My War (Black Flag album)

My War is the second full length album by the American hardcore punk band Black Flag. It was released in 1984 on SST Records.

Black Flag's founder and primary songwriter Greg Ginn played bass guitar in addition to his usual guitar; "Dale Nixon" (credited for playing bass on the album) is a pseudonym.

My War was released after a long period where the band could not release any albums due to a legal dispute with Unicorn Records.

The first six songs on the a-side of My War are similar to the material on 1981's Damaged, but the three songs on the b-side proved that Black Flag was moving away from the band's early, fast-paced material. All songs on side B are played at about half the pace of the band's earlier material, each clocking in at over six minutes, and display a doomy, ominous sound indebted to Black Sabbath. My War is generally cited as being a major influence on many bands in the sludge metal and grunge genres. Two of the songs featured on the album are solely written by Chuck Dukowski ("My War" and "I Love You") though he was no longer a member of the band by this point and does not perform on the album.

Kurt Cobain listed it in his top fifty albums of all time.

The song 'My War' was featured in the soundtrack of Grand Theft Auto V.

Artwork
The album's artwork was illustrated by Raymond Pettibon as with all Black Flag's artwork. Contrary to the belief of depicting Adolf Hitler being punched in the face with a boxing glove, it actually depicts a hand puppet clutching a kitchen knife. The small tie is meant to imply this.

Personnel

 * Henry Rollins - vocals
 * Greg Ginn - guitar, bass (as "Dale Nixon"), producer
 * Bill Stevenson - drums, producer
 * Spot - producer, engineer, mixer
 * Raymond Pettibon - artwork