Pity, I love that song.

That would be the highlight of history nebula! I'm banking on no though.

Going back to what we'd like to see them play, is there any chance they'd play Waiting For The Fire now that they do Cease on piano.

Whoa Mr. A, you singing Pessimistic Lines was awesome! I don't think the band could do that nowadays though :/

thats strange, 1 minute its on the album the next its not gonna see light of day, i find that odd.

I trust that that was regarding Mr. A's show, not the Big Bang video, cause that's pretty widely distributed.

Well if it's lurking out there I want it!

Ive got that show ripped... its allready out there. Can't really remeber where I got it, but I'm pretty sure I do have a burned dvd of this somewhere..

Mr. A: If you ever get that tape ripped it would be awesome! If you trust people enough, there are some who could convert the tape and send it back to you...
But then again it's probably your only copy? And I can understand that you don't want to risk it.
Anyway, if you ever do get it ripped and are willing to share with us it would be great.

Wow, that's weird. I haven't been on this thread in a few days.
A few minutes ago I just finished watching Big Bang and I was wondering how the BR fans hardly ever talk about it. I love Big Bang. ^_^

RIGHT, Jay, will Brett re-release the Big Bang show on DVD? Like Along The Way or The Riot? That would be so sweet since it's my favorite show.
HETSON PLUS NINTENDO!

brett has the best hair ever!!!!

Thanks Jay, especially for the warning!
Since you re-released the "Along The Way" VHS on DVD a couple of years ago, I hope you will do the same with the "Big Bang" VHS.
This video is a real gem; I especially like the interview section someone else posted on YouTube:
youtube.com/watch?v=M-_YA3jvw9g
And I've always wondered how you guys managed to change clothes so quickly, David Copperfield style, while performing on stage...

Ok, Jay, can you post the lyrics from New Chapter, please? (just to make another request)
And, don't matter how, always there will be people complaining about what does they play live... Just because there are too much songs and every new album comes with a few new songs that they HAVE to play and.. hey, could you play at least ONE rare song to us? would be Great...
And Jay, I'm glad because BR didn't play Punk Rock Song at Curitiba! Damn MTV kids! I know that BR have a lot of classical songs that they HAVE to play (was trying to think but i guess it's Modern Man, Sanity, Fuck Armaggedon, Generator, Infected and.. awww there's too much songs...) I know that you all discuss about it and if this is a hard dilemma to think every time when you're setting up a play list... I understand your feelings... Very hard...
But, can you post New Chapter Lyrics please? [:P]

Ooops sorry Mr. A, had you confused with someone else :S

"I digitalized this video years ago (without the interview parts), but this is copyrighted material, so Brett would kick my ass if I'd upload it and publicly post a link I guess.
Right, Brett?"
yes.... yes, he would. right after me
btw, good work on the vox!!!

To clear things up, I only digitalized the SOUND of the "Big Bang" video release.
And the "A" does not stand for "Arachnid".
OK, enough of my rambling.

I can't because I only have it on a tape, but not a working tape deck right now - no digitalization possible at the moment...
You guys know the Against The Grain era "Big Bang" live video (Epitaph Records/Tribal Video), don't you?
www.crossbuster.de/ videografie_vhsdvd_bigbang_01.gif
Does an official DVD release of this show or a bootleg CD exists right now?
I digitalized this video years ago (without the interview parts), but this is copyrighted material, so Brett would kick my ass if I'd upload it and publicly post a link I guess.
Right, Brett?

Mr. Arachnid! Please share the whole show! We (I) would really appreciate it! It is a most unique concert!

