The First Four Years (album)

{{About|the album by Black Flag|the Little House book|The First Four Years (novel)}}

{{more citations needed|date=July 2015}}

{{Use mdy dates|date=April 2016}}

{{Infobox album

| name = The First Four Years

| type = compilation

| artist = Black Flag

| cover = Black Flag - The First Four Years cover.jpg

| alt =

| released = {{start date|1983}}

| recorded = January 1978 – April 1981 at Media Art Studios in Hermosa Beach, California

| venue =

| studio =

| genre = Hardcore punk

| length = 24:40

| label = SST

| producer = Spot, Geza X, Black Flag

| prev_title = Everything Went Black

| prev_year = 1983

| next_title = My War

| next_year = 1984

}}

{{music ratings

| rev1 = AllMusic

| rev1score = {{Rating|3|5}}{{cite web |url=http://www.allmusic.com/album/the-first-four-years-mw0000193851 |title=The First Four Years – Black Flag | Songs, Reviews, Credits, Awards | AllMusic |last=Dougan |first=John |website=AllMusic |accessdate=3 July 2015}}

|rev2 = Alternative Rock

|rev2score = 9/10{{Cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/alternativerock0000thom/page/204/mode/2up?q=black+flag|title=Alternative rock|first=Dave|last=Thompson|date=April 12, 2000|publisher=San Francisco : Miller Freeman Books; Berkeley, CA : Distributed to the book trade in the U.S. and Canada by Publishers Group West; Milwaukee, WI : Distributed to the music trade in the U.S. and Canada by Hal Leonard Publishing|isbn=9780879306076 |via=Internet Archive}}

| rev3 = The Encyclopedia of Popular Music

| rev3score = {{Rating|4|5}}{{cite book |chapter=Black Flag |title=The Encyclopedia of Popular Music |last=Larkin |first=Colin |author-link=Colin Larkin |publisher=Omnibus Press |edition=5th concise |year=2011 |isbn=978-0-85712-595-8}}

| rev4 = MusicHound Rock

| rev4score = {{rating|2|5}}{{cite book|title=MusicHound Rock: The Essential Album Guide|editor=Gary Graff|editor-link=Gary Graff|edition=1st|year=1996|location=London|isbn=978-0-7876-1037-1|publisher=Visible Ink Press}}

| rev5 = The Rolling Stone Album Guide

| rev5score = {{Rating|4|5}}{{cite book |chapter=Black Flag |last=Considine |first=J. D. |author-link=J. D. Considine |title=The New Rolling Stone Album Guide |title-link=The Rolling Stone Album Guide |editor1-last=Brackett |editor1-first=Nathan |editor1-link=Nathan Brackett |editor2-last=Hoard |editor2-first=Christian |editor2-link=Christian Hoard |publisher=Simon & Schuster |edition=4th |year=2004 |isbn=0-7432-0169-8 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/newrollingstonea00brac/page/77 77–78]}}

}}

The First Four Years is a compilation album by the American hardcore punk band Black Flag. It was released in 1983 on SST Records. The compilation consists of all of the group's material released before Henry Rollins became the band's vocalist in 1981. It collects the extended plays Nervous Breakdown (1979), Jealous Again (1980), Six Pack (1981), and the single "Louie Louie", with two tracks from various artists' compilation albums.

Tracks 1–4 are taken from Nervous Breakdown, tracks 5–9 are taken from Jealous Again, tracks 11–13 are from Six Pack, and tracks 15–16 are taken from the "Louie Louie" single. Tracks 10 and 14 were originally released on the New Alliance Records compilation albums Cracks in the Sidewalk (1980) and Chunks (1981), respectively.

In 2007, The Guardian included the album in their list of "1000 Albums to Hear Before You Die".{{Cite news |date= |orig-date=2007-11-17 |title=Artists beginning with B (part 1) |language=en-GB |work=The Guardian |url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2007/nov/17/1000tohearbeforeyoudie1 |access-date=2023-06-02 |issn=0261-3077}}