is an American Punk Rock band that was originally formed in Southern California in 1980 by Jay Bentley (bass), Greg Graffin (vocals), Brett Gurewitz (guitars), and Jay Ziskrout (drums). The band is often credited for leading the revival of punk rock during the late 1980s , as well as influencing a large number of other punk and rock musicians throughout their career. In the 27 years since its inception, Bad Religion has had numerous lineup changes, and Graffin has been the only constant member.
To date, Bad Religion has released fourteen Studio Album s, two EPs , three Compilation Album s, one Live Recording, and two DVD s. Their 1988 album '' Suffer '' is often considered one of the highest selling albums in the history of punk music,1 although it was not charted in Billboard . Bad Religion's popularity grew in 1994 with their major-label release '' Stranger Than Fiction '', containing the popular hits " 21st Century (Digital Boy) " and " Infected ", which are often considered concert staples. Between Gurewitz's departure in 1994 and return in 2001, Bad Religion did not achieve much commercial success and poor record sales continued until the release of '' The Process Of Belief '' in 2002. Their latest album, '' New Maps Of Hell '', came out in 2007.
They are particularly known for their sophisticated use of style, metaphor, vocabulary, imagery, and vocal harmonies (the ''oozin' aahs''), whether reflective of matters of personal feelings or of personal or Social Responsibility. Perhaps paradoxically, at least at first thought, despite the band's name, Bad Religion may be accurately characterized as far more thematically concerned with questions of the essential character and implications of Freedom than with Religion or Atheism in the more conventional and narrower sense of those terms.
'' (1982), the band's first full-length studio release.]]
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http://thebrpagenet/article/detailaspiArt=245&iType=25
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Bad Religion's Punk Prosody
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Sandy Masuo
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September 1994
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Greg Graffin
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Bad Religion Live at the Palladium
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DVD
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Epitaph Records
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2005
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In 1981, the band released their eponymous debut
EP on their own newly-formed label,
Epitaph Records , which is managed and owned by Gurewitz. 1982 saw the release of their first full-length album, ''
How Could Hell Be Any Worse? '', gaining the band a sizeable following. During the recording of ''
How Could Hell Be Any Worse? '', Jay Ziskrout left the band and was replaced by
Peter Finestone .
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Addicted to the Opiate of the Masses
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Jo-Anne Greene
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May 23, 1997
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In 1984,
Greg Hetson of
Circle Jerks fame, who had played the guitar solo for "Part III" on ''
How Could Hell Be Any Worse? '', joined to replace Gurewitz, who had gone into rehab for his drug problem. Bad Religion returned to a somewhat mellower,
Rock And Roll version of their original sound with the ''
Back To The Known '' EP, but disbanded temporarily soon after.
'' (1988), one of the highest selling albums in the history of punk music.]]
The band slowly reformed out of the 1984 ''Back to the Known'' lineup when Greg Graffin called Jay Bentley and asked him to return. Bentley's response was tentative, but after being assured that the setlist consisted mostly of tracks from ''How Could Hell Be Any Worse?'', he agreed to return for one show, and ended up staying on because he had so much fun. A freshly rehabilitated Gurewitz was eventually convinced to come back aboard, and with Pete Finestone returning on drums and Greg Hetson on second guitar, Bad Religion was back.
The reunited band released ''
Suffer '' in 1988, cementing their comeback in the punk community. Not only is this album often cited as one of their very best by fans, but it is credited with "saving" the
Southern California punk rock scene by fans and Bad Religion's contemporaries alike.
2
''
No Control '' (1989) and ''
Against The Grain '' (1990) further increased the band's popularity, followed by ''
Generator '' (1992). Before recording sessions for ''Generator'' commenced, drummer
Pete Finestone left Bad Religion in 1991 to focus on his other band, The Fishermen, which had signed with a major label, and
Bobby Schayer joined the band as his replacement.
Also during 1991, Bad Religion released a compilation album, ''
80-85 '', a repackaging of their debut album, ''
How Could Hell Be Any Worse? '', their two EPs, ''
Bad Religion '' and ''
Back To The Known '' and the band's three track contributions to the ''
Public Service '' EP. This compilation did not include ''
Into The Unknown ''. ''80-85'' is now out of print and has been replaced by the 2004 re-issued version of ''
How Could Hell Be Any Worse? '' with the same track listings.
