Black Flag Everything Went Black CD

Black Flag: Keith Morris, Chavo Pederast, Dez Cadena (vocals); Greg Ginn (guitar); Chuck Dukowski (bass); Robo (drums).
Engineers include: Spot, Dave Tarling, Geza X.
Principally recorded at Media Art Studio, Hermosa Beach, California. Includes liner notes by Spot.
Recording information: Golden Age, Los Angeles, CA (01/1978-04/1981); Media Art, Los Abgeles, CA (01/1978-04/1981); Music Lab (01/1978-04/1981); Target Video, San Francisco, CA (01/1978-04/1981).
When Everything Went Black was first released in 1983, Black Flag was in the middle of a backbreaking legal dispute with Unicorn Records. As a result of litigation, the band was prevented from using the Black Flag name on any records. Hence the original packaging for this album, which listed only the names of individual bandmembers on the cover (this was rectified on subsequent issues). It's a double-album (on vinyl) compilation of previously released material and outtakes -- though the European edition features a wholly different running order. The material, dating from 1978 to 1981, is excellent in places, average in others. However, only obsessives need track it down -- as signified by the inclusion of two versions of several songs (including stalwarts "Damaged" and "Police Story"). The fourth side of the original vinyl issue also included a sequence of radio spots discussing forthcoming Black Flag gigs, which is entertaining stuff, but it's more useful as a historical document than a listening experience. ~ Alex Ogg
EVERYTHING WENT BLACK was originally released as a stop-gap during a protracted legal skirmish with SST's former distributor, Unicorn Records, which temporarily barred Black Flag from using its own name. As a result, the original two-LP vinyl edition featured only the bandmembers' names for identification.
Featuring live tracks and studio outtakes recorded between 1978 and 1981 with singers Keith Morris (later of the Circle Jerks), Chavo and Dez Cadena, EVERYTHING WENT BLACK is something of a hodgepodge, with several songs repeated by different lineups. Despite its patchwork nature, it's a surprisingly solid and illuminating overview of the band's pre-Rollins years, as they slowly progressed from sloppy Dictators-like goofiness into more streamlined and serious proto-hardcore. The highlight, however, is "Crass Commercialism," a side-long suite of radio ads for Black Flag shows that's a fascinating and often hilarious audio souvenir of the halcyon days of early West Coast punk.