Editing My War (section)

==Background==
In 1978, [[Black Flag (band)|Black Flag]] guitarist and cofounder [[Greg Ginn]] converted his ham radio business Solid State Transmitters to [[SST Records]] to release the band's first [[Extended play|EP]] ''[[Nervous Breakdown (EP)|Nervous Breakdown]]''. Soon SST was releasing recordings by other bands as well, beginning with [[Minutemen (band)|Minutemen]]'s ''[[Paranoid Time]]'' in 1980.{{sfn|Waksman|2009|pp=222–223}}

Black Flag recorded its first album ''[[Damaged (Black Flag album)|Damaged]]'' in 1981 at Unicorn Studios and arranged a deal with the studio's record label Unicorn Records, which had distribution with [[MCA Records]]. MCA label president Al Bergamo halted the release after hearing the record, calling it "anti-parent"{{sfn|Chick|2011|pp=244–246}}—though SST co-owner [[Joe Carducci]] asserts this was a pretense for MCA to sever relations with the financially troubled Unicorn. The band obtained and distributed the already-pressed {{val|20000}} copies of ''Damaged'' and adorned it with a label displaying Bergamo's "anti-parent" quote. Legal troubles erupted when SST claimed unpaid royalties from Unicorn and Unicorn successfully counter-sued, resulting in five days in jail for Ginn and co-founding bassist [[Chuck Dukowski]] and an injunction prohibiting the band from releasing material under its own name.{{sfn|Azerrad|2001|pp=39–40}} The double album ''[[Everything Went Black]]''—a compilation of earlier, unreleased material—appeared from SST in 1982 without the band's name on it. Unicorn's bankruptcy in 1983 freed the band from the injunction.{{sfn|Chick|2011|pp=263–264}}

[[File:Sabs.jpg|thumb|left|alt=Black-and-white photograph of four long-haired men|[[Black Sabbath]] was a major influence on ''My War''{{'}}s B-side.]]

Ginn had grown frustrated with the hardcore punk scene, and told the ''[[Los Angeles Times]]'' in early 1983: "[W]e've never been out to create this punk scene" they had been credited with spearheading; "We want people to listen to us as a band rather than as a stereotype&nbsp;... A lot of what you call the punk scene is really backward, and it always has been."{{sfn|Waksman|2009|p=287}}{{sfn|Hilburn|1983}} Following the release of ''Damaged'', Black Flag absorbed a wider range of influences from the more experimental hardcore of [[Flipper (band)|Flipper]], [[Void (band)|Void]], and [[Fang (band)|Fang]].{{sfn|Earles|2014|p=41}} They listened to little contemporary punk. Ginn was drawn to [[Ronnie James Dio]]'s work in [[Black Sabbath]] and [[Dio (band)|Dio]], as well as earlier favorites from his pre-punk days, including [[Ted Nugent]], [[Black Oak Arkansas]], [[MC5]], [[ZZ Top]],{{sfn|Waksman|2009|pp=284–285}} [[Deep Purple]], [[Uriah Heep (band)|Uriah Heep]],{{sfn|Chick|2011|p=13}} and others.{{sfn|Waksman|2009|pp=284–285}} Music journalist Andrew Earles believes the band was influenced by the tiny but growing [[doom metal]] scene led by [[Saint Vitus (band)|Saint Vitus]] (who released via SST).{{sfn|Earles|2014|p=41}} Ginn jealously guarded the new material, fearing other bands would capitalize on the new approach,{{sfn|Earles|2014|p=43}} and bemoaned that fans were unaware of how the band had progressed since they were unable to release recordings.{{sfn|Waksman|2009|p=284}}

The band toured extensively in North America and Europe to often hostile, violent hardcore punk crowds.{{sfn|Earles|2014|p=42}} The disciplined group rehearsed obsessively, but there was little friendship between members: vocalist [[Henry Rollins]] was introverted and Ginn cold and demanding.{{sfn|Azerrad|2001|pp=41–42}} Dukowski felt that Rollins' vocal approach was better suited than that of the band's earlier three singers to the new material he was writing such as "I Love You" and "My War".{{sfn|Chick|2011|p=267}} Dukowski, who also wrote poetry and fiction, encouraged Rollins to write as well, and Rollins found inspiration in Dukowski's bleak lyrical style.{{sfn|Parker|2000|p=122}}

The band recorded a set of ten demo tracks at Total Access studios in 1982 for a planned follow-up to ''Damaged'' on which [[Chuck Biscuits]] replaced ''Damaged'' drummer [[Robo (musician)|Robo]].{{sfn|Chick|2011|pp=266–267}} The rest of the lineup consisted of Ginn and former vocalist [[Dez Cadena]] on guitars, Rollins on vocals, and Dukowski on bass.{{sfn|Chick|2011|p=vi}} The band explored new sounds on these tracks, which tended to feature a riff-heavy heavy-metal edge and noisy, energetic free guitar soloing from Ginn. The album never materialized, and the heavily bootlegged demos have never been officially released; re-recordings of several of the tracks from the session were to feature on ''My War'' and other later albums. The line-up did not last long—frustrated with the band's legal troubles, Biscuits left{{sfn|Chick|2011|pp=266–267}} in December 1982, replaced by [[Bill Stevenson (musician)|Bill Stevenson]],{{sfn|Parker|2000|p=106}} and in 1983 Cadena left to form [[DC3 (band)|DC3]].{{sfn|Chick|2011|pp=266–267}} Ginn had been frustrated with Dukowski's sense of rhythm, and in Germany during a European tour in 1983 gave Dukowski an ultimatum to quit, or Ginn himself would leave. Dukowski left the band, but stayed on to co-run SST.{{sfn|Chick|2011|p=284}}

With Unicorn's demise in 1983, Black Flag was able to release the material they had written since 1981.{{sfn|Chick|2011|p=335}} Eager to get back in the studio but still without a bassist, Ginn took on bass duties under the pseudonym "Dale Nixon" and practiced the new material with Stevenson up to eight hours a day, teaching the drummer to slow down and let the rhythm "ooze out" at a pace Stevenson was unused to;{{sfn|Azerrad|2001|pp=46–47}} the band called this approach the "socialist groove", as all beats were equally spaced.{{sfn|Parker|2000|p=113}} With [[Spot (producer)|Spot]] as producer{{sfn|Azerrad|2001|p=47}} and $200,000 in debt, Ginn, Rollins, and Stevenson headed to the studio to record ''My War''.{{sfn|Parker|2000|p=124}}