These guys should be in the Rock n Roll hall of fame period. Their influence goes so far. From Metallica too Nirvana. They changed the punk sound and made it much faster and aggressive. They gave it that "Hardcore" sound. My first punk show was the Bad Brains in 1981 in San Francisco.
So many bands credit Bad Brains. Beastie Boys entire name is homage to Bad Brains. Black Flags main inspiration is Bad Brains. Just the fact that I see high school kids wearing their shirts they should at least be more widely known.
Great reaction man, and lemme point out that Bad Brains also plays reggae, like traditional reggae, not two-tone ska. They're one of the originators of the hardcore punk sound- see also Black Flag, Minor Threat, Fugazi, Circle Jerks
The Bad Brains are probably a top 5 band for me. They are the original hardcore punks, The album you have as the thumbnail o your background "Roir Cassette" is possibly the most perfect hardcore punk record of all time while HR (Human Rights) the singer of this group is as eccentric and interesting as they come. All of them are mazing musicians and did so much to break barriers and usher in other hardcore bands that were influenced by them (mainly in the DC Punk/hardcore scene Minor Threat, SOA etc etc). Oh and they play reggae too :) I can talk about the Bad Brains for hours lol
@@MyCheriAnolani Bad Brains was magic...and their willingness to stretch hard-core punk rock boundaries helped a band like Fugazi become possible. Another progressive-style punk band: NoMeansNo (check out their song Humans...fun stuff). Saw them live having never heard of them (my college volleyball coach knew I listened to different music, so he got us tickets to a DOA show...NMN opened & snuffed DOA out. For yrs I sported the shirt of theirs I got that night...it said in huge letters, KILL EVERYONE NOW. Everyone at the Christian college I was at loved it. ;)
@@MyCheriAnolani it's funny, but nobody who spends time w/me has ever accused me of appearing to be an enthusiastic person. But the fact is that music kind of does it for me. It may not show on my face (which is why the "KILL EVERYONE NOW" shirt was so funny, b/c nobody could ever tell what was going on with me by looking @ my face...so just consult the t-shirt, right?)...but it's there. I'm also a huge mike Patton geek, & I like death metal and quirky movies.
Bad Brains is from Washington, DC. You should also check out the band, Death, & their song, 'Politicians In My Eyes', & as for Living Colour, listen to, 'Funny Vibe'.
They were a reggae band that ran out of Places to play in DC, so they started playing punk to get gigs. If I remember correctly they still call themselves a reggae band. DC punk was post English punk. Very cool bands came out of that town
So wrong haha they became rasta and started playing reggae AFTER they were a punk band that started as a jazz fusion band as the other commenter mentioned. It's a widely known fact
"Punk Vibe", yea, back then you'd find 'em in the punk/hardcore section at Tower Records. Bad Brains was one of the bands, like DRI, who started the punk/metal crossover scene.🤘🏼! edit:bad brains lp rock for light was produced by Ric Ocasek
RU-vid Badbrains CBGB's Live 1979. Then watch the same 1982. You will witness the birth of Hardcore Punk. Yes, another genre of music was created by African Americans which doesn't earn the respect it deserves. Respect! In the crowd you might see a young Henry Rollins (Black Flag, Rollins Band), Ian McKaye (Minor Threat, Fugazi), and Joey Ramone...(Ramones). They all got kicked in the ass by the Bad Brains and became legends themselves. Badbrains is one of the most underrated bands EVER for their influence on music today.
I'm so glad to see you doing punk, and one of the originators at that! We definitely need more punk bands. I highly recommend checking out Bad Religion ✌❤💫
Bad Brains where a band with a message. Punk & reggae... but I'll tell you as a 10 year old white boy that saw this stuff and heard it...they where heroes to me. I saw a black band. I saw guys singing about stuff I saw/did/lived. UNITY.
I've been lucky enough to have seen THE MIGHTY MIGHTY BAD BRAINS here in Aotearoa New Zealand about 30 years ago with my favorite new Zealand band OPENING and top five from anywhere in the world STICKY FILTH who have also opened for suicidal tendencies AND MOTORHEAD
This is the first reaction channel I've felt compelled to subscribe to. This is some really good content! I didn't see this mentioned anywhere, so on the topic of Bad Brains and black punk bands who should be in the R&R HoF, I STRONGLY recommend checking out an album called "For the Whole World to See" by a band called Death. Even if you never react to it. It's amazing, and there's also one hell of a story behind it.
