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There are many reasons to be struck by Bad Religion, and they are all valid.
The logo, the image wants its share, and that prohibition sign imprinted on the cross is iconic like few others; off the top of my head, I throw in Radio Birdman and Black Flag.
The philosophy, constructive hardcore as opposed to the blind destructive violence characteristic of the first wave of post-punk, somehow close to that of the Minor Threat with attached distinctions because Los Angeles is not Washington, also close in the choice to remain free and independent, when no one yet imagined the indie label, and while Minor Threat created Dischord, Bad Religion created Epitaph, and together they made the history of hardcore and much of the most visceral and exciting rock of the '80s.
The music, of course, because if melodic hardcore had another name, that name would be Bad Religion, even if Bad Religion’s melody is very different from that of Pennywise and lacking at least in the origins of history, otherwise find me the melody in «How Could Hell Be Any Worse»; just to say that Bad Religion’s melody is above all Greg Graffin’s voice, indeed Professor Greg Graffin, a tenured professor of life sciences at the University of California at Los Angeles, a paleontologist, and also a biologist, a singer in a hardcore band in his spare time, one of those – how many? less than few – for whom it is not a cliché to say he would enchant you even if he just read the proverbial phone book or a grocery list.
The music, right.
There’s a period – from 1982 to 1994 – where having everything from Bad Religion is a good rule, actually almost everything, except for «Into the Unknown», a mysterious object known by few, and those few can’t explain it, something like Dylan’s «Self Portrait» or Clash’s «Cut the Crap», for which it is almost impossible to grasp the meaning, and indeed Bad Religion spent five years trying to make sense of it and come to their senses, before bringing out «Suffer» and then, especially, that unattainable masterpiece that is «No Control», the one that opens with «Change of Ideas», «Big Bang», and «No Control», which if they are not the three most beautiful minutes of hardcore at all, they come close.
From this period, you must have it all, or almost all, from «How Could Hell Be Any Worse» up to that «Stranger Than Fiction» which legitimizes hardcore among multinationals, and even if it doesn’t mark an era like R.E.M., Hüsker Dü, and Nirvana did when they moved with their cardboard suitcases to Atlantic or the like, having it in your collection doesn’t hurt at all.
There are seven albums that Bad Religion released in those important years, just to stay on topic, all of good quality, at least two are authentic milestones, «How Could Hell Be Any Worse» and «No Control», you can start from here.
Or from «All Ages», a compilation released in November 1995, as if to say a cycle has closed and these are the results: music for all ages, because this hardcore is good for both health and mood and has no contraindications; music that rushes, travels at stellar speeds, on the brink of derailment, condensing 22 songs into 50 minutes; sharp songs, wonderful lyrics lost between ideology and utopia, Greg Graffin’s voice leads the charge, supported by the overwhelming guitars of Brett Gurewitz and Greg Hetson, those two guitars claiming their dominant space in every second, the imperious and compact rhythm section; and those choruses, just that «Lie lie lie / Lie lie lie / Lie lie lie / Lie lie lie / Lie lie lie / Lie lie lie» in «Flat Earth Society» is enough to stun you and never recover.
It starts with «I Want to Conquer the World», ends with «Fuck Armageddon This Is Hell»: «All Ages» is one of the many ways to get closer to Bad Religion, and it doesn’t matter if you already have everything from Bad Religion, you must also have this compilation, just as those who have everything from the Ramones also have «Weird Tales», and those who have everything from the Clash have «The Singles Box».
That’s enough.
If they weren’t anti-establishment, Bad Religion would be an institution; if they didn’t break themselves down with their own hands, monuments should be raised to Bad Religion everywhere.
Tracklist and Lyrics
01 I Want to Conquer the World (02:19)
Hey brother christian, with your high and mighty errand
Your actions speak so loud, I can't hear a word your saying
Hey sister bleeding heart, with all of your compassion
Your labors soothe the hurt, but can't assuage temptation
Hey man of science, with your perfect rules of measure
Can you improve this place with the data that you gather?
Hey mother mercy, can your loins bear fruit forever?
Is your fecundity a trammel or a treasure?
And I want to conquer the world
Give all the idiots a brand new religion
Put an end to poverty, uncleanliness, and toil
Promote equality in all of my decisions
With a quick wink of the eye and a "God you must be joking"
Hey mister diplomat, with your worldly aspirations
Did you see your children cry when you left them at the station?
