This post bothers me a lot, because it misrepresents a very large movement in American music while at the same time decrying the value of community-developed frameworks. Black Flag is a great band, but their "fast and simple" approach to playing music ran into a lot of the same problems that tech startups find when they, too, decide to take a "fast and simple" approach to web development -- those being high employee turnover, extremely low profitability, and a lot of in-fighting.
Black Flag made a lot of junk because they couldn't get the band to cooperate. They had to keep re-doing the same songs over and over because their lead singer kept changing. Talk about a good analogy for unnecessary rewrites! At one point, when the artistic direction and ego situation became especially dire, one side of an album was all spoken word, and the other side was all instrumental. In the end, they just ended up becoming another "metal" band with albums like "Slip it In" towards the end of their discography. Black Flag is a great band, but this post completely misrepresents what they did and what it means, if anything for software development. If it's the story of anything, it's the story of an entrepreneur who kept paying for all the corners he cut.
Rush wanted to write complex albums that dealt with a lot of layered meaning. There was a lot more planning and attention paid to what got laid onto their tracks. In exchange for their hard work, attention to detail, and planning, they were well compensated. They played arenas and sold a ton of albums. Black Flag played VFW halls, and I'll be damned if most of their fans these days didn't just torrent their discography and be done with it. What would you want for your business? There will be no hipsters to fondly nostalgize your unsuccessful web application.
Great points. I would also contrast the Black Flag with Ian MacKaye's body of work: start off with fast and simple (Minor Threat), but move on when it becomes trite (Embrace, then Fugazi). Fugazi created some of the most interesting, complex music I've ever heard, but it was borne out of that initial minimalism.
Fugazi is also a good point because their goal as an organization is sustainability. This is exhibited in their $5-or-bust ticket price, among other things. Black Flag's goal, particularly during the Decline of Western Civilization years, was mostly to get drunk and fight cops. Just a bad analogy in general for software intended to make money.
Black Flag made a lot of junk because they couldn't get the band to cooperate. They had to keep re-doing the same songs over and over because their lead singer kept changing. Talk about a good analogy for unnecessary rewrites! At one point, when the artistic direction and ego situation became especially dire, one side of an album was all spoken word, and the other side was all instrumental. In the end, they just ended up becoming another "metal" band with albums like "Slip it In" towards the end of their discography. Black Flag is a great band, but this post completely misrepresents what they did and what it means, if anything for software development. If it's the story of anything, it's the story of an entrepreneur who kept paying for all the corners he cut.
Rush wanted to write complex albums that dealt with a lot of layered meaning. There was a lot more planning and attention paid to what got laid onto their tracks. In exchange for their hard work, attention to detail, and planning, they were well compensated. They played arenas and sold a ton of albums. Black Flag played VFW halls, and I'll be damned if most of their fans these days didn't just torrent their discography and be done with it. What would you want for your business? There will be no hipsters to fondly nostalgize your unsuccessful web application.