As with most vinyl records, also Bad Religion's 7", 10" and 12" records often contain etchings in the run-out groove (inside rim). These etchings indicate one or several of the following: record label catalog number, mastering codes, stamper codes, name or initials of the mastering engineer, and/or ciphers indicating the pressing plant or mastering house used. Sometimes the inscriptions also contain phrases, which are scribed or stamped by the mastering engineer as directed by the record label or the band. Especially for vinyl collectors this information is essential.
All of the etchings on Bad Religion's records can be found in the Discography secion on The Bad Religion Page.
Common etchings
- S-##### (with "#" being a single numerical digit). The "S" sometimes looks like a "5" and the B-side number is usually always higher by 1.
This means the record was pressed at Rainbo Records; a Pressing Plant / Manufacturer in California.
- L-##### / L-#####-X (with "#" being a single numerical digit). The A-side & B-side numbers are the same.
This means the "lacquer" was made at Greg Lee Processing; a lacquer processing firm in California.
Additional texts
- The first pressing of Bad Religion's first 7" EP (1981) just contained the text "We're not Bad Religion..." on one side and "... you are" on the other. The second pressing, however, contains the (incorrect) text "We're not Bad Religion..." "Ellipsis U R".
- How Could Hell Be Any Worse? (1982) contains the text "WHERE THE HELL IS RACINE??" on one side and "SOLIDARNǑSČ" on the other.
- Back To The Known (1985) contains the text "CHROME TOOL BOX".
- Suffer (1988) contains the text "YOUR NAME HERE ___ ___" on one side and "☻ I AM JUST A PIECE OF AIR! ☺" on the other.
- No Control (1989) contains the text "DIALECTICAL POCKETRY" on one side and "LEAVE ME ALONE" on the other.
- Against The Grain (1990) contains the text "DRINK THE KOOL AID" on one side and "INTREPID PIONEER" on the other.
After Against The Grain they stopped adding any additional texts.