Bad Religion discography
| Bad Religion discography | |
|---|---|
 Bad Religion in concert in 2005. | |
| Studio albums | 16 |
| Live albums | 2 |
| Compilation albums | 4 |
| Video albums | 5 |
| EPs | 2 |
| Singles | 24 |
This is a comprehensive discography of Bad Religion, a Southern California-based punk rock band. The band has released sixteen studio albums, two extended plays (EP), two live recording, four compilation albums, and twenty four singles.
Biography
Bad Religion was formed in 1979[1] by Greg Graffin (vocals), Brett Gurewitz (guitar), Jay Bentley (bass) and Jay Ziskrout (drums). The line-up, at the time, recorded and released a six-song self-titled EP in 1981 on Epitaph Records (a label founded by Gurewitz). The EP, originally a 7" format was quickly re-issued as a 12". Some compact cassettes were produced, but they are rare.
How Could Hell Be Any Worse? is Bad Religion's first full-length album. A $1,000 loan from Gurewitz's father financed the project. It was released in early 1982, surprising the band by selling 10,000 copies in under a year. Ziskrout left the band soon after recording sessions began and was replaced by Pete Finestone. The sound of the record vastly improved on the self-titled EP. Greg Hetson (of Circle Jerks fame) played the guitar solo on "Part III". He later became a member of the band.
Bad Religion released their second full-length, Into the Unknown, in 1983, to less success; due to poor production and a major change from their previous style, delving into progressive rock heavy in keyboards. During the recording of one song, Bentley and Finestone left the band and were replaced by Paul Dedona on bass and Davy Goldman on drums. To date, Into the Unknown remains out of print, after almost all of the 10,000 copies were surreptitiously sold out of the warehouse they were being stored in by Suzy Shaw, an ex-girlfriend of Gurewitz.[2] After the release of Into the Unknown, Bad Religion broke up, but reformed (without Gurewitz) to produce the 1985 EP Back to the Known. The EP features the return of the band's punk rock roots, although also reflecting influences of then current acts such as Hüsker Dü and The Descendents. Soon after, Bad Religion went on hiatus again.
Bad Religion underwent several line-up changes before the 1986 reunion of the How Could Hell Be Any Worse? line-up (including Hetson). Two years later, the now-classic reunion line-up recorded their highly acclaimed Suffer album, which was a comeback for Bad Religion as well as a watershed for the Southern California punk sound popularized by their label, Epitaph. This album also became the Epitaph's best seller and was the label's best-selling album for a number of years, until the 1994 release of The Offspring's Smash. Bad Religion recorded and released two more albums, No Control (1989) and Against the Grain (1990), before Finestone quit the group once again in early 1991.
With Bobby Schayer as Finestone's replacement, Bad Religion's music would take a different direction on their next album, Generator (1992). For the album, Bad Religion also filmed their first music video "Atomic Garden", which was also their first song to be released as a single. Around 1993, Bad Religion parted ways with Epitaph and signed to Atlantic Records, who released their next album, Recipe for Hate, in the same year. Moderately successful, this was the first Bad Religion album to reach any Billboard charts and two videos for the album, "American Jesus" and "Struck a Nerve", were made.
Bad Religion rose to fame with their next album, 1994's Stranger Than Fiction, including their well-known hits "Infected" and "21st Century (Digital Boy)" (which was originally recorded on Against the Grain), which are also often considered concert staples. To date, Stranger Than Fiction remains another one of Bad Religion's best known albums, with sales continuing seventeen years after its release. After the album was completed, Gurewitz soon left Bad Religion to concentrate on the future of Epitaph, citing the increasing amount of time he was spending at Epitaph's offices as The Offspring became one of the biggest bands of the mid-1990s, but it was well known that his departure was not on good terms.
Gurewitz was replaced by Brian Baker during the Stranger Than Fiction tour. During Gurewitz's departure, Bad Religion declined in popularity and released The Gray Race (1996) and No Substance (1998) to poor reviews. In 1999, after a five year hiatus from the band, Gurewitz reunited with Graffin and co-wrote the song "Believe It", which appeared on Bad Religion's 11th album The New America, which was released in 2000.
In 2001, while parting ways with Atlantic, Gurewitz was officially back in the band and Bad Religion re-signed with Epitaph. As soon as Gurewitz returned, Schayer also left the band and was replaced by Brooks Wackerman. Now, as a six piece, Bad Religion recorded and released the albums The Process of Belief (2002), The Empire Strikes First (2004) and New Maps of Hell (2007). Again waiting three years between releases, Bad Religion released their fifteenth studio album, The Dissent of Man, on September 28, 2010, which marked the first time that a Bad Religion line-up had not changed in four consecutive studio recordings. Another three years passed before they released their next album True North (2013), which reached number 18 on the Billboard 200 chart, making it Bad Religion's first release to crack the top 20 and the highest-ever chart position in their career.[3] True North would end up becoming Bad Religion's final album with guitarist Greg Hetson (who left in April 2013) and drummer Brooks Wackerman (who left in October 2015).
