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The First Four Years
Compilation album by
Black Flag
Released1983 (1983)
RecordedJanuary 1978 – April 1981 at Media Art Studios in Hermosa Beach, California
GenreHardcore punk
Length24:40
LabelSST Records
ProducerSpot, Geza X, Black Flag
Black Flag chronology
Everything Went Black
(1983) 		The First Four Years
(1983) 		My War
(1984)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[1]
Alternative Rock9/10[2]
Encyclopedia of Popular Music[3]
MusicHound Rock2/5[4]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide[5]

The First Four Years is a compilation album by the American hardcore punk band Black Flag. It was released in 1983 on SST Records. The compilation consists of all of the group's material released before Henry Rollins became the band's vocalist in 1981. It essentially collects the extended plays Nervous Breakdown (1979), Jealous Again (1980), Six Pack (1981), and the single "Louie Louie", with two tracks from various artists' compilation albums.

Tracks 1–4 are taken from Nervous Breakdown, tracks 5–9 are taken from Jealous Again, tracks 11–13 are from Six Pack, and tracks 15–16 are taken from the "Louie Louie" single. Tracks 10 and 14 were originally released on the New Alliance Records compilation albums Cracks in the Sidewalk (1980) and Chunks (1981).

In 2007, The Guardian included the album in their list of "1000 Albums to Hear Before You Die".[6]

Track listing

All tracks are written by Greg Ginn, except where noted

No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Nervous Breakdown" 2:08
2."Fix Me" 0:57
3."I've Had It" 1:26
4."Wasted"Keith Morris, Ginn0:51
5."Jealous Again" 1:52
6."Revenge" 0:58
7."White Minority" 1:03
8."No Values" 1:45
9."You Bet We've Got Something Personal Against You!"Chuck Dukowski, Ginn0:52
10."Clocked In" 1:30
11."Six Pack" 2:19
12."I've Heard It Before"Dukowski, Ginn1:38
13."American Waste"Dukowski1:32
14."Machine"Dukowski, Dez Cadena1:25
15."Louie Louie"Richard Berry, Additional lyrics by Cadena1:18
16."Damaged I"Ginn, Cadena4:05
Total length:24:40

Personnel

Production

References

  1. ^ Dougan, John. "The First Four Years – Black Flag | Songs, Reviews, Credits, Awards | AllMusic". AllMusic. Retrieved July 3, 2015.
  2. ^ Thompson, Dave (April 12, 2000). Alternative rock. San Francisco : Miller Freeman Books ; Berkeley, CA : Distributed to the book trade in the U.S. and Canada by Publishers Group West ; Milwaukee, WI : Distributed to the music trade in the U.S. and Canada by Hal Leonard Publishing. ISBN 9780879306076 – via Internet Archive.
  3. ^ Larkin, Colin (2011). "Black Flag". The Encyclopedia of Popular Music (5th concise ed.). Omnibus Press. ISBN 978-0-85712-595-8.
  4. ^ Gary Graff, ed. (1996). MusicHound Rock: The Essential Album Guide (1st ed.). London: Visible Ink Press. ISBN 978-0-7876-1037-1.
  5. ^ Considine, J. D. (2004). "Black Flag". In Brackett, Nathan; Hoard, Christian (eds.). The New Rolling Stone Album Guide (4th ed.). Simon & Schuster. pp. 77–78. ISBN 0-7432-0169-8.
  6. ^ "Artists beginning with B (part 1)". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved June 2, 2023.
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