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Rating: Too cumbersome was 1994 to get entangled among eleven million, Dookie and Casino Salzburg.
Then I didn't experience it, so what the hell am I writing (wait, Casino Salzburg yes)?
I wisely stay on the sidelines, fascinated by the monolithic certainties of the Professionals of the Solution in Pocket. Unwavering dispensers of exit polls, 4-4-2, and abbassolemegior.
Repertoire n°1
“The story is this: once, in a hole-in-the-wall venue in New York, towards the end of the nineties, there was a kid leaning against the wall with his Bad Religion patch prominently displayed on his jacket. Above the band's name, with a marker, he had written the word "OLD". That's how much Bad Religion fans had come to hate the band after its foray into the major world.” (from Vice)
Is our champion right here? Or is he a bit of a fool?
The truth is never in the middle, but at three-quarters: so he's a fool with a bit of sense.
Because Stranger is a great melodic old school album, but it's a bit of a bastard. Not so much in its content, but in its premises. Everything stems from that gasping and slobbering mantra that arabesques the speech of the crest-bearing celodurists: abbassolemegior, solely responsible for the pussification of whatever band is at hand.
And the first to slip into the maze of supercazzole are precisely Bad Religion, so paranoid about being on megior that with every track they seem to tell you: “Who? Us? Yes okay but there's the tupatupa”.
And in fact, it's true: away with those slightly fuzzy riffs, those skewed riffs from “Recipe for Hate” ("All Good Soldiers", so to speak), and we set up some nice in-your-face FUs the old-fashioned way.
“Incomplete”, “Better Off Dead”, the splendid “Marked” and “News from the Front” work like a charm, but there's a however. The work appears regimented, insulated, combed. Beautiful, for goodness' sake, but so aseptic.
Like those villas in San Donato all clean, dusted, dewormed, where the father of the family then shoots himself in the mouth.
“It was a calvary. What a struggle to choose the songs: those not published on the US version were rejected by majority. You should have heard the pressure we were under.” Jay Bentley doesn't mince words: Atlantic insists on a (more mainstream) turn, but it’s not like the band is rowing against it. On the contrary: the load from eleven is theirs.
And “Stranger than Fiction” is a trivial consequence of the script: the stylistic features of “Against the Grain” are there, but tamed by rock mannerisms to exponentially expand its enjoyment. No melodic ambition à la “The New America”: just good, well-behaved punk rock.
Proof of this are the bonus tracks: not by chance “News from the Front”, “Markovian Process”, and “Leaders and Followers” (discarded in favor of the more watered-down version, “Individual”) represent the most nostalgic and abrasive side of the work. Not to mention the discarded demos, those “Truth”, “Fucked Up Children”, and “Mediocrity” decidedly more challenging than a “The Handshake”. It’s all about the money.
But this is only one of the problems of “Stranger than Fiction”.
Guest appearances on albums.
Let's talk about it: I hate them. And calling them “feat.” significantly lowers the tolerance threshold. They seem to me the sneaky equivalent of an ad, a sponsor of a live aid in free download on Deezer. The DIY must inform not only the production but also the execution of a "punk" album. Who cares about Tim Armstrong declaiming while duetting with the silly jingle of “Television”. The record is the premise of the live: why betray even an ethic that would coexist perfectly with billion-dollar contracts?
But the deck is stacked with this. The restyling of “21st Century (Digital Boy)”. Because Brett wants the “pop hit”, verbatim. Who cares if you have a formidable collection of singles (“Infected”, “Slumber”, the title track), we deny the present to riffle through the past and reputation. One thing is Epitaph's echo chamber, another is Atlantic's: better safe used for (many) safe dollars.
We are not talking here about an experienced band fishing for a roughly arranged track from their beginnings: an album considered - rightly or wrongly - the pinnacle of the group is dusted off, betraying its instinctive innocence and smoothing its edges. “Stranger than Fiction” thus finds itself prostrated to the empire of marketing, with a song thrown in a bit randomly. There's the heavy load from eleven.
It's the true emblem of betrayal, given the authors. A very beautiful betrayal, given the authors.
For three-quarters it's their fault. Not always ubi major minor cessat.
3.5/5
Tracklist Lyrics and Videos
01 Incomplete (02:29)
Mother,
Father,
Look at your little monster
I'm a hero
I'm a zero
I'm the butt of the worst joke in history
I'm a lock without a key
a city with no door
a prayer without faith
a show without a score
I'm a bad word
a wink, a nod, a shiver
an untold story, sex without fury
a creeping gray memory
I am
Incomplete, incomplete, incomplete
Incomplete
Doctor
Cure me
What is the cause of my condition?
This madness shoots me
Like bullets smashing glass in a silent movie
I'm a trap without a spring,
a temple with no god,
a jack without an ace,
the tip of your tounge
I'm a promise and an unmailed letter
an unbuilt motor, deck without a joker
a creeping gray memory
I am
Incomplete, incomplete, incomplete
Incomplete
Tell Saint Peter not to bet on me
I am a naked obsession
a good intention gone bad
I am
Incomplete, incomplete, incomplete
Incomplete
Incomplete, incomplete, incomplete...
