Album Rating: 3.5

A legit FLAC rip leaked, sounds magnificent.

Album Rating: 3.0

I'm listening for the second time and it's still not really grabbing me. I think I went into it expecting Recipe For Hate Pt. 2 and instead I've got watered down Process of Belief and it's causing issues.

Album Rating: 3.5

It's way too midtempo to be TPOB. It's more like a mix of Empire, RFH and The New America to me. It's definitely not as good as TPOB/TESF or the older records but it's solidly better than NMOH.

Album Rating: 3.0

The mid-tempo is where the "watered down" part comes from. Even Empire… was more energetic than this. The tempo isn't as much of an issue as the actual songs themselves. They've done great mid-tempo albums (Recipe for Hate, Generator, even The New America) and they worked because the band kind of adjusted to fit the song paces… this just feels like Process of Belief-style songs slowed down. I don't know, this was just my second listen.

Album Rating: 3.5

It's different, yeah. I can't say where it would go so far in the ranking. Probably in the upper middle. Also...I really enjoyed 'New Maps of Hell', I have no idea why others didn't (except the production was such that Greg's voice was ridiculously hard to hear).



The question becomes...will this be their last, or do you think they have one more in them?

Album Rating: 3.5

I think it's pretty clear that they still enjoy playing and making music, so who knows? I remember six years ago assuming TESF would be their last, but here we are two albums later. I saw them in 2006 for the second time and figured that'd be the last BR show for me. I've seen them three times since then.



I always wonder the same thing about NOFX, too.

Album Rating: 3.5

I can say now after third listen that I absolutely love first two tracks,Avalon and Ad Hominem,for me it's a mix of TESF,TPOB and a little New America so far..

Album Rating: 3.0

Awesome review, though I didn't like it as much as you did. Alot of the songs just seem to sound far too alike and don't really stand out as individual songs. Not bad by any means, just really average for a band like Bad Religion.

I've never actually listened to these guys - what would be a good starting point?

Album Rating: 3.5

^

Mine was The Gray Race and then Suffer.But I don't know,start with Suffer,No Control or Against The Grain.If you want something good and energetic from the newer releases jump to The Empire Strikes First.[don't mean like the others are crap]

Album Rating: 3.0

"Wrong Way Kids" sounds like a Goonies anthem and Meeting of The Minds sounds like "Germs of Perfection". Good songs none the less

Album Rating: 3.5

It's Wrong Way Keeeeeeeeeeeeds get it right



Go in order tbh but start at Suffer, the band DID actually change and evolve a quite a bit since their inception. Their most accessible records are their newer stuff, with TPOB and TESF being the strongest.



@Willie IDK man, there's a lot going on in the background compared to most Bad Religion records which really contributes to the musical aspect for me. I dig that the three-guitar attack is really, really the best it's ever been by a mile because all their newer records REALLY don't take advantage of their contrasting styles. That's partially because Brian Baker usually tracks about 80% of the guitars on every BR record but it sounds like everyone is playing their own parts here (compare say, Gurewitz's sloppy, blues/avant-garde style, Hetson's distinct rhythm playing, and Baker's cutting, flashier leads). Do you have a good quality rip or the original leak (ass 160kbps)? A lossless would sound a LOT better =D



I also just like the fact that Greg Graffin really dominated the album from a quality standpoint, which almost never happens ever, plus he turned in his hands-down best vocal performance of the post-2000 BR. Even if individually Only Rain, The Devil In Stitches and Cyanide are arguably the better from writer's/lyrical standpoint, Graffin's got Avalon, The Resist Stance, TDTTES, Ad Hominem, Pride And The Pallor and Meeting Of The Minds which are all good/great to fantastic. As a whole I think more than most of their catalog BR wanted the music to do the talking on this record as opposed to simply being the accompaniment to Graffin and the band's vocal harmonies, i.e., business as usual. They already have eight other fast records I can listen to. This is what The New America should have been IMO.

yo iz dat mastur chief on da cova?

