Back To The Known EP - Epitaph 1984

6 / 10

So, anyway, everybody hated Into The Unknown (including bassist Jay Bentley, who quit the band right after the first song was recorded), and the band splintered apart. A year later, Circle Jerks guitarist with the big nose Greg Hetson put forth the idea of reuniting the band, and they sorta did - with Greg replacing Brett on axophone - to create this decent little five-song EP. The title says it all; this is Bad Religion doing what they know best: punk rock. Comprised of three great songs ("Yesterday," "Frogger," and a slow re-recording of "Bad Religion") that display Greg's ever-growing fondness for actual "singing," and a couple of pokier throwaways that just sort of sit on their asses like I do at work most of the time, this record, though enjoyable enough, didn't exactly re-establish the band as a powerful force in the hardcore genre. As such, they basically disappeared for four years before.... well, you know they reunited. I mentioned it earlier.

- Mark Prindle