Black Flag - Slip It In

1984 album showcasing Greg Ginn's increasingly free jazz-orientated guitar playing. SLIP IT IN is the album that forever polarized Black Flag's audience. Many of the band's fans in the California-based hardcore scene felt that this album was a slap in the face to speedy, ultra-streamlined punk. Straight-edge punks, who forswore drink, drugs and sex, were particularly outraged by the near-pornographic title track. On the other hand, the album's lumbering tempos, heavy guitar solos, lengthy songs and dinosaur-strength attack were all incredibly influential in the Pacific Northwest's punk scene. It's hard to imagine Green River or any other early Seattle bands embracing this Vanilla Fudge/Blue Cheer brand of metal without Black Flag's example, and so you could make a case for SLIP IT IN as the first true grunge album. Your reaction to this album will depend on whether or not you think this is a good thing.
Black Flag: Herny Rollins (vocals); Greg Ginn (guitar); Kira (bass, background vocals); Bill Stevenson (drums). Recorded at Total Access, Redondo Beach, California.