05 The Handshake (02:49)
every time you shake someone's hand and it feels like your best friend,
could it be that it's only superficiality?,
without regard to well-being, without an inkling of compromise,
handshakes are nothing but a subtle "fuck you",
contracts determine the best friendships
this is the way of the modern world, everyone's vying for patronage,
this is the way of the modern world, and something has gotta give
every time you shake someone's hand,
and you share neither color or creed,
you gotta overcome the obstacles of history,
there is restrained passion, mistrust, and bigotry
and these have created the new foundations of society,
there's no harmony just class and race
this is the way of the modern world,
everyone's fighting for dominance,
this is the way of the modern world,
and something has gotta give
now i believe in unity, and i am willing to compromise,
but i'm not gonna lie or sell my soul
every time you shake someone's hand,
it determines where you stand,
and if you won't uphold your side then it's better to
fend for yourself, and shun the handshake,
someone's gotta give.
06 Better Off Dead (02:38)
I'm sorry about the sun
How could I know that you would burn?
And I'm sorry about the moon
How could I know that you'd disapprove?
And I'll never make the same mistake
The next time I create the universe
I'll make sure we communicate at length
Oh yeah
But until then, better off dead
A smile on the lips and a hole in the head
Better off dead, yeah better than this
Take it away, 'cause there's nothing to miss
I'm sorry about the world
How could I know
You'd take it so bad?
And I'll never make the same mistake
So if you're looking for a fantasy
Why not try the entire human race?
Just to play it safe
But until then, better off dead
A smile on the lips and a hole in the head
Better off dead, yeah better than this
Take it away, 'cause there's nothing to miss
Better off dead, yeah better off dead
Why don't you try pushing daisies instead?
Better off dead, yeah better off dead
A smile on the lips and a hole in the head
And I'll never make the same mistake,
The next time I create the universe
I'll make sure you participate
Oh yeah
And I'll never make the same mistake
The next time I create the universe
I'll make sure you participate
Just in case
07 Infected (04:07)
Now here I go,
Hope I don't break down,
I won't take anything, don't give me anything,
Don't want to exist, I can't persist,
Please stop before I do it again,
Just talk about nothing, let's talk about nothing,
Let's talk about no one,
Please talk about no one, someone, anyone
You and me have a disease,
You affect me,
you infect me,
I'm afflicted, you're addicted,
You and me, you and me
I'm on the edge,
Get against the wall,
I'm so distracted,
I love to strike you,
Here's my confession,
You learned your lesson,
Stop me before I do it again
Lets talk about nothing, let's talk about nothing,
Let's talk about no one,
Please talk about no one, someone, anyone
You and me have a disease,
You affect me,
You infect me,
I'm afflicted, you're addicted,
You and me, you and me
You're clear - as a heavy lead curtain want
To drill you - like an ocean,
We can work it out, I've been running out, now I'm running out
Don't be mad about it baby,
You and me, you and me,
Just talk about nothing, let's talk about nothing,
Let's talk about no one,
Please talk about no one, someone, anyone
You and me have a disease,
You affect me, you infect me,
I'm afflicted, you're addicted,
You and me, you and me
I want to tie you, crucify you,
Kneel before you, revile your body,
You and me, we're made in heaven,
I want to take you, I want to break you,
Supplicate you, with thorny roses
You and me,are incurable,
I want to bathe you in holy water I want to kill you,
Upon the alter, you and me, you and me.
08 Television (02:03)
Television, Television, Television, Television
Oh yeah
I want to bask in your golden light
submerge in electric waves
I need my connection
to the world outside
The world outside is buzzing like and angry wasp in summe
the candidates are running, and soon the son of God is coming
crackle mental convolutions tune in to the revolution
whereby everyone's included so we'll never have to be alone
Television, Television, Television, Television
Oh yeah
I want to bathe in your golden light
submerge in electric waves
I need my injection
from the world outside
Every atom of my body, blood, and sinew, bone and fiber
I can't distill you from my blood, you're a hungry germ inside of me
You're my lover, my herione, my conscience, and my voice and
I know now that I have learned to let you in
I will never have to be alone
Television, Television, Television, Television
Oh yeah
I want to bathe in your golden light
submerge in electric waves
I need my connection
to the world outside
I'd take after my mother but she's from a different generation
I prefer my big brother he's so gentle and understanding
and I learn what I can from him by the television light
So that when I'm all alone I know everything's gonna be alright
Television, Television, Television, Television
Television, Television, Television, Television
09 Individual (01:58)
individuals run for cover,
for the multitudes of thoughtless clones have reached a critical mass,
individuals hide in fear, under cover,
sheltered by the wafer thin veil of intelligence
individuals, nowhere to be seen
urbana is oozing like a bloated carcass,
with maggots cooking in the desert heat,
oozing, with progeny writhing and desperate
for input from someone more determined
congregating in invisible circles,
half apart and half apart,
all too aware of the insignificance,
pushing on with soul and heart
individuals don't pray for forgiveness,
when pinned up against the wall under siege of persecution,
individuals command exception,
and accept dichotomy,
maybe you can't choose anymore
procreation without gain or purpose,
languid wills and torped minds,
catapulted ever faster by the arrow of time.
