Bad Religion Plays With Renewed Fervor
by Natalie Nichols

Los Angeles Times, January 20, 2002

God--however you choose (or not) to define that term--bless Bad Religion. In an era when too many demand unquestioning loyalty to the status quo, the veteran L.A. band provides a by turns muscular, melodic and melancholy guide to challenging the norm and making your own rules.
OK, right--that's pretty much what these guys have been doing throughout their 20-year recording career. But they've got a bit more spring in their step on "Process" (due in stores Tuesday), perhaps because of the first appearance of original guitarist-songwriter Brett Gurewitz since 1994's "Stranger Than Fiction," or maybe because the group, which moved to Atlantic Records that same year, has returned to Gurewitz's fiercely indie Epitaph label.
Speaking partly as if addressing a select few who can understand the message, and partly as if anyone who really listens can get it, the band tears through 14 tracks in 36 minutes. Guitars mesh with pell-mell assurance as the players veer from the singsong one-two punk of "Supersonic" and "Destined for Nothing" to the breathless tirades "Prove It" and "Materialist" to the angular anthem "Epiphany" and the goth-pop ballad "Broken."
"You might not think there's any wisdom in a ... punk rock song," taunts the environmentally minded "Kyoto Now!" Au contraire, messieurs. There is quite a bit. Bad Religion plays Thursday, Friday and Saturday at West Hollywood's Whisky, Roxy, and Key Club, respectively.