Discography
Studio albums
| Year | Title | Peak chart positions | Certifications (sales thresholds) | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US [4] |
AUS [5][6] |
AUT [7] |
FIN [8] |
FRA [9] |
GER [10] |
NLD [11] |
SWE [12] |
SWI [13] |
UK [14] | ||||
| 1982 | How Could Hell Be Any Worse? | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1983 | Into the Unknown
|
— | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1988 | Suffer
|
— | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1989 | No Control
|
— | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1990 | Against the Grain
|
— | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1992 | Generator
|
— | — | — | — | — | 49 | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1993 | Recipe for Hate
|
— | — | — | — | — | 34 | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1994 | Stranger Than Fiction
|
87 | — | 27 | — | — | 6 | — | 6 | 28 | — | ||
| 1996 | The Gray Race
|
56 | 44 | 15 | 2 | — | 11 | 61 | 6 | 21 | 102 | ||
| 1998 | No Substance
|
78 | — | 18 | 17 | — | 28 | — | 54 | — | — | ||
| 2000 | The New America
|
88 | — | 47 | 38 | — | 16 | — | 53 | 69 | — | ||
| 2002 | The Process of Belief
|
49 | — | 41 | 35 | — | 13 | — | 39 | 37 | 136 | ||
| 2004 | The Empire Strikes First
|
40 | — | — | — | 177 | 28 | 99 | 42 | 82 | 122 | ||
| 2007 | New Maps of Hell
|
35 | — | 64 | 29 | — | 37 | — | 41 | 49 | 134 | ||
| 2010 | The Dissent of Man
|
35 | 73 | 61 | 43 | — | 33 | — | 56 | 79 | 135[19] | ||
| 2013 | True North
|
19 | — | 27 | 5 | — | 10 | 86 | 31 | 14 | 129 | ||
| "—" denotes a release that did not chart. | |||||||||||||
Extended plays
| Year | Title |
|---|---|
| 1981 | Bad Religion
|
| 1985 | Back to the Known
|
| 2013 | Christmas Songs
|
Singles
| Year | Title | Peak chart positions | Album | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US Alt. [4] |
US Main. [4] |
US Rock [4] |
FIN [20] |
GER [21] |
SWE [22] |
UK [14] | ||||
| 1992 | "Atomic Garden" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Generator | |
| 1993 | "American Jesus" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Recipe for Hate | |
| "Struck a Nerve" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |||
| "Lookin' In" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |||
| 1994 | "Stranger Than Fiction" | 28 | — | — | — | — | — | — | Stranger Than Fiction | |
| "21st Century (Digital Boy)" | 11 | — | — | — | — | 23 | 41 | |||
| "Infected" | 27 | 33 | — | — | — | — | — | |||
| 1995 | "Incomplete" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1996 | "A Walk" | 34 | 38 | — | — | — | — | — | The Gray Race | |
| "Punk Rock Song" | — | — | — | 5 | 29 | 21 | — | |||
| "The Streets of America" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |||
| 1997 | "Dream of Unity" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Tested | |
| 1998 | "Raise Your Voice (feat. Campino)" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | No Substance | |
| "Shades of Truth" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |||
| 2000 | "New America" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | The New America | |
| "I Love My Computer" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |||
| 2001 | "Sorrow" | 35 | — | — | — | — | — | — | The Process of Belief | |
| 2002 | "Broken" | — | — | — | — | — | — | 125 | ||
| "The Defense" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |||
| 2004 | "Los Angeles Is Burning" | 40 | — | — | — | — | — | 67 | The Empire Strikes First | |
| "The Empire Strikes First" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |||
| 2007 | "Honest Goodbye" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | New Maps of Hell | |
| "New Dark Ages" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |||
| 2010 | "The Devil in Stitches" | 39 | — | 38 | — | — | — | — | The Dissent of Man | |
| "Cyanide"[23] | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |||
| 2011 | "Wrong Way Kids" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2012 | "Fuck You" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | True North | |
| 2013 | "True North" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| "Father Christmas"[24] | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Non-album single | ||
| "—" denotes a release that did not chart. | ||||||||||
Live albums
| Year | Title | Peak chart positions | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AUT [7] |
FIN [8] |
GER [10] | |||||
| 1997 | Tested
|
49 | 25 | 74 | |||
| 2010 | 30 Years Live
|
— | — | — | |||
| "—" denotes a release that did not chart. | |||||||
Compilation albums
| Year | Title | FIN [8] |
|---|---|---|
| 1991 | 80-85
|
— |
| 1995 | All Ages
|
20 |
| 2002 | Punk Rock Songs
|
— |
Videos
| Year | Title |
|---|---|
| 1990 | Along the Way |
| 1991 | Big Bang
|
| 2000 | The Riot
|
| 2004 | Punk Rock Songs
|
| 2006 | Live at the Palladium
|
Music Videos
- Do What You Want (1988)
- Atomic Garden (1992) (Dir. Gore Verbinski)
- American Jesus (1993) (Dir. Gore Verbinski)
- Struck a Nerve (1993) (Dir. Darren Lavett)
- 21st Century (Digital Boy) (1994) (Dir. Gore Verbinski)
- Infected (1994) (Dir. Darren Lavett)
- Stranger Than Fiction (1994) (Dir. Gore Verbinksi)
- Incomplete (1995) (Dir. ???)
