Category: | Review - Internet | Publish date: | 12/1/2001 |
Source: | Mark Prindle Record Reviews (United States) | ||
Synopsis: |
8 / 10
Yay! They're FAST again! And Brett Gurewitz is back! And they're on Epitaph!
And that's pretty much all I can tell you. I don't even know what the cover looks like! I just found a promo copy (two months before its Feb. 12 release date - HA!) and have been enjoying it quite the large sum of bits over the past 12 hours or hence. Again, forget what you heard for the past few years - BAD RELIGION ARE ONCE AGAIN A REALLY FAST MELODIC PUNK ROCK BAND. Only three of these 14 songs are slow, and even two of those are really good songs!
As for the fast ones, some of 'em are brand new riffs that totally rule, some of 'em are a bit more generic (but work because they're being played so fast!) and maybe one or two parts (like the VERY FIRST GODDAMNED RIFF ON THE ALBUM) just suck out loud and make you embarrassed to be a punk rock fan. But that's the few and far between. It is not at ALL an experimental album, aside from the sound effects middle section of "Bored And Extremely Dangerous" and the dub reggae intro to "Sorrow," but the four-chord thrashers are monstrously catchy in the old-timey Bad Religion tradition. The album as a whole doesn't smoke your ass from here to Hades like Against The Grain, but it's definitely as powerful and headbanging (or more so) than anything they've done since then. Pretty fierce for a bunch of elderly statesmen!
I wish I could tell you about the lyrics but, having no cover, my copy also has no lyrics booklet. I noticed that "You Don't Belong" is about alternative kids in pain (can't tell if it's making fun of them or being sympathetic) and "Destined For Nothing" appears to be arguing that there is no such thing as destiny, but beyond that I'm really gonna have to listen a bit more closely or something! I look forward to the comments of long-time Bad Religion fans who have been eagerly awaiting a return to speed since they gave it up for pussitude a few albums back.
- Mark Prindle