Bad Religion is an American punk rock band that formed in
Los Angeles
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world ...
, 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 and extensive use of three-part vocal harmonies. The band has experienced multiple line-up changes, with singer
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 ...
being the band's only constant member, though fellow founding members
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 ...
and
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 ...
have also been with the band for most of their history while guitarist Brian Baker has been a member of the group since 1994. Guitarist
Mike Dimkich
Mike Dimkich (born February 15, 1968) is an American guitarist who is currently a member of the punk rock band Bad Religion. He has also played for The Cult, Channel 3, Suckerpunch, and Steve Jones.
Musical career
Dimkich started playing in ...
and drummer Jamie Miller have been members of the band since 2013 and 2015 respectively. To date, Bad Religion has released seventeen studio albums, two live albums, three compilation albums, three EPs, and two live DVDs. They are considered to be one of the best-selling punk rock acts of all time, having sold over five million albums worldwide.
After gaining a large underground following and critical praise through their releases on Gurewitz's label
Epitaph
An epitaph (; ) is a short text honoring a deceased person. Strictly speaking, it refers to text that is inscribed on a tombstone or plaque, but it may also be used in a figurative sense. Some epitaphs are specified by the person themselves be ...
in the 1980s and early 1990s, Bad Religion experienced mainstream success after signing to the major label
Atlantic
The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe ...
Green Day
Green Day is an American rock band formed in the East Bay of California in 1987 by lead vocalist and guitarist Billie Joe Armstrong, together with bassist and backing vocalist Mike Dirnt. For most of the band's career, they have been a ...
and Epitaph-signed acts such as
The Offspring
The Offspring is an American rock band from Garden Grove, California, formed in 1984. Originally formed under the name Manic Subsidal, the band's current lineup consists of lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist Bryan "Dexter" Holland, lead guit ...
,
NOFX
NOFX () is an American punk rock band formed in Los Angeles, California in 1983. Vocalist/bassist Fat Mike, guitarist Eric Melvin and drummer Erik Sandin are original founding and longest-serving members of the band, who have appeared on ever ...
and Rancid, the band was responsible for the punk rock revival movement of the 1990s. Atlantic reissued the previously-released-on-Epitaph album, ''
Recipe for Hate
''Recipe for Hate'' is the seventh studio album by American punk rock band Bad Religion, released on June 4, 1993. It was their last album on Epitaph Records for nine years (until 2002's '' The Process of Belief'') and the band had switched to A ...
'' (1993), which became commercially successful, as did its 1994 follow-up '' Stranger than Fiction''. ''Stranger than Fiction'' included some of Bad Religion's well-known hits, including " Infected," " Stranger than Fiction," and the re-recorded version of "
21st Century (Digital Boy)
"21st Century (Digital Boy)" is a song by the punk rock group Bad Religion. It was originally recorded in 1990 on their fifth full-length studio album '' Against the Grain'' and re-recorded on the 1994 album '' Stranger Than Fiction''. The follo ...
"; the album was later certified gold in both the United States and Canada.
Shortly before the release of ''Stranger than Fiction,'' Gurewitz left Bad Religion to run his label Epitaph on a full-time basis (in response to the breakout success of The Offspring), and was replaced by Brian Baker. The band's success had slowly dwindled by the late 1990s, and, after three more albums, they were dropped from Atlantic in 2001. This resulted in Bad Religion returning to Epitaph and Gurewitz rejoining the band. Since then, they have undergone a resurgence in popularity, with " Sorrow," "
Los Angeles Is Burning
"Los Angeles Is Burning" is a single by the punk rock band Bad Religion from their 2004 album ''The Empire Strikes First''. "Los Angeles Is Burning" was released to radio on April 27, 2004. The song reached number 40 on the Modern Rock Tracks in ...
True North
True north (also called geodetic north or geographic north) is the direction along Earth's surface towards the geographic North Pole or True North Pole.
Geodetic north differs from ''magnetic'' north (the direction a compass points toward t ...
'' (2013), became Bad Religion's first album to crack the top 20 on the ''Billboard'' 200 chart where it peaked at number 19. The band's seventeenth and most recent studio album, '' Age of Unreason,'' was released on May 3, 2019.
History
Formation and early recordings (1980–1983)
Bad Religion was formed in
Los Angeles
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world ...
, California in 1980 by high school students
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 ...
,
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 ...
,
Jay Ziskrout
Jay Ziskrout (born September 8, 1962) was the first drummer for Bad Religion, forming the group with schoolmate Brett Gurewitz in 1980. Ziskrout performed on Bad Religion's Bad Religion (EP), self-titled EP and half on their debut album ''How Co ...
, and
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 ...
. Their first public performance was playing six or eight songs at a
Fullerton, California
Fullerton ( ) is a city located in northern Orange County, California, United States. As of the 2020 census, the city had a total population of 143,617.
Fullerton was founded in 1887. It secured the land on behalf of the Atchison, Topeka and Sa ...
, or
Santa Ana, California
Santa Ana () is the second most populous city and the county seat of Orange County, California. Located in the Greater Los Angeles region of Southern California, the city's population was 310,227 at the 2020 census, making Santa Ana the 13th-m ...
Social Distortion
Social Distortion is an American punk rock band formed in 1978 in Fullerton, California. The band currently consists of Mike Ness (lead vocals, lead guitar), Jonny Wickersham (rhythm guitar, backing vocals), Brent Harding (bass, backing voca ...
. Their first official show was on November 11, 1980, at Joey Kills Bar in
Burbank, California
Burbank is a city in the southeastern end of the San Fernando Valley in Los Angeles County, California, United States. Located northwest of downtown Los Angeles, Burbank has a population of 107,337. The city was named after David Burbank, who ...
.
In 1981, the band released their initial
eponymous
An eponym is a person, a place, or a thing after whom or which someone or something is, or is believed to be, named. The adjectives which are derived from the word eponym include ''eponymous'' and ''eponymic''.
Usage of the word
The term ''epon ...
six-song EP as a 7" record on the newly formed label,
Epitaph Records
Epitaph Records is an American independent record label owned by Bad Religion guitarist Brett Gurewitz. Throughout the 1980s and 1990s, most acts signed to the label were punk and pop punk acts, while there are many post-hardcore and emo ba ...
, which was and continues to be managed and owned by Gurewitz. Also in 1981, the band began recording their first full-length album, ''
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 ...
'' During the recording of this album,
drummer
A drummer is a percussionist who creates music using drums.
Most contemporary western bands that play rock, pop, jazz, or R&B music include a drummer for purposes including timekeeping and embellishing the musical timbre. The drummer's ...
Jay Ziskrout quit the band, and was replaced by Pete Finestone. Released in 1982, ''How Could Hell Be Any Worse?'' was also distributed by the band under the Epitaph label, and sold roughly 12,000 copies.
''Into the Unknown'', ''Back to the Known'' and hiatus (1983–1985)
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 ha ...
album with a slightly slower pace. Almost all of the albums the band produced were sold out of the warehouse they were housed in without the band's knowledge, after which this album went out of print. This incident, as well as band members' increasingly divergent personal lives, led to the band's temporary dissolution shortly after the album's release.
Soon after, Graffin reassembled Bad Religion with
Circle Jerks
Circle Jerks (stylized as Ciʀcle JƎʀᴋs) are an American hardcore punk band, formed in 1979 in Los Angeles, California. The group was founded by former Black Flag vocalist Keith Morris and Redd Kross guitarist Greg Hetson. To date, Cir ...
guitarist Greg Hetson replacing Gurewitz, who had gone into rehab for his drug problem. Bad Religion returned to a somewhat mellower,
rock and roll
Rock and roll (often written as rock & roll, rock 'n' roll, or rock 'n roll) is a genre of popular music that evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s. It originated from African-American music such as jazz, rhythm ...
version of their original sound with the ''
Back to the Known
''Back to the Known'' is the second EP released by American punk rock band Bad Religion. The name of the EP is a reference to the band abandoning the progressive rock influences of its previous album, 1983's '' Into the Unknown'', and returning ...
'' EP. Eventually the band split toward the middle of 1985.
Reunion, ''Suffer'', ''No Control'', ''Against the Grain'' and ''Generator'' (1986–1992)
Bad Religion slowly reformed in 1986 out of the ''Back to the Known'' line-up when Graffin called Bentley and asked him to return. Bentley's response was tentative, but after being assured that the setlist consisted mostly of tracks from ''How Could Hell Be Any Worse?'', he agreed to return for one show, and ended up staying on because he had so much fun. A freshly rehabilitated Gurewitz was eventually convinced to come back aboard, and with Pete Finestone returning on drums and Greg Hetson on second guitar; Bad Religion was back. This lineup recorded the band's third album, '' Suffer'', which was released in 1988. The album received positive reviews in the independent music press and was voted Best Album of the Year by publications such as '' Trust'', ''
Maximum Rocknroll
''Maximumrocknroll'', often written as ''Maximum Rocknroll'' and usually abbreviated as ''MRR'', is a not-for-profit monthly zine of punk subculture. Based in San Francisco, ''MRR'' focuses on punk rock and hardcore music, and primarily fea ...