10 Hooray for Me... (02:49)
I can see my teenage father standing straight on a desolate corner,
in the shadow of tentacled towers by the red light of America,
I imagine how his mother felt when she heard that her husband was dying,
and that underground heroes of the tarmac shooting smack were blowing up worlds
and Damned out loud,
he, can you tell me how does it feel?
yeah, tell me, can you imagine, for a second,
doing anything that you don't have to?
well that's what I'm accustomed to so hooray for me
when I slept with stony faces on the riverbank,
my angeldevil reveller shook me desperately in dying,
I don't exactly want to apologize for anything, and now
we're all mad and tangled in secret rooms with roman candles,
on an endless graveyard train
yeah, tell me, can you imagine, for a second, doing
anything just 'cuz you want to?
well, that's just what I do so hooray for me
yeah, I was dreaming through the "howzlife", yawning,
car black, when she told me "mad and meaningless as ever..",
and a song came on my radio like a cemetery rhyme,
for a million crying corpses in their tragedy of respectable existence
oh, yeah, I'm not respectable, and never sensible,
I've been incredible so damned irascible
and I like the things I do so hooray for me
11 Slumber (02:41)
So you're, feeling unimportant,
cuz you've got nothing to say,
and your life is just a ramble,
no one understands you anyway
well, i've got a piece of news, son,
that might make you change your mind,
your life is historically meaningful,
and spans a significant time
slumber will come soon,
and you are helping put it to sleep,
side by side we do our share faithfully
assuring that slumber will come soon
well, now do you feel a little better?,
lift up your head and walk away,
knowing we're all in this together,
for such a short time anyway
there is just no time to parade around sulking,
i would rather laugh than cry,
the rich, the poor, the strong, the weak,
we share this place together,
and we pitch in to help it die
i'm not good at giving morals,
and i don't fear the consequence,
if life makes you scared and bitter,
at least its not for very long.
12 Marked (01:48)
if i'm a monster,
i am a willing one,
this roller coaster ride is an enticing one,
on the tip of a continuum flowing wavelike
through disorder carry me like a vessel to water
everything you see leaves a mark on your soul,
everything you feel leaves a mark on your soul,
everything you touch leaves a mark on your soul,
everything you make leaves a mark on your soul
if i can touch it,
i can destroy it,
if it's imaginable to some degree,
i can become it,
like a hungry turning vortex that just flickers to existence,
consuming bits and pieces until i'm finally extinguished
everyone you see leaves a mark on your soul,
everyone you bare leaves a mark on your soul,
everyone you touch leaves a mark on your soul,
everyone you love leaves a mark on your soul
everything you take leaves a mark on your soul,
everything you give leaves a mark on your soul,
and all the fear and loneliness that's impossible to control,
and every tear you cry leaves a mark on your soul.br
15 21st Century (Digital Boy) (02:47)
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)
16 News From the Front (02:22)
Blood is a river,
Flowing darkly amidst the tangled roots of the tall shining city
Crazy flowing mantide migrations
Engorge the big ventricle of heartbroken America
So many heaven hoping, hopeful groping breathers
All tap together quietly and desperately in unison
Hey, hey, hey, is anybody listening?
News from the front
News from the front
We're living in troubled times
So many fighting for their lives
Why do the troops despise the news from the front?
Ignorance is the root of fear
Fear is the kindling of anger
War is the bringer of shame
But never has the burden lain so heavily upon the victim
Rage and desolation
Pain and loneliness
Isn't it all alarmingly familiar?
Hey, hey, hey, silence is a killer
News from the front
News from the front
Yeah these are troubled times
How many more will have to die
Before the governors can't deny the news from the front?
Break down the barriers, ally the carriers,
What is your motivation? Take a good look in the mirror
News from the front
News from the front
So many are fighting for their lives
How many more will have to die?
Why does the government decry the news from the front?
17 Markovian Process (01:29)
You will all say
that I am surely crazy
Only an unrepentant pessimist
whose thoughts should be detained
But facts are sterile
not vulgar nor sublime
And they're not religion, they're for everyone
and signify the times
Today is a window
Tomorrow the landscape
All you need to do is take a look outside
to know what we're bound to face
The level of disparity
The common man
The manner of destruction of the native land
The poverty of reprisal from all involved
and the scathing trajectory from the past
Markovian process lead us not in vain
Prove to our descendants what we did to them
then make us go away
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