See You" | 3:22 | |
8. | "Drinking and Driving" |
| 3:16 |
9. | "Retired at 21" | 4:56 | |
10. | "Society's Tease" | 6:09 | |
11. | "It's All Up to You" | 5:14 | |
12. | "You Let Me Down" |
| 3:40 |
- Tracks 6, 7 and 12 reissued in 1989 on the I Can See You EP.
Personnel
- Henry Rollins – vocals
- Greg Ginn – guitar
- Kira Roessler – bass, background vocals (on "It's All Up to You")
- Bill Stevenson – drums
- Raymond Pettibon – artwork
References
- ^ Earles 2014, p. 43.
- ^ Chick 2011, p. 345.
- ^ AllMusic. Retrieved 2011-07-01.
- ISBN 978-0-85712-595-8.
- ISBN 978-0-86241-827-4.
- ISBN 1-57859-061-2.
- ^ a b "Black Flag – In My Head". www.punknews.org. May 7, 2002.
- ISBN 9780743201698.
- ^ a b "Black Flag: Damaged (SST 007) ****/In My Head (SST 045) *****. By Neil Perry : Articles, reviews and interviews from Rock's Backpages".
- ISBN 0-679-75574-8.
- ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved March 16, 2021.
- ^ Chick, Stevie (November 20, 2016). "The 10 best Black Flag songs from 1981-1985". loudersound. Retrieved March 16, 2021.
- ^ Sacher, Andrew (January 29, 2019). "Black Flag Albums and EPs Ranked Worst To Best". BrooklynVegan. Retrieved March 16, 2021.
Works cited
- Earles, Andrew (2014). Gimme Indie Rock: 500 Essential American Underground Rock Albums 1981–1996. Voyageur Press. ISBN 978-0-7603-4648-8.
- Chick, Stevie (2011). Spray Paint the Walls: The Story of Black Flag. PM Press. ISBN 978-1-60486-584-4.