'' and '' Flipside''.
During the ''Suffer'' tour in 1988, Bad Religion began writing new material. In early 1989, while the band was on break from touring, they commenced work on their next album, and entered the
Westbeach Recorders
Westbeach Recorders was a recording studio in Hollywood, California famous for recording punk rock groups, such as Bad Religion, Avenged Sevenfold, NOFX, Rancid, The Offspring and Pennywise.
History
It was established in 1985 by Bad Religion g ...
studio in June of that year to record it. The resulting album, '' No Control'', was released in November 1989, and was Bad Religion's best-selling album at the time, eventually selling more than 80,000 copies.
Bad Religion's hardcore punk style continued with their next album, '' Against the Grain'', which was released in 1990. While the album still did not break the band into mainstream audiences, it was the first 100,000 seller, and showed how quickly they were growing. "
21st Century (Digital Boy)
"21st Century (Digital Boy)" is a song by the punk rock group Bad Religion. It was originally recorded in 1990 on their fifth full-length studio album '' Against the Grain'' and re-recorded on the 1994 album '' Stranger Than Fiction''. The follo ...
", one of the tracks off the album, is generally regarded as the band's most well-known song, and has been played at almost every live show.
Drummer Pete Finestone left Bad Religion again in April 1991 to focus on his other band, the Fishermen, which had signed with a major label, and
Bobby Schayer
Bobby Schayer (born December 23, 1966 in Los Angeles, California) was the drummer for Bad Religion from 1991 to 2001. He was a resident of Encino, a suburb in the San Fernando Valley. He started drumming in 1976 at the age of 10, but it was not ...
joined the band as his replacement. In May 1991, Bad Religion entered the Westbeach Recorders studio to begin recording material for their sixth studio album, '' Generator'', which was not released until March 1992. The album was recorded almost live in the studio, because, at the time, Gurewitz had moved Westbeach to larger premises, and for the first time, the entire band could play in the studio at the same time. He stated that it was "time to change" and the band "did it in a different studio, but as far as the songwriting, it was a deliberate effort to try something different." To accompany the album, Bad Religion filmed their first music video " Atomic Garden," which was also their first song to be released as a single.
To coincide with the band's success, Bad Religion released a compilation album, '' 80–85'', in 1991. It is a repackaging of their debut album, ''
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 ...
'', their two EPs, ''
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 ...
'' and ''
Back to the Known
''Back to the Known'' is the second EP released by American punk rock band Bad Religion. The name of the EP is a reference to the band abandoning the progressive rock influences of its previous album, 1983's '' Into the Unknown'', and returning ...
'' and the band's three track contributions to the ''
Public Service
A public service is any service intended to address specific needs pertaining to the aggregate members of a community. Public services are available to people within a government jurisdiction as provided directly through public sector agencies ...
'' EP. This compilation did not include '' Into the Unknown''. ''80–85'' is now out of print and has been replaced by the 2004 re-issued version of ''
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 ...
'' with the same track listings.
Mainstream success and departure of Gurewitz (1993–1995)
With
alternative rock
Alternative rock, or alt-rock, is a category of rock music that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1970s and became widely popular in the 1990s. "Alternative" refers to the genre's distinction from mainstream or commercial ...
and grunge breaking into the mainstream, Bad Religion signed to Atlantic Records in 1993 and quickly re-released their seventh full-length studio album ''
Recipe for Hate
''Recipe for Hate'' is the seventh studio album by American punk rock band Bad Religion, released on June 4, 1993. It was their last album on Epitaph Records for nine years (until 2002's '' The Process of Belief'') and the band had switched to A ...
'' on the label that same year. Despite receiving mixed reviews from music critics, the album finally broke Bad Religion into mainstream audiences and got their highest U.S. chart position to date, debuting at No. 14 on Billboard's
Heatseekers
Infrared homing is a passive weapon guidance system which uses the infrared (IR) light emission from a target to track and follow it seamlessly. Missiles which use infrared seeking are often referred to as "heat-seekers" since infrared is rad ...
chart, with " American Jesus" and " Struck a Nerve" in particular becoming major rock radio hits at their time. During their ''Recipe for Hate'' Tour, the band would support several opening acts, including then
Lookout Records
Lookout Records (stylized as Lookout! Records) was an independent record label, initially based in Laytonville, California and later in Berkeley, California, Berkeley, focusing on punk rock. Established in 1987, the label is best known for having ...
-signed punk band
Green Day
Green Day is an American rock band formed in the East Bay of California in 1987 by lead vocalist and guitarist Billie Joe Armstrong, together with bassist and backing vocalist Mike Dirnt. For most of the band's career, they have been a ...
.
''Recipe for Hate'' was followed up by Bad Religion's eighth studio album '' Stranger Than Fiction''. The album met high critical reception upon its release in September 1994, and was their most successful album at the time, scoring such hits as " Stranger Than Fiction," " Infected," and a re-recording of "
21st Century (Digital Boy)
"21st Century (Digital Boy)" is a song by the punk rock group Bad Religion. It was originally recorded in 1990 on their fifth full-length studio album '' Against the Grain'' and re-recorded on the 1994 album '' Stranger Than Fiction''. The follo ...
," which was originally released on ''Against the Grain''. The band also recorded the song "Leaders and Followers" (which later appeared as a bonus track on the Japanese version of ''Stranger Than Fiction'') for the soundtrack for the
Kevin Smith
Kevin Patrick Smith (born August 2, 1970) is an American filmmaker, actor, comedian, comic book writer, author, YouTuber, and podcaster. He came to prominence with the low-budget comedy buddy film '' Clerks'' (1994), which he wrote, directed, ...
film, ''
Clerks
A clerk is someone who works in an office. A retail clerk works in a store.
Office holder
Clerk(s) may also refer to a person who holds an office, most commonly in a local unit of government, or a court.
*Barristers' clerk, a manager and adminis ...
''. The album was Bad Religion's first to enter the ''Billboard'' 200; the release peaked at number 87, and was awarded gold certification on March 4, 1998, for sales of over half a million copies. With the success of that album, Bad Religion became a key member of the 1990s
commercial
Commercial may refer to:
* a dose of advertising conveyed through media (such as - for example - radio or television)
** Radio advertisement
** Television advertisement
* (adjective for:) commerce, a system of voluntary exchange of products and s ...
punk rock explosion, alongside Green Day and fellow Epitaph bands such as
The Offspring
The Offspring is an American rock band from Garden Grove, California, formed in 1984. Originally formed under the name Manic Subsidal, the band's current lineup consists of lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist Bryan "Dexter" Holland, lead guit ...
NOFX
NOFX () is an American punk rock band formed in Los Angeles, California in 1983. Vocalist/bassist Fat Mike, guitarist Eric Melvin and drummer Erik Sandin are original founding and longest-serving members of the band, who have appeared on ever ...
.
Gurewitz left the band right before the release of ''Stranger Than Fiction''. He officially cited the reason for his departure as the increasing amount of time he was needed at Epitaph as
The Offspring
The Offspring is an American rock band from Garden Grove, California, formed in 1984. Originally formed under the name Manic Subsidal, the band's current lineup consists of lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist Bryan "Dexter" Holland, lead guit ...
(who had just released '' Smash'' to unexpected success and acclaim) became one of the biggest bands of the mid-1990s. Gurewitz, along with many fans, accused the band of
selling out
"Selling out", or "sold out" in the past tense, is a common expression for the compromising of a person's integrity, morality, authenticity, or principles by forgoing the long-term benefits of the collective or group in exchange for personal ga ...
for leaving Epitaph to seek greater financial success. As tensions increased, Graffin would sing alternate lyrics during concerts, such as, "I want to know where Brett gets his crack" or "I want to know why Gurewitz cracked," on the song " Stranger Than Fiction." These barbs referred to Gurewitz's struggles with crack, heroin, and other addictions which plagued him for years. Brett discussed his drug use in an interview on the band's ''Suffer Tour'' documentary, '' Along the Way'', and claimed that he was clean and sober. In response, Gurewitz recorded a song with his new band,
The Daredevils
''The Daredevils'' was a comics magazine and anthology published by Marvel UK in 1983. Aimed for a more sophisticated audience than typical light superhero adventures, ''The Daredevils'' featured Captain Britain stories by Alan Moore and Alan ...