Hey moral soldier, you've got righteous proclamations
And precious tomes to fuel your pulpy conflagrations
And I want to conquer the world
Give all the idiots a brand new religion
Put an end to poverty, uncleanliness, and toil
Promote equality in all of my decisions
I want to conquer the world
Expose the culprits and feed them to the children
I'll do away with their pollution and then I'll save the whales
We'll have peace on earth and global communion
I want to conquer the world (4x)
03 You Are (The Government) (01:23)
Hey sit down and listen and they'll tell you when you're wrong
Eradicate but vindicate as "progress" creeps along
Puritan work ethic maintains its subconscious edge
As Old Glory maintains your consciousness
There's a loser in the house, and a puppet on the stool
And a crowded way of life, and a black reflecting pool
And as the people bend, the moral fabric dies
The country can't pretend to ignore its people's cries
You are the government
You are jurisprudence
You are the volition
You are jurisdiction
And I make a difference too
05 We're Only Gonna Die (02:13)
Early man walked away
As modern man took control
Their minds weren't all the same
To conquer was his goal
So he built his great empire
And he slaughtered his own kind
Then he died a confused man
Killed himself with his own mind
Early man walked away
As modern man took control
Their minds weren't all the same
To conquer was his goal
So he built his great empire
And he slaughtered his own kind
Then he died a confused man
Killed himself with his own mind
Early man walked away
As modern man took control
Their minds weren't all the same
To conquer was his goal
So he built his great empire
And he slaughtered his own kind
Then he died a confused man
Killed himself with his own mind
We're only gonna die from our own arrogance
We're only gonna die from our own arrogance
We're only gonna die from our own arrogance
We're only gonna die from our own arrogance
06 The Answer (03:22)
long ago in a dusty village
full of hunger, pain and strife
a man came forth with a vision of truth
and the way to a better life
he was convinced he had the answer
and he compelled people to follow along
but the hunger never vanished
and the man was banished
and the village dried up and died
at a time when wise men peered
through brass tubes toward the sky
the heavens changed in predictable ways
and one man was able to find
that he thought he had found the answer
and he was quick to write his revelation
but as they were scrutinized
in his colleagues eyes
he soon became a mockery
don't tell me about the answer
'cause then another one will come along soon
i don't believe you have the answer
i've got ideas too
but if you've got enought naivete
and you've got conviction
then the answer is perfect for you
an urban spall sits choking on its discharge
overwhelmed by industry
searching for a modern day savior from another place
inclined toward charity
everyone's begging for an answer
without regard to validity
the searching never ends
it goes on and on and on for eternity...
don't tell me about the answer
'cause then another one will come along soon
i don't believe you have the answer
i've got ideas too
but if you've got enought naivete
and you've got conviction
then the answer is perfect for you (the answer is perfect for you)
07 Flat Earth Society (02:23)
Lie, lie, lie (x6)
The full moon is rising over dark waters
And the fools below are picking up sticks
And the man in the gallows lies permanently waiting
For the doctors to come back and tend to him
The flat earth society is meeting here today
Singing happy little lies
And the bright ship humana is sailing far away
With grave determination
And no destination
Lie, lie, lie (x6)
Yeah, nothing feels better than a spray of clean water
And the whistling wind on a calm summer night
But you'd better believe that down in their quarters
The men are holding in for their dear lives
The flat earth society is somewhere far away
With their candlesticks and compasses
And the bright ship humana is well on its way
With grave determination
And no destination
The flat earth society is meeting here today
Singing happy little lies
And the bright ship humana is well on its way
With grave determination
And no destination
Lie, lie, lie...
08 Against the Grain (02:08)
Three thousand miles of wilderness, overcome by the flow
A lonely restitution of pavement, pomp and show
I seek a thousand answers, I find but one or two
I maintain no discomfiture, my path again renewed
Against the grain
That's where I'll stay
Swimming upstream
I maintain against the grain
Here labelled as lunatic, sequestered and content
There ignored and defeated by the government
There's an oriented public who's magnetic force does pull
But away from the potential of the individual
Against the grain
That's where I'll stay
Swimming upstream
I maintain against the grain
The flow is getting stronger with smaller increments of time
And eddies of new ideas are increasingly hard to find
You need all that the other has, it's your right to seize the day
But in all your acquisitions you will soon be swept away
Against the grain
That's where I'll stay
Swimming upstream
I maintain against the grain
There's a common consensus and an uncomfortable cheer
A reverberating chorus that anyone can hear
It sings "leave your cares behind you just grab tenaciously"
This lulling sense or purpose will destroy us rapidly
Against the grain
That's where I'll stay
Swimming upstream
I maintain against the grain
Against the grain (3x)
09 Generator (03:19)
Like a rock, like a planet
Like a fucking atom bomb
I'll remain unperturbed by the joy and the madness
that I encounter everywhere I turn,
I've seen it all along,
in books and magazines,
like a twitch before dying,
like a pornographic scene,
there's a flower behind the window,
there's an ugly laughing man,
like a hummingbird in silence,
like the blood on my door,
it's the generator
oh yeah, oh yeah, like the blood on my door,
wash me clean and I will run until I reach the shore,
I've known it all along like the bone under my skin,
like actors in a photograph,
like paper in the wind,
there's a hammer by the window,
there's a knife on the floor,
like turbines in darkness,
like the blood on my door,
it's the generator
10 Anesthesia (03:01)
Everybody is talking about the girl
Who went and killed the delivery man
But she looks so kind and gentle
It just doesn't stand to reason
I saw her right there just the other night
As stately as a slot machine
But when she looked my way
Something mad as hell came over me
Anesthesia, Mona Lisa, I've got a little gun
Here comes oblivion
I never loved you, how did you find me?
