Rollins Band - Come In And Burn (1997)

Come In And Burn is straight edge, ex Black flag vocalist, raconteur, philosopher, spoken-word poet and general all-round legend Henry Rollins’ last album with the ‘classic’ lineup of Rollins Band and features a tight set of powerful rock tracks with insightful lyrics and typical Rollins emotional power and angst. Always under-rated and an outsider to mainstream music, Rollins has always provided powerful lyrical content delivered with an intensity few can match and Come In And Burn is no exception.

The crunching chords of Shame open the album leading to a pounding mid-tempo track which makes good use of light and shade with the verses understated whilst the ‘chorus’ is sheer power. As with the majority of Rollins’ material, it is a dark track lyrically and the mid-section in particular is atmospheric with guitarist Chris Haskett turning-in a strong solo that conveys the overall mood of the track to good effect.

Starve has an interesting syncopated bass/drums/guitar timing which is taught and over which Rollins semi-talks the lyrics before the track explodes into the chorus. It’s here that you realise that Rollins Band where much more than a backing band for Rollins himself but were a fine bunch of musicians that created a unique blend of rock/punk/funk that was both extremely powerful but subtle and melodic in equal measure.

In All I Want Rollins demands ‘Don’t ignore me’ – and with the ferocity of the delivery it’s fair to say that it would be possible to ignore him! The plea of the track is again more than ably backed by the band who provide considerable musical interest that weaves in and out of the emotion of Rollins’ lyrical delivery to great effect. In fact, as I’m sure Rollins would admit, he isn’t the most skillful vocalists in the world but more than makes up for it with emotional and passion with the musical interests really resting with a band that is attuned to his mindset for each track and happily on the album throughout, he has just that band.

The End of Something is a standout track from the album and one of the best examples of the light/shade dynamic that works so well for Rollins Band. The line “If i saw your body burning in the street . .. I’d put you out . . . with gasoline” just about sums up Rollins’ mindset at the time of writing this track which references the trauma of a relationship breakup but verbalised like no other could – this is no ‘Love Hurts’! There’s real malice and pain here and once more, the band reflect this in their instrumentation: the mellow verses layout the scene for each of Rollins’ reflections before the power and aggression of the statement of fact and emotional detachment that ‘it’s just the end of something’ kicks-in with accompanying power of the band.

On My Way To The Cage is an up-tempo bass-driven track with a bit of a nod to his punky Black Flag days. The riff is really punchy and you can almost feel the track beating you in the face with each syncopation: see if you agree as the video below shows Rollins Band performing an very intense version of this track in a TV studio!

Thursday Afternoon slows things down in terms of tempo but certainly not of intensity. This more takes the form of spoken-word over the band’s backing which, as ever, is good and reminds me of Rage Against the Machine to an extent – which is only a plus as far as I’m concerned, particularly on the verses.

During a City takes an almost swing approach from drummer Sim Cain with bassist Melvin Gibbs providing the majority of instrumentation/melody on the verses and Chris Haskett providing added power for the chorus. The track runs into Neon which opens with a very understated bass and drum track before kicking-in to a slow, plodding riff. There’s also an explosive guitar solo from Haskett but not of a pointless shredding variety – Haskett has the ability to convey the emotion of the subject matter in his guitar playing and does so here excellently.

Spilling Over the Side moves up a gear for a funky, but heavy, track again veering towards RATM territory. which is followed by Inhale/Exhale which again is a rather doom-laden riff with the verses largely Rollins talking over them with his usual intensity of subject-matter.

Saying Goodbye Again refers to a friend of Rollins who was gunned-down and killed and his general anger at the futility of gang violence and gun culture and the emotions such an incident leaves behind: “You’re gone, I’m left to move on”. This incident, as you wold expect, really moved Rollins and a discussion of the vents surrounding it, and his insight, was a feature of his spoken-word performances for a number of years.

Rejection closes the album, although there are various later releases around with additional tracks, and you really feel that you’ve been through a few rounds with Mike Tyson as the track draws to a close!

Come In and Burn has incredible fire and intensity, rage and power in equal measure and is compelling listening for both the musical skill of the band and Rollins lyrics and delivery. If you’re not previously acquainted with Henry Rollins, this album would prove a good introduction in my opinion and everyone should at least have one Henry Rollins release in their collection: he’s quite a character and whether with a band or delivering his solo lecture, when he speaks – you listen and it’s always a worthwhile experience!

• Henry Rollins – Vocals
• Chris Haskett – Guitar
• Melvin Gibbs – Bass
• Sim Cain – Drums