I have always liked this album anyway, so this was a no brainer!

We had an awesome time playing a BR cover set this weekend for Halloween and dressing up as various motifs!

The gig we played was organized by a youth org im in called PSR and it was our biggest show ever (we raised over 1k at a notaflof show and diy venue!!!).

Our set got cut a bit short, but we got to play:

Fuck armeggedon...this is hell

21st century digital boy

Unacceptable

Stranger Than Fiction

Faith Alone

Fuck You

Sorrow

American Jesus

Anyway, first few pictures are my face paint of dressing up as the empire strikes back cover, one of our guitar players went as American jesus (we wrapped a flag around him), our drummer went as the recipe for hate cover (they made the headpiece right before the show!!!), and our 2nd guitarist went as Charlie Kirk (lol...we did a bit about it after faith alone).

If anyone is in the WA area, we're playing this set (plus pity and it must look pretty appealing!) again for the final time at Lucky Liquor on the 30th with some local legends!!!

I like thinking over alternate timeline stuff and was wondering what would have become of BR if Into the Unknown was a success? Like, not a smash hit or anything crazy. But, say sold around as many copies as HCHBAW did at the time. I have to assume that would have changed their willingness to experiment with their sound.

I put the question to AI and this was what it came up with

1. The Death of Melodic Hardcore (No Suffer, No Skate Punk Explosion)

If Into the Unknown breaks even, Graffin and Gurewitz feel vindicated. They don't feel a burning need to return to pure punk rock to reclaim their dignity. Suffer is never written. Without Suffer as a blueprint, bands like The Offspring, NOFX, Pennywise, and Blink-182 lose their primary structural influence, fundamentally shifting or delaying the 90s punk revival.

1. Epitaph Records Becomes a New Wave / Indie Label

Gurewitz uses the modest profits from a successful Into the Unknown to sign artsy, experimental Southern California post-punk and new wave bands. Epitaph evolves into an indie-prog or synth-pop label akin to a West Coast 4AD or Factory Records, rather than the definitive 90s punk home that later launched multi-platinum records like Smash.

1. Bad Religion Evolves into a "Post-Punk / Art Rock" Act

Instead of consolidating into a hyper-fast three-part harmony machine, a validated Bad Religion leans further into the studio as a canvas.

The Sound: They likely develop a trajectory similar to TSOL (who went goth/glam rock) or The Damned, blending intellectual, evolutionary biology-infused lyrics with atmospheric textures, keyboards, and acoustic guitars. By 1988, instead of Suffer, they might have released an album that sounded like a cross between early Devo, Chameleons UK, and mid-era Genesis.

1. Jay Bentley Never Returns

If the album is a success and the band continues down a prog-synth path, Bentley stays gone. The classic Graffin-Gurewitz-Bentley core dynamic is permanently severed, and Bad Religion proceeds with a revolving door of studio keyboardists and bassists who fit their new experimental direction.

What say you?

Are there any more connections between Bad Religion and Rage Against The Machine? I came across a CD copy of their album Battle Of Los Angeles pretty cheap but I have not heard it in like...26 years. I had a copy back then.

I am not a big hard rock guy, was always just more into punk. I checked it out again and, yeah, it's aged very well. The recording is so great, etc. That droning guitar 2:30-2:36 in Calm Like A Bomb massages my soul.

While I was kinda reading up on their influences I saw Zack de la Rocha was very influenced by How Could Hell Be Any Worse, and that album led to his political awakening, and I guess part of the reason why we have RATM.

The bands have played a benefit show together. Bad Religion, Chuck D, Beastie Boys, RATM.

I was wondering if you guys know any more stories about BR's influence on Zack and/or any other connections between RATM and the LA punk scene.

I think I'll go back and pick up this CD as I rebuild my collection from youth

A few other cosmetic differences to compared to my existing bootleg. The inner sleeve of the repress has the liner notes as opposed to them being on a separate sheet for the bootleg. The artwork on the repress is brighter and "richer" than the bootleg, too.

I'll play it later on to see if there's any audio difference that I can tell.

Thought I had purchased a used CD. Turns out it was a promotional version! Super cool! Top 5 Bad Religion album for me too. Insane production and guitar tones.

Hahaha guess the first thing I saw.

So, I happen to be a true crime fan and watch a lot of crime docs. Dateline is 1 of my faves, so I tend to always have it on. I just rewatched a case that happened in CA. It was called the "Gone girl" case bc a woman was kidnapped and eventually released but the police didn't believe her or her bf (who left drugged and zipped tied). At one point, her kidnapper had her record a "proof of life" audio that was sent to a reporter. On it, she talks about current events and her own personal info. They played the actual audio where she describes going to her 1st concert with a friend and her friend's mom: Blink 182 and Bad Religion. It was one of those weird moments of "Fuck yeah! She likes BR!" but also "Really? She like BR?" Maybe I'm judging a book by it's cover. I'm trying not to bc what she went through was truly awful, made even worse by the bumblefuck police (not a shock). She was 15 when she saw them and in her mid-20s when she was kidnapped. Dateline was definitely not where I expected to hear "Bad Religion" except when they cover a case about a cult or the FLDS or that crazy Lori Vallow Daybell.

