Autonomist
11-10-2007, 05:29 AM
(I know, there's already a dozen BR threads floating around on the board. I put some decent work into this however, so I'm hoping this'll be crowned the official one, or something along those lines.)
Earlier this week I saw Bad Religion live, and it was hands down no comparison the best show I've ever been to. In the lead-up to this, and in order to remind myself that they were my favourite band, I listened to all their albums over a period of two weeks and wrote lengthy reviews for all. I'm proud of my work, so I'm posting it in order to hopefully open up discussion of some sort.
Ahem;
HOW COULD HELL BE ANY WORSE? (4/5)
A lot of the songs here are great, but they would become even greater years later when they were perfected into live masterpieces. Part III sounds decent enough here, however in later years it would sound absolutely phenomenal live, with an excellent pumping bassline introduction. Some of the songs on How Could Hell Be Any Worse are fairly average and forgettable (Voice of God Is Government, Oligarchy) however at the end of the day it's filled with more good stuff than bad. Fuck Armageddon... This is Hell is a great song that remains a live benchmark and fan favourite to this day, as does We're Only Gonna Die. The biggest criticism here is that most of the songs don't really differentiate from one another, and as a basic hardcore record this is much more problematic than it would be in later years. But overall, a decent record and a sign of better things to come.
INTO THE UNKNOWN (2/5)
Bad Religion's incredibly experimental second album. It's definitely interesting to say the least, however there's no denying that the experiment didn't pay off very well. It was daring to wade into synth-pop territories after How Could Hell Be Any Worse, an under-produced hardcore punk record that earned them a sizeable fan base. Needless to say Into the Unknown wasn't very popular with fans. Even for those whom are more open-minded however it's easy to see why the band has never bothered re-releasing this - it just really isn't an overly strong album. The keyboards don't blend in very well with the guitar sound most of the time, distorting a lot of tracks to mediocrity. It's Only Over When... and The Dichotomy are listenable tracks, but apart from those Into the Unknown offers nothing memorable. It's not as bad as you'd think, but it's hardly worth checking out either.
80-85 (2/5)
Excluding How Could Hell Be Any Worse, there's nothing especially great on here. I like Bad Religion and Along the Way, but as is the case with their debut album these songs sound much better when adapted live. Otherwise it's just a bunch of hardcore EPs that obviously went way over my head.
SUFFER (5/5)
I love the hell out of this. The first album in the band's classic album trilogy has 15 songs that more or less sound the same, but flawlessly do so at the same time. Best for You is among the catchiest work they've ever done. Suffer is among the absolute highlights of their live set. Do What You Want is ridiculously fast on an album full of already ridiculously fast songs, and Pessimistic Lines is a nice and simple track to bow out on. There aren't many times you feel you've gotten your money's worth when an album clocks in under half an hour, however this is one of them. Short, fast, loud and fun.
NO CONTROL (5/5)
A great and equally flawless follow-up to Suffer. Not every track here is a classic like the previous, though the greatest trackers here are greater than those on Suffer. While the second album in the classic Bad Religion album trilogy isn't as short or fast the songs for the most part clock in around the same length. No Control, You and I Want to Conquer the World are among my favourite ever Bad Religion songs, probably somewhere up the top of my top ten. Sanity borrows its riff from Drastic Actions, one of the tracks from the band's very early years, and makes a much better song out of it. Once more the album doesn't have any sub-standard tracks, just ones that aren't as epic as the epic ones. I don’t think I’ll ever be able to name my absolute favourite album by the band, but this would definitely rank among the top three at least.
AGAINST THE GRAIN (5/5)
A solid example of the classic Bad Religion that I love so much. This album is one of what is regarded to be the Bad Religion Trilogy, as it came a year after No Control, which in itself came a year after Suffer, and all three are possibly the band's most critically and universally acclaimed albums. Against the Grain is heavy with all the things that make Bad Religion such a great band - their challenging lyrics, catchy melodies and vocal harmonies just to name a few. Many classic BR tracks can be found here - album openers Modern Man and Turn on the Light, Anesthesia, Faith Alone, Operation Rescue and God Song all being prime examples. Even the original version of 21st Century Digital Boy, which was later on genetically redone for a later album, is a promising feat here. The only track that notably can't stand up among the rest is Misery and Famine. Other than that, Against the Grain flows perfectly and is without fault.
