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Bad Brains (also known as The Yellow Tape[5] or Attitude: The ROIR Sessions) is the debut studio album recorded by American hardcore punk/reggae band Bad Brains. Recorded in 1981 and released on the cassette-only label ROIR on February 5, 1982, many fans refer to it as "The Yellow Tape" because of its yellow packaging, much in the way that the Beatles' self-titled record is often called "The White Album".[6] Though Bad Brains had recorded the 16 song Black Dots album in 1979 and the 5-song Omega Sessions EP in 1980, the ROIR cassette was the band's first release of anything longer than a single.[7]

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Bad Brains
1996 CD reissue cover
Studio album by Bad Brains
Released	February 5, 1982
Recorded	August – October 1981 May 16, 1981
Studio	171-A
Genre	Hardcore punk reggae
Length	33:56
Label	ROIR
Producer	Jay Dublee
Bad Brains chronology
Bad Brains (1982) Rock for Light (1983)
Alternate cover art
1989 reissue as Attitude: The ROIR Sessions.

Retrospective professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[1]
Christgau's Record Guide	B+[2]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide	[3]
Spin Alternative Record Guide	8/10[4]

Background and recording

After being banned from all the major clubs in their hometown of Washington, DC, Bad Brains moved to New York City in 1981.[8] In addition to their regular gigs at CBGB's, the band frequented Jerry Williams' 171-A Studios in Alphabet City. Named for its location between 10th and 11th Streets on Avenue A, 171-A was a 60-foot room with a stage at one end and an elevated sound-proof booth at the other.[9] When the Bad Brains played a gig at 171-A in May 1981, Williams recorded it on reel-to-reel tape. The band liked the sound and returned to 171-A to record between August and October 1981. 12 of the 15 tracks on the album came from these sessions, while "Jah Calling", "Pay to Cum" and "I Luv I Jah", were from Williams' live recording in May.[10]

Release

Bad Brains was originally released on February 5, 1982 in cassette-only format[nb 1] on Reachout International Records (ROIR). The cover art depicts DC's Capitol Building being struck by a bolt of lightning.[8] The original cover art unfolded to include a photo of the band, album credits, lyrics to all the songs, and liner notes by then New York Rocker and Soho News critic Ira Kaplan, who would later front the band Yo La Tengo.[11] Rather than label the tape's sides A/B or one/two, the band designated them Side 1/Side A.

The original edition of the cassette had a white spine on the J-card and a red or yellow cassette shell. Subsequent editions had an all-yellow J-card with either red, gold, or green cassette shells, in a nod toward the band's Rastafarian leanings. Later versions appeared in solid white, solid orange, solid yellow and transparent red tape shells. Because the yellow cassette shell was most common and it came in a matching yellow package, many fans referred to it as "The Yellow Tape".[6]

Bad Brains EP

In 1981 the Dead Kennedys' record label Alternative Tentacles opened an office in the United Kingdom to issue special editions of records by American punk bands for the UK market. The single version of "Pay to Cum" had appeared on the Alternative Tentacles compilation Let Them Eat Jellybeans! and with the ROIR sessions available, a few songs were selected for a 1982 UK release as a 12" EP. The record's sleeve featured the same lightning-strikes-the-Capitol art that appeared on the ROIR cassette, and the back cover had the inner J-card's band photo, credits, lyrics, and Kaplan's liner notes. The record also mimicked the tape's Side 1/Side A aesthetic, differing in that one side was reggae and the other hardcore punk, unlike the cassette, which interspersed the two genres. Because Alternative Tentacles UK was a short-lived venture, the Bad Brains EP is rare, and for eight years was the only appearance of these songs on vinyl.

Track listing

Reception and influence

Reviewing for The Village Voice in 1982, Robert Christgau said, "Turn a fusion band into hardcore propheteers and you end up with fast heavy metal. The best kind for damn sure, especially since they turn their rage into Positive Mental Attitude. I like it fine. But great punks give up more than a salubrious blur."[12]

The album was a crucial step in the evolution of hardcore punk and the eventual fusion of hard rock and reggae adopted later by bands like Sublime, Fishbone, and 311.^{[citation needed]}

Adam Yauch of Beastie Boys was quoted as saying that this album is "the best punk/hardcore album of all time".[1]

To this day, many people involved in the hardcore scene regard it as one of the greatest hardcore albums of all time and a groundbreaking release for the hardcore punk genre.

Reissues

In 1989, In-Effect Records released a CD version, with the same track listing, titled Attitude: The ROIR Sessions.[nb 2]

In 1990, Dutch East India Trading, through its imprint Homestead Records, was the first label to release the album on vinyl in the United States.[nb 3]

In 1996, ROIR reissued the original album on CD, featuring a hidden bonus track, followed by an on LP version the following year.[nb 4]

Bad Brains regained the rights to the album from ROIR in 2020, and reissued the album on vinyl, CD, and digital outlets on their own Bad Brains Records imprint via a pressing and distribution with ORG Music. A limited edition pressing of the album with Blue Note Records-inspired cover art and layout scheme, designed by former Alternative Tentacles graphic artist John Yates, was released at the same time as the original cover's reissue, on translucent green vinyl.[13]

Re-recordings

Many of the album's tracks were re-recorded for their 1983 follow-up, Rock for Light, with the exception of "Don't Need It", "The Regulator", "Jah Calling", "Leaving Babylon", "Pay to Cum", "I Luv I Jah". The instrumental final track on Bad Brains, titled "Intro", became the first nine seconds of Rock for Light's title song.

