February 11, 2022 by A.S. Van Dorston

Speed of lightning, roar of thunder, Bad Brains were D.C. superheroes who transformed hardcore punk, shattering expectations and limitations.

Originally released on cassette only, and referred to as “the yellow tape,” Bad Brains’ first album has been called the greatest hardcore punk album ever by Adam Yauch of the Beastie Boys. Sounding like the recording made while the band performed in a dumpster one alley over, it’s not the easiest entry point to the band’s ferocious energy. But you can’t deny this band has a compelling presence and fascinating history. They originally formed in 1976 as Mind Power, a jazz fusion band influenced by Chick Corea’s Return To Forever and John McLaughlin’s Mahavishnu Orchestra. After discovering punk the next year, they changed their name based on the Ramones song “Bad Brain,” and recorded a 16 song demo in 1979 that was released in 1996 as Black Dot. The band incorporated the furious speed of Mahavishnu Orchestra into their punk repertoire, and conversely, after seeing Bob Marley & the Wailers they also started incorporating slower reggae songs into their set. Despite their lyrics emphasizing the theme of “P.M.A.” (Positive Mental Attitude), their fans got so riled up by the live sets (and H.R.’s incredible backflips) that they became destructive, taking the band’s directive to “mash it up” by starting the practice of moshing, but in a manner so extreme as to regularly cause damage and injury. As a result the band were banned from playing in their hometown of D.C. They relocated to New York City, often playing at CBGB. They recorded their first official album at Jerry Williams’ New York’s 171-A Studios, so not quite a dumpster, though with 15′ ceilings and 60′ length, it’s dimensions were close to the most famous dumpster in the world, CBGB, located less than a mile away.

The fact that the five tracks they recorded on a 24 track in 1980, later released as the Omega Sessions EP, sounded crystal clear compared to this album, suggests that the muddy sound was intentional. On the other hand, the relatively inexperienced Jerry “Jay Dublee” Williams, former guitarist/vocalist of North Carolina punk band Th’ Cigaretz, was tasked as recording engineer and mixer. From what I can tell from credits, aside from possibly engineering the Beastie Boys’ Pollywog Stew EP (produced by his bandmate Scott Jarvis), it’s the first album he worked on. It sounds like they might have heard Hüsker Dü’s Land Speed Record (1981), and wanted to raise the stakes, combining Minor Threat’s precision with Black Flag’s raw fury, and perhaps unintentionally, British metal band Venom’s rough recording on Welcome to Hell (1981). If there was any influence of speed and thrash metal though, I think it could have been Metallica and Slayer drawing inspiration partially from Bad Brains. Bands were playing fast, the world was changing faster, and Bad Brains outpaced them all. They would more overtly incorporate metal seven years later on Quickness (1989). I’ve been conflicted about the sound for decades. On one hand, if tracks from Bad Brains comes up in a mix, it sounds like garbage next to better produced music, including pretty much all other punk albums. Most of the British ones of course had the benefit of major label budgets. But Black Flag, Minor Threat, Dead Kennedys, Misfits, Bad Religion and Discharge didn’t have money either. So we’re back to the sound being mostly intentional. And like the Stooges’ Raw Power (1973), in the context of just playing the album all the way through, whether via a cassette in a boombox, vinyl or lossless FLAC files on a powerful soundsystem, turned up enough, it’s power is undeniable.

“Sailin’ On” kicks it off with one of their best songs, vocalist H.R. shows his ability to agily switch between singing melodies and screaming like a banshee, Dr. Know’s guitar showering sparks, uplifting the band and their audience immediately to a higher plane. “Attitude” establishes within 1:19 that contrary to other punkers giving zero fucks, Bad Brains with their P.M.A. give ALL THE FUCKS, packaged so densely it’ll punch a hole from your speakers to the earth’s core. “Banned in D.C.” is unique in that it cuts the velocity in half mid-song, then at 1:30 we get a stunning, mournful, brilliant guitar solo from Dr. Know. Another all-time hardcore punk great in the books, the first five songs done in just 7 minutes 40 seconds.

What’s that, a deep, resonant dub bass? Yes indeed, they found their bottom end for the dubby instrumental “Jah Calling,” giving an irie showcase for bassist Darryl Jenifer and H.R.’s brother, drummer Earl Hudson, along with lovely guitar leads. The shift in sound is jarring, as it sounds like a completely different band. It makes me wonder what it would have sounded like if they hopped the train to the Bronx and had Lloyd “Bullwackie” Barnes produce. It took a few years for the band to figure out how to better fuse the reggae with the punk, but the dub track, the roots reggae “Leaving Babylon” and almost Lovers Rock of “I Love I Jah” provide nice palate cleansers between the muddy roar. It’s worth mentioning that last June, the album was reissued on Bad Brains’ own label, and remastered by Dave Gardner, who I went to college with! It’s by far the best sounding version I’ve heard, a must hear.

At this point in the album, the energy crescendos with a string of classics, from “Fearless Vampire Killers,” “I,” “Big Takeover,” “Pay to Cum” (a superior performance to the version on their first single), and “Right Brigade.” H.R. spits lyrics like a machine gun punctuated by shrieks, his delivery completely unique for that era. 15 tracks in thirty three and a half minutes, dunzo. Maybe the greatest hardcore punk album of all time. Perhaps the band was unsatisfied with the recording, or maybe they just didn’t have enough songs written in time for the Ric Ocasek produced Rock For Light (1983), which re-recorded seven tracks from the yellow tape. His production provides more clarity, especially the vocals and guitar, but sacrifices the low end. Ocasek remastered it in 1991, and perversely sped up the tapes, making it sound even more tinny. Gardner stepped in again and rescued it with a remaster in September. I’d love to hear him remaster I Against I (1986), but it seems there may be issues regaining ownership of the album from SST. It’s quite different sounding, incorporating The Police as in influence, and is probably the album I’ve listened to the most from the band.

At that point, one of the best live bands to ever descend to planet earth should have been huge stars. There were a lot of intentionally missed opportunities, including a deal with Chris Blackwell and Island, due to H.R.’s struggles with mental illness. The band continues to resurface occasionally — I even saw them at Riot Fest in 2017. They were but a dim shadow of their 80s incarnation, and their debut “yellow tape” remains their signature album. | Buy the reissue

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2pUlNfdnsAM