''Into the Unknown'' is the second studio album by

Bad Religion Bad Religion is an American punk rock band that formed in Los Angeles, California, in 1980. The band's lyrics cover topics related to religion, politics, society, the media and science. Musically, they are noted for their melodic sensibilitie ...

, which was released on November 30, 1983. The album marks a distinct departure from the band's previous album; instead of featuring

hardcore punk Hardcore punk (also known as simply hardcore) is a punk rock music genre and subculture that originated in the late 1970s. It is generally faster, harder, and more aggressive than other forms of punk rock. Its roots can be traced to earlier punk ...

, the album is characterized by slower tempos, use of

electronic organ An electric organ, also known as electronic organ, is an electronic keyboard instrument which was derived from the harmonium, pipe organ and theatre organ. Originally designed to imitate their sound, or orchestral sounds, it has since developed ...

and

piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keyboa ...

s, and a

prog Prog may refer to: Music * Progressive music ** Progressive music (disambiguation) ** Progressive rock, a subgenre of rock music also known as “prog” *** Progressive rock (radio format) * Prog (magazine), a magazine dedicated to progressive ...

-influenced

hard rock Hard rock or heavy rock is a loosely defined subgenre of rock music typified by aggressive vocals and distorted electric guitars. Hard rock began in the mid-1960s with the garage, psychedelic and blues rock movements. Some of the earliest hard ...

sound. ''Into the Unknown'' is the only Bad Religion album to feature Paul Dedona on bass and Davy Goldman on drums. Dedona was ejected from the band before their next recording and replaced by Tim Gallegos, while former drummer

Pete Finestone Bad Religion is an American punk rock band that formed in Los Angeles, California, in 1980. The band's lyrics cover topics related to religion, politics, society, the media and science. Musically, they are noted for their melodic sensibilities ...

returned to the band in 1986. The album also features Bad Religion's longest track to date, "Time and Disregard", which is seven minutes long. ''Into the Unknown'' proved to be the band's most controversial release; despite favorable reviews from music critics, it was a commercial failure, and was characterized as a "misstep" by guitarist

Brett Gurewitz Brett W. Gurewitz (born May 12, 1962), nicknamed Mr. Brett, is an American musician best known as the lead guitarist of Bad Religion. He is also the owner of the music label Epitaph Records and a number of sister labels. He has produced albums f ...

. It was not reissued on any format until 2010, when it was issued on

vinyl Vinyl may refer to: Chemistry * Polyvinyl chloride (PVC), a particular vinyl polymer * Vinyl cation, a type of carbocation * Vinyl group, a broad class of organic molecules in chemistry * Vinyl polymer, a group of polymers derived from vinyl m ...

as part of the box set ''30 Years of Bad Religion'', and has never been reissued on its own.

Production

Gurewitz commented on the album's production on the official

website, stating that the album was quickly produced after the release of the band's debut, ''

How Could Hell Be Any Worse? ''How Could Hell Be Any Worse?'' is the debut studio album by American punk rock band Bad Religion, released on January 19, 1982 by Epitaph Records. Released almost a year after their self-titled EP, it was financed by a $3,000 loan by guitarist ...

'', because the band did not take themselves seriously and didn't think it would last very long, despite the success of their debut and popularity on the

underground music Underground music is music with practices perceived as outside, or somehow opposed to, mainstream popular music culture. Underground music is intimately tied to popular music culture as a whole, so there are important tensions within underground ...

scene. Gurewitz said that "not much thought" was put into the album's production. Drummer

and bass player

Jay Bentley Jay Dee Bentley (born June 6, 1964) is the bassist and co-founding member of the punk rock group Bad Religion. He has played with the band through its whole existence with a small break between 1983 and 1985. Along with vocalist Greg Graffin, Bent ...

quit the band as the result of the change in musical style. Bad Religion hired producer

Thom Wilson Thom Wilson (died February 8, 2015) was an American punk rock record producer and engineer. Career Wilson began his musical career in the mid-1970s, engineering recordings by soft rock artists Burton Cummings and Seals & Crofts. He began working ...

to collaborate with the band during the album's production.

