{
  "slug": "black-flag",
  "name": "Black Flag",
  "description": "Black Flag appears 3 times in our Hardcore Punk and The Eighties lists, placing as high as No. 1. Hand-curated, with a reason for every pick.",
  "updated": "2026-08-31",
  "url": "https://waxonia.com/artist/black-flag/",
  "appearanceCount": 3,
  "distinctRecordings": 2,
  "years": {
    "first": 1978,
    "last": 1981
  },
  "highestPlacing": {
    "rank": 1,
    "list": "Hardcore Punk"
  },
  "appearsOn": [
    {
      "kind": "genre",
      "slug": "hardcore-punk",
      "name": "Hardcore Punk",
      "url": "https://waxonia.com/genre/hardcore-punk/",
      "entries": 2
    },
    {
      "kind": "curator",
      "slug": "the-eighties",
      "name": "The Eighties",
      "url": "https://waxonia.com/theme/the-eighties/",
      "entries": 1
    }
  ],
  "tracks": [
    {
      "trackKey": "black-flag--rise-above",
      "trackUrl": "https://waxonia.com/track/black-flag--rise-above/",
      "title": "Rise Above",
      "year": 1981,
      "label": "SST",
      "isrc": null,
      "whyItMatters": "Henry Rollins's first record with the band, and the closest hardcore came to an anthem it could admit to. Greg Ginn's guitar is atonal and completely deliberate about it.",
      "alsoOn": [
        {
          "kind": "curator",
          "slug": "the-eighties",
          "name": "The Eighties",
          "url": "https://waxonia.com/theme/the-eighties/"
        }
      ],
      "links": {
        "spotify": {
          "url": "https://open.spotify.com/search/Black%20Flag%20Rise%20Above",
          "exact": false
        },
        "youtubeMusic": {
          "url": "https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=wDUYCyajDcs",
          "exact": true
        }
      },
      "rank": 1,
      "on": {
        "kind": "genre",
        "slug": "hardcore-punk",
        "name": "Hardcore Punk",
        "url": "https://waxonia.com/genre/hardcore-punk/"
      },
      "artist": "Black Flag"
    },
    {
      "trackKey": "black-flag--nervous-breakdown",
      "trackUrl": "https://waxonia.com/track/black-flag--nervous-breakdown/",
      "title": "Nervous Breakdown",
      "year": 1978,
      "label": "SST",
      "isrc": null,
      "whyItMatters": "Two years early and already fully formed. Keith Morris sounds genuinely unwell, which is the performance rather than the affliction.",
      "alsoOn": [],
      "links": {
        "spotify": {
          "url": "https://open.spotify.com/search/Black%20Flag%20Nervous%20Breakdown",
          "exact": false
        },
        "youtubeMusic": {
          "url": "https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=ctUiBVT142Y",
          "exact": true
        }
      },
      "rank": 4,
      "on": {
        "kind": "genre",
        "slug": "hardcore-punk",
        "name": "Hardcore Punk",
        "url": "https://waxonia.com/genre/hardcore-punk/"
      },
      "artist": "Black Flag"
    },
    {
      "trackKey": "black-flag--rise-above",
      "trackUrl": "https://waxonia.com/track/black-flag--rise-above/",
      "title": "Rise Above",
      "year": 1981,
      "label": "SST",
      "isrc": null,
      "whyItMatters": "Greg Ginn ran SST out of his own electronics business and put out the records nobody would touch. American hardcore did not get signed; it built a distribution network out of vans and mail order, and this is the record at the front of it.",
      "alsoOn": [
        {
          "kind": "genre",
          "slug": "hardcore-punk",
          "name": "Hardcore Punk",
          "url": "https://waxonia.com/genre/hardcore-punk/"
        }
      ],
      "links": {
        "spotify": {
          "url": "https://open.spotify.com/search/Black%20Flag%20Rise%20Above",
          "exact": false
        },
        "youtubeMusic": {
          "url": "https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=wDUYCyajDcs",
          "exact": true
        }
      },
      "rank": null,
      "on": {
        "kind": "curator",
        "slug": "the-eighties",
        "name": "The Eighties",
        "url": "https://waxonia.com/theme/the-eighties/"
      },
      "artist": "Black Flag"
    }
  ],
  "curates": null
}