, entitled, " Hate You," reportedly directed towards Jay Bentley.
Gurewitz was replaced as guitarist by Brian Baker, a former member of the bands
Minor Threat
Minor Threat was an American hardcore punk band, formed in 1980 in Washington, D.C. by vocalist Ian MacKaye and drummer Jeff Nelson. MacKaye and Nelson had played in several other bands together, and recruited bassist Brian Baker and guitar ...
,
Dag Nasty
Dag Nasty is an American punk rockGreenwald, p. 14. " Ian Mackaye was such a huge Rites of Spring fan that he not only recorded what was to be the band's only album in 1985 and served as a roadie for them while on tour, but his own new band, ...
R.E.M.
R.E.M. was an American rock band from Athens, Georgia, formed in 1980 by drummer Bill Berry, guitarist Peter Buck, bassist Mike Mills, and lead vocalist Michael Stipe, who were students at the University of Georgia. One of the first alternati ...
to join Bad Religion. With Gurewitz gone, Graffin became Bad Religion's primary songwriter (songwriting duties were originally split between the two).
Post-Gurewitz period, departure of Bobby Schayer (1996–2000)
Bad Religion continued touring and recording without Brett Gurewitz, releasing three more albums for Atlantic, starting with ''
The Gray Race
''The Gray Race'' is the ninth full-length album of the punk rock band Bad Religion, which was released in 1996. It was the follow-up to the band's highly successful 1994 album '' Stranger Than Fiction''.
This was the band's first album not re ...
'' (1996), produced by former Cars frontman
Ric Ocasek
Richard Theodore Otcasek (March 23, 1944 – September 15, 2019), known as Ric Ocasek, was an American singer-songwriter, musician, and record producer. He was the primary co-lead vocalist, rhythm guitarist, songwriter, and frontman for the rock ...
. Despite never garnering the amount of attention that ''Stranger Than Fiction'' received, it scored Bad Religion a minor U.S. radio hit with the song, "A Walk," as well as the European release of "Punk Rock Song."
In 1998, Bad Religion released their tenth full-length album, ''
No Substance
''No Substance'' is the tenth full-length album by the punk rock band Bad Religion. It was the band's third (or fourth, if the reissue of '' Recipe for Hate'' is counted) release on Atlantic Records, and their second studio album since guitari ...
'', produced by Alex Perialas, Ronnie Kimball, and the band themselves. Although the album was anticipated by music critics and fans alike as a result of the band's previous worldwide successes with ''Stranger Than Fiction'' and ''The Gray Race'', it was given mixed reviews by both critics and fans. Following the release of ''No Substance'', the band embarked on a year-long tour.
In 1999, Gurewitz reunited with Graffin to co-write a song together called, "Believe It," which would appear on their next album, ''
The New America
''The New America'' is the eleventh studio album by punk band Bad Religion. It was released in 2000 and is their last album (to date) on Atlantic Records.
''The New America'' is also Bad Religion's last album with Bobby Schayer on drums. Thou ...
'' (2000). For this new album,
Todd Rundgren
Todd Harry Rundgren (born June 22, 1948) is an American multi-instrumentalist, singer, songwriter, multimedia artist, sound engineer and record producer who has performed a diverse range of styles as a solo artist and as a member of the band Ut ...
, an early musical inspiration for Graffin, was brought in to produce. "Todd was kind of an underground sensation back in 1974. Here's a guy who was making pop music but in a way that you wouldn't hear on the radio. So much of my early musical identity was wrapped up in the way he conducted himself." In the summer of 2000, they set out on a successful 3-month U.S. arena tour opening for
Blink-182
Blink-182 (stylized as blink-182) is an American rock band formed in Poway, California in 1992. Their current lineup consists of bassist/vocalist Mark Hoppus, guitarist/vocalist Tom DeLonge, and drummer Travis Barker. Though their sound has ...
. Interest in recording the record waned due to Rundgren's poor attitude. Jay Bentley reflects on this by saying, "I didn't feel we were going anywhere and so did Greg. Todd didn't like Greg and that made Greg so mad! He met his idol, and he was a jerk! I don't think Todd gave a shit about anything." However, Graffin later writes in his book, "Anarchy Evolution," that, although Rundgren was difficult to work with, he and Graffin remain friends to this day. Meanwhile,
Bobby Schayer
Bobby Schayer (born December 23, 1966 in Los Angeles, California) was the drummer for Bad Religion from 1991 to 2001. He was a resident of Encino, a suburb in the San Fernando Valley. He started drumming in 1976 at the age of 10, but it was not ...
left the band following a serious shoulder injury and was replaced by
Brooks Wackerman
Brooks Wackerman (born February 15, 1977) is an American musician. He is the current drummer of heavy metal band Avenged Sevenfold, which he joined in 2015. His first album with Avenged Sevenfold was '' The Stage'' (2016). He is most known as ...
(
Suicidal Tendencies
Suicidal Tendencies is an American crossover thrash band formed in 1980 in Venice in Los Angeles, California by vocalist Mike Muir. Muir is the only remaining original member of the band. Along with D.R.I., Corrosion of Conformity, and Stor ...
).
Return to Epitaph and reunion with Gurewitz (2001–2004)
In 2001, Bad Religion departed from Atlantic Records. They returned to Epitaph, and Brett Gurewitz rejoined the band. The expanded six-piece line-up then recorded and released ''
The Process of Belief
''The Process of Belief'' is the twelfth studio album by the American punk rock band Bad Religion. It was produced by its leaders Greg Graffin and Brett Gurewitz, and was released on January 22, 2002, through Epitaph Records. After touring in sup ...
'' (2002). Graffin stated, "There was a little bit of disappointment on my part when he left the band, but we never had any serious acrimony between the two of us. I can't say the same for the rest of the band. But he and I, being the songwriters from way back, we really wanted to try again."
Their next album, ''
The Empire Strikes First
''The Empire Strikes First'' is the thirteenth studio album by American punk rock band Bad Religion, released on June 8, 2004. The album is heavily influenced by the then-current Iraq War (most notably in the songs "Atheist Peace", "Let Them Eat ...
'', was released in June 2004. Like ''The Process of Belief'', it was widely regarded by fans as a return to the faster punk-style songwriting that some felt was less prominent in the band's music during their time on Atlantic.
In April 2004, the band also re-released digitally-remastered versions of all of their first six studio albums on Epitaph Records (except ''Into the Unknown''). The ''How Could Hell Be Any Worse?'' reissue, though reclaiming the original title of the band's debut LP, contained all of the same material as the previously issued ''80–85'' compilation, including their first EP, the ''
Public Service
A public service is any service intended to address specific needs pertaining to the aggregate members of a community. Public services are available to people within a government jurisdiction as provided directly through public sector agencies ...
'' EP (with different versions of the songs Bad Religion, Slaves, and Drastic Actions than the self-titled EP) and the "Back to the Known" EP. To coincide with the reissues, they also released their long out-of-print live VHS, '' Along the Way,'' on DVD for the first time. ''Recipe for Hate,'' though, could not be re-issued, even though it was originally released on Epitaph, due to the fact that it had already been re-issued through Atlantic, and so problems with rights ownership made a reissue unlikely.
''New Maps of Hell'' (2005–2008)
On March 7, 2006, a live DVD, '' Live at the Palladium,'' was released. This DVD featured a live show performed in late 2004 at the Hollywood Palladium as well as extensive interviews, several music videos, and a photo gallery. During one of the interview segments, 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 ...
said the band's next album would be a double-length release, but this turned out to not be the case.
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 ...
released his second solo album, '' Cold as the Clay'', on July 11, 2006.
Bad Religion's fourteenth studio album, '' New Maps of Hell'', was released on July 10, 2007. On June 29 of that year ( Greg Hetson's 46th birthday),
Epitaph Records
Epitaph Records is an American independent record label owned by Bad Religion guitarist Brett Gurewitz. Throughout the 1980s and 1990s, most acts signed to the label were punk and pop punk acts, while there are many post-hardcore and emo ba ...
started selling ''New Maps of Hell'' at the
Warped Tour
The Warped Tour was a traveling rock tour that toured the United States plus three or four stops in Canada annually each summer from 1995 until 2019. It was the largest traveling music festival in the United States and the longest-running touri ...
in Pomona, California. The album was a commercial success and spawned three hit singles: " Honest Goodbye," "Heroes and Martyrs," and " New Dark Ages." As a result, ''New Maps of Hell'' reached number 35 on the ''Billboard'' 200, marking Bad Religion's highest-ever chart position. The band joined the 2007 Warped Tour to support the album.
