Damaged (Black Flag Album) - Reception

Reception

While the album did not gain much attention from the general press on its original release, the album retrospectively been given critical acclaim and has been cited as one of the most important hardcore punk albums ever released. Rolling Stone in their retrospective review says that "Black Flag lived up to it, defining L.A. hardcore punk with violent guitar and the pissed-off scream of Henry Rollins, especially on "TV Party" and "Rise Above." Punks still listen to Damaged, and parents still hate it."Pitchfork Media in their retrospective review from 2002 says "...Black Flag took on the essential ferocity of men about to snap, and combined that with an acidic sense of humor and these things called "songs", a concept that many of the wannabe punkers of the day were still trying to sort out. Damaged hit in 1981, and by 1982, four bars bearing the Black Flag name had been airbrushed across miles and miles of spiked leather. Conflicting feelings of violence, apathy, rage, and self-satire course through this one, the essential touchstone of the entire genre of West Coast hardcore, crystallizing the turmoil of the movement. Listen to "Rise Above" and try not to be incensed, then listen to "TV Party" and try not to laugh out loud. That's awesome." Robert Christgau gave the album a very high rating of a "A-" and saying "...Greg Ginn is the greatest noise guitarist since Johnny Thunders, new vocalist Henry Rollins can snarl along any tortured contour they serve up, and "Rise Above," "Six Pack," and the uproarious "TV Party" prove they can write songs as well as gnash fragments." John Dougan of Allmusic gave it a perfect five star rating saying "... Although Black Flag had been recording for three years prior to this release, the fact that Henry Rollins was now their lead singer made all the difference. His furious bellow and barely contained ferocity was the missing piece the band needed to become great. Also, guitarist/mastermind Greg Ginn wrote a slew of great songs for this record that, while suffused with the usual punk conceits (alienation, boredom, disenfranchisement), were capable of making one laugh out loud, especially the protoslacker satire "TV Party"..." and also noted "...Extremely controversial when it was released, Damaged endured the slings and arrows of outrageous criticism (some reacted as though this record alone would cause the fall of America's youth) to become and remain an important document of its time."

Over the years since the album's original release it has been recognized as a punk classic and one of the most influential punk records ever made by appearing on a number of "best of" lists by punk fans and critics alike. In 2003, the album was ranked number 340 on Rolling Stone's list of The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. Pitchfork Media also ranked it number 25 on its "Top 100 Albums of the 1980s". On the user ranked site Rateyourmusic, it has been listed as the 18th best album of 1981 and the 1284th greatest of all time overall.