Thanks! We're totally off topic right now, but who cares:
Here's the setlist of that show (SNFU was the support band btw.):
RECIPE FOR HATE
SUFFER
THE HANDSHAKE
TOO MUCH TO ASK
STRANGER THAN FICTION
AMERICAN JESUS
INFECTED
CHANGE OF IDEAS
ATOMIC GARDEN
THE ANSWER
FLAT EARTH SOCIETY
TINY VOICES
MODERN MAN
SANITY
WHAT CAN YOU DO?
MODERN DAY CATASTROPHISTS
WHAT IT IS
WATCH IT DIE
INDIVIDUAL
WE'RE ONLY GONNA DIE
LEAVE MINE TO ME
GENERATOR
DO WHAT YOU WANT
(YESTERDAY) (Graffin obviously was tired of that one so they skipped it; or he wanted to annoy the audience which was screaming for that song ;-)
ANASTHESIA
LOOKIN' IN
21ST CENTURY DIGITAL BOY
________________________
ALONG THE WAY
NO CONTROL
PESSIMISTIC LINES
FUCK ARMAGEDDON
SABOTAGE

Part III: I have the bootleg of melkweg, but i can't see any Part III :( I guess its one of the tracks that are missing. You're lucky though.. Part III, Flat Earth Society, The Gray Race.. All great songs that they don't play frequently!
Mr A: Good job! I wouldn't be able to sing a whole song like that on stage.. I wouldn't have the guts. Thanks for sharing this. Oh, by the way, if you could share with us the whole bootleg it would be great! The quality is not bad at all!

That .mp3 is awesome Mr. A! I'm so jealous!

Funnily enough, I asked Brian (thanks for the guitar picks!) exactly that after the show in Coesfeld: what about a Dag Nasty song in the BR set?
To which he replied that there's already more than enough great BR material to choose from.
So, no Circle Jerks, T.S.O.L., Minor Threat, Dag Nasty, Daredevils, Vandals or Tenacious D songs I guess...

I'd like to see them play
Watch It Die/Lookin' In
The Answer
Big Bang
Delirium Of Disorder
and a song from one of Brian's many other bands! ie Minor Threat.

atheist peace>
they did play Part III not too long ago, at Melkweg Amsterdam, in 2005. I still love you for that Jay, sorry that I was pleading so much for that song ;) They played The Gray Race too there, 'twas awesome.. so freakin awesome. I really thought I could die happily after the last note of Part III rang.

Maybe this is a bit poserish, but what the hell, some of you might enjoy it; Bad Religion feat. Mr. A (Fabrik in Coesfeld, 1994) - 2 megabyte:
megaupload.com/?d=IJ7SJN3C
Brian Baker - drums
Jay Bentley - bass
Greg Hetson - guitar
Greg Graffin - guitar
Bobby Schayer - sidestage
Mr. A - lilting
I bought the bootleg cassette of that show one week later, but I never bothered to digitalize the whole concert. Maybe I'll do it sometime in the future (I need a new tape deck) and put it on Megaupload.
Anyway, I think that kind of fan participation is great fun, BR could do it more often!

Yes Dr Ryan, quite many bands seem to do the "let the fans vote" thing, but the self-righteous elitist purist asshole in me says that we'd end up with a lowest common denominator setlist: Along The Way, Digital Boy, American Jesus, Punk Rock Song, Sorrow, etc...
Since we brought this issue to their attention now, let's just see what happens I say. I don't envy them, it must be really tough choosing the songs for a setlist at this point.
Just one more suggestion: BR could do the "let's switch instruments or bring a fan onstage to sing or play during encores" thing more often. That always seems to be a lot of fun, at least if the fan involved gets it halfway right...

Jay, if it looks like New Chapter isn't gonna get released in any form, then can you please post the lyrics then?

sorry rob, i didn't mean it in that way. i was speaking about us... how we have canceled twice (well really now 3 times), and that is pathetic.

Yes, my apologies... it was '97 (just checked the ticket stub which I still have)... it was The Gray Race tour.
So, that makes it over 10 years... not 14 (as i'd said in my previous post).
It hardly sounds pathetic though. When they promised to play The Livid and Loudmouth Festivals in 2004 (I think it was)... ppl were earing Bad Religion shirts, but obviously weren't made aware that they cancelled at the last moment. They do have a lot of fans here... and people of all ages do buy and wear their merchandise... I don't see what's pathetic or even funny about that.

Hey Jay...Play whatever the fuck you want...you guys always kicks ass ! Hopeto see ya soon in Montreal !

