I've spent an unhealthy amount of time listening to Bad Religion. Back in 1984 when I first heard "We're Only Gonna Die" (later besmirched by rap-metal merchants, Biohazard) I listened to it incessantly, absorbing the university-grade pessimism and that folk-ish melody all delivered at top speed. I wanted more. For years, I searched for their then-scare records. The lucky few spoke in awe of their 1988 comeback album, Suffer, their full-length follow-up to their universally-hated prog-psych album Into the Unknown from 1983. When I finally got both the then-new No Control and Suffer on the same day, I knew why Fat Mike called the latter "The record that changed everything". Suffer established smart, angry, melodic So Cal punk as unchanging ideal, cut off from either following or negating larger trends, it brought about an endless winter of discontent.
Tracklist:
CD1:
01. God Rest You Jerry Mentleman (Holiday Sampler CD)
02. Joy to the World (Holiday Sampler CD)
03. Leon (Holiday Sampler CD)
04. Lose As Directed (New America B-Side)
05. Pretenders (New America Single)
06. Queen of the 21st Century (New America B-Side)
07. The Fast Life (New America B-Side)
08. Follow The Leader (No Substance Limited Edition CD)
09. Tested (No Substance Limited Edition CD)
10. The Dodo (No Substance Limited Edition CD)
11. Universal Cynic (No Substance Limited Edition CD)
12. Out of Hand (Short Music for Short People)
13. The Surface Of Me (The Empire Strikes First B-Side)
14. Shattered Faith (The Process of Belief B-Side)
15. Who We Are (The Process of Belief B-Side)
16. Punk Rock Song (German Version) (The Grey Race EU-CD)
(This compilation, part of a two-disc set, was taken from Schrabbel Punk but the bonus tracks from the still-very-much-in-print New Maps of Hell Deluxe Version have been removed.)
Bonus, Compilation, Cover and Rare Live Songs Part one link is in the comments.
Speaking of comments; Did Suffer really change everything?
This excellent bootleg of newer b-sides will not convert the skeptical, it's for those who know already. If you don't know, now is the time to Suffer:
Support the band:
Interpunk
Epitaph Records
Amazon
iTunes
.jpeg)
You're taking your history lessons from wikipedia.
ReplyDelete'Back To The Known' (1985) came between 'Into The Unknown' and 'Suffer'.
Back to the Known is a five-song e.p. not an album.
ReplyDeleteSuffer was the first BR album I heard and I loved it from the first note. To this day the wife and I disagree on the best one as she is partial to No Control. Did it change everything? I think that is a bit of an over statement, but clearly something akin to a new genre of punk appeared in the wake of Suffer.
ReplyDeleteThanks for this one! BR was influential into my journey from metal head wannabe to punk rock wannabe.
ReplyDeleteInto The Unknown is from '83. The record was universally panned back in the day. I remember seeing a stack of at least ten, sealed, copies at a thrift store in SoCal in 1984. They were there a couple of years and were marked 50 cents. I loved Bad Religion back then and still wouldn't pick one up. LOL. Suffer is a great record, but How Can Hell is still and always be the one that kicks ass.
ReplyDeleteconvertido
ReplyDeleteYeah that's what I got from Fat Mike's comment but man Bar Religion and Fugazi did change a lot...
Mike
Wannabes rule!
Anon
Now that's a correction I can go back and fix (though something about ITU is so '84 to me). Sad to say I paid about ten bucks for mine, fully aware of what I was in for.
I know this a looong shot but a couple of years ago I heard some more accoustic songs and some song with a kind of dance beat. Think it was Do what you want but very unsure of that.
ReplyDeleteAnyone that can help me out?