I've grown up with Henry Rollins as an occasional TV persionality, DJ, spoken-word artist, the trainer in the video game Def Jam: Fight for NY, oh, and sometime ago the lead singer of Black Flag. Thsi knowledge makes Damaged a shock to the system: Rollins fronts the band through a lean, punchy album with songs about boredom, insanity, beers and TV. Yet Rollins never gives the band a break from his intensity, and the band follows suit. It rages through the songs propulsively with all the punk fury the riffs can muster. It's a masterpiece of sheer, unadulterated young rage. "TV Party" is the lightest track here (and the most familiar), and its satire is poignant and obvious, even nearly 30 years after this record came out. Greg Ginn is the not-so-secret ingredient that makes this album crackle, though - the songwriting is tight and his playing is filled with powerful riffs and fills that are brief but potent.
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