Bad Religion, 26 April 2024

Bad Religion is an American punk rock band that formed in Los Angeles, California, in 1980. They make extensive use of three-part vocal harmonies (which they refer to in their album liner notes as the "oozin' aahs") and guitar solos, and are known for their lyrics, which cover topics such as criticism of religion, political commentary and society in general. The band's lineup has changed several times over its lifespan, with lead vocalist Greg Graffin being the only consistent member; the current lineup, however, features three of the band's four original members (Graffin, Brett Gurewitz and Jay Bentley). To date, Bad Religion has released sixteen studio albums, two live albums, three compilation albums, three EPs (one of which is composed of covers of Christmas songs) and two DVDs (which were both recorded live). They are considered to be one of the best-selling punk rock acts of all time, having sold over five million albums worldwide.
Bad Religion had built an underground following in the United States with their early albums (including Suffer, No Control, Against the Grain and Generator) before signing to Atlantic Records in 1993. They first reached substantial commercial success with their seventh studio album and major-label debut Recipe for Hate (1993), which peaked at number 14 on Billboard's Heatseekers chart, and spawned one of their popular songs "American Jesus". Recipe for Hate was followed a year later by Stranger than Fiction (1994), which spawned their biggest hits "Infected" and the re-recorded version of "21st Century (Digital Boy)", and was 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 success of the label's artists The Offspring and Rancid), and was replaced by Brian Baker. Since Gurewitz's return to the band in 2001, they have undergone a resurgence in popularity, with their sixteenth studio album True North (2013) becoming Bad Religion's first album to crack the top 20 on the Billboard 200 chart, where it peaked at number 19. The band is expected to release their seventeenth studio album in 2018.