Bad Religion - Against the Grain

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jesus christ this whole album is so good

Poll Results

OptionVotes
Walk Away 4
Modern Man 3
21st Century (Digital Boy) 2
Get Off 1
Quality or Quantity 0
Unacceptable 0
Misery and Famine 0
God Song 0
Operation Rescue 0
Against the Grain 0
Turn on the Light 0
Faith Alone 0
Flat Earth Society 0
Anesthesia 0
Positive Aspect of Negative Thinking 0
Blenderhead 0
Entropy 0


how's life, Friday, 22 February 2013 15:35 (twelve years ago)

Oh damn, tough call. Gotta listen now to remember, its been a while. one of the first punk albums I ever bought.

Love the opener, not sure anything will top it.

forksclovetofu is def a douchebag (Spottie_Ottie_Dope), Friday, 22 February 2013 15:44 (twelve years ago)

<3 all the weird drums at the end of Anesthesia

forksclovetofu is def a douchebag (Spottie_Ottie_Dope), Friday, 22 February 2013 15:51 (twelve years ago)

I like No Control a bit more but this one's almost as good...

Choosing between Modern Man, Get Off, Anesthesia, Faith Alone (maybe their best slow song), and Walk Away. Probably Walk Away, which is a perfect little bitter BR track. I don't know what they're complaining about but it doesn't really matter - Graffin gets the point across just with his vocal tone. I also love the balance between the different vocal and instrumental elements, all of which are in-your-face and precise and yet blend anyway.

skip, Friday, 22 February 2013 15:51 (twelve years ago)

xxp: yeah, Modern Man is a total beast and it really throws you to the ground right out of the gate.

how's life, Friday, 22 February 2013 15:52 (twelve years ago)

amazing spacing in "all of my neurons are functioning smoothly" and "got this one problem where I live forever" - would love to hear what the vocal tracks sound like.

skip, Friday, 22 February 2013 16:07 (twelve years ago)

Against the Grain is great too obv, great riffage, great key shift.

forksclovetofu is def a douchebag (Spottie_Ottie_Dope), Friday, 22 February 2013 17:12 (twelve years ago)

probably tied with no control as my fav BR album

乒乓, Friday, 22 February 2013 17:22 (twelve years ago)

really great album, one of my faves from being a kid.
recently did a lot of listenign to the "all ages" comp which has a bunch of these... going for "walk away."
i actually find "faith alone" to be kinda goofy at this point.

i guess i'd just rather listen to canned heat? (ian), Saturday, 23 February 2013 01:23 (twelve years ago)

All Ages is a great comp

Harlem vs Alabama (Spottie_Ottie_Dope), Saturday, 23 February 2013 03:12 (twelve years ago)

Agree re Faith Alone

Harlem vs Alabama (Spottie_Ottie_Dope), Saturday, 23 February 2013 03:12 (twelve years ago)

This is one of my favorite albums ever.

Loud guitars shit all over "Bette Davis Eyes" (NYCNative), Saturday, 23 February 2013 10:44 (twelve years ago)

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

System, Tuesday, 26 February 2013 00:01 (twelve years ago)

s/o to this album for teaching me what a 'lea' was

乒乓, Tuesday, 26 February 2013 00:34 (twelve years ago)

get such a sense of quiet melancholy / teenage angst inner martyrdom from this album

乒乓, Tuesday, 26 February 2013 00:36 (twelve years ago)

like walk away, turn on the light, anesthesia.. it's almost feels goth-y???

乒乓, Tuesday, 26 February 2013 00:37 (twelve years ago)

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

System, Wednesday, 27 February 2013 00:01 (twelve years ago)

Only 10 voters, huh...

Loud guitars shit all over "Bette Davis Eyes" (NYCNative), Wednesday, 27 February 2013 00:14 (twelve years ago)

I had expected Anesthesia to be the overwhelming favorite here. I ended up voting for Modern Man, but Walk Away was my favorite when I was first.getting acquainted withtje album. Bummed that there were only 10 votes.

how's life, Wednesday, 27 February 2013 01:02 (twelve years ago)

i remember 21st Century Digital Boy being kind of preachy.

Poliopolice, Wednesday, 27 February 2013 01:06 (twelve years ago)

Kind of??

skip, Wednesday, 27 February 2013 15:01 (twelve years ago)

Love the song and love the band but they are nothing if not preachy.

skip, Wednesday, 27 February 2013 15:01 (twelve years ago)

Turn on the Light has some amazing hooks.

Nate Carson, Wednesday, 27 February 2013 16:58 (twelve years ago)

Positive Aspect of Negative Thinking has this really sweet tempo switch at the end.

Marty8501 (Marty Innerlogic), Wednesday, 27 February 2013 19:43 (twelve years ago)

is your dn BR inspired?

乒乓, Wednesday, 27 February 2013 19:49 (twelve years ago)

eight months pass...

this album is so effing great. I think God Song is oft unfairly overlooked. it's really the epitome of their "folksy campfire song set to punk rock energy" tune, but I really like the lyrics too:

And did those feet in ancient times
Trod on America's pastures of green?
And did that anthropocentric God
Wane with their thoughts and beliefs all unseen?

I don't think so
He's up there with the others laying low
Vying with those
Who you've traded your life to
To bless your soul

your face comes with coleslaw (Neanderthal), Monday, 28 October 2013 17:14 (twelve years ago)

also "Get Off" is the rare mosh-pit inducer. BR wasn't really often into aggressive riffing, but the verse riff on this one is pretty rough stuff until it smooths out in the pre-chorus.

Modern Man is of course all time....but stuff like "Flat Earth Society" and "Operation Rescue" are so anthemic. I go back and forth as to whether No Control or Against the Grain is my favorite, but most times I feel like ATG is their punk-masterwork, as it blended a lot of the fervent energy of their prior works, with an even more refined sense of melody and songwriting.

it's almost as if they took Suffer and added No Control's punch to it. i dunno. Suffer through ATG is pretty much teh Holy Trinity for pop-punk albums IMO.

your face comes with coleslaw (Neanderthal), Monday, 28 October 2013 17:17 (twelve years ago)

agreed on "God Song" - one of the better melodies on the album.

ATG definitely has a more epic/statement feel to it, maybe just because there are more songs and it is relatively longer (34 min vs 28 and 26). In retrospect it also points toward the alt-punk band they became from Generator onward.

The weak finish puts it below No Control for me. Cutting Misery and Famine, Unacceptable and Quality or Quantity and putting Walk Away after, say, The Positive Aspect of Negative Thinking would leave 14 really solid tracks.

skip, Monday, 28 October 2013 19:10 (twelve years ago)

I take it back about Quality or Quantity, that one's OK.

skip, Monday, 28 October 2013 19:59 (twelve years ago)

seven years pass...

Walk Away is amazing. does a lot of cool simple time signature shifts too

the utility infielder of theatre (Neanderthal), Tuesday, 26 October 2021 01:45 (four years ago)

three years pass...

the best ending

*bass solo*
and i'll buuuuuuuurn lika a roman fucking candle,
buuuuuuuuurn like a chasm in the night,
buuuuuuuuurn for a miniscule duration,
ecstatic immolation, incorrigible delight

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vwvTs5yBgFI

lil $CHUB (Spottie), Wednesday, 13 August 2025 21:45 (five months ago)

I didn’t go to see em last night with Dropkick Murphys in Baltimore.

curmudgeon, Thursday, 14 August 2025 00:00 (five months ago)


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