Turn That Noise Down - Rollins Band

So many well-known albums turn 30 this year and Steve Taylor-Bryant and Susan Omand travel back to 1992 to revisit some of the sounds of their youth that made parents shout "Turn that noise down!" This week, Steve remembers The End of Silence...

I knew Henry Rollins from a friend's old tapes of Black Flag by 1992 and had seen clips of his spoken word concerts on TV, on something like Headbangers Ball, but I hadn’t listened to Rollins Band until I picked up The End of Silence on its release, and what a way to be introduced to the band! My overriding memory of first listening was that drummer Sim Cain was an animal, such a technique and obviously skilful style, but brutal at the same time, so here I am 30 years after release pressing play again…

Wow. It’s been some 25 years since I last listened to The End of Silence and it is still an extraordinary record. It’s full of stylistic choices not the norm, but even the most bluesy or jazzy or progressive elements are still stitched together by a Black Flag/Sabbath hybrid feel. I wasn’t wrong in my opening, Sim Cain has a brutal drum sound but underneath the power there is some real elegance. Rollins himself may not come across as the punk from the late 1970’s but, in his maturity, there is a seriousness that comes in his writing and more melodic moments in his vocals. It’s an absolutely joyous moment after all these years to play the record again and, whilst maybe some tracks perhaps could be a little shorter, it’s still playing now like the epic I thought it was back then. Highlights include the near 9 minute Obscene and Almost Real but it’s probably the opening number Low Self Opinion that sets the bar for the rest of the album to clear.




Image - Amazon