The cops will never prove cumplicity now, Anna
(1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8)
All good children go to heaven!
I remember your face that august night
When we lied about the beautiful time to come
And that crazy old man who came much to late
And spawned a chain reaction
I've been hanging out there for eleven long years
Like a church mouse wondering where the cat has gone
And looking at you now
Is driving me to distraction
Anesthesia, Mona Lisa, I've got a little gun
Here comes oblivion
I never loved you, how did you find me?
The cops will never prove cumplicity now, Anna
(1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8)
All good children go to heaven!
11 Suffer (01:49)
Did you ever see the concrete stares of everyday?
The lunatic, the hypocrite, are all lost in the fray
Can't you see their lives are just like yours?
An unturned stone, an undiscovered
Door leading to, the gift of hope renewed, eternity for you
The masses of humanity have always had to suffer
The businessman whose master plan controls the world each day
Is blind to indications of his species' slow decay
Can't you see his life is just like yours?
An unturned stone, an undiscovered
Door leading to, the gift of hope renewed, eternity for you
The masses of humanity have always had to suffer
People blow their minds (they choose to resign)
This deformed society is part of the design
It'll never go away (it's in the cards that way)
The masses of humanity have always, always had to suffer!
A door leading to, the gift of hope renewed, eternity for you
The masses of humanity, still clinging to their dignity
The masses of humanity will always, always have to suffer
Always have to suffer
13 No Control (01:47)
Culture was the seed of proliferation
But it has gotten melded
Into an inharmonic whole (2x)
Consciousness has plagued us
And we can not shake it
Though we think we're in control (2x)
Questions that besiege us in life
Are testament of our helplessness
There's no vestige of beginning
No prospect of an end
When we all disintegrate
It will all happen again, yeah
Time is so rock solid in the minds of the hoards
But they can't
Explain why it should slip away (2x)
History and future are the comforts of our
Curiosity but here we are
Rooted in the present day (2x)
Questions that besiege us in life
Are testament of our helplessness
There's no vestige of beginning
No prospect of an end
When we all disintegrate
It will all happen again, yeah
If you came to conquer you'll be king for a day
But you too will deteriorate and quickly fade away
And believe these words you hear
When you think your path is clear
We have no control (2x)
We have no control
We do not understand
You have no control
You are not in command
We have no control (2x)
No control (2x)
You have no control
14 21st Century (Digital Boy) (02:49)
I can't believe it
The way you look sometimes
Like a trampled flag on a city street
Oh yeah
And I don't want it
The things you're offering me
Symbolized barcode, quick I.D.
Oh yeah
'Cuz I'm a 21st century digital boy
I don't know how to live, but I've got a lot of toys
My daddy's a lazy middle-class intellectual
My mommy's on Valium, so ineffectual
Ain't life a mystery, yeah
I can't explain it
The things they're saying to me
It's going "yah yah yah yah yah yah yah"
Oh yeah
Cuz I'm a 21st century digital boy
I don't know how to read but I got a lot of toys
My daddy's a lazy middle class intellectual
My mommy's on Valium so ineffectual
Ain't life a mystery, yeah
Tried to tell you about no control
But now I really don't know
And then you told me how bad you had to suffer
Is that really all you had to offer
See I'm a 21st century digital boy
I don't know how to read, but I've got a lot of toys
My daddy's a lazy middle-class intellectual
My mommy's on Valium, so ineffectual
(Cat's foot iron claw)
(Neuro-surgeons scream for more)
(Innocents raped with napalm fire)
(Everything I want I really need)
15 Atomic Garden (03:12)
everybody wants to dance in a playpen
but nobody wants to play in my garden
I see the hippies on an angry line
guess they don't get my meaning
I'm enchanted by the birds in my blossoms
I'm enamored by young lovers on the weekend
I like the Fourth of July
when bombs start flashing
and I wish I had a shiny red top
a bugle with a big brass bell would cheer me up
or maybe something bigger that could really go pop!