'' (1994), the band's last recording with Gurewitz, until ''
The Process Of Belief '' (2002).]]
With
Alternative Rock and
Grunge breaking into the mainstream, Bad Religion left
Epitaph Records for
Atlantic Records and quickly re-released their seventh full-length studio album ''
Recipe For Hate '' (1993) on the major label. Also in 1993, the band recorded the song "Leaders and Followers" for the soundtrack for the
Kevin Smith film, ''
Clerks ''. 1994's ''
Stranger Than Fiction '' followed, but Gurewitz left the band shortly following its release. Officially, he cited the increasing amount of time he was spending at Epitaph's offices as
The Offspring became one of the biggest bands of the mid-1990s, but it was well known that his departure was not on good terms. Gurewitz, along with many fans, accused the band of
Selling Out for leaving Epitaph to seek greater financial success despite the fact that Gurewitz was making millions off of
The Offspring alone.
3
As tensions increased, Graffin would sing alternate lyrics during concerts such as "I want to know where Brett gets his crack" or "I want to know why Gurewitz cracked," on the song "Stranger Than Fiction".
4 These barbs referred to Gurewitz's struggles with crack, heroin and other addictions which plagued him for years. Brett discussed his drug use in an interview on the band's ''
Suffer '' tour documentary, ''
Along The Way '', and is now clean and sober. In response, Gurewitz recorded a song with his new band
The Daredevils entitled "
Hate You ", reportedly directed towards Jay Bentley.
Gurewitz was replaced as a guitarist by
Brian Baker , a former member of bands such as
Minor Threat and
Dag Nasty . Since Greg Graffin and Gurewitz had split songwriting duties, Graffin was now Bad Religion's primary songwriter.
On March 4, 1998 "Stranger Than Fiction" became Bad Religion's first RIAA certified gold record for sales of over half a million in the U.S.
'' (1996), the band's first recording with guitarist
Brian Baker .]]
Bad Religion continued on without Brett Gurewitz and released three more albums for Atlantic. ''
The Gray Race '' (1996), produced by former Cars frontman,
Ric Ocasek . The album would score Bad Religion a minor U.S. radio hit with the song "A Walk" as well as the European release of "Punk Rock Song" (sung in both English and German). The band would find its greatest success in Europe, where the album would reach the German music charts at #6 and score the band their first European gold record for sales in Scandinavia alone.
(L) with Bad Religion, live in the Netherlands, 1995.]]Their next album, ''
No Substance '' (1998), was not as well received by the critics or fans alike. For ''
The New America '' (2000),
Todd Rundgren , an early musical inspiration for Graffin, was brought in to produce. "Todd was kind of an underground sensation back in 1974. Here's a guy who was making pop music but in a way that you wouldn't hear on the radio. So much of my early musical identity was wrapped up in the way he conducted himself." In the summer of 1999 they set out on a three month US arena tour opening for Blink 182.
5 Unfortunately, the experience might not have been all that Greg and the rest of the band might have hoped. Interest in recording the record waned, due to Rundgren's poor attitude. Jay Bentley reflects on this by saying, "I didn't feel we were going anywhere and so did Greg. Todd didn't like Greg and that made Greg so mad! He met his idol and he was a jerk! I don't think Todd gave a shit about anything."
6 Meanwhile,
Bobby Schayer left the band following a serious shoulder injury and was replaced by
Brooks Wackerman (
Suicidal Tendencies ).
Bad Religion departed from Atlantic Records in 2001 and returned to Epitaph.
'' (2002), the band's first recording with Gurewitz in nearly eight years.]]
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http://wwwrollingstonecom/artists/badreligion/articles/story/5927776/the_new_state_of_bad_religion
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The New State of Bad Religion
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Jennifer Vineyard
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May 11, 2000
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The return of Gurewitz helped create the album's unofficial title ''The Process of Belief'', as the original Bad Religion sound seemed to have returned.