Musical style and influences

Gurewitz and the other band members were very much into

progressive rock Progressive rock (shortened as prog rock or simply prog; sometimes conflated with art rock) is a broad genre of rock music that developed in the United Kingdom and United States through the mid- to late 1960s, peaking in the early 1970s. Init ...

before getting into punk rock, and wanted to record an album reflecting a prog and avant-garde influence. The album is characterized by slower tempos and use of

and

-driven melody.

Reception

Because of the band's success, they produced more copies of this album than they had of their debut. Gurewitz joked about having " ent outten thousand copies and

etting Etting (; ; Lorraine Franconian: ''Ettinge'') is a commune in the Moselle department of the Grand Est administrative region in north-eastern France. The village belongs to the Pays de Bitche. See also * Communes of the Moselle department The ...

eleven thousand back." In a positive review of the album, ''

The Village Voice ''The Village Voice'' is an American news and culture paper, known for being the country's first alternative newsweekly. Founded in 1955 by Dan Wolf, Ed Fancher, John Wilcock, and Norman Mailer, the ''Voice'' began as a platform for the crea ...

'' critic

Robert Christgau Robert Thomas Christgau ( ; born April 18, 1942) is an American music journalist and essayist. Among the most well-known and influential music critics, he began his career in the late 1960s as one of the earliest professional rock critics and ...

said, "I find myself moved by its anthemic ambition--and achievement." John Dougan of

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

says that ''Into the Unknown'' is "a bit off-putting at first blush, mainly because the tempos are slower and more deliberate, and because of the use of swirling organs and pianos", while he calls it a "terrific record that was perhaps more daring than anyone realized at the time of its release."

Legacy

''Into the Unknown'' is Bad Religion's most controversial release. The band broke up after the album's release, but reformed in 1985. Gurewitz characterized the album as a "terrible misstep". Although ''Into the Unknown'' has never been officially released on CD, bootleg CDs of the album exist.

Greg Graffin Gregory Walter Graffin (born November 6, 1964) is an American singer and evolutionary biologist. He is most recognized as the lead vocalist and only constant member of punk rock band Bad Religion, which he co-founded in 1980. He embarked on a s ...

recalls that the band only performed material from this album once when it was released; when Bad Religion premiered the material live, only 12 people turned out for the concert because fans learned that the band was going to bring keyboards on stage. The band then decided not to bring keyboards on tour with them and return to their

sound. In October 2010, the band performed "Billy Gnosis", the first time in 27 years that Bad Religion had performed any songs from the album in concert. In December, the band released the

box set ''30 Years of Bad Religion'', which reissued all 15 of the band's LPs, including ''Into the Unknown''. The band's website offers commentaries from

and Brett Gurewitz. "The Dichotomy" was repeatedly played live in 2019. Only four songs have been played live off this album: "It's Only Over When...", "Billy Gnosis", "The Dichotomy" and "...You Give Up".

Track listing

Personnel

- lead vocals; keyboards (tracks 1, 2), synthesizer (track 3–5, 7, 8), piano (track 3, 4, 6, 8), acoustic guitar (track 4, 6), backing vocals (tracks 1, 3, 4), production *

- electric guitars; acoustic guitar (track 2), backing vocals (track 2), production * Paul Dedona - bass guitar * Davy Goldman - drums; wood block (track 2) *

Jim Mankey James Andrew Mankey (born May 23, 1952 in Washington) is an American rock guitarist, most widely known as the co-founder and longtime guitarist of the band Concrete Blonde. Mankey was also the bassist with the band Sparks for their first two alb ...

- engineering

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Into the Unknown (Bad Religion album) Bad Religion albums 1983 albums Epitaph Records albums Hard rock albums by American artists Progressive rock albums by American artists