Bad Religion: C or D?

No Substance - ugh. Please break up, Bad Religion.

Classic classic classic

I just wanted to say that mp3s for the new album, The Process of Belief are available at the usual outlets on the net. First impressions of it are good.

Please break up, Bad Religion. (Oh, okay. Now he's just talking gibberish again...)

But "Stranger Than Fiction", which is my main point of reference, admittedly, is a fantastic rock album. I love the lyrics and remember trying to commit every single one of them to memory. "Inner Logic" exposed me to new vocabulary words. Thankfully, now I know what the words "sagacious", "porticos", "antithetic", and "automaton" mean. And believe me, in that summer, when Green Day were the most popular rock & roll kids on the block, I definitely needed that flow of intellect coming from somewhere in the rock & roll hemisphere.

Dud. I would say that they helped get me into "indie music" but I think there's a high level of spuriousness in that inquiry: Dino Jr. had videos on MTV around the time of 21st Century Digital Boy.

I like some stuff on it like We're Only Gonna Die, but I'm not much of a fan of their later stuff.

I liked Recipe For Hate when I was in high school, and I still really like a couple tunes on it, but man, putting it on while my girlfriend was around was an exercise in forced sheepishness. "Well, I don't 'like' like them, hon. Ok, you're right, I'll put on something else."

you gotta give these doods props for sounding the exact same for 90 years

lol I didn't realise I'd revived an old thread, I was actually searching for threads about Jeff Dahl (there aren't any) and found this, I guess cos it was started by "Jeff". Never mind.

That comp of the early stuff is good. I had such an impassioned argument about the shittiness of BR (I was on the 'shitty' side) that my West Coast punk friend actually BOUGHT me that comp to try to convince me. Even listening with grownup ears, it IS pretty awesome.

Same friend also got me to buy the first Social Distortion album (also good) - I had a lot of negative connotations regarding West Coast punk (that wasn't X, Germs, Flag or Fear) in general, I guess.

you need to get into the descendents next

do what chaki says

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Aw3oEYGPvU

Suffer really is the album that got me into punk. All their early shit (yes I even own and like the one they deny making) is golden. I lost the thread when Against the Grain came out. That one has some good tunes, but isn't as solid as everything that came before it.

Still, I will always respect these guys for putting some good messages in the ears of children. And their vocabulary is hilariously awesome.

suffer is uber-classic

Suffer + No Control + Against The Grain (minus one or two tracks to make them fit) = my favourite 90 minute cassette for years

All their early shit (yes I even own and like the one they deny making) is golden.

A couple of years ago I was obsessed about hearing Into The Unknown, but I couldn't find a torrent of it that didn't include everything else they've ever done. I'm still curious as to what it sounds like...

You know you can pick which parts of a torrent you want to download, right?

You can? Damn. I must have been using shitty software. Back to searching for that torrent I go...

Does it have to be a torrent? because

(oh. ok, ignore the first result and click the green search button there)

Thank you! Maybe I can repay the favour (that is, if you like Saccharine Trust and don't have a copy of Surviving You, Always).

I do and don't :)

I don't, but you can thank the Kernel in my place!

Into the Unknown originally fascinated me because a) it was so absolutely unavailable and b) the Trouserpress guide gave it this stupidly glowing review.

My brother found it for me at a record convention in Barcelona back in '91. It's been a prized possession of mine ever since.

But most of you would hate it. It's power pop with heavy synth and has a weird space/folk vibe. Definitely original. But it's goodness is really only arguable if you are laughing. It gets my fist in the air every time though.

My dream for years has been to get a spot opening for Bad Religion, and come out and perform a live tribute of this album from start to finish. Would they kick my ass? Would they pretend to not notice? I wonder...

my friends are opening up for them tonight in vegas.

ill try to get them to do that.

Into the Unknown is so far and away the best, catchiest, least generic, and most interesting album they ever made it's not funny. (I honestly can't think of another band, ever, in any genre, whose view of their best work is so topsy-turvey.)