Hetson formed a supergroup band called Black President, consisting of Charlie Paulson (from Goldfinger), Jason Christopher, Wade Youman (both from
Unwritten Law
Unwritten Law is an American punk rock band formed in 1990 in Poway, California. They have released seven full-length studio albums and have toured internationally, including performances on the Warped Tour. They are notable for their singles ...
), and
Christian Martucci
Christian Martucci (born June 5, 1977) is an Italian American guitarist, vocalist and songwriter. He is a dual citizen of Italy and the United States. As of 2013, he is the lead guitar player for the American hard rock band Stone Sour and from J ...
(from
Dee Dee Ramone
Douglas Glenn Colvin (September 18, 1951 – June 5, 2002), better known by his stage name Dee Dee Ramone, was an American musician. He was the bassist and a founding member of the punk rock band Ramones. Throughout the band's existence, he wa ...
).In the January issue of the magazine Alternative Press, it was revealed that their 14th album would be released in late spring 2007.
In early March 2008, Bad Religion played several night residences at
House of Blues
House of Blues is an American chain of live music concert halls and restaurants. It was founded by Isaac Tigrett, the co-founder of Hard Rock Cafe, and Dan Aykroyd, co-star of the 1980 film ''The Blues Brothers''. The first location opened at Ha ...
venues in
Southern California
Southern California (commonly shortened to SoCal) is a geographic and cultural region that generally comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. It includes the Los Angeles metropolitan area, the second most populous urban a ...
as well as
Las Vegas
Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vegas ...
. They performed four European festival appearances in May and June.
On July 8, 2008, Bad Religion released their first-ever deluxe edition CD, a reissue of the then-current album '' New Maps of Hell''. The deluxe version included the original 16-song CD along with seven new acoustic tracks recorded by Graffin (vocals/guitars) and Gurewitz (guitars/back vocals). Three of the acoustic songs were new, written specifically for this release, while the other four tracks were acoustic versions of existing Bad Religion songs. The release also included a DVD with an hour-long live performance, music videos, and behind-the-scenes footage.
''30 Years Live'' and ''The Dissent of Man'' (2009–2010)
In June 2008,
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 ...
said in an interview at the
Pinkpop Festival
The Pinkpop Festival is an annual music festival held at Landgraaf, Netherlands. It is usually held on the Pentecost weekend (''Pinksteren'' in Dutch, hence the name). If Pentecost falls on an early date in May, the festival is held later in Jun ...
in
Landgraaf
Landgraaf (; li, Lankgraaf ) is a municipality in southeastern Limburg, Netherlands, forming part of the Parkstad Limburg agglomeration. ''Snow World'' is the largest indoor ski piste in Europe.
Population centres
* Nieuwenhagen
* Schaesberg ...
, Netherlands, that Gurewitz had already begun writing new material for the next Bad Religion album. He stated that the band was planning to return to the studio to start work on the follow-up to ''New Maps of Hell,'' planned for a June 2009 release, after Graffin teaches UCLA. However, according to a December 2008 report on the fan site, "The Bad Religion Page," Bentley revealed that due to Bad Religion's upcoming touring commitments for 2009, the band would not have a chance to record their new album until around the end of the year, for an expected 2010 release date.
In August 2009, guitarist Brett Gurewitz sent an email to a fan site mentioning he was writing new material for the next Bad Religion album.
In December 2009, Bentley revealed to the fan site that the band was expected to go into the studio on April 26, 2010, to start recording their new album. He stated that a few songs for the album had been written and, "It feels like the songwriting is picking up momentum. Baker said he was going to drive up to Graffin's, and Brooks and I are going to do some demos with Brett, so we have a pretty good jump." According to Brett's
Twitter
Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...
, Bad Religion is aiming for a fall release of the new album. In January 2010, Bentley revealed that Bad Religion would record their new album at a studio in Pasadena, California, with
Joe Barresi
Joe Barresi (nicknamed "Evil Joe") is an American record engineer and producer who has worked with Kyuss, The Melvins, Tool, Chevelle, Queens of the Stone Age, Coheed and Cambria, Tomahawk, L7, The Jesus Lizard, Parkway Drive, New Model Army, ...
, who engineered 2004's ''The Empire Strikes First'' and produced its 2007 follow-up, ''New Maps of Hell''. Despite the statement made by Bentley about entering the studio in April, he noted that the recording date was now May 1.
In March and April 2010, to commemorate their 30th anniversary, Bad Religion toured Southern California's and Nevada's House of Blues locations, playing 30 Shows in 30 Nights with a 30-song set each night. At the House of Blues concert in
Anaheim, California
Anaheim ( ) is a city in northern Orange County, California, part of the Los Angeles metropolitan area. As of the 2020 United States Census, the city had a population of 346,824, making it the most populous city in Orange County, the 10th-most ...
, on March 17, 2010, the band debuted a new song called "Resist-Stance" from their upcoming album. To coincide with the tour, Bad Religion announced a live album, entitled '' 30 Years Live'', which was released as a free download for those who had signed up to the mailing list at Bad Religion's website. It consists of songs recorded during their House of Blues tour. It also included some new songs from their 15th studio album, before the new album was released. '' 30 Years Live'' was mixed by Mike Fraser and was released on May 18, 2010.
On May 1, 2010, Brett posted an update on his Twitter saying, "Threw me a going away o the studioparty and all my friends hung with me tonight – thx everybody, I love you guys." This adds fuel to the possibility of the band's new album being recorded the first week of May. On May 12, 2010 (which happened to be Brett's 48th birthday), bassist Jay Bentley posted an update on their Facebook page regarding the recording process of the album: "First week of recording at Joe's house of compression and Brooks gets the medal for superasskicking. Brian has finished 14 basics ... a couple more to go. I started getting some good bass sounds late, late last night, the liver wins the shootout again. Brett is playing late night tracks on his birthday, some way to celebrate! happy birthday bg! quote of the day; BG "what percentage of the sound is coming from the snakeskin?". haha ... working of album titles and ideas today. It's all coming together. Joe says the corn flavored kit kats are gross, but the wasabi ones are quite delicious ... get back to work. Work work work. Will send photo's soon."
In June 2010, the fan site reported that the new album would be released on September 28, 2010. Jay (who goes by jabberwock on the Bad Religion Page) mentioned on the site's message board that Bad Religion had finished recording their new album and was mixing it. In an interview at the Azkena Rock Festival on June 26, 2010, the band members announced that the new album would be called ''
The Dissent of Man
''The Dissent of Man'' is the fifteenth studio album by American punk rock band Bad Religion, which was released on September 28, 2010. It was their first album in three years, following the release of '' New Maps of Hell'' in 2007. The band co ...
''. ''The Dissent of Man'' was released on September 28, 2010. The album debuted at No. 35 on the Billboard 200 chart and at No. 6 on the Billboard Independent Albums chart. On August 30, 2010, the album version of the song, "The Resist Stance," was released on Bad Religion's MySpace page. The song was also made available for streaming on the page a week before the album's release. The band had been touring throughout 2011 to support the album.
On October 18, 2010, Bad Religion released a vinyl box set of all their albums that is limited to 3000 copies, including their 1983 album '' Into the Unknown'', which had been out of print for over 25 years.
''True North'' (2011–2013)
In an April 2011 interview with ''
The Washington Examiner
The ''Washington Examiner'' is an American conservative news outlet which consists principally of an online/digital website with a weekly magazine, based in Washington, D.C. It is owned by MediaDC, a subsidiary of Clarity Media Group, which is ...
'', guitarist Brian Baker was asked if Bad Religion was going to make another album after ''The Dissent of Man''. His response was, "It's all very punk ttitudejust like it's always been. We will record when we have enough songs. For us, it just kind of happens." During the Boston show on April 29, 2011, frontman
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 ...
said, "After this year you probably won't be seeing much more of us. We're going to try one more album and then all join the navy, do honest work", hinting at a possible split or hiatus. Bassist
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 ...
mentioned an early 2012 timeframe for going back into the studio in an interview at
Live 105 Kits may refer to:
* Kitsilano, a neighbourhood of the city of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
*Kits, an American taffy candy made by Gilliam Candy Company
*KITS, a San Francisco, California radio station
*Kottayam Institute of Technology & Sci ...
's BFD festival, which took place the day after the Weenie Roast. In February 2012, it was reported that Brett had written two songs for the album.
On June 25, 2011, Bad Religion performed a live set for "
Guitar Center
Guitar Center is an American Music store, musical instrument retailer chain. It is the largest company of its kind in the United States, with 294 locations. Its headquarters is in Westlake Village, California.
Guitar Center oversees various sub ...
Sessions" on
DirecTV
DirecTV (trademarked as DIRECTV) is an American multichannel video programming distributor based in El Segundo, California. Originally launched on June 17, 1994, its primary service is a digital satellite service serving the United States. I ...
