| Promotional photo of Bad Religion from the remastered version of their 1989 album No Control.Bad Religion is a seminal American punk rock band, formed in Southern California in 1980 by Jay Bentley (bass), Greg Graffin (vocals), Brett Gurewitz (guitars) and Jay Ziskrout (drums).They are 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 28 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 albums, two EPs, three compilation albums, one live recording, and two DVDs.When Gurewitz left the band in 1994, Bad Religion declined in popularity and poor record sales continued until the release of The New America in 2000.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.Social and political issues
2.Bad Religion was formed in Los Angeles, California in 1980 by high school students Greg Graffin (vocals, keyboards), Jay Bentley (bass guitar), Jay Ziskrout (drums), and Brett Gurewitz, also known as "Mr.Outside of the punk scene, their influences ranged from Elvis Costello, The Jam, and Nick Lowe to authors like Jack Kerouac.How Could Hell Be Any Worse?Jay Ziskrout left the band and was replaced by Peter Finestone.It can be seen going for more than 100 dollars on eBay, but is often pirated.LP is the bluish hue on the cover, instead of the reddish hue.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.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?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.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.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.How Could Hell Be Any Worse?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.How Could Hell Be Any Worse?To date, Stranger Than Fiction remains another one of Bad Religion's best known albums, with sales continuing thirteen years after its release.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".Brett discussed his drug use in an interview on the band's Suffer tour documentary, Along the Way, and is now clean and sober.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.Bad Religion continued recording without Brett Gurewitz and released three more albums for Atlantic, starting with The Gray Race (1996), produced by former Cars frontman, Ric Ocasek.The album would score Bad Religion a minor U.Brian Baker (L) with Bad Religion, live in the Netherlands, 1995."Todd was kind of an underground sensation back in 1974.So much of my early musical identity was wrapped up in the way he conducted himself."Todd didn't like Greg and that made Greg so mad!Bad Religion departed from Atlantic Records in 2001 and returned to Epitaph.In 2001, Brett Gurewitz rejoined the band in time to record The Process Of Belief (2002).Graffin states, "there was a little bit of disappointment on my part when he left the band, but we never had any serious acrimony between the two of us.Suffer, No Control, Against the Grain, and Generator.Bentley (left) and Graffin (right) with Bad Religion, live in the House of Blues, 2005.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.Greg Graffin released his second solo album, Cold as the Clay, on July 11, 2006.Bad Religion's latest studio album, titled New Maps of Hell, was released on July 10, 2007.The majority of Bad Religion's lyrics are written by either Greg Graffin or Brett Gurewitz.Other band members, such as Jay Bentley, also contribute songs, but these constitute only a small percentage of the Bad Religion catalog.Brett Gurewitz acknowledges attempting to emulate The Germs singer Darby Crash early on in Bad Religion's lyrical style."He wrote some intelligent stuff, and didn't shy away from the vocabulary, which I thought was cool."In addition to their use of unusually sophisticated vocabulary for a punk band, Bad Religion is also known for their frequent use of vocal harmonies, which they refer to in their album liner notes as the "oozin aahs".Social and political issues
Many of Bad Religion's songs are about different social ills, although they make attempts not to ascribe the causes of these ills to any single person or group.Greg Graffin believes that the current political situation in the United States can make it difficult to voice these concerns, as he doesn't want to feed the polarization of viewpoints.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.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.Religion
Faith in your partner, your fellow men, your friends, is very important, because without it there's no mutual component to your relationship, and relationships are important.So faith plays an important role, but faith in people you don't know, faith in religious or political leaders or even people on stages, people who are popular in the public eye, you shouldn't have faith in those people.Singer Greg Graffin states that more often than not, the band prefers to use religion as a metaphor for anything that doesn't allow for an individual's freedom to think or express themselves as they choose.Is Belief in God Good, Bad or Irrelevant?For more details on this topic, see List of Bad Religion band members.How Could Hell Be Any Worse?Never charted
Greg Graffin
Mr.Heatseekers)
Greg Graffin
Mr.External links
Official Website
Bad Religion at MySpace.Bad Religion Tribute News Updated Daily,mp3,videos,Photos,Discography ...Jay bentley Tribute Tribute
The New Old Bad Religion Message Board, established 2005.The Bad Religion Page Fan website, established 1995.The Answer Wiki An Encyclopedia dedicated to Bad Religion, established 2007.Interview with Jay Bentley of Bad Religion
Bad Religion en Argentina Fotolog, Bad Religion in Argentina 2007.Bad Religion at IMDB.Bad Religion's Punk Prosody.RIAA Certification (type in "Bad Religion" in the artist box) (HTML).Retrieved on October 11, 2007.Neal Rogers (May 9, 1996).The Bad Religion Page.The Atlantic Records Bad Religion Bio Page.Bad Religion: The Process of Labels.Jennifer Vineyard (May 11, 2000).The New State of Bad Religion.Bad Religion Sign On For Warped Tour (November 28, 2006).Greg Hetson, Charlie Paulson form Black President (November 6, 2006).Trent McMartin (November 3, 2005).Albums widely considered to be among Bad Religion's most important works.Studio albums