Their next album, ''
The Empire Strikes First '', was released in June 2004. Both albums are widely regarded by fans and critics as a return to form for the band, as opposed to their time on Atlantic.
The band also re-released digitally-remastered versions of several of their early albums on Epitaph Records, including ''How Could Hell Be Any Worse?'', ''Suffer'', ''No Control'', ''Against the Grain'', and ''Generator''. The ''How Could Hell Be Any Worse?'' re-issue, though reclaiming the original title of the band's debut LP, contained all of the same material as the previously issued ''80-85'' compilation, including their first EP, the ''
Public Service '' EP (with different versions of the songs Bad Religion, Slaves, and Drastic Actions than the self-titled EP) and the "Back To The Known" EP.
On March 7, 2006, a live
DVD , ''
Live At The Palladium '' was released. This DVD featured a live show performed in late 2004 at the Hollywood Palladium, as well as extensive interviews, several music videos, and a photo gallery. During one of the interview segments, guitarist
Brett Gurewitz says the band's next album might be a double length release.
Greg Graffin released his second solo album, ''
Cold As The Clay '', on July 11, 2006.
Bad Religion's recent studio album, titled ''
New Maps Of Hell '', was released on
July 10 ,
2007 .
On June 29, 2007
Epitaph Records started selling'' New Maps Of Hell'' at Warped Tour In Pomona,
California .
Guitarist
Greg Hetson formed a
Supergroup band called
Black President , consisting of Charlie Paulson (from
Goldfinger ), Jason Christopher, Wade Youman (both from
Unwritten Law ) and Christian Black (from
Dee Dee Ramone ).In the January issue of the magazine Alternative Press,it was revealed that there 14th album will be released in late spring 2007.
, 2004]]
The majority of Bad Religion's lyrics are written by either Greg Graffin or Brett Gurewitz. Only on rare occasions will they co-write a song. Other band members, such as Jay Bentley, also contribute songs, but these constitute only a small percentage of the Bad Religion catalog.
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A Conversation with Mr Brett
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Matt Taylor and Mateo Rojas
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September 27, 1996
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http://wwwseemagazinecom/Issues/2005/1103/mus4htm
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Acting Their Rage
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Trent McMartin
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November 3, 2005
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http://wwwbadreligioncom/news/id=9
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Brett Gurewitz Interview
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Dennis Lyxzen
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June 29, 2004
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The band doesn't always restrict political commentary exclusively to metaphor. Brett Gurewitz pulled no punches when he attributed his anger towards US
President George W. Bush as the major inspiration for ''
The Empire Strikes First ''. "Our whole album is dedicated to getting Bush out of office. I'm not a presidential scholar but I don't think you'll find a worse president in the history of the United States. He's probably one of the worst leaders in the history of world leaders. I just hate the guy."
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NYRock Interview with Greg Graffin
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Gabriella of nyrockcom
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April 1998
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}}
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Graffin Interview
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Kelly E and Cathy D
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October 15, 1993
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However, Greg Graffin himself is an atheist, and co-author of the book 'Is Belief in God Good, Bad or Irrelevant?'
- When Bad Religion reunited in 1984, Gurewitz was not part of the band, but he produced the '' Back To The Known '' EP. He rejoined the band in 1986 — while members of the '' How Could Hell Be Any Worse? '' line-up were reuniting — and recorded the albums between '' Suffer '' and '' Stranger Than Fiction '' before leaving once again in 1994. Many believed that he had left for good. His final return with Bad Religion was in 2001 and he is still a member of the band today. He did, however, co-write the song "Believe It" (from '' The New America '' album) before rejoining.
- Bentley left Bad Religion in 1982 while they began work on their second album '' Into The Unknown '', but returned in 1986 and is still a member of the band today.
- Finestone left Bad Religion in 1982 while they began work on their second album '' Into The Unknown '' as well, but returned in 1984 to record the '' Back To The Known '' before leaving again. His final return with Bad Religion was in 1986 and he recorded three more albums ('' Suffer '', '' No Control '' and '' Against The Grain '') before leaving the band again for good in 1991. However, he briefly reunited with the band in a 2003 show in Las Vegas to play the drums for "Fuck Armageddon... This Is Hell".
See Also: Bad Religion discography