so I could make the gardening stop
come out to play
come out to play
and we'll pretend it's Christmas Day
in my atomic garden
all my scientists are working on a deadline
so my psychologist is working day and night time
they say they know what's best for me
but they don't know what they're doing
and I'm glad I'm not Gorbachev
'cause I'd wiggle all night
like jelly in a pot
at leats he's got a garden with a fertile plot
and a party that will never stop
I hope there's nothing wrong out there
I'm watching from my room inside my room
16 No Direction (03:15)
A sullen figure walks along a dusty road
his life was holy and he couldn't bear the load
he left his people and a simple life behind
he raised his torso and he looked into the sky
shouting his questions
looking for directions
"what do I do now?"
now a confused school girl stares at the TV tray
the stresses of maturing compound every day
she glances up to see her favorite video
and gets ideas from Madonna's nasty clothes
in need of affection
she craves a direction
her heroes offer her
everyone is looking for something
and they all assume somebody else knows what it is
no one can live with the decisions of their own it seems
so they look to someone else
to tell 'em what to be
tell 'em what to wear
tell 'em what to say
tell 'em how to act and think and compel others compulsively
until the world is all like them
a righteous student came and asked me to reflect
he judged my lifestyle was politically incorrect
I don't belive in self important folks who preach
no Bad Religion song can make your life complete
prepare for rejection
you'll get no direction from me
you'll get no direction from me
17 Automatic Man (01:40)
He's the latest superhero with powers so profound
He can leap a dotted line in just a single bound
I know you must have seen him in the books and magazines
He's the quintessential mindless modern epicene
His life is meaningful
Because he gets things done
Bang bang he's dead
(Bang bang he's dead)
Chalk up another triumph for our hero
The automatic man
It's true you must have met him
He's your best friend and your foe
His opinions are determined
By the status quo
A true creature of habit
He smokes 3 packs a day
When he has an original thought
He forgets it right away
He's the automatic man
He's a paradigm of carefree living
He's our mentor disturb him if you can
He's the answer if your peace of mind is lacking
He's our savior he is the common man
So if you are troubled by the daily bump and grind
Then take another look around and brother you will find
The automatic man
18 Change of Ideas (00:56)
Well the sheaves have all been brought
But the fields have washed away
And the palaces now stand
Where the coffins all were laid
And the times we see ahead
We must glaze with rosy hues
For we don't wish to admit
What it is we have to lose
Millennia in coming
The modern age is here
It sanctifies the future
Yet renders us with fear
So many theories, so many prophecies
What we do need is a change of ideas
When we are scared, we can hide in our reveries
But what we need is a change of ideas
Change of ideas, change of ideas
What we need now is a change of ideas
19 Sanity (02:46)
There's a watch in my pocket and its hands are broken
The face is blank but the gears are turning
Confusion is a fundamental state of mind
It doesn't really matter what I'm figuring out
I'm guaranteed to wind up in a state of doubt
And sanity is a full time job
In a world that is always changing
And sanity is a state of mind
That you believe in sanity
There's a shadow on the wall where the paint is peeling
My body's moving forward but my mind is reeling
Depression is a fundamental state of day
It doesn't really matter how my day has turned out
I always end up living in this world of doubt
And sanity is a full time job
In a world that is always changing
And sanity will make you strong
If you believe in sanity
And sanity is a full time job
In a world that is always changing
And sanity is a state of mind
That you believe in sanity
21 Best for You (01:55)
Above us lay the burdens, below us lay the truth
We're somewhere in the middle, and we're all discontent too
Is someone watching over you?
Inside they know what's best for you
Judgment's not tomorrow, its today (yes now it's here)
But no it isn't Jesus, take a look at all your peers
They're all looking down on you
Inside they know what's best for you
Everybody knows what's best for you...
22 Fuck Armageddon... This is Hell (02:11)
There's people out there that say I'm no good
'Cause I don't believe the things that I should
And when the final conflict comes, I'll be so sorry I did wrong
And hope and pray that our lord God will think I'm good
Countries manufacture bombs and guns
To kill your brother for something that he hasn't even done
Smog is ruining my lungs, but they aren't sorry they've done wrong
They hide behind their lies that they're helping everyone
In the end the good will go to heaven up above
The bad will perish in the depths of hell
How can hell be any worse when life alone is such a curse?
Fuck Armageddon, this is hell (x3)
We're living in the denoument of the battle's gripping awe
So what's the use of being good to satisfy them all?
How could hell be any worse? Life alone is such a curse!
Fuck Armageddon, this is hell (x5)
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