Bad Religion -- Hipster Music

Generator

Boy are we political! Well, political for 1992, and dated for even then. Like a lot of "hardcore" stuff that is making its way to the mainstream, this album suffers from a little too much homogeny both in content and sound. The drumming seems to sound very similar from track to track, with the same pounding beat and fills, but what the hell do I know? It's certainly not a bad album, but there are better Bad Religion records out there.

Recipe for Hate

I actually had a crappy advance tape version of this album before buying the CD used from Moby Disc. *Name drop alert* Brett Gurewitz was my friend's sorta brother-in-law for a while, so this tape came from his personal stash, so the lack of quality was kind of surprising, but... *Alert over* Anyway, this album marks the height of the band's pop sensibilities. Their punk sound has been smoothed out, and the song structures are more radio friendly. I can't but think this was the influence of labelmates The Offspring's success, but that's just conjecture. The songs are memorable, yet still politically charged. The interesting thing is listening to how the songs, all of which are somehow politically motivated, swing between describing it in terms of religion in one song and science in another. That dichotomy is what makes the band so interesting, as the approach between Gurewitz and Graffin's science vs. religion writing styles keeps things fresh and flowing.

Stranger than Fiction

The fist thing I noticed about this album is the production quality--it doesn't sound like it was recorded in a closet for $25. Must be them Sony dollars at work. Yeah, yeah, they're sellouts. Whatever. There are a couple good tunes on this album, but too many of them are attempts to recreate some of the old anger, but with weaker convictions. Maybe people get too old to be punks. Maybe a 30-year-old talking about his fucked up middle-class parents just doesn't matter anymore. Whatever the case, these guys sound kinda tired and well fed--the beginning of the end.