The Empire Strikes First

[Semjaza]

I know that I made a thread on Bad Religion before, but what the hell. They're one of my favorite bands, so it's worth the time to write this.

Anyway, they released a new CD this year known as "The Empire Strikes First". I bought it the day it came out for $8.99 at Target. I think you can still get it for this price at some places.

At first I wasn't too impressed. It sounded an awful lot like their last CD, "The Process of Belief". Not that that CD was bad at all, but it definitely isn't my favorite of their catalogue thus far.

However, I kept playing this CD and I really got into the second half of it in particular. Listening to it more, I love the entire thing... even the intro track, which is generally just something I skip on other CDs.

Like "The Process of Belief", the sound on this LP is a bit more polished than their older work. However, the band really hasn't changed their style since their inception decades ago, so it's not a bad thing. Just sounds better heh.

I love pretty much every track, although I like Los Angeles is Burning, Let Them Eat War, To Another Abyss, The Empire Strikes First and Boot Stamping on a Human Face Forever the most.

I'd almost go as far as saying that this is one of their best CDs in general... definitely the best of the last few, at the very least.
Has anyone else bought this yet?

[DeadSeraphim]

[font=Arial][size=1][color=Indigo]Heh, I've just listened to this whole album, and, having had no experience with them before, I'd say its pretty good, heh.

I can't judge them on how muuch they've changed from other albums, but I enjoyed this one. The Empire Strikes First is right up there as one of my favourites at he moment, but the whole album is pretty damn good.

At first listen I made a connection between these guys and Drop Kick Murphies, lol. Thats what you get when you're only punk album is Frenzal Rhomb, heh. But upon further listening they have a different sound that, while not unique to the genre, is solid and fun anyway.

Would I buy the album? Probably. I'll snoop around Rocking Horse next time at Queen Street.[/color][/size][/font]

[PiroMunkie]

[size=1]I have not really listened to that album a whole lot. I do not own it or anything, I just listened off your blog.radio on WiP. I listened to a bit of each track, but nothing really struck me. It does sound a lot like "The Process of Belief."

Bad Religion has mostly been one of those "in the mood" bands for me. While there are some songs that I always enjoy listening to, from various points in their career, to sit through a whole album of theirs without getting bored can be a bit difficult.[/size]

[satan665]

I've always kinda liked Bad Religion, but never have owned any of their albums. A few months back though I borrowed 6 or 7 CD's of BR from my pal and decided that they are really good driving music. Unfortunately thats about it for me, I probably won't hear their new album until my friend buys it and just listen to it in the lab.

To this day it will make me sad to see them open up for more popular cheese-punk bands though. Blink 182/Bad Religion tour was damn scary.

[Bio]

[font=Trebuchet MS]I just listened to it, and I have to say it was pretty good. Catchy rhyming, which I definitely liked. Double rhyming always appeals to me...

I really like [i]Beyond Electric Dreams.[/i] I'm not exactly sure why though.

I'll probably buy at least that song in any case.
[/font]

[Turkey]

After listening to it a few times, I have to say that this is one of their better productions. I've always been a fan of song transitions, and one in Sinister Rouge has got to be the best way to start an album yet.

My favorite song would have to be either the one I previously mentioned or Live Again (The Fall of Man).

On another point, what do you people think of the Re-Issues? I really like the Generator one, and plan on getting the rest. If only they rereleased Into the Unknown...

[Semjaza]

[quote name='Turkey']On another point, what do you people think of the Re-Issues? I really like the Generator one, and plan on getting the rest. If only they rereleased Into the Unknown...[/quote]

I already own all the stuff they're reissuing... but I'm considering getting them since they're all remastered. Definitely not at the top of my list, though.

[Mitch]

[size=1][color=red] I was thinking of buying it yesterday, but didn't. I suppose eventually I'll be getting it.

I listened to it when it was up on your radio.blog. It sounded like pretty good stuff to me. I liked it a lot better than that "New America" song you sent me.

This isn't generally the kind of music I listen to, but I could get into it. I'll make a post about the album once I buy it and get enough listening to know what I think.[/size][/color]

[Guest Vash331]

I love Bad Religion, although i can't say i own any of their cd's, but only because i don't buy cd's. I either burn my friends cd's on to my computer and/or Xbox or i get them by other means...K@Z@@. Of the songs you've mentioned from that cd i've only heard LA is burning, and i love that song it's awesome.

do you have msn messenger? if you do you think you could transfer that cd to my computer? my e-mail is [email][email protected][/email] if you wanna contact me. If you don't know how to do that i could tell you, it's easy.

[Semjaza]

[quote name='Vash331] do you have msn messenger? if you do you think you could transfer that cd to my computer? my e-mail is [email][email protected][/email'] if you wanna contact me. If you don't know how to do that i could tell you, it's easy.[/quote]

No, but I could tell you to save the entire $8.50 it costs to buy it lol

I wanted to bump this because I found an absolutely excellent review of the album on IGN. I don't think I could say it any better. The idea of the timeless quality of the way the lyrics are written is touched upon, among other things.

[url]http://music.ign.com/articles/531/531680p1.html[/url]

[QUOTE]The first thing you'll notice when you open the jewel case of Bad Religion's The Empire Strikes First--which is something I would recommend you do as soon as possible--is a lone phrase on the back of the album's liner notes. Excerpted from the lyrics of the record's third song and poignantly printed in red on black is the line "It's time to turn the tide," which serves both as a powerful statement on our nation's current affairs and an effective summation of the album to follow.