. The episode included an interview with program host,
Nic Harcourt
Nic Harcourt (born September 23, 1957) is an English-born American radio and television presenter, producer, and journalist best known as the former Music Director and on-air presenter for the Santa Monica, California-based radio station KCRW. Har ...
.
According to a May 2012 interview with Pennywise guitarist
Fletcher Dragge
Pennywise is an American punk rock band from Hermosa Beach, California, formed in 1988. The band took its name from the antagonist in Stephen King's horror novel '' It'' known as Pennywise the Dancing Clown.
Between their 1991 self-titled ...
, Brett is writing a "fast" Bad Religion album. He also said that Pennywise's new album '' All or Nothing'' inspired Brett to write a sequel to the band's 1989 album '' No Control''.
On June 4, 2012,
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 ...
confirmed on the Bad Religion fan site, "The Bad Religion Page," that they were expected to begin recording their new album in July and August. He also stated that Brett and
Joe Barresi
Joe Barresi (nicknamed "Evil Joe") is an American record engineer and producer who has worked with Kyuss, The Melvins, Tool, Chevelle, Queens of the Stone Age, Coheed and Cambria, Tomahawk, L7, The Jesus Lizard, Parkway Drive, New Model Army, ...
are going to produce it. On July 23, the band uploaded a picture to Bad Religion's
Facebook
Facebook is an online social media and social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. Founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with fellow Harvard College students and roommates Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin Mosk ...
page of all the members (except Greg Hetson, who was taking the picture) in the studio with the caption, "here we go again", indicating that work on their sixteenth studio album had begun. On August 22,
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 ...
tweeted that they were mixing the album, and, a month later, he tweeted that the band was finishing it.
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 ...
later stated that the album was supposed to be out by Christmas. "Fuck You" was the album's lead single and released on iTunes on November 6, which happened to be Greg Graffin's 48th birthday.
On November 5, 2012 (Bad Religion Day), it was announced that Bad Religion's sixteenth studio album, ''
True North
True north (also called geodetic north or geographic north) is the direction along Earth's surface towards the geographic North Pole or True North Pole.
Geodetic north differs from ''magnetic'' north (the direction a compass points toward t ...
'', would be released on January 22, 2013. On that same day, they premiered the new single "Fuck You." ''True North'' has received mostly positive reviews and managed to reach number 18 on the ''Billboard'' 200 albums chart, marking Bad Religion's first ever top-20 album and highest ever peak on that chart in their entire 34-year career.
Departures of Hetson and Wackerman, and ''Christmas Songs'' (2013–2017)
Bad Religion played a few shows as a four-piece (without Greg Hetson and
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 ...
) in mid April - May 2013—starting with their appearance at "That Damn Show" in Mesa, AZ, on April 20, including some high profile shows such as
Groezrock
Groezrock was an annual music festival that took place in Meerhout, Belgium. It started as a small rock and pop festival with one stage and a few hundred people attending, but evolved into a large punk rock/hardcore punk festival, with attend ...
in Belgium—leading fans to speculate over Greg Hetson's continued involvement in the band. On May 7, 2013,
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 ...
issued a statement to the fan site, which read, "Greg Hetson is dealing with some personal issues, if he wishes to make a statement we will support that, if he chooses not to we will support that.
Mike Dimkich
Mike Dimkich (born February 15, 1968) is an American guitarist who is currently a member of the punk rock band Bad Religion. He has also played for The Cult, Channel 3, Suckerpunch, and Steve Jones.
Musical career
Dimkich started playing in ...
is indeed helping us out right now, and we are genuinely appreciative. Right now we are just looking forward and getting ready to play our shows." The reason Hetson had not been touring with Bad Religion was likely due to the divorce of his second wife Alia. On January 11, 2014, Bentley confirmed on "thebrpage.net" that Dimkich is a permanent member of the band. A few days later, Download Festival's official website uploaded a photograph of the new lineup (without Brett Gurewitz).
On September 10, 2013, it was announced that Bad Religion would be releasing their first
Christmas
Christmas is an annual festival commemorating the birth of Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a religious and cultural celebration among billions of people around the world. A feast central to the Christian liturgical year ...
album, titled ''
Christmas Songs
Christmas music comprises a variety of genres of music regularly performed or heard around the Christmas season. Music associated with Christmas may be purely instrumental, or, in the case of carols or songs, may employ lyrics whose subject m ...
'', on October 29, 2013. It was their first album to not feature Greg Hetson since 1983's '' Into the Unknown''.
In a November 2013 interview, 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 ...
stated that Bad Religion would start writing their seventeenth studio album in 2014, and guitarist Brian Baker said that he hoped Bad Religion would start recording the album in the fall of 2015. However, in a September 2015 interview, frontman
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 ...
stated that he had been working on his first solo album since 2006's '' Cold as the Clay,'' and that the band would begin writing their new album after the release of this third solo album, titled, "Millport," so a new Bad Religion album would not be released until around late 2016. Baker said, however, that the new album would not be released until 2017. Asked in a March 2017 interview about the follow-up to ''True North'', Graffin said, "It's one of the great challenges as artist is to maintain the tradition of his or her prior work. That's hard to do. It normally takes (Bad Religion) two years to put out an album. Why has it taken us four years to release an album after ''True North''? Well, ''True North'' was such a great album — and we owe it to our fans to take it seriously as a great album — that to do another one is going to take a lot more work." ''Millport'' was eventually released on March 10, 2017.
From July to September 2014, Bad Religion embarked on the Summer Nationals Tour with Pennywise; their former labelmates,
The Offspring
The Offspring is an American rock band from Garden Grove, California, formed in 1984. Originally formed under the name Manic Subsidal, the band's current lineup consists of lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist Bryan "Dexter" Holland, lead guit ...
,
The Vandals
The Vandals are an American punk rock band, established in 1980 in Orange County, California. They have released ten full-length studio albums, two live albums, and have toured the world extensively, including performances on the Vans Warped ...
,
Stiff Little Fingers
Stiff Little Fingers are a punk rock band from Belfast, Northern Ireland. They formed in 1977 at the height of the Troubles, which informed much of their songwriting. They started out as a schoolboy band called Highway Star (named after the De ...
, and
Naked Raygun
Naked Raygun was one of the first, one of the longest running, and one of the most recognized Chicago punk bands. They are considered by many to be the most important band in the history of Chicago punk rock and credited with creating “the Chi ...
supported them on selected dates.
On October 27, 2015, drummer
Brooks Wackerman
Brooks Wackerman (born February 15, 1977) is an American musician. He is the current drummer of heavy metal band Avenged Sevenfold, which he joined in 2015. His first album with Avenged Sevenfold was '' The Stage'' (2016). He is most known as ...
officially left the band in order to pursue other projects, joining
Avenged Sevenfold
Avenged Sevenfold (abbreviated as A7X) is an American heavy metal band from Huntington Beach, California, formed in 1999. The band's current lineup consists of lead vocalist M. Shadows, rhythm guitarist and backing vocalist Zacky Vengeance ...
Souls at Zero
''Souls at Zero'' is the third studio album by the American avant-garde metal band Neurosis. It was released in 1992 by the Alternative Tentacles record label. It was reissued in 1999 with bonus tracks on the band's own Neurot Recordings label. ...
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 ...
posted on Twitter a picture of himself with 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 ...
in the studio, tweeting, "New songs in the pipeline," indicating that they were working on Bad Religion's seventeenth studio album. Speculations about the album resurfaced in April of that year when Gurewitz and guitarist Brian Baker posted pictures from the studio on their respective Instagram accounts. On June 20, 2018, the band released the song, "The Kids Are Alt-Right," their first single in five years.
Despite earlier reports that they had been in the studio since February, up to mid 2018, and the fact that they had already released a new song, Gurewitz told ''
Los Angeles Times
The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the U ...
'' in July 2018 that, "We're writing for a new album, recording this fall or late summer. No release date announced yet, but we should have an album's worth of 'Fuck
Trump
Trump most commonly refers to:
* Donald Trump (born 1946), 45th president of the United States (2017–2021)
* Trump (card games), any playing card given an ad-hoc high rank
Trump may also refer to:
Businesses and organizations
* Donald J. T ...
' songs pretty soon. It's exactly what we need." On February 26, 2019, Bad Religion announced '' Age of Unreason'' as the title of their seventeenth studio album, which was released on May 3, and the album's lead single "Chaos from Within" was premiered.
On August 18, 2020, ''Do What You Want: The Story of Bad Religion'', an autobiography covering the band's 40-year career, was released by
Hachette Books
Hachette Books, formerly Hyperion Books, is a general-interest book imprint of the Perseus Books Group, which is a division of Hachette Book Group and ultimately a part of Lagardère Group. Established in 1990, Hachette publishes general-inte ...
