My War

My War
Studio album by Black Flag
Released	March 1984
Recorded	December 1983
Genre	Hardcore punk, Sludge metal
Length	40:24
Label	SST
Producer	Greg Ginn, Spot, Bill Stevenson
Professional reviews
Allmusic link Piero Scaruffi link Robert Christgau (B-) link
Black Flag chronology
The First Four Years (1983) My War (1984) Family Man (1984)

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 both 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. The b-side songs 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, I Love You) though he was no longer a member of the band by this point and does not perform on the album.

Track listing

Side A

1. "My War" (Dukowski) – 3:46
2. "Can't Decide" (Ginn) – 5:22
3. "Beat My Head Against the Wall" (Ginn) – 2:34
4. "I Love You" (Dukowski) – 3:27
5. "Forever Time" (Ginn/Rollins) – 2:30
6. "The Swinging Man" (Ginn/Rollins) – 3:04

Side B

1. "Nothing Left Inside" (Ginn/Rollins) – 6:44
2. "Three Nights" (Ginn/Rollins) – 6:03
3. "Scream" (Ginn) – 6:52

Personnel

• Henry Rollins - vocals
• Greg Ginn - guitar, producer
• Dale Nixon - bass
• Bill Stevenson - drums, producer
• Spot - producer, engineer, mixer
• Raymond Pettibon - artwork

Dale Nixon is a pseudonym used by Greg Ginn. He played guitar and bass on My War. The pseudonym was used again by Dave Grohl on the Buzz Osborne EP King Buzzo and by Brian Baker on Dag Nasty's 1992 reunion album Four on the Floor.