(It's also, for whatever it's worth, the first album I ever actually got paid money to write about.)

Well, I guess, you, me, and somebody at Trouserpress likes it!

The big strike against this record is that they were so clearly kids being misled by a producer... If this was really the undiluted BR vision, it wouldn't be so embarrassing to the band now, would it?

Still, I think they should get over it and put the damn thing out. People want to know and they've made much worse albums in the last fifteen years.

I played the crap out of some Suffer as a youngin'. I also had No Control and Against the Grain, which I liked, but not as much.

They're lyrics are pretty funny.

their

I love the way they include at least one difficult word in the lyrics of every song :-)

http://revolution.3-cities.com/~jadams/brdictionary.htm

Living in style:

Epitaph Records owner and Bad Religion guitarist Brett Gurewitz has listed his Hollywood Hills home for sale at $2,795,000.

The four-bedroom, 4 1/2 bathroom home was built in 1923. The three-story Spanish-style house is hidden from the street by a long, gated driveway, has 3,429 square feet and sits on more than a half-acre. There are views of downtown from the master bedroom suite and the high-ceiling living room has a fireplace. The bathrooms and kitchen have been remodeled, and the kitchen features Viking appliances. There is an outdoor gym, a saltwater pool and spa, a waterfall and an outdoor dining pavilion.

I like how the article only addresses the post 2000 Bad Religion albums.

The sound of No Substance wasn't the problem. It was the no substance that was. (Their worst album by some margin imo.)

Looking forward to checking this one out.

It doesn't get any lamer than "The Fuck You" song.

I love the video, a modern take on the Replacements' infamous "Bastards Of Young" clip; the solitary Bastard listening to the vinyl smokes a cigarette and trashes the place in days of yore while the 21st Century Digital Boy checks his smartphone and dresses for the cold in layers.

I want to wait on getting the new album until the band comes to town next month and buy it directly from them, but based on this song - a throwback to my favorite era of the band, the "Against The Grain" days where the vocal harmonies and Greg Graffin's highfalutin lyrics propelled the tunes as much as the influenza-catchy riffs - I may not have the patience.

http://www.rollingstone.com/music/videos/bad-religion-find-their-true-north-premiere-20130213

I just relistened to Against the Grain last night. As a big fan at the time, I found it disappointing, and quit buying their records after that. Now, with hindsight, I think there are a lot of great songs on there (and a few real stinkers). It was probably them experimenting the most, with the best results. After that one, I do own Generator (don't care for it) and New Maps of Hell (that one stands up well).

Nothing will ever sound to me like Suffer did to my high school ears. And even that one is a slick piece of product compared to How Could Hell Be Any Worse.

As usual, the longer the song and the slower the tempo, the worse the results.

that's so funny - like, why can't they write a longer/slower song?

(it seems accurate - just funny)

i think the secret of this band is that they are basically rush

They do have a few good low/mid-tempo tracks over 3 minutes...but not many... Faith Alone (which seems to be a template for much of their post-Gurewitz output), The Streets of America, No Direction, American Jesus, Victims of the Revolution, a couple No Substance tracks, and of course Sorrow which is one of their best. I actually don't like Infected very much.

Not over 3 minutes, but a killer mid-tempo BR tune:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UfoHrq4tNmI

And 3:01 of dirge-like Germs worship:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qZ5GsGiAKuY

Sorry for getting all Youtube-happy last night. I know you guys know these songs...

Good choices

I think The True North was a vast improvement on Dissent of Man, which was the first post-Gurewitz reunion BR album that I outright didn't like; sure, there were some that were more 'good' than 'great', but I outright disliked that one. I mean, they have a sound, they're sticking to it, but True North was a step back in the right direction.

seeing them open for Offspring tonight. fourth time. and then again Saturday. I hope they play "Sometimes It Feels like ##%$#%@$@"

I adore Bad Religion.

Me too. Still my favorite punkrock band. Saw them last year and they were in good form.

holy fuck what a set tonight. "Best For You"? "You are the Government"? "Anesthesia"? "Skyscraper"? "You"?

