Bad Brains (album)


Bad Brains is the debut studio album recorded by American hardcore punk/reggae band Bad Brains. Recorded in 1981 and released on the cassette-only label ROIR on February 5, 1982, many fans refer to it as "The Yellow Tape" because of its yellow packaging, much in the way that The Beatles' self-titled record is often called "The White Album". Though Bad Brains had recorded the 16 song Black Dots album in 1979 and the 5-song Omega Sessions EP in 1980, the ROIR cassette was the band's first release of anything longer than a single.

Background and recording

After being banned from all the major clubs in their hometown of Washington, DC, Bad Brains moved to New York City in 1981. In addition to their regular gigs at CBGB's, the band frequented Jerry Williams' 171-A Studios in Alphabet City. Named for its location between 10th and 11th Streets on Avenue A, 171-A was a 60-foot room with a stage at one end and an elevated sound-proof booth at the other. When the Bad Brains played a gig at 171-A in May 1981, Williams recorded it on reel-to-reel tape. The band liked the sound and returned to 171-A to record between August and October 1981. 12 of the 15 tracks on the album came from these sessions, while "Jah Calling", "Pay to Cum" and "I Luv I Jah", were from Williams' live recording in May.

Release

Bad Brains was originally released on February 5, 1982 in cassette-only format on Reachout International Records. The cover art depicts DC's Capitol Building being struck by a bolt of lightning. The original cover art unfolded to include a photo of the band, album credits, lyrics to all the songs, and liner notes by then New York Rocker and Soho News critic Ira Kaplan, who would later front the band Yo La Tengo. Rather than label the tape's sides A/B or one/two, the band designated them Side 1/Side A.
The original edition of the cassette had a white spine on the J-card and a red or yellow cassette shell. Subsequent editions had an all-yellow J-card with either red, gold, or green cassette shells, in a nod toward band's Rastafarian leanings. Later versions appeared in solid white, solid orange, solid yellow and transparent red tape shells. Because the yellow cassette shell was most common and it came in a matching yellow package, many fans referred to it as "The Yellow Tape".

''Bad Brains'' EP

In 1981 the Dead Kennedys' record label Alternative Tentacles opened an office in the United Kingdom to issue special editions of records by American punk bands for the UK market. The single version of the Bad Brains' "Pay to Cum" had appeared on the Alternative Tentacles compilation Let Them Eat Jellybeans! and with the ROIR sessions available, a few songs were selected for a 1982 UK release as a 12" EP. The record's sleeve featured the same lightning-strikes-the-Capitol art that appeared on the ROIR cassette, and the back cover had the inner J-card's band photo, credits, lyrics, and Kaplan's liner notes. The record also mimicked the tape's Side 1/Side A aesthetic, differing in that one side was reggae and the other hardcore punk, unlike the cassette, which interspersed the two genres. Because Alternative Tentacles UK was a short-lived venture, the Bad Brains EP is rare, and for eight years was the only appearance of these songs on vinyl.

Track listing

Side A
  1. Sailin' On
  2. Don't Need It
  3. Attitude
  4. The Regulator
  5. Banned In D.C.
  6. Jah Calling
  7. Supertouch/Shitfit
  8. Leaving Babylon
Side B
  1. Fearless Vampire Killers
  2. I
  3. Big Takeover
  4. Pay To Cum
  5. Right Brigade
  6. I Luv I Jah
  7. Intro

    Reception and influence

When the album was first released, fans and critics alike were stunned to learn that the musicians behind this album – one of the fastest albums of all time upon its release – were African-American Rastafarians who also were skilled at reggae.
The album was a crucial step in the evolution of hardcore punk and the eventual fusion of hard rock and reggae adopted later by bands like Sublime, Fishbone, and 311.
Adam Yauch of Beastie Boys was quoted as saying that this album is "the best punk/hardcore album of all time".
To this day, many people involved in the hardcore scene regard it as one of the greatest hardcore albums of all time and a groundbreaking release for the hardcore punk genre.

Reissues

In 1989, In-Effect Records released a CD version, with the same track listing, titled Attitude: The ROIR Sessions.
In 1990, Dutch East India Trading, through its imprint Homestead Records, was the first label to release the album on vinyl in the United States.
In 1996, ROIR reissued the original album on CD, featuring a hidden bonus track, followed by an on LP version the following year.

Re-recordings

Many of the album's tracks were re-recorded for their 1983 follow-up, Rock for Light, with the exception of "Don't Need It", "The Regulator", "Jah Calling", "Leaving Babylon", "Pay to Cum", "I Luv I Jah". The instrumental final track on Bad Brains, titled "Intro", became the first nine seconds of Rock for Light's title song.

Cover versions

In 2008, the song "Right Brigade" was included in the video game Grand Theft Auto IV, for its reproduction through the in-game radio station Liberty City Hardcore.

Track listing

Personnel

Bad Brains
Production