Hey Jay, what happened to the idea for a "Suffer Night" or something where you guys would book the same club in LA for a few nights and do an entire album or two night. You could advertise it as such so that people wouldn't get the wrong impression. Plus, you could probably even sneak some of the set standards into the beginning and end of the set for people who only come to hear Digital Boy and Sorrow.
I think if you did something like that people would stop complaining about set lists for years.

Jay, if it looks like New Chapter isn't gonna get released in any form, then can you please post the lyrics then?

Hello Jay! Here's a suggestion for the band...
I remember Less Than Jake had a thing on their website for their last tour where everyone voted for their top 3 songs to be played on the tour and the winning songs made up the set.
Would BR consider doing something like that? Obviously if some songs ranked highest that you couldn't do live then ignore them but it'd just enable you to get an idea of the most popular requests?
I know the official BR page is never updated but still :P
Anyway, I think your sets always kick ass and it's great how you still play your really old stuff as well as the new songs (a lot of bands don't do that!) but it's just an idea to stop us whinging fans!
Nice one.

jabberwock: they were in australia in 1997, that's not 14 years ago. it is a long time ago though...

It seems the band forgets us down under. "It's been over 14 years since they were here. While they make the time to tour the rest of the globe, go as far as Japan many times, they can't seem to make it here, and believe me, there are a LOT of fans of all ages that would give anything to see them live."
believe me, i know... it would almost be funny if it weren't so pathetic.

I'm very much looking forward to the new CD... though, I was hoping there'd be a rare gem released on a Punk-O-Rama compilation by now.
One of my favourite BR tracks happens to be "Pretenders" (a B-Side off the New America single).
I don't care what they play, I just wanna see & hear them live once more in Australia... Perhaps Greg could do his solo version of Cease and a couple of others also.
It seems the band forgets us down under. It's been over 14 years since they were here. While they make the time to tour the rest of the globe, go as far as Japan many times, they can't seem to make it here, and believe me, there are a LOT of fans of all ages that would give anything to see them live. So, c'mon guys... we wanna see you here in 2008!
I too would love a best of, b-sides/rarities release... even moreso, a DVD of ALL their video clips (especially the ones they did whilst signed with Sony).
And, ITU wasn't bad. It was just "different" and "experimental"... I liked it.

I dont know... I once heard In So Many Ways live thought, another great song from No Substance

Strange Denial is such a great song. Does a live version exist?

I guess when the album comes out we'll all want to hear the new songs live anyways. Like Jay said there's always gonna be some people requesting songs, no matter what set list they choose. Also not playing songs like 21 Century or American Jesus would piss most people off. Still if I had to make some requests I'd choose Agaisnt the Grain, God Song, The Answer, Portrait of Authory, The Handshake, Inner Logic, Pity the Dead, Hear It, Strange Denial, Dont Sell me Short.

And yeah, Mike, agreed, I'd happily go to any of the shows near me next time they play in Germany. BR is my favorite band, after all.

Haha, I'm aware of it, I was just looking for an obscure song. ;)
I mean, of course you shouldn't take a song that hurts Greg's voice into the setlist, but leaving those out, I still think there are enough songs for some diversity.
That reminds me: I still want the songs I've mentioned, but is there any chance for Don't Pray On Me? I adore it, and it seems doable, a bit like Man With A Mission.

Ana, I think The Dodo is out of Greg's range :P

It's great to see that Jay and the band care so deeply about mixing it up and putting a good show on for the fans. I don't care if they played Infected 25 times and then left I would happily go to see them.

Just keep touring Jay! I don't care what you play!

I agree with Some Guy. It's a fact that shouldn't be ignored. Thanks Jay

About News From The Front, I can only guess that Atlantic doesn't possess the rights since they only were the American label (and it wasn't released in the US)? BR had different distributors and publishers in the other countries, I believe.
Jay, it's not that everybody's clamoring for, I don't know, The Dodo or so (although I'm sure somebody'd like that), but maybe just that not every show in a tour be a carbon copy of the first. And is there any chance for you to play Don't Sell Me Short or Strange Denial? Both songs are criminally underrated (as well as the entirety of ITU, but the chance of you playing any of those songs... ). TNA and No Substance might not've been the best records, but they had some real gems. Or is it one of these songs which Greg can't sing?