.
About four months after the release of ''Age of Unreason'', guitarist Brian Baker was asked if Bad Religion was already working on a follow-up album. His response was: "No, I'm not really thinking about a new album right now because this one is still developing and there is a lot of world yet to play. 2020 is going to be a busy year for us, it's our 40th Anniversary year. We have a book coming out at the end of the year – it'll be our first authorized, somewhat participatory, biography of Bad Religion. So there is a lot more to do with this record. The good thing about Bad Religion is that you don't really have to have a new product out to go work. The catalogue we have is so extensive and we are so fortunate to have the fan base that we have. So we don't really worry about a new album cycle, those thing just sort of come when they come. The next one might take four or five years, it might take two, I don't know. It's just about whether songs have come together in a way that is respectful of the Bad Religion standard. But in the meantime, we have Brazil to rock." When asked in August 2019 about the future of the band, Bentley stated, "Everything I know about everything came from being in this band and came from some conversations driving in the van for hours on end. We're just these guys who don't want to stop asking why. We are what we are as Bad Religion. We're the thinking man's punk band, and that's kept us out of the mainstream. We're writing smart songs, and that makes us dumb." In an August 2020 interview with ''
Entertainment Weekly
''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, and popular cu ...
'', Graffin said, "We've been working on some music, just as we're socially distant from each other; each of us has home recording studios. I always write music acoustically." In November 2022, Baker confirmed that Gurewitz was "starting to dust off his writing boots" and expressed hope that the band's next album will be recorded in 2023.
On April 29, 2020, Bad Religion announced on their social media accounts that they had to cancel all of their tour dates for that year due to the
COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...
, including a co-headlining US tour with
Alkaline Trio
Alkaline Trio is an American punk rock band from Chicago, Illinois. Since 2001, the band has consisted of Matt Skiba (vocals, guitar), Dan Andriano (vocals, bass) and Derek Grant (drums, vocals).
Founded in late 1996 by Skiba, bassist Rob Do ...
, therefore marking 2020 as the first year the band did not perform at least one show since their inception in 1980. They subsequently also rescheduled their South American and European tour dates with
Suicidal Tendencies
Suicidal Tendencies is an American crossover thrash band formed in 1980 in Venice in Los Angeles, California by vocalist Mike Muir. Muir is the only remaining original member of the band. Along with D.R.I., Corrosion of Conformity, and Stor ...
,
Millencolin
Millencolin is a Swedish punk rock band that was formed on 12 October 1992 by Nikola Šarčević, Mathias Färm, and Erik Ohlsson in Örebro, Sweden. In early 1993, drummer Fredrik Larzon joined the band. The name Millencolin is derived from ...
, and Pulley to 2022 (originally scheduled for May and June 2021), once again due to the COVID pandemic. They also rescheduled their North American tour with Alkaline Trio, which was slated to take place in the fall of 2021.
In October 2020, Bad Religion released a new song, "What Are We Standing For," on streaming platforms, which was an outtake from the ''Age of Unreason'' sessions.
On January 20, 2021, Bad Religion released a previously-unreleased song called, "Emancipation of the Mind," which was recorded during the ''Age of Unreason'' sessions. The release of the song coincided with the
inauguration of Joe Biden
The inauguration of Joe Biden as the 46th president of the United States took place on Wednesday, January 20, 2021, marking the start of the four-year term of Joe Biden as president and Kamala Harris as vice president. The 59th presidential ...
, and it had more hopeful themes compared to other songs that they've written while also being a rejection of
Trumpism
Trumpism is a term for the political ideologies, social emotions, style of governance, political movement, and set of mechanisms for acquiring and keeping control of power associated with Donald Trump and his political base. '' Trumpists ...
skate punk
Skate punk (also known as skatecore and skate rock) is a skater subculture and punk rock subgenre that developed in the 1980s. Originally a form of hardcore punk that had been closely associated with skate culture, skate punk evolved into a mo ...
,
melodic hardcore
Melodic hardcore is a broadly defined subgenre of hardcore punk with a strong emphasis on melody in its guitar work. It generally incorporates fast rhythms, melodic and often distorted guitar riffs, and vocal styles tending towards shouting and ...
, and
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 p ...
. The band's major influences stemmed from late 1970s punk acts like the Ramones, the Germs, the Sex Pistols, and
the Clash
The Clash were an English rock band formed in London in 1976 who were key players in the original wave of British punk rock. Billed as "The Only Band That Matters", they also contributed to the and new wave movements that emerged in the w ...
, along with early 1980s American hardcore bands such as Black Flag,
Minor Threat
Minor Threat was an American hardcore punk band, formed in 1980 in Washington, D.C. by vocalist Ian MacKaye and drummer Jeff Nelson. MacKaye and Nelson had played in several other bands together, and recruited bassist Brian Baker and guitar ...
, and the
Circle Jerks
Circle Jerks (stylized as Ciʀcle JƎʀᴋs) are an American hardcore punk band, formed in 1979 in Los Angeles, California. The group was founded by former Black Flag vocalist Keith Morris and Redd Kross guitarist Greg Hetson. To date, Cir ...
. Unlike many other hardcore bands of the era, they also acknowledged proto-punk bands like the New York Dolls,
MC5
MC5, also commonly called The MC5, is an American rock band formed in Lincoln Park, Michigan, in 1963. The original line-up consisted of Rob Tyner (vocals) Wayne Kramer (guitar), Fred "Sonic" Smith (guitar), Michael Davis (bass), and Dennis ...
, and
the Stooges
The Stooges, originally billed as the Psychedelic Stooges, also known as Iggy and the Stooges, was an American rock band formed in Ann Arbor, Michigan, in 1967 by singer Iggy Pop, guitarist Ron Asheton, drummer Scott Asheton, and bassist Da ...
. Even more unusual for a band of the scene that spawned them, they were also informed by such new wavers as Elvis Costello,
the Jam
The Jam were an English mod revival/ punk rock band formed in 1972 at Sheerwater Secondary School in Woking, Surrey. They released 18 consecutive Top 40 singles in the United Kingdom, from their debut in 1977 to their break-up in December 1 ...
, and
Nick Lowe
Nicholas Drain Lowe (born 24 March 1949) is an English singer-songwriter, musician and producer. A noted figure in power pop and New wave music, new wave,Jack Kerouac.
The Beatles
The Beatles were an English rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the most influential band of all time and were integral to the developmen ...
were also a huge influence on Bad Religion. The band had said that the Beatles were about the only band everyone in Bad Religion really liked.
Reviewers have repeatedly cited an upbeat and positive tone to both the band's melody and lyrics, even when dealing with dark topics.
Greg Graffin called his influences, "Pop-sounding rock tunes that were not necessarily commercial." Brett Gurewitz acknowledges attempting to emulate Germs singer
Darby Crash
Jan Paul Beahm (better known by his stage name Darby Crash, formerly Bobby Pyn; September 26, 1958 – December 7, 1980) was an American punk rock vocalist who, along with longtime friend Pat Smear (born Georg Ruthenberg), co-founded the punk ro ...
early on in Bad Religion's lyrical style. "He wrote some intelligent stuff and didn't shy away from the vocabulary, which I thought was cool." In addition to their use of unusually sophisticated vocabulary for a punk band, Bad Religion is also known for their frequent use of vocal harmonies. They took their cues from
the Adolescents
The Adolescents are an American punk rock band formed in Fullerton, California in 1980. Part of the hardcore punk movement in southern California in the early 1980s, they were one of the main punk acts to emerge from Orange County, along with ...
in the way they used three-part harmonies. Bassist Jay Bentley said, "Seeing the Adolescents live, it was so brilliant. So, in a way, the Adolescents influenced us into saying we can do it too, because look, they're doing it."
In turn, various bands cite Bad Religion as an influence, including
AFI
AFI may refer to:
* ''Address-family identifier'', a 16 bit field of the Routing Information Protocol
* Ashton Fletcher Irwin, an Australian drummer
* AFI (band), an American rock band
** ''AFI'' (2004 album), a retrospective album by AFI rele ...
,
ALL
All or ALL may refer to:
Language
* All, an indefinite pronoun in English
* All, one of the English determiners
* Allar language (ISO 639-3 code)
* Allative case (abbreviated ALL)
Music
* All (band), an American punk rock band
* ''All'' (All al ...
,
Authority Zero
Authority Zero is an American punk rock band from Mesa, Arizona, United States, formed in 1994.Blueskye, Brian (2014)Indie-Punk Veterans: Reggae/Skate-Punk Pioneers Authority Zero Head for the Hood, ''Coachella Valley Independent'', Septemb ...