GENERATOR (3/5)
Even in the classic era with the classic line-up not every Bad Religion album is a classic by any standards. Generator may have spawned one of the band's most well known and popular songs in the form of the title track, however the whole of this album seems to lack any sort of punch or excitement. Fortunately many of the songs here translate much better when played live, eg Tomorrow, Atomic Garden and No Direction. Aside from the songs already mentioned, most of the rest of Generator is filler. Not a bad album, but incredibly average by Bad Religion standards.
RECIPE FOR HATE (3/5)
Wasn't much of a fan on the first listen, however it definitely seems better than I originally thought on the second. The title track is as strong an opener as you'd find on any other of the band's albums, and though I've listened to American Jesus to the point where I can barely stand to hear it anymore this too is a great song. Recipe for Hate is a much more experimental album than Bad Religion had done in the past (save Into the Unknown of course), and while they remain true to their roots they also shake things up a bit. Most of what results from this however is pretty dull. Portrait of Authority and Man With a Mission are two of the slower tracks on here and neither of these are really worth any particular praise. Struck a Nerve, one of the fan favourites on here that that they continue to play live, but it's nothing stellar. It's what I consider to be perhaps Bad Religion's most overrated track, by their fans at least. Overall it's got some good stuff, weighed down by some incredibly average stuff.
STRANGER THAN FICTION (4/5)
This is the first Bad Religion album I got, and probably the one I change my mind the most on. I'd say this is roughly the Bad Religion equivalent of Americana - it was poppier and much more popular than the band's previous releases, so of course it was unfairly hated by the true punx (ahem, fans). I grew out of this around the time I got the classic BR albums that I love so much, but revisiting it now I can appreciate Stranger Than Fiction for What It Is (pun intended). I've never been a big fan of Slumber; I've always thought it sounded somewhat forced compared to most of their other lighter stuff, as if they just stuck it on after becoming worried the tracks were sounding too samey. I'm also not big on the remake of 21st Century Digital Boy, the original version was better. Other than that it's a solid album, with some of the greater tracks including Tiny Voices, Infected, Incomplete and Leave Mine to Me.
Earlier this week I saw Bad Religion live, and it was hands down no comparison the best show I've ever been to. In the lead-up to this, and in order to remind myself that they were my favourite band, I listened to all their albums over a period of two weeks and wrote lengthy reviews for all. I'm proud of my work, so I'm posting it in order to hopefully open up discussion of some sort.
Ahem;
HOW COULD HELL BE ANY WORSE? (4/5)
A lot of the songs here are great, but they would become even greater years later when they were perfected into live masterpieces. Part III sounds decent enough here, however in later years it would sound absolutely phenomenal live, with an excellent pumping bassline introduction. Some of the songs on How Could Hell Be Any Worse are fairly average and forgettable (Voice of God Is Government, Oligarchy) however at the end of the day it's filled with more good stuff than bad. Fuck Armageddon... This is Hell is a great song that remains a live benchmark and fan favourite to this day, as does We're Only Gonna Die. The biggest criticism here is that most of the songs don't really differentiate from one another, and as a basic hardcore record this is much more problematic than it would be in later years. But overall, a decent record and a sign of better things to come.
INTO THE UNKNOWN (2/5)
Bad Religion's incredibly experimental second album. It's definitely interesting to say the least, however there's no denying that the experiment didn't pay off very well. It was daring to wade into synth-pop territories after How Could Hell Be Any Worse, an under-produced hardcore punk record that earned them a sizeable fan base. Needless to say Into the Unknown wasn't very popular with fans. Even for those whom are more open-minded however it's easy to see why the band has never bothered re-releasing this - it just really isn't an overly strong album. The keyboards don't blend in very well with the guitar sound most of the time, distorting a lot of tracks to mediocrity. It's Only Over When... and The Dichotomy are listenable tracks, but apart from those Into the Unknown offers nothing memorable. It's not as bad as you'd think, but it's hardly worth checking out either.
80-85 (2/5)
Excluding How Could Hell Be Any Worse, there's nothing especially great on here. I like Bad Religion and Along the Way, but as is the case with their debut album these songs sound much better when adapted live. Otherwise it's just a bunch of hardcore EPs that obviously went way over my head.
