“It does not exist”: The only artist that never made a bad album, according to Henry Rollins
Every musician has the potential of putting something horrible at least once in their life. Despite all of the blood, sweat, and tears that go into making an album, there will always be those few times when technical foul-ups come into play or the songwriting isn’t what it should be when it comes time to record. While Henry Rollins has a track record of having integrity behind most of his releases, he felt that this icon had never released anything less than perfect throughout his career.
Then again, it’s easy to see why Rollins’s career with Black Flag might not have been for everyone. Even by the standards of punk rock, hearing an album like Damaged would have been a bit of an undertaking for fans and an absolute nightmare for their parents to stumble upon in their record collection.
Despite some of his records sounding like they were recorded in a trash can, it was all about the strength of the performances. As long as things were absolutely chaotic and flying off the handle, Rollins knew that they would capture the sound of teenage frustration, but in terms of the true greats, it all came from the world of jazz.
At the same time, jazz seems like the furthest thing that punks should be concerned with. In the early days, punk’s whole premise was taking the bare bones of rock and roll and using that as their template, so hearing a 20-minute long horn break would have done nothing for someone who listened exclusively to bands like Sex Pistols and The Cramps.
However, there was a certain magic behind listening to an artist like John Coltrane when he started his rise to power. Compared to the cool jazz in Miles Davis work, Coltrane took the template for what Davis had done and turned it into the sheer insanity of A Love Supreme, featuring the perfect blend of pure musical ecstasy and the kind of calming moments that all good jazz thrives on.
Even though Rollins is punk, he felt that most of Coltrane’s work was nearly flawless, saying, “Find me the bad John Coltrane album. It does not exist. One of my favourite John Coltrane records is A Love Supreme. This was the first Coltrane record I heard that I played over and over again. You should hear it, but you should also hear every note that Coltrane ever blew.”
And given how fierce it was, it’s not like there wasn’t some middle ground between Coltrane and punk. Sure, he had a lot more knowledge of his craft and could tell people what scale he was playing in, but listening to him play on A Love Supreme, he still has the same kind of fire that someone like Greg Ginn had, only with the fact that he could play circles around everyone else in his path.
Regardless of how many punk fans might spit in the face of any jazz freak, Coltrane is the perfect example that both genres are the same regarding raw energy. One might play many more notes than the other, but each is looking to create excitement in the listener every time a group takes to the stage.
