A review by tonythep
Corporate Rock Sucks: The Rise and Fall of SST Records by Jim Ruland

4.0

I was never really a fan of Black Flag or hardcore in general, but SST Records was a huge touchstone for me in the formation of my musical life in the 1980s. The influence of the weird, noisy, and/or more melodic SST bands like Hüsker Dü, the Minutemen (and firehose,) the Meat Puppets, Sonic Youth, Dinosaur Jr, Slovenly, Das Damen etc etc still reverberates with me today. Filled with history of the label that I wasn’t previously aware of, this was a fun, informative, and nostalgic read for me. Any history of SST or Black Flag must address the alienating personality and head-scratching decisions of Gregg Ginn. I don’t doubt any of the accounts of being screwed over by the label or its owner, but I felt that the author lost a bit of journalistic distance at the end of the book, even suggesting that Ginn should do the right thing and give recording masters back to the bands.