My copy of into the unknown arrived today, I couldn't figure out how to comment a picture to the person who asked for this to be shared on my original post so here it is!

What are some not-quite-correct lyrics that you thought Greg was singing?

For the longest time, I thought he was singing "savage gentle guys" in Drunk Sincerity instead of "savvy gentle guise."

It still kinda fits

Random thought, has anyone heard of bad religion lyrics on an actual tombstone or plaque or memorial?

Like Bad Religion… On an epitaph? Any examples out there?

What songs go on the BR greatest hits album? Not our favorite songs, but the objective hits a soulless corporation would put on the album. Blink's (i know, i know) Greatest Hits album was produced by Jerry Finn (who produced Rancid and Pennywise). it was just singles basically in chronological order so I used that model.

I included stuff put on All Ages. Some songs were released as singles, but not considered greatest hits by fan base, like Lookin' In. Some stuff was in a video game (Them And Us). The Biggest Killer In American History was a big song of theirs in the late nineties I thought. Am I wrong about that? Come Join Us, not a single, but belongs. Also included songs that were released as promo tracks (The Resist Stance, Requiem For Dissent).

We're Only Gonna Die

Fuck Armageddon This Is Hell

You Are The Government

Suffer

Do What You Want

Change Of Ideas

No Control

Automatic Man

I Want To Conquer The World

Anxiety (video game)

Modern Man

Anesthesia

Flat Earth Society

Against The Grain (was in a video game)

Faith Alone

Walk Away

Generator

Atomic Garden

The Answer

Recipe For Hate

American Jesus

Struck a Nerve

Lookin’ In

Skyscraper

Stranger Than Fiction

21st Century (Digital Boy)

Infected

Incomplete

Leaders And Followers (Clerks)

Them And Us

A Walk

Punk Rock Song

The Streets of America

Come Join Us

Dream Of Unity (promo single)

Tested (I think this was the single for Tested)

Hear It (promo single)

Raise Your Voice

Shades of Truth

The Biggest Killer In American History

You've Got A Chance (promo single)

New America

I Love My Computer (released as promo single!)

Sorrow

Broken

The Defense

Los Angeles Is Burning

Let Them Eat War

Social Suicide (promo track)

Atheist Peace (was a promo track)

Honest Goodbye

New Dark Ages

Requiem For Dissent (was a promo track)

The Resist Stance (promo track)

The Devil in Stitches

Wrong Way Kids

Cyanide (was apparently sent to radio: https://www.discogs.com/release/6335544-Bad-Religion-Cyanide)

Fuck You

True North

The Kids Are Alt Right (released as single)

The Profane Rights Of Man (released as single)

My Sanity

Chaos from Within

Do the Paranoid Style

Emancipation of the Mind (promo single)

What Are We Standing For (outtake single)

Read up on it and they apparently never play anything off this album. I think theres a few snoozers but overall its a good album. I feel like the album would look alot better without the copters lol

What do you think about Bad Religion getting top bill on the side stage at the biggest rock / punk / metal festival in Australia?
Also the only way to see them here.
(1/2 and 3/4 next to each other).

BR makes album partially inspired by disdain for Trump.

Trump now desires to rename a state after disdained (by some) BR album.

Ain't life a mystery?

This isn’t actual news on bad religions album they’re working on. I have a school project I’m working on where I’m creating a fake new album for bad religion, I’m creating a album cover in photoshop, a track list (likely 8-12, but will do more if I have enough ideas), and a name for the album. I’m wondering if anyone has any ideas for me? If anyone has an idea on what the album cover should be, some song titles, or the album name could be it would be appreciated. I’m not actually recording any music for the album. Also if anyone has an idea for the message/underlying motive of the album. This will help me get a better idea for the album cover and songs/album name(s). Any and all ideas are greatly appreciated.

I enjoyed the book and love the band but the tone was a bit jarring to me. Maybe it's because I'd recently reread the NOFX book which is obviously way more self deprecating but I found the book to be strangely boastful, like they had something to prove.

I think having an external writer meant obviously some of the praise is not self-congratulatory and that person (Jim Ruland) is under a bit of pressure to carefully balance the tensions from different parts of the band's history. He really shies away from any real exposure on the conflict between Greg and Brett. There are multiple references to being 'the smartest band in punk', Lennon / McCartney comparisons, and insults to other newer bans like blink 182. I just thought it wasn't needed, we all know how good the band is, the legacy songs speak for themselves.

I just had this feeling throughout the book, then you get to the final chapter which is basically just 10 pages of saying how great the band is. I just found it a weird tone that they didn't really need to go for.

Billy Gnosis talking about that helpless Demiurge

The record that was previously wiped from the face of the earth…. I can’t tell if the signatures are real.

Hello, I come as a metal head tryna tone down a bit and i absolute love this band
My fav rn is lose your head

A lot of their songs are singing along type and it’s amazing

Any recommendations which has continuous beats while he’s singing along?

How I'd rank them currently. Like the title says, there aren't really any bad albums. Just some I love more than others. So, no tier lower than C.