Oh, and thanks for coming on here and participating in this discussion. I don't know how many musicians would go onto fan sites and bother to answer questions. It's really cool of you.

yellow?! yo te conozco :D i'm Stefano, remember?
We used to talk ages ago. What's up?
tommy: no, i wasn't serious.. i just tried to picture Greg playing the keyboard on stage.. The Dichotomy :D A pretty funny picture

@Mr. A: Maybe it's just me, but I can't stand the way STF sounds. The songs are great (for the most part) but the album sounds really thin (for lack of a better term). If Epitaph ever manages to get the rights to it, I really hope they give the album a proper sound, so I can fully enjoy it, without wishing for a fuller sound.
@Jay: Did Epitaph buy the rights to "News From the Front"? Because I don't see a "courtesy of Atlantic Records" any where in the liner notes of Punk-O-Rama 10. If so, how does that work with Stranger Than Fiction albums outside North America, where it's included in the album?

for all i care they could cover songs from the wiggles and play with banjoes and bongo drums. as long as i eventually get to see them live i'll be happy

and yes... i did just say in the same thread...
"there are sooo many songs, that we cant really be as spontaneous as we would like to be..." and
"that seems more likely how some songs will get played live, spontaneously."
that should be an indicator of how difficult this issue is, and actually has been for some time. trust me, we talk about it...

we used to play a couple of songs from into the unknown, back in the suffer/no control/ atg tours. they're fun to play... i doubt we would do it again, i don't think brooks has ever heard the record!
like i said, we could play many different songs, but someone will always be unhappy with our choices..
there is also now the issue of the amount of songs we can play in the time frame we are comfortable with, honestly, 2 songs from every record is 28 songs, and we want to play more than just two songs from the newer records. that could work for or against adding the "rare" song, depending on how deep into the album archives we want to go. at that point, it would mean not playing a song that most people probably want to hear... we did throw in a surprise "punk rock song" in rio. that seems more likely how some songs will get played live, spontaneously.

and i had some hope to listen to parallel live sometime...pssst
que ilusa! xD
pipeta?

Delirium of disorder...They played it in Montreal few years ago and it was great !

Are you guys seriously asking Jay if they would play songs from Into the Unknown? Okay it's not a totally bad album, but it isn't good. I think "what can you do" is a fun song. It's got that rock n roll feeling.

I doubt Jay would want to play ITU songs, since he even quit the band cause of that album, at that time! It would be fun though if they could play it!
Jay: What about Part III? I know you've played it quite frequently in past, and I think it would be a great addition to the setlist. I love that song! Nothing against 21st Century Digital Boy, Sorrow, etc. I like them, but i wouldn't mind if you sacrificed one of these songs to play some other song off of Against the Grain or No Control. That can't happen though.. or the kids could cry

Hell yeah, we need the Jay songs.

Part V! Part V! Part V!

Jay,
How long should we wait for one of your songs?

Thanks for the reply, Jay!
OK, it's totally reasonble to NOT play many of the older songs if they stress Greg's voice too much. That's the reason for the occasional (live) downtuning since Stranger Than Fiction I guess.
Fortunately there are plenty of older songs written with deeper vocal lines like Heaven Is Falling or Pessimistic Lines. I don't have Greg's vocal range, but even I managed to sing the latter in Coesfeld back in 1994, when BR switched around instruments and invited some fan onstage to do the vocals (thanks again!). They totally butchered Beasty Boys' Sabotage as final encore though, haha!

Yeah, I love the festival version of Generator.

Actually...and I know that if song selection is a problem (as well it should be, the solution is 3-hour marathon concerts), one of the best things bout Bad Religion live (for me, is the subtle and not so subtle vocal melody and harmony variations. Almost every song has them.

It would be insane if you guys could restructure a troublesome track into a new arrangement (like the festival version of Generator). That would, in my opinion be much cooler than the odd rarity.