- A Walk (1996) (Dir. David Bragger)
- Punk Rock Song (1996) (Dir. David Bragger)
- The Streets of America (1996) (Dir. ???)
- Ten In 2010 (1996) (Dir. Francis Lawrence)
- Dream of Unity (1997) (Dir. ???)
- Raise Your Voice (1998) (Dir. Kai Sehr)
- New America (2000) (Dir. Evan Bernard)
- Sorrow (2001) (Dir. Boo!)
- Broken (2002) (Dir. ???)
- Los Angeles Is Burning (2004) (Dir. ???)
- New Dark Ages (2007) (Dir. ???)
- Honest Goodbye (2007) (Dir. Lex Halaby)
- Wrong Way Kids (2011) (Dir. ???)
- True North (2013) (Dir. Zach Merck)
References
- ↑ According to the booklet of the Live at the Palladium DVD, Bad Religion started in 1979 in Woodland Hills.
- ↑ Jo-Anne Greene (May 23, 1997). "Addicted to the Opiate of the Masses".
- ↑ "Bad Religion Chart Career High". Drew Beringer. January 30, 2013. Retrieved January 31, 2013.
- 1 2 3 4 "Bad Religion - Charts & Awards - Billboard Albums" allmusic. Retrieved on February 17, 2009.
- ↑ "Australian Album Charts Search for Bad Religion" Australian-Charts.com. Retrieved on February 17, 2009.
- ↑ "Chartifacts - Week Commencing: 4th October 2010". Australian Recording Industry Association. October 7, 2010. Archived from the original on October 7, 2010. Retrieved October 9, 2010.
- 1 2 "Austrian Album Charts Search for Bad Religion" Austriancharts.at. Retrieved on February 17, 2009.
- 1 2 3 "Finnish Album Charts Search for Bad Religion" FinnishCharts.com. Retrieved on February 17, 2009.
- ↑ "French Album Charts Search for The Bad Religion" LesCharts.com. Retrieved on February 17, 2009.
- 1 2 "German Album Charts" Musicline.de. Retrieved on February 17, 2009.
- ↑ "Dutch Album Charts Search for Bad Religion" DutchCharts.nl. Retrieved on February 17, 2009.
- ↑ "Swedish Album Charts Search for Bad Religion" SwedishCharts.com. Retrieved on February 17, 2009.
- ↑ "Swiss Album Charts Search for Bad Religion" HitParade.ch. Retrieved on February 17, 2009.
- 1 2 "Chart Log UK (1994–2006) The B – Ozric Tentacles" Zobbel. Retrieved on February 17, 2009.
- ↑ "How Could Hell Be Any Worse? | Discography | The Bad Religion Page - Since 1995". Thebrpage.net. 1981-01-06. Retrieved 2012-01-09.
- ↑ "Images for Bad Religion - Into The Unknown". Discogs.com. Retrieved 2012-01-09.
- ↑ "RIAA Database Search for Bad Religion" Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved on February 17, 2009.
- ↑ "Canadian certifications – Bad Religion". Music Canada.
- ↑ The Dissent of Man British chart position
- ↑ Finnish singles chart
- ↑ German singles chart
- ↑ Swedish singles chart
- ↑ "New Music From Bad Religion And Broken Bells; Muse’s ‘Undisclosed Desires’ Ascending On KROQ’s Most-Played List".
- ↑ http://www.altpress.com/reviews/entry/bad_religion_christmas_songs_ep
- ↑ "Bad Religion Official Site". Badreligion.com. Retrieved 2012-01-09.
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