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CB's CD Review of BR's NMoH
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Posted by: admin | 07/16/2007 at 13:38
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*original source [ here ]
Bad Religion's New Maps Of Hell
By Tom Patrick
2007-07-15 20:52:00
Bad Religion's New Maps Of Hell If Iggy Pop is the godfather of punk, then Bad Religion is the midwife, and the band continues to prove this with its new release, New Maps of Hell. With their high-energy, pounding sound, chockfull of rapidly thumping drums and take-no-prisoners hyper-chord changes, these aging punksters show they still know how to produce powerful, politically charged punk rock.
In fact, after I was done cleaning up the mess caused by my one-man mosh pit, and sweeping up the remains of my television, which I threw from my window during an album-induced violent fit, I had to take a nap before writing this review.
Bad Religion?s guitarist, Brett Gurewitz, explained the title of the album by stating, "We all liked the concept of maps, because we are exploring new material on this record, both musically and topically." However, the creative growth of the band might not be obvious to everyone, simply because after more than 25 years of rocking out, this album basically could have been released at any time in its career.
On the other hand--if I may be so dumb as to immediately contradict myself--a few of the tracks seem to channel the sound of Green Day?s American Idiot ? although Bad Religion has clearly had a greater effect on that band than vice versa. But I will say this: The brief opening track, aptly titled "52 Seconds," has a fast, bouncy punk sound and similar chords to that of Green Day?s "Geek Stink Mouth."
"Prodigal Son" is probably the best example of this exploration of new material--it?s less hyper and a little more conservative, and winds up being one of the stronger tracks on the disc. And although I can pick out the better ones like "Prodigal Son," I?d be hard-pressed to point out the worst ones. One of the very best attributes of New Maps is its overall consistency; some tunes are better than others but none are bad.
If these veteran punksters are really a religion that?s bad, they at least have longevity on their side, this being their 14th full-length album and 20th release in total--way more albums than Jesus ever released. But I?m not ready to convert, simply because variety doesn?t seem to be their strong suit.
The best thing about New Maps of Hell is the political content found in the lyrics, something Bad Religion is famous for. In "Requiem for Dissent," Greg Graffin sings, "Oratory of hope and glory a whisper and a rhyme/An effigy, a soldier out of time/Citizen and patriot you can't be far behind/The funeral is weighting heavy on your mind." It?s not a far stretch to see a commentary on America?s blighted foreign policy.
So if you want a fast-paced punk album with something relevant to say, filled with a long list of short, in-your-face songs, then New Maps of Hell will lead you straight to heaven ? and yes, I know that?s cheesy.
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07/22/2007 at 19:31
Told you! :P I wonder which songs you heard...
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07/22/2007 at 16:38
I also stand by the ELO comment; I recently dl'ed a few songs by em and I'm pretty amazed by the similarity of the BGV. Now, all I gotta do is listen to the rest of the fuc*ing album at some point today :\.
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07/19/2007 at 20:43
Unacceptable - I agree with you that the vocals are too low, they should have been mixed farther forward. But I'm diggin' the rest of the album. I find it very mature, with influences ranging from Queen to Cheap Trick to 70's prog rock. I stand by my statement that some of the BGV in Honest Goodbye are reminiscent of mid-70's ELO.
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07/19/2007 at 20:40
Mr. A - I already have The Varieties of Scientific Experience in the pile on the nightstand... I'll add it to the list.
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07/19/2007 at 19:44
Comments by smarti22 from United States on 2007-07-18 @ 18:45
banjo - it's "The God Delusion" - on my list of things to read in between case books... Pick up Carl Sagan's "The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark" next. |
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07/19/2007 at 18:24
Indeed, I emailed Greg to see if he would confirm that The Grand Delusion was an allusion to The God Delusion. I am pretty sure it is. Also, at one of the live shows in Germany, Greg said that he dedicated The Watchmaker's Dial to Richard Dawkins (who wrote, among others, The Blind Watchmaker).
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07/19/2007 at 10:44
Just listened to the album for the first time. Am I seriously the only one disappointed with it? Call me old-fashioned but I don't hear enough 'Bad Religion' in there. If Empire didn't stack up to Process, NMoH doesn't even stack up to Empire for me. I know bands are going to want to evolve their sound but the genius of Process just seems to have been lost.
Too many uninspired choruses, Greg's vocals aren't loud enough and too many songs with distorted guitar lines that don't suit BR. I could just weep with how disappointed I am. |
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07/18/2007 at 18:45
Um, yeah, as Mr. A just said.... duh...
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07/18/2007 at 18:45
banjo - it's "The God Delusion" - on my list of things to read in between case books...
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07/18/2007 at 11:43
Indeed:
http://en.wikipedia.org/ wiki/The_God_Delusion And while we're at it, this is MANDATORY viewing for everybody; Bill Moyers interviews "Brights" philosopher Daniel Dennett: video.google.com/ videoplay?docid= 5640093862168820605 |
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07/18/2007 at 03:27
Sorry, I meant "spearheaded the movement AGAINST the intelligent design issue".
Also, I think he has a book with a similiar title to "The Grand Delusion", but I'm not sure. Possibly "The God Delusion"? |
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07/18/2007 at 01:56
Comments by Su from Germany on 2007-07-17 @ 20:48
Which only further affirms my belief that Brett wrote the opening part and Greg the one from 'We're all engaged...' to '...mental condition'. Just to add to this, I'm thinking that Greg Graffin wrote the fantastic "The Watchmaker's Dial" on Cold as the Clay about Richard Dawkins (I believe he was the dude who spearheaded the whole "Intelligent design" issue, but don't quote me on that), and so this would be a continuation of this theme, as Greg must hold an interest in this (However, I don't think Greg would agree with the concept however), including a reference to Mr. Dawkins in one of his more recent songs. Not sure though. |
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07/17/2007 at 20:48
Which only further affirms my belief that Brett wrote the opening part and Greg the one from 'We're all engaged...' to '...mental condition'.
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07/17/2007 at 20:34
"The brief opening track, aptly titled "52 Seconds," has a fast, bouncy punk sound and similar chords to that of Green Day?s 'Geek Stink Mouth.'"---umm, I think you mean Geek Stink Breath. Do your research, man.
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07/17/2007 at 16:26
"Another kind of game that Maynard Smith has considered is the 'war of attrition'. This can be thought of as arising in a species that never engages in dangerous combat, perhaps a well-armoured species in which injury is very unlikely. All disputes in this species are settled by conventional posturing. A contest always ends in one rival or the other backing down. To win, all you have to do is stand your ground and glare at the opponent until he finally turns tail. Obviously no animal can afford to spend infinite time threatening; there are important things to be done elsewhere. The resource he is competing for may be valuable, but it is not infinitely valuable. It is only worth so much time and, as at an auction sale, each individual is prepared to spend only so much on it. Time is the currency of this two-bidder auction."
-Richard Dawkins, The Selfish Gene |
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07/17/2007 at 16:21
Off-topic: I think I have 52 Seconds partly figured out. A psychologist named Louann Brizendine published a study which found that men have one sexual thought, on average, every 52 seconds. The "game of attrition" is probably the same thing that Richard Dawkins (and earlier, Maynard Smith) referred to as the 'War of Attrition' in the chapter "Agression: Stability and the Selfish Machine" in his famous book, "The Selfish Gene". I'll post an excerpt in the next comment. Would love to hear others' thoughts on this.
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07/16/2007 at 16:57
"way more albums than Jesus ever released." Well he was good at party tricks though.
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07/16/2007 at 14:14
The cheesy yet tasteful send off in reviews is mostly a lost art nowadays >_>.
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