Bad Brains (also known as The Yellow Tape or Attitude: The ROIR Sessions) is the first album released by American hardcore punk/reggae band Bad Brains. Recorded in 1981 and released on the cassette-only label ROIR on February 5, 1982, many fans refer to it as “The Yellow Tape” because of its yellow packaging.
Bad Brains was originally released on February 5, 1982, in cassette-only format on Reachout International Records (ROIR). The cover art depicts DC’s Capitol Building being struck by a bolt of lightning. The original cover art, (created by seminal zinester/skatepunk/icon Dave Parsons, later known as Donna Lee Parsons) unfolded to include a photo of the band, album credits, lyrics to all the songs, and liner notes by then New York Rocker and Soho News critic Ira Kaplan, who would later front the band Yo La Tengo. Rather than label the tape’s sides A/B or one/two, the band designated them Side 1/Side A.
The original edition of the cassette had a white spine on the J-card and a red or yellow cassette shell. Subsequent editions had an all-yellow J-card with either red, gold, or green cassette shells, in a nod toward the band’s Rastafarian leanings. Later versions appeared in solid white, solid orange, solid yellow and transparent red tape shells. Because the yellow cassette shell was most common and it came in a matching yellow package, many fans referred to it as “The Yellow Tape”.
The album was a crucial step in the evolution of hardcore punk and the eventual fusion of hard rock and reggae adopted later by bands like Sublime, Fishbone, and 311.
Adam Yauch of Beastie Boys was quoted as saying that this album is:
“The best punk/hardcore album of all time”.
To this day, many people involved in the hardcore scene regard it as one of the greatest hardcore albums of all time and a groundbreaking release for the hardcore punk genre.
Tracklist:
Side A
- Sailin’ On
- Don’t Need It
- Attitude
- The Regulator
- Banned in D.C.
- Jah Calling
- Supertouch/Shitfit
- Leaving Babylon
Side B
- F.V.K. (Fearless Vampire Killers)
- I
- Big Take Over
- Pay to Cum
- Right Brigade
- I Luv I Jah
- Intro
Bad Brains
H.R.: lead vocals
Dr. Know: guitar, backing vocals
Darryl Jenifer: bass, backing vocals
Earl Hudson: drums, backing vocals
Production
Jay Dublee: producer, recording, mixing
Bad Brains: mixing
Wayne Vlcan: engineer
Stanley Moskowitz: mastering
Donna Parsons (from Ratcage): cover art
Ira Kaplan: liner notes
Donnell Gibson; Jay Jones: logo design
Laura Levine: photography
Neil Cooper cover concept