One of the greatest bands of all-time. Got lucky enough to see them live a handful of times in the 80’s. That is a real crowd. You were either in it, or out of the building. No in-between! Still listen to Rock for Light, I against I and quickness a lot. BTW, bad brains are their own genre. Nobody has ever sounded like them then or even now. It’s impossible. Hope you listen to more of their catalog and dig it.
I kept thinking while listening to this that the vocals sound a lot like some of Mike Patton's stuff so I looked into it and it turns out the singer for Bad Brains was his biggest vocal influence. He even wrote a recent article about it.
Legendary, ahead of their time..Their drummer actually played bass on Billy Joels "river of dreams album..You should check out Biohazard "punishment", if you already haven't
Downtempos , chords and then they drop pure punk so that every single person goes mad slam dancing like u dont care, never forget this music is made for LIVE MADNESS
YEEEEESSSSSSS!!!!! PMA!!! The Bad Brains set the bar for all real hard core punk. Their albums do them no justice at all. Though their albums are amazing, their live shows were nothing to be fucked with. They were simply the best. Made all of us white punk rock kids in the 80s pay the fuck attention and get our shit together. Fun fact, the Beastie Boys names themselves that because of the Bad Brains. B-B.... Rock For Light is classic (not the newer bullshit hardcore), true hard core punk bible.
These guys had a vibe in the mostly white punk scene that no other band had or will ever have.....4 black dudes that played again in a mostly white punk scene better than anyone else.....period.
You are gonna love Bad Brains singer HR... You want a 8-10 song brother, check out the live version of Death Letter by the White Stripes under the Blackpool lights. Its a cover of a blues song by Son House. Jack White melds traditional blues slide guitar with hard rock in a way that....all i can say is that the first time i heard this i realized that this was a sound id been waiting for all my life...
That great fuzzed out guitar is commonplace in Punk. Metal typically goes for a more metallic guitar distortion. Bad Brains are one of the top tier bands in the Punk scene. Their first three albums; Bad Brains, Rock for Light, & I Against I are complete classics.
Bad Brains play better than almost every other punk band. Of course they also play lots of reggae and sort of nu-metal and other components. They kept going off and on. Not sure about now, I think they're retired. I met the singer HR a few times. They always inspired me
Kia ora hello from aotearoa New Zealand hay my brother i found these guys on student radio in 1984 14 years old and it was my left turn right turn moment and 38 years later still have a mohawk and a bad attitude towards authority Skinheads/Racists and just plain old bullies THE CLASH ARE MY FAVORITE BAND EVER my 16 year old son is called Strummer Clash Palace 👍 Hay Cuzz check out THE MURDER CHORD Auckland new Zealand songs to check out are NEXT YEAR'S GONNA BE BETTER AND OR MY BRAINS AND ME have a crack Cuzz i think you will be happy you did. Stay safe and happy my Cuzz
One thing to add, I was thinking about your comment on the low end. You’re correct and this was especially true of punk. Low end wasn’t really a thing back then and if I remember correctly this album was put together with almost no money. As a teen in that era and completely out of my element in small town Indiana our biggest complaint when we discovered punk was sound quality.. punk sound mixes sucked.. we wished for higher quality recordings. There’s been a return to that sound in the past 5 years, they call it LO-FI
Brother listen to I AND I SURVIVE OFF 1983s album rock for light THIS ALBUM IS A TRUE MASTER PIECE OF HARDCORE AND REGGAE and...I and I survive is my favorite reggae song ever and i fucking love reggae Ska and Punk rock
You are right. Rick and roll came from blues. Blues came from gospel. It’s all black heritage. I am a mixed brother with native. I see and feel our beats in all music.
Bad brains were seriously talented musicians when almost no punk bands back then were. bad brains would just blow bands off the stage. Bad brains...amazing and yes the would go from hardcore to reggae and then back to hardcore. Most punk rockers learned about rasta from bad brains.
Coming up in the VA/DC scene?! NO ONE could touch this band!!! H.R. was a fucking shaman for the bored suburban kids that all went out and started their own bands (including me).