The members of Bad Religion are angry. And this is their diatribe. Their anger is expressed not through callous hollering of uncontrolled bursts of venomous rage and the gratuitous dropping of f-bombs, but by quoting thinkers such as Thomas Wolfe and George Orwell. Not once does lead singer Greg Graffin raise his voice, resort to the immature employ of overt sexual puns on the President's surname or say a single word that couldn't be broadcast over the radio unedited. The man is beyond that and moreover, he believes you are, too.

And even though this album showcases a band in control, one can't help but notice that there is a compelling vehemence bubbling just beneath the surface. There is nary a track on this album that is not driven by some sort of purpose. Each individual song has something to fight against, and the sum total of their combination is a representation of something to fight for. The result is nothing short of a modern work of art.

Greg Graffin, Jay Bentley, Greg Hetson, Brian Baker, Brooks Wackerman, and Mr. Brett Gurewitz takes to the podium with "Overture," a simmering, one-minute instrumental that fades gracefully into the record's first lyrical conquest. The dominant message on this album, one infused within the lines of roughly half of the disc's tracks, is the inherent danger involved in our society's seemingly out-of-control transition from the practice of open-minded and tolerant religious faith (or lack thereof) to the zealous fundamentalism of blind and pervasive "piety" which, Bad Religion argues, is crucifying the sciences (Graffin, BTW, holds a Ph.D. in biology) and driving the increasingly-destructive tank of our nation's politics. "Sinister Rouge" begins this particular polemic by attacking the recent scandals of the Roman Catholic church--"Child molesters and Jesuits/Holding secret conference/Underneath the Pontiff's nose/And only God will ever know" intones Graffin in one of the album's more arousingly controversial stanzas.

The band's relentlessly abrasive attack on "bad" religion--pun most certainly intended, in the interest of full disclosure--does not conclude with "Sinister Rouge." "Social Suicide" ("I don't even know if I can ever find Truth/But I'm sure it won't come from following you"), "Atheist Peace," "All There Is," and no fewer than five other tracks concern themselves with the subject in one degree of capacity or another. One might think that a treatment of this magnitude towards a certain topic of discussion would equate to mind-numbing overkill, but Bad Religion simply takes an altogether different dimension of the issue in each individual song and gives it its own fair share of poetic justice. Lesser punk outfits may have been content to dedicate a single song to the subject of religion, but not this act; they take their time, disseminating their insight in small pieces, seamlessly molding them into an elegant collective of theses. And you know what? The technique is brilliantly executed and entirely successful.

When Bad Religion is not lamenting the entropy of faith, they are taking on what seems to be a rather characteristic target of 2004's punk offerings: the current man in the Oval Office. "There's a prophet on a mountain," declares Graffin in the opening line of "Let Them Eat War," a song easily identified by the repeated proclamation of its satirical title. "Can this be what they voted for?" (It would be all too easy for Bad Religion to follow up that particular lyric with something akin to "No, they voted for Gore." But again, the band elevates the song above such a clichéd and impotent stab; they are concerned not with the past, but the present, and the bleak future it appears to be shaping.)

Bushian policy is also the sacrificial lion of the album's catchy title track and "Boot Stamping On A Human Face Forever," a song which derives its title from George Orwell's dejected vision of the future. Though Orwell would make for a valuable resource in a song designed to denounce the Patriot Act, Bad Religion chooses instead to hold up the author's chilling illustration as a portent of what our society is destined to become should we continue to reject the views of those
willing to question our governmental authorities: "With good books and looks on their side/And hearts bursting with national pride/They sang songs and went along for the ride and the other side complied." Notice how songwriters Graffin and Gurewitz shift the word "good" from the position immediately before "looks" (as would be expected) to the one preceding "books"; suddenly, the band's distaste for theocracy briefly shares the spotlight with their other principal message. If you appreciate subtle turns of intellectual poetry such as this, you're likely to find The Empire Strikes First to be an absolute treasure.

The album's catchiest song, "Los Angeles Is Burning," is the disc's sole attack on the nation's overzealous and exploitative media ("They're only trying to peddle reality," Graffin sings). And in a brilliant move, the record concludes with what is arguably its most emotional and poignant track, "Live Again (The Fall Of Man)." To attempt to attach a clear and definite meaning to this particular piece would be a great disservice to all of the listeners who, like me, are certain to wear out their rewind buttons as they quest to attach to its words their own particular purpose.

The Empire Strikes First is precisely what punk rock--and the
United States of America--needs: a smartly-written, expertly-assembled political album that, rather than telling you what you should believe, brings certain views to the table and attempts to defend them without jumping down your throat. If you have a mind and a heart for that sort of thing, ownership of this album is almost your patriotic duty. Rarely does one come across a punk record that so urgently asks you to use not just your ears, but what's between them.[/QUOTE]

One of the best music reviews I've honestly read in a long time (regardless of whether I agree with it or not heh).

[DarkOtakuBoy]

I realize I'm kinda late on this thread, I'm sorry.
I absolutly love Bad Religion, and I've been into them strongly for a good 8 years now.
I def. believe that 'Empire' is a big step up from 'New America' and 'Process', although its obviously not the best album they ever released. I would have to say that my favorite song on this album is "Athiest Peace". *sigh*....if only it was longer. I think it could have used another verse.

By the way, has any Bad Religion fans picked up Greg's solo album, 'American Lesion'? Not punk-rock at all, but more folk music-like. It's his most emotionally heart-wrenching work, and I beleive was inspired from the divorce of his wife, Gretta. Esp. the song, "Maybe She Will'. Also, the remake of "Cease" is really something else. It brings the song to a whole new level. ^_^


Otaku Boy