Black Dots

Performer: Bad Brains
Engineer: Don Zientara
Producer: Bad Brains
Distributor: Caroline Distribution

Notes: BLACK DOTS is also known as THE ZIENTARA SESSIONS. It documents Bad Brains' first studio recording session. Bad Brains: HR (vocals); Dr. Know (guitar); Darryl (bass); Earl (drums). Recorded at Inner Ear Studios, Arlington, Virginia in June 1979. Includes liner notes by Anthony Countey. In the late '70's and early '80s, the Bad Brains recorded many of their best hardcore/ska compositions several times. Different versions of the same songs appeared on such albums as the band's self-titled debut, ROCK FOR LIGHT, OMEGA SESSIONS, and BLACK DOTS. Although the sessions were recorded in June of 1979, BLACK DOTS was not officially released until 1996. Like the aforementioned releases, BLACK DOTS includes such Bad Brains classics as "Don't Need It," "Regulator," "Banned In D.C.," and "Attitude." But there are also plenty of songs here that aren't available anywhere else ("Why'd You Have to Go?," "The Man Won't Annoy Ya," "Redbone in the City," etc.), making BLACK DOTS an essential purchase for longtime Bad Brains fans.

Entertainment Weekly (10/25/96, p.117) - "This never-before-released 1979 recording captures the seminal Washington D.C., hardcore band as they began to cohere into something special....BLACK DOTS could serve as a primer for neophyte punks..." - Rating: A Alternative Press (3/97, p.61) - 4 (out of 5) -"...The `new' songs stand out just as defiantly tall as the...original versions of [Bad Brains] classics, as well as previously unreleased nuggets....BLACK DOTS reminds us that the Brains were the bridge between classic punk and hardcore..." Vibe (11/96, p.148) - "...BLACK DOTS consists of a day's worth of live recordings captured by crude, four-track, in-the-basement gadgetry....a well-preserved fossil..." Option (11-12/96, pp.91-92) - "...one of the most righteous examples of kick-ass music you're ever going to hear....instrumentally, it's all there....what would have undoubtedly been one of the best albums of 1979 has finally been released--in 1996."

Formed in 1977, the Bad Brains remain one of the most important and influential hardcore bands of all time. By combining their Rastafarian beliefs and lifestyle with hardcore punk, the quartet forged a whole new (and infinitely copied) style that also touched on metal, funk, and, of course, reggae.

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