I really like how the verses in Against the Grain start really tight and muted and then each verse after opens up a bit more and more until the last verse is way looser and chaotic, while still maintaining the same melody. Pretty cool little trick, imo.
I wish they spoke out about the guitar riffs and such more than just the lyrics for the most part. That part is indeed genius and is worthy of having the album named after it. That main guitar riff bruh when one guitar does it one octave higher than the other too, phew, amazing.
100% Was about to comment the same! If there was a 101 class of how to write a perfect punk song, ATG would be a required song to study! Greg comes in on the low key, drums are tight, and guitars are chugging along. Next verse hits, Greg takes the vocals up an octave, drums start to open up as each new verse begins, and ends with blaring guitars rather than the earlier chugging guitars. Meanwhile, Jay is providing the perfect steady foundation throughout on the bass. The tempo and melody never once changed in the song...it just grows in intensity from beginning to end!
Entropy: a thermodynamic quantity representing the unavailability of a system's thermal energy for conversion into mechanical work, often interpreted as the degree of disorder or randomness in the system. "the second law of thermodynamics says that entropy always increases with time" Yeah this is Greg incorporating science into his band. But doesn't just talk to show off. He's very calculated. He's using his studies as a metaphor. And "Against the Grain" is another BR classic. They often play it live. Gotta remember they have tons of excellent songs. Against the great is another early example of terrific songwriting from the band.
Thanks guys! It cannot get more essential Bad Religion than these songs from my favorite BR album! The speed, the guitars, the harmonies, these scientific lyrics… perfection! 👍🤘
Greg's vocals are so f***ing good! And yeah, he's just showing off his big brain.. Haha! It's amazing how Bad Religion is consistently great through all the years.
First time I ever saw BR- against the the grain the first song they played. Set the stage for the whole show. 1998 and the opener was Queen of the Stone Age.
I know this is a year old so you guys might have heard it by now but Nofx has a song called I'm a huge fan of Bad Religion and Mike says exactly what you did.... "I bought Suffer then I bought a thesaurus" ...."now we hang out and party on each other's tour bus cuz the old band knows how to have fuun"
I finally got to see Bad Religion live for the first time at Riot Fest a few weeks ago and it was amazing! I took DH and our 12yo son and we had the best time. There was a T-Rex in one of the pits lol. We'll be seeing BR live again as soon as we can; these are two fantastic selections that I have yet to see live :) If you haven't yet, you should definitely check out "Come Join Us", "Dept. of False Hope", "My Sanity", "The Resist Stance", "Big Bang", "F*ck You", "New Dark Ages", "My Head is Full of Ghosts", "Hooray for Me", "Stranger Than Fiction", "Los Angeles is Burning", "The Kids are Alt-Right", and the entire Recipe for Hate album. Then all the albums lol They've also put out a few acoustic versions over the years that are worth a listen (or a billion): "Sorrow" and "Dearly Beloved", for sure.
A self-titled track would be called Bad Religion. Some bands have that. Black Sabbath, Descendents, Meat Puppets. And some bands put their name in a lyric. Like Metallica in Whiplash
I really like how the verses in Against the Grain start really tight and muted and then each verse after opens up a bit more and more until the last verse is way looser and chaotic, while still maintaining the same melody. Pretty cool little trick, imo.
I wish they spoke out about the guitar riffs and such more than just the lyrics for the most part. That part is indeed genius and is worthy of having the album named after it. That main guitar riff bruh when one guitar does it one octave higher than the other too, phew, amazing.
I love how the riff is consistent throughout the song however, the intensity grows with every verse. Great review, Bois!
100% Was about to comment the same! If there was a 101 class of how to write a perfect punk song, ATG would be a required song to study! Greg comes in on the low key, drums are tight, and guitars are chugging along. Next verse hits, Greg takes the vocals up an octave, drums start to open up as each new verse begins, and ends with blaring guitars rather than the earlier chugging guitars. Meanwhile, Jay is providing the perfect steady foundation throughout on the bass. The tempo and melody never once changed in the song...it just grows in intensity from beginning to end!
Bad religion is one of my favourite bands and against the grain is one of my favourites. Thanks for checking it out! Glad you liked it!
I believe it was nofx that said "I bought suffer, then I bought a thesaurus" and yep
Entropy:
a thermodynamic quantity representing the unavailability of a system's thermal energy for conversion into mechanical work, often interpreted as the degree of disorder or randomness in the system.
"the second law of thermodynamics says that entropy always increases with time"
Yeah this is Greg incorporating science into his band. But doesn't just talk to show off. He's very calculated. He's using his studies as a metaphor.
And "Against the Grain" is another BR classic. They often play it live. Gotta remember they have tons of excellent songs. Against the great is another early example of terrific songwriting from the band.
Thanks guys! It cannot get more essential Bad Religion than these songs from my favorite BR album! The speed, the guitars, the harmonies, these scientific lyrics… perfection! 👍🤘
Spitting facts
Greg's vocals are so f***ing good! And yeah, he's just showing off his big brain.. Haha! It's amazing how Bad Religion is consistently great through all the years.
Just wanted to say good on y’all to be keeping up the channel.
First time I ever saw BR- against the the grain the first song they played. Set the stage for the whole show. 1998 and the opener was Queen of the Stone Age.
I know this is a year old so you guys might have heard it by now but Nofx has a song called I'm a huge fan of Bad Religion and Mike says exactly what you did.... "I bought Suffer then I bought a thesaurus" ...."now we hang out and party on each other's tour bus cuz the old band knows how to have fuun"
I finally got to see Bad Religion live for the first time at Riot Fest a few weeks ago and it was amazing! I took DH and our 12yo son and we had the best time. There was a T-Rex in one of the pits lol. We'll be seeing BR live again as soon as we can; these are two fantastic selections that I have yet to see live :)
If you haven't yet, you should definitely check out "Come Join Us", "Dept. of False Hope", "My Sanity", "The Resist Stance", "Big Bang", "F*ck You", "New Dark Ages", "My Head is Full of Ghosts", "Hooray for Me", "Stranger Than Fiction", "Los Angeles is Burning", "The Kids are Alt-Right", and the entire Recipe for Hate album. Then all the albums lol
They've also put out a few acoustic versions over the years that are worth a listen (or a billion): "Sorrow" and "Dearly Beloved", for sure.
After you guys are done with the album, you should rate the album as a whole.
A self-titled track would be called Bad Religion. Some bands have that. Black Sabbath, Descendents, Meat Puppets. And some bands put their name in a lyric. Like Metallica in Whiplash
BR Fuck yea
Do y'all plan on doing any full NOFX albums?