Not Welcome Here

I have one of those cases for CDs. It has only my punk rock music in it. There was a time where I moved around often, and decided that I couldn't stand carting around all of these hard plastic CD cases, one for each CD. So, I put many CDs into CD wallet cases and threw out the individual plastic cases. This particular CD case has only punk music in it, everything from Anti-flag to X-Ray Spex.

This post though is all about Bad Religion. I love this band, and I don't think they get enough credit for a pretty excellent career. Greg Graffin (the singer), Brett Gurewitz (Mr. Brett), and Jay Bentley (the bass player) started the band in 1979 in high school. Mr Brett started Epitaph as a DIY record label and grew it into one of the most successful indie labels of all time. One of the albums I wish I had, but don't, is Suffer, and since I don't own it, it won't appear here.

Bad Religion

How Could Hell be any Worse?

1982, Epitaph

Greg Graffin - vocals
Brett Gurewitz - guitar
Jay Bentley - bass
Pete Finestone - drums
Jay Ziskrout - drums

This is Bad Religion's debut album, recorded and distributed by their own record company, Epitaph, one of the most successful DIY labels ever. This album has the sound and feel of earlier American Hardcore groups like Black Flag and Bad Brains, however, Greg Graffin's pedantic vocal and the subject material are unique. Over time, the sound becomes more refined, but the Bad Religion sound has its beginnings here. This is the last recording with original drummer Jay Ziskrout, and has a guest appearance by Greg Hetson from the Circle Jerks. He would join the band full time in 1985. Fuck Armeggedon... this is Hell and We're all Gonna Die are the most famous tracks. Sublime covered We're all Gonna Die on their 1992 album 40oz to Freedom.  

Bad Religion

Recipe for Hate

1993, Epitaph

produced by Bad Religion

Greg Graffin - vocals
Brett Gurewitz - guitar
Greg Hetson - guitar
Jay Bentley - bass
Bobby Schayer - drums

singles-

• American Jesus
• Struck a Nerve

A lot of people credit Green Day and The Offspring with bringing punk to the mainstream, where it has clowned around ever since in cookie-cutter mediocrity, like most pop music. I disagree, however. This album came out a year before, scored radio hits and MTV play. Really the credit should go to Nirvana, but no one likes to call them a punk band.  Not only is this my favorite Bad Religion album, it ranked number 14 on Billboard's Heatseeker and features Eddie Vedder as a guest vocalist for a verse on Watch it Die, and a back-up for Greg Graffin on American Jesus. It would take Bad Religion until 2002 (Process of Belief) to make an album this good.  Every track is good, nothing to skip over, except the last "hidden track" Stealth, which is just weird-ass gobbly-gook and noise anyway. Some would argue that Bad Religion doesn't really count for culture revival, since they were making music since 1981 and never really left the scene. But this is a departure from early '80s American Hardcore, and British Punk. Plus it went mainstream for the first time.

Bad Religion

Process of Belief

2002, Epitaph

produced by Mr. Brett and Greg Graffin

Greg Graffin - vocals
Brett Gurewitz -guitar
Greg Hetson - guitar
Brian Baker - guitar
Jay Bentley - bass
Brooks Wackerman - drums

singles-

• Sorrow/ Who We Are
• Broken
• The Defense
• SuperSonic

This is the first Bad Religion album I bought, shortly after seeing the video for Sorrow and shortly before I saw them at the Avalon in Boston with Less Than Jake and Hot Water Music. This is the first album with Brett Gurewitz since 1994, and the first album ever with new drummer Brooks Wackerman from Suicidal Tendencies and the Vandals. It also marks the band's return to their own label Epitaph after spending 8 years on Epic and Atlantic. It's fast paced, loud, melodic... a call back to earlier '90s stuff.  My favorite track is Evangeline. This album marks the second coming of a band that had been around since the early '80s and had drifted into irrelevance, and it does a great job of reinvigorating and reinventing a classic group.  

Bad Religion.  

Empire Strikes First

2004, Epitaph

produced by Mr. Brett and Greg Graffin

singles- 

• Los Angeles is Burning/ Empire Strikes First

Aside from the We're all Gonna Die Sublime cover, and sometimes 21st Century Digital Boy, Bad Religion was never heard on radio. However, with this album, I started hearing their stuff all over the place.  Lakers games played Los Angeles is Burning, Empire Strikes First was played on ESPN during commercial spots for the Yankees. They blew up for a moment in 2004. This album is a great follow up to Process of Belief. If this was the beginning of their career, these two albums would make the band instant legends.

Bad Religion

New Maps of Hell

2007, Epitaph

produced by Joe Barresi

singles-

• Honest Goodbye
• New Dark Ages

This album at first glance appears like a sappy nostalgic trip to the past. The name and the artwork are both throwbacks to How Could Hell be any Worse in celebration of the 25th anniversary. This third release since the 2002 reboot continued mainstream popularity by contributing to downloadable content for the video game RockBand and debuted at number 35 on Billboard's 200. In my opinion the last two albums were better.    

Bad Religion  

The Dissent of Man

2010, Epitaph

produced by Joe Barresi

singles-

• The Devil in Stitches
• Cyanide
• Wrong Way Kids

This album is great, and more than makes up for New Maps of Hell. I love Wrong Way Kids, and the video has fan involvement, relying on fan submissions featured in the video, much like Dirty Little Secret by All American Rejects. Bad Religion's music relies on themes of religion, and politics unlike any other punk band. Greg Graffin's lyrics are intelligent, and thought provoking, and although his writing style is better suited to folk music, it makes Bad Religion's sound unique and easy to identify. I hope this band continues to produce solid punk rock albums in the future.