Its easy to be sceptical about Bad Religion especially when you consider the influence they have had on the likes of more decidedly dodgy mainstream bands such as The Offspring et al. For years Ive been trying to get into these guys, but have found it very hard work. The main problem is that Ive simply been listening to the wrong stuff! The last time I was listening to BR was on Recipe For Hate, a truly dire release to say the least, devoid of any passion or fire and not insignificantly their first release for a major label. However I decided to give them another shot, so I picked up both Suffer and No Control, and boy was I surprised! This was a totally different beast thankfully from RFH and a better one at that! One thing that stands out is how melodic they sound, so dont go expecting Agnostic Front! This release funnily enough manages to sound even faster and frantic than the previous years classic Suffer. Listening to this album you can hear where the new breed of 90s punk bands such as NOFX got their sound from.This release is very fast and political. The best tracks being Big Bang, the title track and you. If your into melodic hardcore punk in the vein of The Descendants, Redd Kross and Shelter, then you could do a lot worse than Bad Religion.
