Taking Sides AND Defend The Indefensible: TSOL's "Change Today?" vs. Bad Religion's "Into The Unknown"

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From the "when punks go bad" file...

In this corner, Bad Religion goes prog and hilarity ensues:
http://www.dailyvault.com/badreligion_unknown.jpg

And in this corner, TSOL replaces singer Jack with a Billy Idol soundalike and outrage everyone.
http://www2.uol.com.br/fluir/beach_beat/imagens/tsol.jpg

FITE!

― Elvis Telecom (Chris Barrus), Wednesday, 20 April 2005 02:51 (twenty years ago)

Prog vs. glam, hmmm.

Into the Unknown deserves attention for being the equivalent of those early Pantera albums they conveniently forgot about later.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Wednesday, 20 April 2005 02:52 (twenty years ago)

AMG: At a time when most L.A. bands were playing extremely fast, stripped-down rock, Bad Religion released this chunk of '70s-styled hard rock that anticipated the '70s revival by about a decade. It's a bit off-putting at first blush, mainly because the tempos are slower and more deliberate, and because of the use of swirling organs and pianos. But it's a terrific record that was perhaps more daring than anyone realized at the time of its release. An extremely influential and interesting record, one that any fan of hard rock should own.

I want to hear it now but, surprise, it's their only out of print album.

― punt, Wednesday, 20 April 2005 03:01 (twenty years ago)

Very, very intentionally on their part.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Wednesday, 20 April 2005 03:07 (twenty years ago)

Yeah, they completely disowned it, didn't they? Has anyone here actually heard it? What were they thinking at the time, anyway?

― daria g (daria g), Wednesday, 20 April 2005 03:28 (twenty years ago)

Has anyone here actually heard it?

I have and I actually thought it wasn't so bad, really. I'd rather listen to it than anything else of theirs these days. Chuck Eddy's a fan, Stairway has an entry for it.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Wednesday, 20 April 2005 03:31 (twenty years ago)

i like into the unknown! "time and disregard"! "chasing the wild goose"! man there are some cuts on that album.. i don't think it's bad at all!

― gor gor the hill giant, Wednesday, 20 April 2005 03:43 (twenty years ago)

tsool look better naked

― kacka thompson (kacka), Wednesday, 20 April 2005 05:59 (twenty years ago)

at least the bassist does, ha!

― kacka thompson (kacka), Wednesday, 20 April 2005 05:59 (twenty years ago)

wait, rumor...not first hand...they bored me at reading

― kacka thompson (kacka), Wednesday, 20 April 2005 06:00 (twenty years ago)

they're solid though. i did their schtick

― kacka thompson (kacka), Wednesday, 20 April 2005 06:01 (twenty years ago)

i dig their schtick. fuck..slip

― kacka thompson (kacka), Wednesday, 20 April 2005 06:01 (twenty years ago)

i love sweden.

― kacka thompson (kacka), Wednesday, 20 April 2005 06:02 (twenty years ago)

Strange Reaction has been posting mp3s from "Into the unknown" for those that are curious: http://www.strangereaction.com/

― Avi (Avi), Wednesday, 20 April 2005 11:43 (twenty years ago)

I don't mind Change Today? actually. It's certainly not their finest hour, but it's tolerable. Bad Religion have always been a bit of bore to me, though.

― Alex in NYC (vassifer), Wednesday, 20 April 2005 15:21 (twenty years ago)

Has anyone here actually heard it?

Obviously, yes. It was a good tuneful 70s-styled hard rock record with excellent production for the genre. It was a better record than Bad Religion's last one, the piece of crap with one good song, "Los Angeles is Burning," a song with an actual hook that could have fit comfortably on "Into the Unknown."

"Into the Unknown" was a good example of the Taliban phenom in Ameircan punk rock, the beating of the heretic to death with shoes.

― George Smith, Wednesday, 20 April 2005 15:55 (twenty years ago)

i used to put that hokey cowpoke number from change today? on lots of my mix-tapes in the 80's. the one that goes "well, i don't mind if you drink or smoke, it makes no difference to me..." cuz i was hokey like that. i always liked the first bad religion and the stuff on that BYO comp from a zillion years ago, and i would probably really like into the unknown, but i've never come across a copy. but back to tsol, they were given the bum's rush even before change today? when they started putting keyboards on their records. at least by hardcore hardcore types back then.

― scott seward (scott seward), Wednesday, 20 April 2005 16:02 (twenty years ago)

nine months pass...

I've yet to get Change Today, so for now I'll take Into the Unknown. It's actually quite a good record, one with lots of great melodies and a very ambient atmosphere to it...That epic Time & Disregard is great. When I can, however, I'll be sure to get Revenge by TSOL, which I've heard is pretty similar to Change Today.

Anywhat, Into the Unknown is a great record, and while I like just about all of the Bad Religion records there are a lot of originally punk bands of which I only purchase their 'punk-gone-bad' albums (Black Flag are an example, what with their metal releases The Process of Weeding Out, Loose Nut and In My Head, or Reagan Youth with their Black Sabbath influenced release Volume II). For some reason I seem to dig those albums a lot. It gives me promise. :D

― Aqua Necromancer, Sunday, 22 January 2006 05:21 (twenty years ago)

"Flowers by the Door" is a really great song. It is one of those completely unknown tunes I have been sticking on comps for years. The rest of Change Today is pretty forgettable, but that one song is really good. Seriously, it is really worth check it out, as it is catchy as hell.

― Earl Nash (earlnash), Sunday, 22 January 2006 06:40 (twenty years ago)

The name of that TSOL song sounds very familiar. I would like to hear that again after 9 million years.

― Make your doorknob a Bimble doorknob today! (Bimble...), Sunday, 22 January 2006 06:50 (twenty years ago)

Mr. Eddy has the Bad Religion disc in his metal book. When I mentioned this to the band, they were amused.

― Brian O'Neill (NYCNative), Sunday, 22 January 2006 19:53 (twenty years ago)

Sorry if I sound like a hopeless n00b here, but who is Mr. Eddy?

― Aqua Necromancer (Aqua Necromancer), Sunday, 22 January 2006 20:23 (twenty years ago)

http://elarroba.com/imagenes/rr_maiden_eddie.jpg

― naus (Robert T), Monday, 23 January 2006 03:18 (twenty years ago)

(Mr.) Chuck Eddy: Iconoclastic rock critic, Village Voice music editor, author of "The Accidental Evolution of Rock & Roll" and "Stairway To Hell: The 500 Best Heavy Metal Albums In The Universe", and (as "xhuxk") ILM regular. Any minute now he'll show up and announce that "Into The Unknown" was his very first review. And to complain (rightfully so) that it's his favourite Bad Religion LP, and the only one that has never been reissued.

― Myonga Von Bontee (Myonga Von Bontee), Monday, 23 January 2006 06:14 (twenty years ago)

three years pass...

Listening to Change Today? at the moment. I still quite like "Flowers By The Door." Sue me.

― Alex in NYC, Wednesday, 8 July 2009 22:59 (sixteen years ago)

I never knew people hated on Change Today. I Dj "Black Magic" and "Just Like Me" pretty often.

I own a copy of the Into the Known LP and I do enjoy it. But I really could never argue that it's their strongest work. Certainly their weirdest and most off-the-beaten-path. It's entertaining and deserves a reissue. But certainly How Could Hell Be Any Worse? and Suffer are far superior collections of songs and more energetic performances.

― Nate Carson, Thursday, 9 July 2009 03:00 (sixteen years ago)

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