Also I somehow forgot that News From the Front should now be played at every show :)

hahaha sounds FANTASTIC Jay. And if you added Billy Gnosis to the regular set, I think I would die of shock and awesomeness.

But if I could make 3 requests, all time (that I think probably would be ok on Greg's voice) they would be: Anxiety, Entropy and My Poor Friend Me.

What are the odds of THOSE being played. HA!

It would be amazing if a couple of the into the unknown tracks got played on stage one day soon as they really are no way near as bad as some say andif you compare it to modern day Bad religion and it were released now i would say it would be fairly welcomed

i'm with you guys on playing some different songs, but i know that no matter what we play, someone will say "oh you didn't play _______, or _______... you guys are lame". there are sooo many songs, that we cant really be as spontaneous as we would like to be... and then there is always the issue of graffins voice. some songs will NEVER be played, they are just to hard for him to sing now, and if we blow his voice out on the third day of a tour playing "parallel", what good does that do us?
i promise i will make a more concerted effort to add some different material from now on, but i cannot promise that everyone else will go along with it, or that everyone listening will be satisfied...

Maybe playing some rarities live would get the less hardcore fans into those songs. Just a thought.

I agree with you there Mr A - it's always cool to hear songs you don't expect live (I remember seeing BR in London in 2002 and they did Skyscraper and it was fucking amazing!) but I guess it would take a lot of practice relearning all the old stuff again. Also, they've gotta take into account all the less hardcore BR fans who might not know all their songs yet still attend shows.

Cheers Jay. ^_^

Part III:
And I really don't want to sound unappreciative here (I'm a fan for almost 20 years after all), but what about replacing kinda overplayed live standards like Do What You Want with some other 'rare' fast song from Suffer like How Much Is Enough or Land Of Competition, to spice up the shows for everybody? Same with No Control (Progress, Billy), Generator (Too Much To Ask, Heaven Is Falling) and Recipe For Hate (Skyscraper) for example.
I don't think everybody needs or expects to hear the live standards, the hits, the title tracks, every time on every tour. And as a musician I'd be kind of bored, too. This is punkrock, mix it up and make it unpredictable!
But of course they can (and should) do as the see fit.
Just a thought.

Part II:
As a sidenote: I guess we all agree that The New America wasn't BR's strongest album, but I think about half of the songs really worked. And the 2000 Stuttgart show prior the release of the album featured one of the best BR setlists for quite some time IMO. They picked the stronger songs of the forthcoming album (Don't Sell Me Short rocks!) and added some rare stuff like Against The Grain to the mix.
I wouldn't mind if BR would at least occasionally add one more "Brett-less" song like Hear It or the aforementioned Don't Sell Me Short to their set.

A remastered Stranger Than Fiction?
From a production standpoint I think there's no need for a remaster. Everything Andy Wallace touches turns to gold as far as I'm concerned and Stranger Than Fiction sounds perfect.
But I see where you're coming from. I bought the (european) special edition back in 1994, with the additional News From The Front and Markovian Process closing the album, which IMO works so much better than the re-recorded (and superfluous) 21st Century Digital Boy as the album closer. I even think the second half of the album doesn't really work at all without these two songs. The STF bonus tracks are all very good, Leaders And Followers and Mediocrity included.
There are some other great and overlooked "Brett-less" era rarities such as The Dodo and The Fast Life I'd like to see on a potential rarities collection. They could resolve these legal issues just by re-recording them.
I don't care about best of collections though.

Jay, what's up with a Europe tour? This year or next? (Since I think you're gonna do an Australian tour this winter?)
I sometimes really dislike living in Europe. You always post so late. :/ Oh well.

"Comments by Mike from Canada on 2007-04-29 @ 02:32
I'm gonna momentarily hijack this thread to ask Jay: You guys are playing the Canadian Warped dates right? right???"
yes.
"Comments by Banjo from United States on 2007-04-29 @ 01:56
I don't understand, what exactly ISN'T under Bad Religion's rights to reproduce?
Is it just the original studio recordings that were released on CD while on Atlantic and Sony?
Is it just everything that was recorded in the studio full-stop?
Is it everything that was recorded, including live recordings made during that time?
Also, what happened with the Atlantic/Sony songs that were played on the Live at the Palladium DVD? Did BR have to play to use their own songs?"
we can play and re-record anything we want to. we just cant use the "masters" owned by atlantic. which are what is on the records. and no, we didn't pay to use them on the dvd.