SUFFER (5/5)
I love the hell out of this. The first album in the band's classic album trilogy has 15 songs that more or less sound the same, but flawlessly do so at the same time. Best for You is among the catchiest work they've ever done. Suffer is among the absolute highlights of their live set. Do What You Want is ridiculously fast on an album full of already ridiculously fast songs, and Pessimistic Lines is a nice and simple track to bow out on. There aren't many times you feel you've gotten your money's worth when an album clocks in under half an hour, however this is one of them. Short, fast, loud and fun.
NO CONTROL (5/5)
A great and equally flawless follow-up to Suffer. Not every track here is a classic like the previous, though the greatest trackers here are greater than those on Suffer. While the second album in the classic Bad Religion album trilogy isn't as short or fast the songs for the most part clock in around the same length. No Control, You and I Want to Conquer the World are among my favourite ever Bad Religion songs, probably somewhere up the top of my top ten. Sanity borrows its riff from Drastic Actions, one of the tracks from the band's very early years, and makes a much better song out of it. Once more the album doesn't have any sub-standard tracks, just ones that aren't as epic as the epic ones. I don’t think I’ll ever be able to name my absolute favourite album by the band, but this would definitely rank among the top three at least.
AGAINST THE GRAIN (5/5)
A solid example of the classic Bad Religion that I love so much. This album is one of what is regarded to be the Bad Religion Trilogy, as it came a year after No Control, which in itself came a year after Suffer, and all three are possibly the band's most critically and universally acclaimed albums. Against the Grain is heavy with all the things that make Bad Religion such a great band - their challenging lyrics, catchy melodies and vocal harmonies just to name a few. Many classic BR tracks can be found here - album openers Modern Man and Turn on the Light, Anesthesia, Faith Alone, Operation Rescue and God Song all being prime examples. Even the original version of 21st Century Digital Boy, which was later on genetically redone for a later album, is a promising feat here. The only track that notably can't stand up among the rest is Misery and Famine. Other than that, Against the Grain flows perfectly and is without fault.
GENERATOR (3/5)
Even in the classic era with the classic line-up not every Bad Religion album is a classic by any standards. Generator may have spawned one of the band's most well known and popular songs in the form of the title track, however the whole of this album seems to lack any sort of punch or excitement. Fortunately many of the songs here translate much better when played live, eg Tomorrow, Atomic Garden and No Direction. Aside from the songs already mentioned, most of the rest of Generator is filler. Not a bad album, but incredibly average by Bad Religion standards.
RECIPE FOR HATE (3/5)
Wasn't much of a fan on the first listen, however it definitely seems better than I originally thought on the second. The title track is as strong an opener as you'd find on any other of the band's albums, and though I've listened to American Jesus to the point where I can barely stand to hear it anymore this too is a great song. Recipe for Hate is a much more experimental album than Bad Religion had done in the past (save Into the Unknown of course), and while they remain true to their roots they also shake things up a bit. Most of what results from this however is pretty dull. Portrait of Authority and Man With a Mission are two of the slower tracks on here and neither of these are really worth any particular praise. Struck a Nerve, one of the fan favourites on here that that they continue to play live, but it's nothing stellar. It's what I consider to be perhaps Bad Religion's most overrated track, by their fans at least. Overall it's got some good stuff, weighed down by some incredibly average stuff.
STRANGER THAN FICTION (4/5)
This is the first Bad Religion album I got, and probably the one I change my mind the most on. I'd say this is roughly the Bad Religion equivalent of Americana - it was poppier and much more popular than the band's previous releases, so of course it was unfairly hated by the true punx (ahem, fans). I grew out of this around the time I got the classic BR albums that I love so much, but revisiting it now I can appreciate Stranger Than Fiction for What It Is (pun intended). I've never been a big fan of Slumber; I've always thought it sounded somewhat forced compared to most of their other lighter stuff, as if they just stuck it on after becoming worried the tracks were sounding too samey. I'm also not big on the remake of 21st Century Digital Boy, the original version was better. Other than that it's a solid album, with some of the greater tracks including Tiny Voices, Infected, Incomplete and Leave Mine to Me.