,
The Bouncing Souls
The Bouncing Souls are an American punk band from New Brunswick, New Jersey, formed in 1989. By the time of their acknowledgment by the national punk rock scene, they had reignited a "pogo" element to New Jersey punk rock by playing fast light-h ...
,
Death by Stereo
Death by Stereo (also referred to as D.B.S.) is an American hardcore punk band formed in Orange County, California circa 1998 by frontman Efrem Schulz. They are well known for their energetic performances and intricate guitar work. Their name ...
,
Kreator
Kreator is a German thrash metal band from Essen, formed in 1982. Their current lineup consists of lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist Miland "Mille" Petrozza, drummer Jürgen "Ventor" Reil, lead guitarist Sami Yli-Sirniö, and bassist Frédé ...
,
Lagwagon
Lagwagon is an American punk rock band originally from Goleta, California, just outside Santa Barbara. They formed in 1989, went on hiatus in 2000, and reunited several times over the years. Their name comes from the band's tour van, which ca ...
,
NOFX
NOFX () is an American punk rock band formed in Los Angeles, California in 1983. Vocalist/bassist Fat Mike, guitarist Eric Melvin and drummer Erik Sandin are original founding and longest-serving members of the band, who have appeared on ever ...
,
The Offspring
The Offspring is an American rock band from Garden Grove, California, formed in 1984. Originally formed under the name Manic Subsidal, the band's current lineup consists of lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist Bryan "Dexter" Holland, lead guit ...
Miss Vincent
Miss Vincent is an English punk rock band formed in Southampton, Hampshire, England in 2012. The band currently features original frontman Alex Marshall and lead guitarist Lawrie Pattison, as well as bass player Owain Mainwaring and drummer Nat ...
.
Funeral for a Friend
Funeral for a Friend are a Welsh post-hardcore band from Bridgend, formed in 2001 and currently consists of Matthew Davies-Kreye (lead vocals), Kris Coombs-Roberts (guitar, backing vocals), Gavin Burrough (guitar, backing vocals), Darran Smit ...
vocalist Matt Davies-Kreye has also mentioned Bad Religion as an influence, particularly with their '' Against the Grain'' album.
Beliefs
Politics
Many of Bad Religion's songs are about different social ills, although they try not to ascribe the causes of these ills to any single person or group. Greg Graffin believes that the current political situation in the United States can make it difficult to voice these concerns as he does not want to feed the polarization of viewpoints.
The band contributed a song to the ''
Rock Against Bush
Rock Against Bush was a project mobilizing punk and alternative musicians against the 2004 U.S. Presidential re-election campaign of George W. Bush. At its core was the idea of using music to create an anti-war, pro-peace sentiment, similar t ...
'' series organized by Fat Mike's Punkvoter, a political activist group and website whose supporters are primarily left-liberal members of the punk subculture.
Brett Gurewitz attributed his anger towards former U.S. president
George W. Bush
George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Republican Party, Bush family, and son of the 41st president George H. W. Bush, he ...
as the major inspiration for ''
The Empire Strikes First
''The Empire Strikes First'' is the thirteenth studio album by American punk rock band Bad Religion, released on June 8, 2004. The album is heavily influenced by the then-current Iraq War (most notably in the songs "Atheist Peace", "Let Them Eat ...
''. "Our whole album is dedicated to getting Bush out of office. I'm not a presidential scholar, but I don't think you'll find a worse president in the history of the United States. He's probably one of the worst leaders in the history of world leaders. I just hate the guy." In a similar fashion, the album '' Age of Unreason'' was inspired by the band's disdain for
Donald Trump
Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021.
Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of P ...
Rock for Choice
Rock for Choice (or Rock 4 Choice) was a series of benefit concerts held over the ten-year period between 1991 and 2001. The concerts were designed to allow musicians to show their support for the abortion rights movement in the United States and ...
at the
Hollywood Palladium
The Hollywood Palladium is a theater located at 6215 Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood, California. It was built in a Streamline Moderne, Art Deco style and includes an dance floor including a mezzanine and a floor level with room for up to 4,000 ...
on April 30, 1993, with acts such as
Stone Temple Pilots
Stone Temple Pilots (also known by the initialism STP) is an American rock band from San Diego, California, that originally consisted of Scott Weiland (lead vocals), brothers Dean (guitar) and Robert DeLeo (bass, backing vocals), and Eric Kr ...
Bikini Kill
Bikini Kill is an American punk rock band formed in Olympia, Washington, in October 1990. The group consisted of singer and songwriter Kathleen Hanna, guitarist Billy Karren, bassist Kathi Wilcox, and drummer Tobi Vail. The band pioneered th ...
,
King Missile
King Missile is an American avant-garde art rock band best known for its 1992 single "Detachable Penis". Vocalist John S. Hall has fronted several disparate incarnations of the group since founding it in 1986.
History
King Missile (Dog Fly Rel ...
Kim Gordon
Kim Althea Gordon (born April 28, 1953) is an American musician, singer and songwriter, best known as the bassist, guitarist, and vocalist of alternative rock band Sonic Youth. Born in Rochester, New York, she was raised in Los Angeles, Califor ...
. Hetson often wore a Rock for Choice T-shirt when performing, as he did when the band performed "21st Century (Digital Boy)" on
Late Night with Conan O'Brien
''Late Night with Conan O'Brien'' is an American late-night talk show hosted by Conan O'Brien. NBC aired 2,725 episodes from September 13, 1993, to February 20, 2009. The show featured varied comedic material, celebrity interviews, and music ...
in 1994. Bentley has also worn Rock for Choice T-shirts, such as when they performed the
Phoenix Festival
The Phoenix Festival was set up by John Vincent Power of the Mean Fiddler Music Group in 1993 as an alternative to the established Glastonbury and Reading Festivals. It was held at Long Marston Airfield near Stratford-upon-Avon and was one of t ...
in the United Kingdom in 1993. The band's song, "Operation Rescue," on ''Against the Grain'' is a pro-choice song (named after anti-abortion organization Operation Rescue).
Religion
Despite the name of the band, or the band's logo, the members do not consider themselves
antitheist
Antitheism, also spelled anti-theism, is the philosophical position that theism should be opposed. The term has had a range of applications. In secular contexts, it typically refers to direct opposition to the belief in any deity.
Etymology
The ...
. Singer Greg Graffin states that, more often than not, the band prefers to use religion as a metaphor for anything that does not allow for an individual's freedom to think or express themselves as they choose. In this way, their songs are more about anti-conformity than anti-religion. Contrary to popular belief, Graffin identifies himself as a naturalist rather than an atheist.
Despite this, he did co-author the book ''Is Belief in God Good, Bad or Irrelevant?'', which is based on a series of lengthy debates about science and religion between Graffin and historian Preston Jones. In 2010, Graffin released ''Anarchy Evolution'', in which he promotes his naturalist worldview.
The band's bassist Jay Bentley has stated that he has spiritual beliefs. Brett Gurewitz is a "provisional
deist
Deism ( or ; derived from the Latin '' deus'', meaning "god") is the philosophical position and rationalistic theology that generally rejects revelation as a source of divine knowledge, and asserts that empirical reason and observation ...
".
On March 24, 2012, Bad Religion headlined the Reason Rally in
Washington, D.C.
)
, image_skyline =
, image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...
, sharing the stage with
Eddie Izzard
Edward John Izzard (; born 7 February 1962) is a British stand-up comedian, actor and activist. Her comedic style takes the form of what appears to the audience as rambling whimsical monologues and self-referential pantomime.
Izzard's stand- ...
James Randi
James Randi (born Randall James Hamilton Zwinge; August 7, 1928 – October 20, 2020) was a Canadian-American stage magician, author and scientific skepticism, scientific skeptic who extensively challenged paranormal and pseudoscientific cla ...
.
Logo
Bad Religion's logo, a black
Latin cross
A Latin cross or ''crux immissa'' is a type of cross in which the vertical beam sticks above the crossbeam, with the three upper arms either equally long or with the vertical topmost arm shorter than the two horizontal arms, and always with a mu ...
with a red prohibition sign over it, has been referred to by fans as the "Crossbuster." It was created 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 ...
, who drew it on a piece of paper and showed it to the rest of the band.
In the live documentary, '' Along the Way'', Greg Hetson, Greg Graffin, and Jay Bentley were all asked the question, "What's the meaning of the Bad Religion symbol?"
Hetson's answer: "The meaning of the symbol? It's—to me it's just against any established set of rules, and the church just seemed to be the easiest target. It has a ... you know, the Christian religion has this symbol, it has a bunch of beliefs. They say, 'You either believe it or not, this is the way it is,' and that's not the way the world works. So, it was just an easy target to use, to be
anti-establishment
An anti-establishment view or belief is one which stands in opposition to the conventional social, political, and economic principles of a society. The term was first used in the modern sense in 1958, by the British magazine ''New Statesman'' ...
