My War

For the book, see My War: Killing Time in Iraq.

My War
Studio album by Black Flag
Released	March 1984
Recorded	December 1983
Genre	Hardcore punk, sludge metal
Length	40:24
Label	SST
Producer	Greg Ginn, Spot, Bill Stevenson
Black Flag chronology
The First Four Years (1983) My War (1984) Family Man (1984)

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	[1]
Piero Scaruffi	[2]
Robert Christgau	(B-) [3]

My War is the second full length album by the American hardcore punk band Black Flag. It was released in 1984 on SST Records.

Black Flag's founder and primary songwriter Greg Ginn played bass guitar in addition to his usual guitar; "Dale Nixon" (credited for playing bass on the album) is a pseudonym.

My War was released after a long period where the band could not release any albums due to a legal dispute with Unicorn Records.

The first six songs on the a-side of My War are similar to the material on 1981's Damaged, but the three songs on the b-side proved that Black Flag was moving away from the band's early, fast-paced material. All songs on side B are played at about half the pace of the band's earlier material, each clocking in at over six minutes, and display a doomy, ominous sound indebted to Black Sabbath. My War is generally cited as being a major influence on many bands in the sludge metal and grunge genres. Two of the songs featured on the album are solely written by Chuck Dukowski (My War, I Love You) though he was no longer a member of the band by this point and does not perform on the album.

Track listing

Side A

1. "My War" (Dukowski) – 3:46
2. "Can't Decide" (Ginn) – 5:22
3. "Beat My Head Against the Wall" (Ginn) – 2:34
4. "I Love You" (Dukowski) – 3:27
5. "Forever Time" (Ginn/Rollins) – 2:30
6. "The Swinging Man" (Ginn/Rollins) – 3:04

Side B

1. "Nothing Left Inside" (Ginn/Rollins) – 6:44
2. "Three Nights" (Ginn/Rollins) – 6:03
3. "Scream" (Ginn) – 6:52

Personnel

• Henry Rollins - vocals
• Greg Ginn - guitar, producer
• Dale Nixon - bass
• Bill Stevenson - drums, producer
• Spot - producer, engineer, mixer
• Raymond Pettibon - artwork

References

1. ^ Dougan, John. My War at Allmusic. Retrieved 2011-07-01.
2. ^ Piero Scaruffi: Black Flag
3. ^ Robert Christgau: Black Flag reviews