Holy God that was such a great show.

Part 2.0 tonight. They're in FL AGAIN on Tuesday. if it weren't for pre-planned hangouts w/ friends I'd be tempted to go a third time.

only thing I miss is their banter. Dr Graffin and company wisely pack as many songs in as they can for their fans since they're an opener but I usually enjoy their convos with the crowd when they're headlining.

nowhere near as good a setlist last night :/. oh well

went back through their whole discography over the last week or so.

No Substance wasnt great but In So Many Ways has a nice chuggy riff I fell in love w all over again
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z545sqbROtI

this good
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i3HPeBWjSlc

Legendary riot:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q_chzBNmTHQ

hey everyone here's the worst song of all time

https://youtu.be/hES9IBTPbcw

That’s not even the worst bad religion song ever!

I mean, c’mon. https://youtu.be/hkwcehPhOXw

terrible band.

Hm wrong

Ooof, taking a cue from Green Day circa 2004

Comments are a predictable gold mine of shit.

Claudius Esperante
7 hours ago
A lot of truth to that statement. It's funny how these guys are considered "Anti-Establishment" when they have the same political views as every mainstream Democratic politician. A guy like Varg Vikernes actually is Anti-Establishment.

I AM TOTALLY A MODERATE AND IN NO WAY A TRUMP SUPPORTER BUT

I didn't support trump in his past campaign, nor did i vote for him. The tax cuts, peace talks with NK and outright stupidity of the leftist groups only tips me more towards voting for him in 2020. This song is not satire, its a biased shitshow.

Clumsiest concern-trolling evah

Not even close to the worst Bad Religion song

this won't be online for long but wow, didn't know they were still this great live

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9azMEP2SRqY

officially online now: https://www.arte.tv/fr/videos/083415-010-A/bad-religion-au-hellfest/

Age Of Unreason is out on Friday & it's a return to form, apparently

Has anyone else here read their new oral history autobiography? Pretty disappointing, especially after just finishing NOFX's tome immediately beforehand (and
I'm not a fan of NOFX, but it's a pretty remarkable book). Far too fawning from their co-writer, who essentially treats Greg Graffin like the Bertrand Russell of
punk music instead of a fairly articulate guy with a thesaurus. Very little on their process of working with various producers, save for a few critical words
about Todd Rundgren's shambolic Hawaiian study and even less on Gurewitz's expansion of Epitaph. Of all the other artists to come through that label, only a handful
are discussed in passing, like L7 (and even they show up way more in Mark Yarm's Everybody Loves Our Town, about the Seattle scene, even though they're from L.A.!)

Will always love this band. Seeing them for millionth time tonight

Classic-their 1980-1985 hardcore shit
Suffer
No Control
Against the Grain
Process of Belief

Very good- The Empire Strikes First
Recipe for Hate
The Gray Race
New Maps of Hell

Good-Stranger Than Fiction
True North
Age of Unreason

Meh-Generator
The Dissent of Man

Destroy with fire-

The New America
No Substance

What are people's thoughts on the Gray Race? It was one of my formative albums growing up (and third BR album after Stranger Than Fiction and All Ages) and I think it's pretty much perfect, but things you love when you're 13 tend to stick with you. "Cease" is one of their best album closers.

― skip, Monday, November 7, 2011 5:07 PM bookmarkflaglink

It rules. One of their best Brett-less moments

Funny timing, I just started reading their book (Do What You Want). Honestly not the best writing I’ve ever seen, but it’s a fun read so far.

Stranger Than Fiction and The Gray Race were my first two BR albums (also quickly followed by All Ages too!), so I’ll always love them.

Think I’m due for another spin through the catalog to see how everything stacks up. I played Recipe For Hate while I read last night, another great one.

xps agree that Generator is very meh, which is weird because it's smack in the middle of the sweet spot in their discography. Were they just totally burnt out that year?

Probably. I can't even name Ny songs besides title track and Atomic Garden and latter isn't great.