."
Graffin's answer: "Yeah. When it first came out, we all liked it, you know? We were little kids, and we thought, 'Yeah, this is a great idea. It'll piss people off.' You know, when you're fifteen years old, the first thing you think about is, 'How can I piss people off?' you know? And it's very good to ... it's very easy to piss people off when you're fifteen, especially it's easy to piss off your parents and adults in general. But as you get a little older, or as I've gotten older, I've looked back on the symbol of Bad Religion as still having some meaning, but I wish it wasn't so offensive to other people, because other people could benefit from the ideas, I think, that we've laid down. For instance, what we look at it today as is just a symbol ... the cross is sort of the international symbol oints_to_a_no_parking_sign_behind_him.html" ;"title="no_parking.html" ;"title="oints to a no parking">oints to a no parking sign behind him">no_parking.html" ;"title="oints to a no parking">oints to a no parking sign behind himas this parking symbol, the no parking is ... everybody in the world can recognize it. The cross we look at as an international symbol for religion, and it's not anti-Christian, it's not anti-Buddhist, it's not anti-Jewish, it's not anti-anything. It's simply is [''sic''] showing ... it's our way of showing that we don't like to subscribe to dogmatic ways of life and dogmatic views on life, and that religion, in general, is founded in dogma and in restriction of ideas, restriction of thought, and it's these things that I feel are bad about religion. It's also very bad about nationalistic views, it's very bad ... It's something that mankind, as a group, is not going to benefit from; it's only something that mankind will ... it's something mankind will ... I'm sorry, it's something that will instill violence, and it will instill fighting, and it will instill non-cooperation of different groups of humans."
Bentley's answer: "Brett made that when we were fifteen years old. Brett came up with a piece of paper and said, 'Look at this!' and, and we all laughed and said, 'That's really funny,' 'cause the concept of taking that symbol and putting the 'no' thing on top of it was just ... it seemed shocking enough and good enough, because it represented ... sometimes people took it that it represented that we were like Satan worshipers and that we were not liking God, but it was more against, in America, is 'sic''there's too much TV evangelism, of, you know, 'Send me monies and God will love you', and it's like coffs So that was, at the time, that was very popular, when we were starting, so that was one of the, one of the things that we still hate the most, is having to pay to be saved in some, like, ridiculous ... you don't need that. You don't need anybody to tell you that you have to pay money. So, that was one of the reasons why we did that, and it's just ... it's one of those things that, it happened and we took it and, maybe ... it was a really easy symbol for kids to spray paint and it's an easy symbol to put on a shirt and, so, it became, maybe, bigger than what it really was in the beginning. It was just, it was something that we liked and we thought that it would piss our parents off or something, you know? And then, when the records came out it just came everywhere, and so then everyone said, 'What does that mean? What does that mean?' Whatever you want it to mean, you know ... you decide."
Brian Baker, who joined the band later in their career, summed it up as follows:
"The name Bad Religion and the crossbuster logo came to pass in the minds of two fifteen-year-olds who were trying to find the most offensive name and image they could possibly find for the punk band they were starting in their garage ... These are not people who thought that 21 years later they would be on the telephone doing interviews."
A lot of Bad Religion merchandise, including hats, belt buckles, t-shirts, and hoodies, contain the Crossbuster. The logo was also used on many album covers.
Concert tours
*Early shows (1980–1987)
*Suffer Tour (1988–1989)
*No Control Tour (1990)
*Against the Grain Tour (1991)
*Generator Tour (1992–1993)
*Recipe for Hate Tour (1993–1994)
*Stranger than Fiction Tour (1994–1995)
*The Gray Race Tour (1996–1997)
*Tested Tour (1997)
*
Vans Warped Tour
The Warped Tour was a traveling rock tour that toured the United States plus three or four stops in Canada annually each summer from 1995 until 2019. It was the largest traveling music festival in the United States and the longest-running tourin ...
(1997, 1998, 2002, 2004, 2007, 2009)
*No Substance Tour (1998–1999)
*The New America Tour (2000–2001)
*The Process of Belief Tour (2002–2003)
*The Empire Strikes First Tour (2004–2006)
*New Maps of Hell Tour (2007–2009)
*30 Years Live Tour (2010)
*The Dissent of Man Tour (2010–2011)
* Rise Against and
Four Year Strong
Four Year Strong is an American pop punk band from Worcester, Massachusetts, formed in 2001. The group consists of vocalists and guitarists Dan O'Connor and Alan Day, bassist Joe Weiss, and drummer Jake Massucco. They have released seven studio al ...
Tour (2011)
*Australian Soundwave Tour (2012)
*True North Tour (2013–2014)
* Summer Nationals Tour with
The Offspring
The Offspring is an American rock band from Garden Grove, California, formed in 1984. Originally formed under the name Manic Subsidal, the band's current lineup consists of lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist Bryan "Dexter" Holland, lead guit ...
and Pennywise (2014)
*North American and European Tours (2015)
*South American and European Tours (2016)
*The Vox Populi Tour with Against Me! and
Dave Hause
Dave Hause (born March 12, 1978) is an American singer-songwriter. He currently performs both solo and with his band The Mermaid. His music draws from heartland rock, folk rock and punk rock. He has also played in multiple Philadelphia, PA area ...
(2016)
*European Tour (2017)
*Punk in Drublic Tour (2017)
*Punk in Drublic Tour Germany (2019)
*Age of Unreason Tour North America (2019)
*United States Tour with
Alkaline Trio
Alkaline Trio is an American punk rock band from Chicago, Illinois. Since 2001, the band has consisted of Matt Skiba (vocals, guitar), Dan Andriano (vocals, bass) and Derek Grant (drums, vocals).
Founded in late 1996 by Skiba, bassist Rob Do ...
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 ...
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 keybo ...
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 ...
–
guitar
The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected strin ...
,
backing vocals
A backing vocalist is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists. A backing vocalist may also sing alone as a lead-in to the main vocalist's entry or to sing a counter-melody. Backing vocalists are ...
(1980–1983, 1988–1994, 2001–present)
*
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 ...
Mike Dimkich
Mike Dimkich (born February 15, 1968) is an American guitarist who is currently a member of the punk rock band Bad Religion. He has also played for The Cult, Channel 3, Suckerpunch, and Steve Jones.
Musical career
Dimkich started playing in ...
percussion
A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a beater including attached or enclosed beaters or rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or struck against another similar instrument. Ex ...
, backing vocals (2015–present)
Discography
Studio albums
* ''
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 ...
Recipe for Hate
''Recipe for Hate'' is the seventh studio album by American punk rock band Bad Religion, released on June 4, 1993. It was their last album on Epitaph Records for nine years (until 2002's '' The Process of Belief'') and the band had switched to A ...
The Gray Race
''The Gray Race'' is the ninth full-length album of the punk rock band Bad Religion, which was released in 1996. It was the follow-up to the band's highly successful 1994 album '' Stranger Than Fiction''.
This was the band's first album not re ...
'' (1996)
* ''
No Substance
''No Substance'' is the tenth full-length album by the punk rock band Bad Religion. It was the band's third (or fourth, if the reissue of '' Recipe for Hate'' is counted) release on Atlantic Records, and their second studio album since guitari ...
'' (1998)
* ''
The New America
''The New America'' is the eleventh studio album by punk band Bad Religion. It was released in 2000 and is their last album (to date) on Atlantic Records.
''The New America'' is also Bad Religion's last album with Bobby Schayer on drums. Thou ...
'' (2000)
* ''
The Process of Belief
''The Process of Belief'' is the twelfth studio album by the American punk rock band Bad Religion. It was produced by its leaders Greg Graffin and Brett Gurewitz, and was released on January 22, 2002, through Epitaph Records. After touring in sup ...
'' (2002)
* ''
The Empire Strikes First
''The Empire Strikes First'' is the thirteenth studio album by American punk rock band Bad Religion, released on June 8, 2004. The album is heavily influenced by the then-current Iraq War (most notably in the songs "Atheist Peace", "Let Them Eat ...
The Dissent of Man
''The Dissent of Man'' is the fifteenth studio album by American punk rock band Bad Religion, which was released on September 28, 2010. It was their first album in three years, following the release of '' New Maps of Hell'' in 2007. The band co ...
'' (2010)
* ''
True North
True north (also called geodetic north or geographic north) is the direction along Earth's surface towards the geographic North Pole or True North Pole.
Geodetic north differs from ''magnetic'' north (the direction a compass points toward t ...