6.
Bad Brains – Rock For Light
The power of the Bad Brains was just unbelievable. I remember the first time I heard them, it sounded almost cartoony to me – this guy H.R. singing, I was like, what is happening with his voice? It’s almost like he was speaking in tongues, channeling something from down below. And the band, they seemed like they were from another planet. And to me, growing up in Minnesota, they were: they were black dudes from New York who played hardcore and it was like, "Where is this coming from?" I think they understood music differently to your average hardcore band – they were coming at it from a free jazz perspective, I guess, and it made for something. This dude, H.R., would do backflips on stage, it was almost superhuman. I know he’s mentally not right these days, but there was a time when that was channeled into this perfect, beautiful chaos that Rock For Light really captures. You felt like you wanted to be on their team – there was a righteousness in it all.
