Not The End of Henry Rollins Keeping Quiet

 

As a young adult just finishing High School I was in the mood to most of the music I was listening to in High School.  I wanted to hear more then the Classic Rock, Heavy Metal and anything else that most High School kids listen to on a regular basis.  I want to explore new things and go down new paths of music that I would otherwise ignore or just pass by.  This music I want to hear was Jazz, Classical, Avant-garde, Experimental, Punk, and anything else that came my way.

My Co-worker started me on the path and now I needed to follow it and not turn back.  By the time I finished High School I was already educated on what was cool and what was not.  But I really was not.  I had still had lots of questions.  Just after High School a friend handed me End Of Silence and my musical mind was changed forever.  This musical mind change happened often and I was clearly going in many directions at once.  I knew about Henry Rollins from Black Flag who as a young teenager I saw with my best friend in a High School gym.  It was one of the most life changing shows I been to.  I was excited to hear this because I heard his band is harder and less on the Punk sound then Black Flag.  What was great was there was no two minute songs at break-fast speed and there was more room for the band to do smart kick ass solos and full of Rollins poetry.   

When I first put on End of Silence it was pretty unreal.  The songs were more cohesive then Black Flag.  They weren't raw and talking about partying or enforced by a simple message.  These songs were full of introspection.  These were serious lyrics full energy and power.  Rollins wrote these and many more. He was more of a author of great works of literature then a man who wrote about having fun and not caring about anything around him.  

The Band part was amazing to listen to.  Each member of the band are just brilliant.  The great drumming of Sim Cain who I tried so hard to air drum to and failed.  I tried it the other day and still can't do it.  Andrew Weiss a wonderful bass player who keep the rhythm section in time with a few killer bass licks.  After hearing solo after solo, Chris Haskett was my new guitar hero.  He also was known to play a PRS (Paul Reed Smith) guitar just like Carlos Santana.  His colorful guitar playing kept my interest and increased and sometimes made Rollins voice sore and kept the high level both were achieving.  

Being this the fist Rollins Band album I needed to hear more, but that was the problem.  Trying to find the other two Rollins Band related material was a bit hard to find.  If it was around it was around as an import or a high price for any CD.  Hard Volume and Turned On were issued on Rollins own label and it did not get much distribution.  If it did find it's way to any record store near me I never got to see it or hear it.  I had nothing to compare to what the music or Rollins lyrics were talking about or even talking about.  End of Silence was to me a perfect hard, edgy, lyrically overwhelming at first and just what I needed to hear at the time of its release.  The band was perfect and Rollins was my new musical hero.  If I did not see Black Flag many years before I think this would have turned me off.  This album did what I thought would never happen.  I became a fan for life.  

Around this time I went to see this band tour in performance twice.  Once by himself and the other time with Primus and Helmet.  I still have the poster and ticket stub.  It still is one of my favorite shows I have seen. Each band brought so much raw energy that they could keep New York City lit up for a year.  Rollins Band stole the show and I thought many times that Henry was going to lose his voice.  In conclusion, if you want an album that has full on energy and a voice full of rage and a band full of power.  End of Silence is your album.  Check it out the album and I'm sure that you too will feel the wrath and power of Rollins.  Enjoy!