Bad Religion - All Ages (1995)

Contrary to the belief of many scribes, the recent punk rock revival hasn't occurred overnight. Mainstream critics have all but ignored the punk underground, perhaps thinking that it would go away if they just didn't write about it. The kids knew all along what time it was, jamming local all ages shows at clubs across the country to see bands like 7 Seconds, NoFX, Operation Ivy and the grandpappy of them all, Bad Religion.

Formed during the early-80s American hardcore punk revolution, Bad Religion rapidly became South Cali faves with the release of their uncompromising debut, How Could Hell Be Any Worse? As the hardcore movement began to lose steam come mid-decade, mutating into a dozen varied musical forms, the band split into separate factions and stayed out of the game for almost four years. In 1988 the original five members of Bad Religion reunited to release the ground-breaking Suffer, and a revitalized punk scene was born that would carry over to the present day.

Over the next few years, Bad Religion would rewrite the book on punk rock. The band had developed a driving, furious rock style that combined the attitude and energy of punk with musical elements drawn from almost 40 years of rock & roll. Intelligent lyrics, often espousing a certain socially-conscious world view, were contributed by vocalist Greg Graffin and guitarist Brett Gurewitz. Released through Gurewitz's Epitaph Records label, albums like No Control, Against The Grain and Generator captured the hearts and imaginations of young fans, each selling upwards of a hundred thousand copies – unheard of, at that time, for a punk band on an indie label.

All Ages culls material from the aforementioned late-80s/early-90s releases, as well as a pair of previously unreleased live cuts and a taste from their 1981 debut, We're Only Gonna Die. All Ages is a significant overview of the band's work during this important time period, presenting the band's talents through cuts like You Are (The Government), No Control, Fuck Armageddon...This Is Hell and 21st Century Digital Boy. Twenty-two cuts in all are included, each one going a long way towards explaining the band's popularity and influence. This stuff is whip smart punk rock: no frills, cranked out fast and furious with style and intelligence.

Covering as it does, Bad Religion's 1988-1994 pre-Atlantic label years, All Ages serves as an excellent document of the band's achievements to this point, showcasing a considerable musical growth and their maturity into one of rock's best bands. Along with the previously-released, self-explanatory 80-85, the appropriately-titled All Ages is an excellent compilation for fans of the band as well as an important touchstone in the band's career. With the major-label release of Recipe For Hate, Bad Religion began writing the next chapter in their story, and only time will tell the story. (Epitaph Records)

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Bad Religion - Stranger Than Fiction (1995)

Twenty years ago, as a teen, I had been a rock & roll fanatic for a number of years already. My interest in '60-era artists like the Stones, Creedence Clearwater Revival and Jimi Hendrix had given way to bands like Alice Cooper, the Mothers Of Invention and Kiss with the changing of the decades. By 1975, however, rock & roll was beginning to become a mega-buck biz, and artistic integrity had suffered.

One night, however, my faith in the music was reclaimed as I crouched on my ears at a heating vent in my parent's house, straining to hear the notes of Born To Run that were coming up from a radio in my sister's room. It was a seminal moment in this young critic's life, a renewal in my belief in the power of rock & roll. Springsteen became a savior for many in my generation, the commercial success of his roots-oriented rock opening the door to great bands like the Clash, the Jam, the Ramones and others of the original late-70s/early-80s punk rock/new wave assault.

It's been a while since those halcyon days and although, in my role as critic and publisher, I hear a lot of fine music, there's a lot more chaff to dredge through than ever before. For every Liz Phair, there's a dreadful Mariah Carey, for every Pavement, there's a Michael Bolton or Vanilla Ice or...well, you get the picture. It's enough to discourage a true believer....

From the rocking opening chords of Incomplete, the first song on Bad Religion's Stranger Than Fiction, I knew that I was experiencing the magic that I've only felt a few times during the past decade or so, that personal renewal of faith in the unbridled power of rock & roll as an expression of thought, to offer complete freedom, to change the world. The words of Incomplete are timeless, expressing teen angst and a questioning of identity that is as valid today as it would have been in my day. "Mother, Father, Look at your little monster/I'm a hero, I'm a zero, I'm the butt of the worst joke in history...." The song serves as an open door to the best collection of songs of the year, one of the best I've ever heard, period.

Bad Religion has been around for a few years, releasing their first album in 1982 on their own indie label, Epitaph Records. Throughout the ensuing period, they've worked their way up to become the most successful indie band ever, racking up sales figures that make the majors envious. They've done it their own way, delivering hard, fast and loose hardcore punk that takes no prisoners, offers no quarter. Album by album, their fortunes have grown, and they've seemingly not made a bad record in the bunch.

Stranger Than Fiction is the band's major label debut, and although there will be those who will say that the band has "sold out," I'll deny that claim. Music that is on an indie label isn't necessarily always good (or even listenable), major label releases aren't automatically dreck. With Stranger Than Fiction, Bad Religion seem to have reached critical mass, the sixteen cuts offered here are as full of vigor and energy as any hardcore punk release has ever been. Graced with not one, but two gifted songwriters in vocalist Greg Graffin and guitarist Brett Gurewitz, Bad Religion, like The Clash before them, has the intellectual depth and the innate talents to deliver the goods.

And how good are Bad Religion? They incorporate decades of rock & roll history in creating a hard rocking sound that is at once both unique and original, familiar and friendly. The power of the three minute song in not lost on this gang, and they use it with a great élan. I hear strains of the Clash, the Jam, the Who, Springsteen, the Ramones and much more in these songs, but they're distinctive, nonetheless, as patently identifiable as Springsteen's lyrical poetry or Peter Townsend's roaring guitar riffs.

It all boils down to the songs, though, and it's here that Bad Religion's songwriting tag team comes into play. Although their lyrical styles are different (a practiced listener could identify a song's writer by its rhythm and wording), both Graffin and Gurewitz construct tunes that are intelligent, thoughtful and meaningful, surrounding them with similar sonics. Cuts like Inner Logic, with its closing chants of "No equality, no opportunity, no tolerance for the progressive alternative" are evidence of the band's social awareness, but an earlier verse – "If I pierce the complexity, I won't find salvation, just the bald and overt truth of the evil and deception" – illustrates their underlying cynicism. The literary references of Stranger Than Fiction, the album's title cut, are cleverly mixed with poetic commentary on our short, fateful existence upon this sphere, closing with the beautifully haunting, wise verse "Life is the crummiest book I ever read, there isn't a hook, just a lot of cheap shots/Pictures to shock, and characters an amateur would never dream up."

This is heady stuff, and head and shoulders above even the most verbose, overly-serious, highly-respected folk poet...and it was delivered by a bunch of scruffy punk rockers in a three minute song that will rock your socks off rather than bore you into a dull fever. In 1982, the Clash were punk rock's great hopes, the remaining survivors of a washed-out trend. They were, as they proudly proclaimed, "the only band that mattered." They've since come and gone, leaving their indelible mark on the music. It is now 1995, however, and with Stranger Than Fiction, I'd say that Bad Religion has picked up that long lost mantle, they've earned the honor of being this era's "only band that matters." Without a doubt in my mind, Stranger Than Fiction is the album of the year, a classic that is certain to withstand the test of time to go on and influence future bands. (Epitaph Records)

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