Bad Brains

Bad Brains, a quartet of Black Rastafarians from Washington, D.C., were not only among the inventors of American hardcore but also taught hundreds of punk bands how to graft that sound onto heavy metal and energize it with Black musical genres. In this way, they paved the way for bands like the Red Hot Chili Peppers.  Ethnically and socially distant from the pockets of nihilism and violence that had generated punk, Bad Brains actually combined Jamaican spiritualism with the materialistic anger of American cities.

They formed in 1977 in Washington, D.C., from the fusion of four very different talents: bassist Darryl Jenifer came from Mindpower, a jazz-rock combo, but had Led Zeppelin in his blood; guitarist Dr. Know (Gary Miller) had only played in a funk band; singer H.R. (short for "Hunting Rod," real name Paul Hudson) had grown up with the staccato rhythms of reggae; and his brother Earl Hudson on drums had no musical training at all. After moving to New York and being inspired by the Sex Pistols, the four Black teenagers embraced punk and gradually began to build increasingly radical sounds, culminating in 1980 with hardcore and the single Pay To Cum, the quintessence of the genre: frantic, raw, rowdy, and explosive (duration: one and a half minutes). The original 1979 recordings were later released as Black Dots (Caroline, 1997).

Two years later, a self-titled EP was released (on Alternative Tentacles), taken from an earlier cassette (released on CD in 1989 by ROIR as Attitude), showing a band already mature. Banned In D.C. is the new classic, an anthem of rebellion that adopts the depraved boogie of the Stooges. Big Takeover is another masterpiece of the period, a powerful and pounding heavy metal track with catchy and imaginative guitar riffs and a hint of the Misfits. The EP also contains reggae tracks, which are the most debatable part of their repertoire. The reggae is not fused with hardcore but kept as a separate genre, and in reggae, Bad Brains (followers of the Rastafarian religion) never truly excelled. Likewise, the next EP pairs the terrible and lightning-fast war cry of Destroy Babylon and the breakneck rock and roll of Coptic Times with the weak reggae lullaby I And I Survive.

The first album, Bad Brains (ROIR, 1982, later revised, remixed, and reissued as Rock For Light (PVS, 1983, Caroline, 1991)), showcases their strengths and weaknesses. On one hand, there is superb technique, infinitely more cultured and varied than the hardcore average (including blues guitar solos and funky bass lines) and the ability to inject elements of their Black musical roots into their hardcore blasts. On the other hand, there are the longer reggae songs compared to the rest of the album.  The legend has a voice: H.R.'s hoarse and twisted singing, capable of modulating vocal registers like Prince and Iggy Pop, Mick Jagger and Robert Plant, with a breathless, psychotic punk style. At fever pitch, the vocals become completely freeform and do not even try to synchronize with the music. His masterpiece may be the sarcastic chorus of Sailin' On, delivered with the fervor of a gospel singer and counterpointed by call-and-response choruses, all at a frantic pace.  But there is also another equally fundamental voice: Dr. Know’s guitar. The tracks where Bad Brains best express their ferocity are those where Dr. Know can unleash himself, like the title track, with evolutions that spasmodically accelerate Chuck Berry’s style, or Right Brigade, which starts as a boogie, speeds up into heavy metal, and culminates in epileptic thrash. It is the guitar that simultaneously assimilates elements of Black roots music, from boogie to rhythm and blues.  The rhythm section, for its part, emphasizes the comic moments of the album. The drums imitate circus percussion in the nursery rhyme-like How Long Can A Punk Get and take on a quirky vaudeville rhythm in We Will Not.  The lyrics range from the endlessly repeated line of Attitude over an obsessive drum roll to the political militancy of a militant anthem charging like Riot Squad. Everything shines with uncontrollable electricity. The only songs longer than two minutes are the reggae laments. Rock For Light suffers from some loss of momentum but where it succeeds it is ten years ahead of the rest of hardcore.

In 1983 the group split up: Dr. Know and Jenifer formed a power trio with the drummer from Cro-Mags, while H.R. recorded a less successful solo album, It’s About Luv (Olive Tree), before being overwhelmed by drug problems. They reunited in 1985 and in 1986 released their second album, I Against I (SST, 1986), while H.R. was in prison. The sound, greatly slowed down and somewhat heavier, is now a relatively straightforward and melodic heavy metal.  H.R. screams less and sings more; Dr. Know throws riffs and glissandos about like a new Hendrix but never really “cuts” like him (in this way he is more similar to Jeff Beck). The rhythm section maintains a calm composure.  In a way, the spiritualism that had always lurked now prevails over proletarian rage. It is not surprising then that songs like Let Me Help and Return To Heaven display a certain schizophrenia: the first torn between thrash rhythms, heavy guitar work, violent slogans, and a psychedelic chorus; the second sung with a demon-like wail alternating with an intense mantra, while the guitar alternates blues solos with metallic staccato. While the opening title track remains adrenaline-fueled with a frenzy of irregular vocalizations, the rest tends toward melodrama, elaborated and sardonic like Blue Oyster Cult; especially Re-Ignition and Sacred Love, fractured and anguished blues a la Led Zeppelin but with an Arab melody whispered on the phone (literally: H.R. “phoned” the melody from prison). Reggae has finally been assimilated, according to the style of early Police. There even appears a ballad, She’s Calling You. If the first album remains the classic of the genre, I Against I is the one that most influenced later generations.

Even more “metallic” is Quickness (Caroline, 1989), released after the usual three-year pause and now dominated by Dr. Know’s staccato bombardments. The fusion of funk and heavy metal, as in With The Quickness and Soul Craft, further expands the group’s horizons. Voyage Into Infinity is one of their mystical peaks.

Another four years pass before Dr. Know makes the next move with the album Rise (Epic, 1993) and a renewed lineup. Songs like Rise, Coming In Numbers, and Unidentified are now very close to AOR heavy metal. Love Is The Answer and Yes Jah are the final echoes of reggae. The new singer Israel Joseph-I is not to blame; it is Dr. Know who decided it was time to “sell” his guitar licks to a wider audience. The legendary guitarist remembers he was only punk on the title track and on Right Brigade, which explode as punk metal should.

Meanwhile, H.R. had launched his solo career with the Human Rights (the self-titled album on SST is from 1987), tempering heavy metal tendencies with funkier, reggae, and ultimately African influences. The singer withered amid the Freudian remnants of his childhood, producing increasingly less interesting albums rooted in Rastafarian humanism.

God Of Love (Maverick, 1995) marked the reunion of H.R. and Dr Know. The marriage works only for one song, the opening Cool Mountaineer, and occasionally within the creative reggae mutations of Long Time, To The Heavens and How I Love Thee. The funk-metal of God Of Love and Tongue Tee Tie, and the soul-metal of Justice Keepers and Thank Jah sound senile if not trivial.

Build A Nation (2007) marked yet another reunion of Bad Brains with a sound that was remarkably similar to the original one.