Black Flag’s debut studio album.
This album was going to be released on Unicorn Records, an imprint of MCA Records, until MCA Records President Al Bergamo listened to it and called it “anti-parent.” This lead the band to release it on their own record label SST Records.
Damaged placed #487 in Rolling Stone magazine’s 2020 list of the “500 Greatest Albums of All Time.”
MCA refused to release this album, denouncing it as “immoral” and “anti-parent.” High praise, but Black Flag lived up to it, defining L.A. hardcore punk with Greg Ginn’s violent guitar and the pissed-off scream of Henry Rollins, especially on “TV Party” and “Rise Above,” which came with the timeless smash-the-glass salvo “We are tired of your abuse/Try to stop is but it’s no use.” Punks still listen to Damaged, and parents still hate it.