Cover versions

• Ho99o9 has played "Attitude" live on multiple occasions and continues to do so. "Attitude" was also covered by H₂O on their album Don't Forget Your Roots.
• "Leaving Babylon" was covered by Jesse Malin on his covers album, On Your Sleeve; by 311 for their 1999 album Soundsystem; and live by Living Colour and HIM.
• Sublime often performed Bad Brains tunes during live shows. The deluxe edition of their Sublime album included "I Luv I Jah", reworked with different lyrics as "I Love My Dog". The DVD of their Everything Under the Sun also contained a live version of "Leaving Babylon".
• John Frusciante of Red Hot Chili Peppers covered "Big Takeover" on his first solo album, Niandra Lades and Usually Just a T-Shirt. He also covered a short acoustic rendition of "Sailin On'" during a 1989 interview.[14]
• "Sailin' On" was covered by No Doubt for the MOM: Music for Our Mother Ocean album series; by Moby for the Never Give In: A Tribute to Bad Brains (1999, Century Media) tribute album; by Soulfly for the special edition of their album Conquer; by HIM in a live version recorded for the record Uneasy Listening Vol. 2; and live by Living Colour. Hardcore punk band Sailing On were also named for the song.^{[citation needed]}
• "I Luv I Jah" was covered live by Long Beach Dub Allstars, featuring H.R. on vocals; it appeared on their rare 1998 first album, LBDA & Friends.
• "Supertouch/Shitfit" was covered by Hatebreed on their covers album, For the Lions, and was sampled by experimental hip hop group Death Grips on the song "Takyon (Death Yon)" from their mixtape Exmilitary.
• Santigold and Diplo covered "Right Brigade" on their 2008 mixtape Top Ranking: A Diplo Dub.
• "I" was covered by Mark Kozelek on his 2013 covers album, Like Rats, in a stripped-down acoustic version highlighting the lyrics.
• "Sailin' On" was covered by Stone Sour on their second 2015 covers EP Straight Outta Burbank...
• "Fearless Vampire Killers" was covered by 88 Fingers Louie on their 1998 Back on the Streets album.
• "Right Brigade" has been regularly performed by the Deftones during their live shows.
• Cave In covered "I Luv I Jah" for the Never Give In: A Tribute to Bad Brains tribute album. It also appeared on their compilation record Anomalies Vol. 1.
• Ignite covered "Banned in DC" on their split 7" with Good Riddance in 1996. Their cover also appeared as a bonus track on the 2014 CD reissue of their 1996 EP Past Our Means. It appears on subsequent vinyl pressings as well.

Appearances in other media

In 2008, the song "Right Brigade" was included in the video game Grand Theft Auto IV, for its reproduction through the in-game radio station Liberty City Hardcore (LCHC).

Track listing

Personnel

Bad Brains

• H.R. – lead vocals
• Dr. Know – guitar, backing vocals
• Darryl Jenifer – bass, backing vocals
• Earl Hudson – drums, backing vocals

Production

• Jay Dublee – producer, recording, mixing
• Bad Brains – mixing
• Wayne Vlcan – engineer
• Stanley Moskowitz – mastering
• Donna Parsons (from Ratcage) – cover art
• Ira Kaplan – liner notes
• Donnell Gibson; Jay Jones – logo design
• Laura Levine – photography
• Neil Cooper – cover concept

Notes

References

External links

• Bad Brains official site
• ROIR Records official site
• Norton, Justin M. (October 17, 2012). "13 Essential DC Hardcore Albums: Bad Brains – Bad Brains (ROIR, 1982)". Stereogum.

На других языках

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[de] Bad Brains (Album)

Bad Brains ist das Debütalbum der gleichnamigen Hardcore-Punk-Band, das 1982 über das New Yorker Musiklabel Reach Out International Records (ROIR) veröffentlicht wurde.

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- [en] Bad Brains (album)

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[es] Bad Brains (álbum)

Bad Brains es el primer álbum de estudio de la banda norteamericana de hardcore punk Bad Brains. Adam Yauch de Beastie Boys dijo que "éste es el mejor disco de hardcore punk de la historia". Al principio sólo fue editado en casete, pero más tarde se reeditó en CD y vinilo.

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[ru] Bad Brains (альбом)

Bad Brains (также известный как The Yellow Tape[5] или Attitude: The ROIR Sessions) — дебютный студийный альбом американской хардкор-панк/регги-группы Bad Brains, записанный в 1981 году и выпущенный на независимом лейбле ROIR  (англ.) (рус. 5 февраля 1982 года. Многие фанаты группы называют его «The Yellow Tape» из-за жёлтого цвета обложки, по аналогии одноимённым альбомом «Битлз», прозванным в народе «Белым»[6]. Хотя ранее Bad Brains записали альбом Black Dots  (англ.) (рус. (1979) из 16 песен и мини-альбом The Omega Sessions  (англ.) (рус. (1980) из 5 песен, Bad Brains стал первым релизом группы, хронометраж которого был длиннее сингла[7]. Пластинка занимает 10-е место в списке «20 величайших дебютных альбомов» по версии журнала Revolver[8].

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