The discography of the incalculably influential Bad Brains is in the midst of a long-overdue reissue program, and as the releases are coming through Bad Brains Records with assistance from ORG Music, this return to circulation has been a sweet development for both the fans and the band. I Against I, the beloved 1986 album from this stylistically restless outfit returns to availability this week; the options are compact disc, cassette, and black or plutonium color vinyl tucked into its original sleeve or a fresh Punk Note jacket designed by John Yates. Arguments will long persist over Bad Brains greatest achievement, but this album, their third and biggest seller, is surely a contender.
The Bad Brains story has been well documented. One of the few bands to come to punk from jazz fusion, they were a powerhouse of precise energy that barreled forth so furiously that the barrage could register as barely controlled. African-Americans in a scene dominated by Caucasians, Bad Brains stood out and excelled because they remained true to their experience, broadening the punk landscape rather than conforming to its more prevalent norms.
For some listeners, Bad Brains are the only hardcore punk band that matters. I don’t share this viewpoint, but do acknowledge that the list of worthy contemporaries is a short one, and will add that many of the other solid HC bands from the same era took direct inspiration from singer H.R., guitarist Dr. Know, bassist Darryl Jenifer, and drummer Earl Hudson.
Bad Brains weren’t perfect, however. They were enthusiastic about reggae (enough so that they became Rastafarians), and while that was admirable (and as said, helped to set them apart), the band’s excursions into the style, if not terrible, are still pretty far from top tier. I Against I is the first Bad Brains full-length release to not include any straight reggae tunes, which makes it their most consistently satisfying album to that point, even as its stand out moments don’t rocket as far into the stratosphere as those on the self-titled debut from 1982.
But elements of reggae are still perceptible as I Against I plays, particularly in H.R.’s vocals during “Secret 77,” a cut that finds them branching out into non-toxic funk-punk, a merger also heard in “She’s Calling You.” Here, the presence of reggae strengthens the whole. It’s an influence, often lyrical (e.g. “House of Suffering”) rather than a fully adopted style.
And on the stylistic front, Bad Brains had evolved significantly since the Ric Ocasek-produced Rock for Light in 1983, an album that featured a handful of re-recordings of songs from Bad Brains (which at the time was available only on cassette through the ROIR label). Not everyone was pleased with the progression. Shortly after I Against I’s release, some listeners decried it as misbegotten foray into metal, but that assessment ultimately proves off-target.
Now, there’s no denying the impact of metal on the record, and right off the bat in the choppy echoey thud of the short opening instrumental “Intro” and how it’s followed by a brief burst of rapid fire guitar spazz at the start of “I Against I,” the metallic guitar tinge a recurring motif (see the soloing in “Hired Gun” and closer “Return to Heaven”) but deftly executed and not overdone. “Re-Ignition” also displays a metal influence, but with spring action intensity and not a trace of plod.
In an era when scads of hardcore bands were taking an offramp into speed metal, the notoriously fast paced Bad Brains chose to slow it down and increase the heaviness. They were adapting and expanding rather than dropping one sound for another. The title track backs this up; it wasn’t common knowledge at the time but the first recording of “I Against I” dates to 1980 (belatedly released in 1997 on “The Omega Sessions” 10-inch).
“I Against I” is the closest the album gets to the hardcore that established them on the scene, but the song still connected as something brand spanking new in 1986. H.R.’s vocal on “Secret Love,” recorded over the telephone from Lorton Reformatory where he was serving a sentence for a drug offence, deepens the record’s emotional heft, solidifying I Against I’s achievement amid struggles and false starts before and after. Relating to Bad Brains’ discography and to any shelf dedicated to rock of the 1980s, it’s indispensable.
GRADED ON A CURVE:
A
