Various Artists Rise Above: 24 Black Flag Songs to Benefit the West Memphis Three

Court will come to order.  This is somewhat embarrassing for me but I have a confession to make.  Even though I am a big fan of old school punk rock, I only recently bought a copy of The First Four Years from Black Flag.  I know, I know!  Shame washes over me in waves, but hold on a second before you pass sentence.  Allow me an attempt to defend myself.  I may not have owned the originals, but that does not mean I have been unfamiliar with many of the mighty Flag’s songs.  Your Honor, members of the jury, I’d like to introduce Exhibit A into evidence.

What is Exhibit A you ask?  Why, only an absolutely crushing album that appeared late in 2002 we will refer to as Rise Above.  This album is the brainchild of Henry Rollins, a name that might be familiar to some of you, and was brought about as part of his efforts to raise money for the defense fund of three incarcerated young men known as the West Memphis Three.  While it is not my place to give an opinion on their plight during my own trial, I will direct you to www.wm3.org for some interesting, perhaps infuriating reading material.  Getting back to the case at hand…yes, Henry Rollins wanted to produce a record which would adequately convey his outrage over what he perceived to be a great injustice.  To do this he needed to utilize what he believed to be the ultimate protest music, the songs of Black Flag.

Now with the desired music in mind, he decided what kind of benefit record to produce.  Sure there was the tried and true option of getting other bands to record a cover of their favorite track, but that would not produce the cohesion that Rollins was seeking.  No, in order to make something that flowed well from start to finish he hired the band Mother Superior (not coincidentally they were Rollins Band at the same time) to lay down blistering, inspired versions of all the chosen Black Flag songs.  Once that was completed, the only remaining issue facing Rollins was who would sing on the record.  Believing that very little notoriety would be gained from having only himself singing, he decided to match each song with a hand-picked vocalist.  And this ladies and gentlemen, is how Rise Above achieves the colossal status that it deserves.

The laundry list of vocalists that took time to be a part of this album reads like a who’s who from the entire music world.  All-star lineup does not do them justice.  You don’t believe me?  Fine, I’ll illustrate.  From the punk world there is Iggy Pop, Keith Morris, Exene Cervenka, Tim and Lars from Rancid, Chuck Dukowski, Casey Chaos, Inger Lorre, Kira Roessler, and Henry Rollins (of course!).  Rock singers more your thing?  How about Neil Fallon, Cedric Bixler Zavala, Mike Patton, Tom Araya, Corey Taylor, Dean Ween, NickOliveri, and last but certainly not least Lemmy.  And that’s not all!  No sir, covering the worlds of hip hop and country are Chuck D, Ice T, Hank III, and Ryan Adams.  Phew!  I’ll just say this.  If you read the names of all those vocalists and failed to get excited over the inclusion of just one of them, we’re not friends and you need to throw away your music playing devices.

As stated before all of these vocalists were hand picked, then matched up to the Black Flag song their voice/attitude was most compatible with.  Great care was clearly taken in this regard, and the results are absolutely devastating.  I’m not joking.  Pick any song on this album and listen with awe as the vocals deliver haymakers to your eardrums with their inherent greatness.  Personal favorites include Hank III’s sublimely psychotic take on “No Values”, Casey Chaos furiously ripping apart “Depression”, Neil Fallon’s thunderously gruff “American Waste”, and Mike Patton’s frenetic/spastic “Six Pack”.  Why stop there when Tom Araya lays his arresting sandpaper screams over “Revenge”, and Lemmy lends a previously unheard musicality to “Thirsty and Miserable” with his trademark rumblings.  What really amazes me though is listening to Keith Morris on the original “Nervous Breakdown” and then listening to his new take onthe same song off of Rise Above.  The man displays substantially more vim and vigor throughout the new version, and has clearly learned a thing or two over the intervening years in conveying anger effectively through his voice.  Simply phenomenal!

In conclusion your honor, ladies and gentlemen of the jury…yes, I am guilty of not owning the original versions of most Black Flag songs till early this year.  But let’s not pretend I have had no prior knowledge of these wonderful Greg Ginn/Chuck Dukowski compositions up to this point.  That would be factually inaccurate seeing as how I have shown through corroborating evidence that for almost a decade now the aforementioned music has been a strong presence in my life.  All I ask is that you pick up the album RiseAbove: 24 Black Flag Songs to Benefit the West Memphis Three, listen to it, love it, and then come to a decision.  I rest my case.Actually, on second thought, you had better not listen first.  You’ll be so overwhelmed with enjoyment, we won’t see you for a while as you listen to the album over, and over, and over again.

--Penfold