Published on Jul 24, 2003
This was issued briefly on BR’s own Epitaph label in 1983, and
quickly snatched back and deleted by the band in apparent
embarrassment. In 1984 they went
Back To The Known with a return-to-basics EP of the same
name. The “known” is best captured on their classic
Against The Grain (1990),
No Control (1989), and 1988’s
Suffer.
Their seeming alignment with Jock-Core has typecast Bad Religion
unfairly, and diverted the public’s attention away from the fact
that they indeed know their way around a tune. They’ve simply
accelerated the tempos.
Look around for this a bit like I did, or go online and finagle
a copy of it for yourself.
Especially if you’ve never been partial to Bad Religion’s
caffeinated sing-along punk. My bootleg CD also contains two tracks
from a
Sounds of Hollywood compilation LP, an “unknown” track from
the
Desperate Teenage Lovedolls soundtrack, and a pair of songs
recorded live.
What does it sound like? I had heard rumors of the existence of
this record for at least a decade. After I found it I played bits
of it for friends telling them to try and guess just who it was.
Greg Graffin’s voice is straight away Clue #1, but no one could put
their finger on why it all seemed so familiar. Bad Religion has
almost always had other elements. I’d liken them more to The Kinks
than to Rudimentary Peni.
This album is almost Journey-ish, with great, big fuck-off
keyboards way up in the mix. It actually seems like the whole
endeavor was an experiment that accidentally got their logo placed
on it. The eight songs do grow on you after a few days. I don’t
think they should be ashamed of it at all. Next time you’re at one
of their shows stand in front, and ask them to play “Time and
Disregard,” or “The Dichotomy.” Then they’ll know that you’re a
real fan.