I would assume Atlantic/Sony will hold onto rights of the BR recorded under them until BR is finished so they can maximize their investment. As much as we all treasure Bad Religion here, much of the world probably won't hold them in high respect until they're gone. Jackasses.

With emphasis on LIVE.

No, that's not a good point or a great question. Bands can play/record/distribute ANY of their own songs live.

Also, what happened with the Atlantic/Sony songs that were played on the Live at the Palladium DVD? Did BR have to play to use their own songs?
Good point dude.. Great question...

Sorry, I was thinking about it and I'm just a little curious. :)

I'm gonna momentarily hijack this thread to ask Jay: You guys are playing the Canadian Warped dates right? right???

That's right Jay! Make another 10 albums!!! Stick it to the majors!!!

I don't understand, what exactly ISN'T under Bad Religion's rights to reproduce?
Is it just the original studio recordings that were released on CD while on Atlantic and Sony?
Is it just everything that was recorded in the studio full-stop?
Is it everything that was recorded, including live recordings made during that time?
Also, what happened with the Atlantic/Sony songs that were played on the Live at the Palladium DVD? Did BR have to play to use their own songs?

Too bad, I was hoping for a remastered Stranger Than Fiction at some point. I figured it was only a matter of time when "News From The Front" appeared on Punk-O-Rama 9, but I guess that's not going to happen. Oh well, new albums are better than reissues anyway.

jeeesh, it's epitaph, atlantic AND sony...
those conversations lasted about two minutes, and pretty much stopped when we said; "no, you give us all the rights and we'll put them out on epitaph". whatever. we'll just keep making more records that they can't use.

It's interesting, the fatc that there is an "Epitaph Best Of" and an "Atlantic Best Of." I wonder with licensing rights and whatnot if an encompassing best of would even be possible?

True, that said if BR released an equivalent to Pearl Jam's Lost Dogs (Double album of B-Sides, unreleased songs, compilation contributions, demos? I don't recall, etc.) I would freaking lose it. That would be insane.

You meant the internet in general. Everything applies. And yes, that would be great, but it would never happen. Even though we would like to hear it, no one would release something they themselves didn't think was good enough to the public. We will probably get "best of" albums and perhaps b-sides records, but they will not include every goddamn song they have ever recorded that we haven't heard, because that would be a first in history. Imagine what Beatles fans would do if they could get all unreleased Beatles recordings. They'd kill themselves in a joyous spur. Ah, the world is crazy.

Whoops, I meant Megaupload or Rapidshare. Not Imageshack.

When BR do finally call it a day I seriously hope that they release all the demos and all the unreleased songs that were recorded but never released.
I don't mind even if it's mp3s that the band uploaded to Imageshack, I just want to hear it all.

Hope Bad Religion will play here next summer http://www.hellmusicfestival.no

That's a shame but still! 16 tracks... not bad!

Insurmountable issues probably has to do with time, i.e. having to rerecord tracks or a flawed arrangement, etc. and not having time to correct properly before mixing/mastering etc.

They had the same kind of problem with Who We Are at first. They all thought it was a great, but they couldnt find a correct mix to make it fit on TPOB.

How exactly can something be a good song and at the time have insurmountable issues?

thank syd vicious, theres gonna be a next time, and since greg said "this is kind of the end of a cycle" that means theres probably another cycle, so theres more than a next time.

I don't mind the song being axed....if it means that there is going to be a 'next time'.
Don't know what i'd do if they called it a day.
Dan - BRtoOZ
http://www.myspace.com/badreligiontooz

Yeah, that's the only relieving thing.

"maybe we can give it a try next time again..."
I guess this means the rumors about them planning on making this their last album are unfounded.

It's really disappointing... I liked the title and was looking forward to it as a B-side. What were these issues, anyway?