How Could Hell Be Any Worse?This page was last modified 23:43, 3 January 2008.All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License.See Copyrights for details."Are you sure you want to block this user?Table img table, tr, td body span.It is the impassioned sound of reason, anthems of a bittersweet idealism and a guarded hope set to propulsive guitars and charging drumbeats.And while most groups with even half the artistic output have long ago morphed into stylistic self parody, Bad Religion is currently surging forward with a renewed creative intensity.While many of the new songs are as brutally fast and unflinchingly heartfelt as anything the band has done before, the record is also filled with unexpected sounds, inventive rhythms and lush pop choruses."But we're also trying to look forward and write some really interesting new rock songs."After some years away, Gurewitz has been back in the fold for the previous two records, Process of Belief and The Empire Strikes First, both discs widely accepted as a return to form for the veteran band.He is again accompanying his longtime friends, co songwriter and singer Greg Graffin and original bassist Jay Bentley.The (slightly) newer band members read like a punk rock all star team, with guitarist Greg Hetson of the legendary Circle Jerks and Brian Baker of hardcore pioneers Minor Threat.For this latest record, Bad Religion convened with renowned producer Joe Barresi at a downtown Hollywood recording studio just blocks from so many of the nightclubs and halls where the band first inspired legions of like minded young malcontents amidst the vibrant eighties Los Angeles punk scene.Back then, the band members had been young teen rebels from the dystopian suburbs of the nearby San Fernando Valley, leather clad intelligentsia lashing out at a pervasive culture of greed and conformity.Bad Religion has always been anti establishment and about open mindedness," Gurewitz says.And we write with a secular humanist world view which really goes against all that."Welcome to the New Dark Ages.And as unsettling as this sentiment might be for the longstanding firebrands, it has undoubtedly inspired a vital and emotionally charged record."But then we still have that same naive hope we had as angry idealistic teenagers, that human beings will hear this music and think, 'This isn't right and I'm gonna do something about it.Watching the band rip through a live set in front of a few thousand exhilarated fans days after completing New Maps to Hell, the sheer power of Bad Religion's music is unquestionable.The entire affair has an intensely inspirational and cathartic air, like some riotous punk rock baptism in the name of free thought and dissent."And that's really who we write for."In the end we do this because we still care deeply about inspiring people," Graffin adds."Are you sure you want to delete this comment?"Each album you have released inspires me in a way no other atrist has.Keep rocking on and get to the UK asap Cheers lads!!Thank you an I sincerely hope that 2008, and all the years afterward for that matter turn out to be great years for you guys, rock the fuck on forever, guys!HAPPY NEW LIGHT YEAR!!!.Sheet Monkeys (2 NEW SONGS UP!!!LISTEN TO OUR MUSIC!!!!!!LISTEN TO OUR MUSIC!!!!!!LISTEN TO OUR MUSIC!!!!!!LISTEN TO OUR MUSIC!!!!!!We started this band in 1996.Hardcore from all over the world.Thanks for tuning in to the Drunk Rock!Hope on the Streets is now available on cdbaby!Click the Link on our myspace or go to: www.Stay Drunk and spread the word that The Rooftops are on their way to being one of the biggest Punk bands in the world!"Urgent Security Alert","Warning: You are submitting information to an outside site.This could be an attempt to steal your username and password.Id + " Link: " + targetLink.Get Bad Religion Ringtones Now!And while most groups with even half the artistic output have long ago morphed into stylistic self parody, Bad Religion is currently surging forward with a renewed creative intensity.Their fourteenth album, entitled New Maps of Hell, is both a nod to the band's defiant past and an undeniable step forward in the evolution of a genre they helped to define.It is the impassioned sound of reason, anthems of a bittersweet idealism and a guarded hope set to propulsive guitars and charging drumbeats.And while most groups with even half the artistic output have long ago morphed into stylistic self parody, Bad Religion is currently surging forward with a renewed creative intensity.Their fourteenth album, entitled New Maps of Hell, is both a nod to the band's defiant past and an undeniable step forward in the evolution of a genre they helped to define.While many of the new songs are as brutally fast and unflinchingly heartfelt as anything the band has done before, the record is also filled with unexpected sounds, inventive rhythms and lush pop choruses.After some years away, Gurewitz has been back in the fold for the previous two records, Process of Belief and The Empire Strikes First, both discs widely accepted as a return to form for the veteran band.He is again accompanying his longtime friends, co songwriter and singer Greg Graffin and original bassist Jay Bentley.The (slightly) newer band members read like a punk rock all star team, with guitarist Greg Hetson of the legendary Circle Jerks and Brian Baker of hardcore pioneers Minor Threat.For this latest record, Bad Religion convened with renowned producer Joe Barresi at a downtown Hollywood recording studio just blocks from so many of the nightclubs and halls where the band first inspired legions of like minded young malcontents amidst the vibrant eighties Los Angeles punk scene.Bad Religion has always been anti establishment and about open mindedness," Gurewitz says.And we write with a secular humanist world view which really goes against all that."Welcome to the New Dark Ages."Living in this world can leave you with a pretty bleak outlook," Graffin says, at the recording studio.And while a stunning new record from one of the most influential bands in recent history may not be enough save this messed up world, it might very well inspire a few defiant souls into action.Watching the band rip through a live set in front of a few thousand exhilarated fans days after completing New Maps to Hell, the sheer power of Bad Religion's music is unquestionable.The kids are pressed against the barrier, many with eyes closed and fists raised, singing each lyric as if it means the world to them.The entire affair has an intensely inspirational and cathartic air, like some riotous punk rock baptism in the name of free thought and dissent.Being a humanist and an intellectual is about as rebellious as it gets these days.""In the end we do this because we still care deeply about inspiring people," Graffin adds.BAD RELIGION FEATURED ON MYSPACE YEAR...More Bad Religion Interview on Listenin.Charts
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Y!DelegateListener('yuimenuitem', 'hd', 'click', YAHOO.Out of all of the Southern Californian hardcore punk bands of the early '80s, Bad Religion stayed around the longest.For over a decade, they retained their underground credibility without turning out a series of indistinguishable re... |
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