Tonight was amazing in that my out of shape, aging body could not keep up with my excitement. This band shaped me as a 20-something. I felt those memories tonight.

suffer -> no control -> against the grain

thats a special run. i listen to the latter two quite often really.

i need to listen to the post no substance stuff outside of process of belief.

I like The New America a lot more than Neanderthal does, it appears, but everything after The Process of Belief is kind of a samey blur to me.

No Substance was where I tapped out. Not that they were necessarily steering off a cliff, I’d just … had my fill.
I didn’t need any more, and got the point. (I was 21 then.) When the mood strikes, honestly, All Ages does the job. And I’ll always be glad they exist, and that new generations of 15 year olds discover them.

BR were a band a close group of friends in college were deeply into so it’s tied to that time/place, and is how I was introduced to this music (and also the Fat Wreck Chords verse, frankly).

I like The New America a lot more than Neanderthal does, it appears, but everything after The Process of Belief is kind of a samey blur to me.

― Ⓓⓡ. (Johnny Fever), Sunday, October 24, 2021 11:29 PM bookmarkflaglink

this is kinda true, tbh. I remember each album after Process being a lesser album until I outright stopped enjoying them around The Dissent of Man.

Empire Strikes First has a lot of great tunes on it, but none quite reach the heights of Process, but I was mega into it because it came out during Iraq War II and I was fucking ANGRY and a large portion of the album is about it.

New Maps of Hell was surprisingly good, but definitely didn't do as much for me on relistens recently.

I am a little bummed that "Sorrow" is the enduring song from Process that everybody knows. like, come on, it's an earworm, but it's like RAdiohead's "Creep".

same thing with "Los Angeles is Burning", fuck that song.

Has anyone else here read their new oral history autobiography? Pretty disappointing, especially after just finishing NOFX's tome immediately beforehand (and
I'm not a fan of NOFX, but it's a pretty remarkable book). Far too fawning from their co-writer, who essentially treats Greg Graffin like the Bertrand Russell of
punk music instead of a fairly articulate guy with a thesaurus. Very little on their process of working with various producers, save for a few critical words
about Todd Rundgren's shambolic Hawaiian study and even less on Gurewitz's expansion of Epitaph. Of all the other artists to come through that label, only a handful
are discussed in passing, like L7 (and even they show up way more in Mark Yarm's Everybody Loves Our Town, about the Seattle scene, even though they're from L.A.!)

Just finished the book today and yeah, this is sadly spot on. I didn't expect any tremendous bombshells from a book that the band is credited as co-writing, but even with that it feels extremely thin on Graffin beyond endless praise. Everyone else seems to get (surprisingly) candid about their struggles and addictions, but besides passing mentions of Graffin's divorce, he gets almost nothing. I feel like I learned a little bit more about pretty much every member of the band, except him. And, yeah, for as much time spent talking about Brett and mentioning how successful he was with Epitaph, it hardly touched on how the label survived after the Offspring and Rancid blew up.

I mean, if nothing else it has kickstarted another deep dive into their catalog, which has been fun, but it could have been better.

Just saw them tonight in Philly... In a friggin' opera house.

Punk rock in an opera house... pic.twitter.com/ISRie7cGNy

— Brian O'Neill (@NYC__Native) November 8, 2021

Had a great time, amazing that I first saw them 30 years ago and got to take my son.

It's @badreligion! pic.twitter.com/T3koZAtr48

— Brian O'Neill (@NYC__Native) November 8, 2021

Very solid set list, played one or two songs from like ten albums, giving it a "greatest hits" feel but also brought out some deeper cuts as well.

suffer -> no control -> against the grain

thats a special run. i listen to the latter two quite often really.

Glad you got to see the show! 21 year-old me is very, very disappointed in myself for not seeing a Bad Religion/Alkaline Trio joint tour. But, if only it would have been a few months from now...

the live version of infected is way better than the album version. just watched this at 1.2 speed and it became one of their best songs lol
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8S_lAB2WpTE

I’m 90% sure I saw BR at Warped Tour ‘98.