The song Henry Rollins said will “sprain your mind”
The mantra behind all good punk rock was about not catering to the rules of musical theory. Even though many bands like the Sex Pistols and The Clash could write brilliant pieces of music within the confines of theory, there were just as many artists looking to sing what was in their hearts rather than cater to the proper musical structures of the day. Although Henry Rollins may have been looking to make music as dark as possible with Black Flag and in his solo material, one of his biggest musical challenges came with figuring out one of the great heavy metal anthems.
From the hardcore scene, Rollins never wanted to make music that followed the traditional pop song formula. As opposed to the boy-meets-girl mentality that every other pop single had at the time, Black Flag’s material offered the most feral attempts at rock and roll ever created, with lyrics that had to do with the everyday problems of life like being betrayed by your friends or having nothing else to do but watch TV all night.
While it’s easy to see the influence of acts like the Ramones and Sex Pistols in the band’s delivery, Rollins was also intrigued by the darker side of rock and roll. Although many outfits may have eschewed the typical gravitas from the bands of the late 1960s, Rollins loved the twisted side of the genre, counting acts like The Doors among his favourite acts.
Although things didn’t get much heavier than something like The Rolling Stones when Rollins was growing up, he was knocked out the first time he heard Black Sabbath for the first time. Boasting thick guitar riffs that sounded like they were coming from the bowels of Hell, Sabbath were on the verge of what would become known as heavy metal, taking the basics of blues rock and making them sound much more macabre.
When listening to the album Paranoid, though, Rollins paid particular attention to the rhythm section behind the song ‘Iron Man’. While the song has become an iconic landmark in heavy metal history, Rollins thinks the real power behind the track came from what Geezer Butler and Bill Ward brought.
Discussing the song on Classic Albums, Rollins talked about how difficult it is to learn their technique precisely right, saying, “I cannot emphasise how important that rhythm section is to the sound of the band. There’s a moment in ‘Iron Man’ where they go from a descending bridge to an ascending bridge on a dime. You listen to that on the record and then go into the rehearsal room and try to play it, and you will sprain your mind. I have listened to that moment time and time again and thought, ‘What a band!’”.
While the notes may not seem that difficult to play on paper, the timing that goes into the riff takes a master’s touch to get right. Since the rhythm section needs to be locked into the groove, the moment Rollins refers to can only come from musicians who have been playing together for a long time and look at their music like it’s second nature.