Album Rating: 3.5

its ur dad with master cheif's helmet on tripping nutsack on mescaline you should prolly talk to him about that

Album Rating: 3.0

@Willie IDK man, there's a lot going on in the background compared to most Bad Religion records which really contributes to the musical aspect for me. I dig that the three-guitar attack is really, really the best it's ever been by a mile because all their newer records REALLY don't take advantage of their contrasting styles. That's partially because Brian Baker usually tracks about 80% of the guitars on every BR record but it sounds like everyone is playing their own parts here (compare say, Gurewitz's sloppy, blues/avant-garde style, Hetson's distinct rhythm playing, and Baker's cutting, flashier leads). Do you have a good quality rip or the original leak (ass 160kbps)? A lossless would sound a LOT better =D



I also just like the fact that Greg Graffin really dominated the album from a quality standpoint, which almost never happens ever, plus he turned in his hands-down best vocal performance of the post-2000 BR. Even if individually Only Rain, The Devil In Stitches and Cyanide are arguably the better from writer's/lyrical standpoint, Graffin's got Avalon, The Resist Stance, TDTTES, Ad Hominem, Pride And The Pallor and Meeting Of The Minds which are all good/great to fantastic. As a whole I think more than most of their catalog BR wanted the music to do the talking on this record as opposed to simply being the accompaniment to Graffin and the band's vocal harmonies, i.e., business as usual. They already have eight other fast records I can listen to. This is what The New America should have been IMO.

Album Rating: 3.5

Email me (strizzmatik@yahoo.com), I'll hook you up.

Album Rating: 3.5

I'm with you on this so far Willie. It is solid, but their seems to be less energy all around. Greg seems to branch out, but it honestly doesn't really grab me or even impress. There are still some excellent tracks on here and I seem to be leaning towards a 3.5/5 after a few listens.

3.5 out of 5 for me.

If the album was 14 song's like Graffin's combined with Brett's Only Rain, you would have one of the greatest BR albums of all time.

The three main things that prevent this album from being truly great from my perspective are as follows:

1. Gurewitz and Graffin are off writing two totally distinct sounds, and then attempting to converge those sounds into one album. It just doesn't come off well. I don't understand it, really. Its almost as if some sort of communication breakdown occurred. Graffin was off writing some great (if somewhat standard) BR punk rock and harmony laden stuff, while Mr. Brett was off doing...well...I don't even know. Trying something new I guess. Which is fine, except his songs on the album just aren't really that good. At all.

2. From a pacing standpoint, the album is a total disaster. The last third of the album is almost totally filler, and doesn't fit with the rest of the album. Some of the slower songs probably should have been put in the middle instead of just chunked. Its almost as if when I listen to the album I want to pretend like the last third doesn't even exist. I almost just want to reburn the album without the last third included. Not good.

3. This brings me to my final point, which is that the album really should have been twelve songs long, with "Turn your back on me", "Where the fun is" and "Ad Hominem" left on the cutting room floor. Ad Hominem is really the only Greg Graffin dud on this album. The lyrics are just so, so dull. The song has been done before, by Bad Religion. It was called "Feed them War". And it stomps all over Ad Hominem's nut sack. To me, Ad Hominem is the "My Computer" of Dissent (albeit on a smaller and far less irritating scale).

Overall, I do enjoy the album. The Pride and the Pallor and Only Rain are two of the best songs Bad Religion have ever written. Those two alone certainly make the album worth buying. But this album could have been great, and it isn't.

Album Rating: 3.5

Dude... what? Ad Hominem literally sounds NOTHING like the song you mentioned (and btw it's "Let Them Eat War"). And comparing it to I Love My Computer? FFS it's not THAT bad, the melody/harmonies are pretty top-notch. If anything it's a rewrite of Watch It Die, being that it's got the same exact tempo and chord progressions. And who cares about the lyrics really? BR write some great lines here and there but they get really cheesy too, and they've been saying pretty much the same thing for the last thirty years anyways.



If you listen to some of Brett's Daredevils material (and acknowledge his unabashed love for Bruce Springsteen/Tom Petty/Neil Young) the mid-tempo stuff would make a lot more sense, but then again they've ALWAYS had mid-tempo songs on every album so IDK why it's so surprising. I agree that Brett dropped the ball a bit on this record and that both Where The Fun Is and Turn Your Back On Me should have been b-sides at best, but I think Graffin saved it pretty handily. And if the album isn't great, why did you give it a 3.5 (which designates "great") albums. Your opinion reads more like a 2.5/3 tbh.



I definitely wouldn't put Pride And The Pallor up there with Only Rain. I wouldn't even put it in the top 50 BR songs really, but hey, fucking opinions how do they work???

This didn't impress me. A lot of the lyrics are fun and clever at times, but overall they don't really bring anything new or different musically. It's a solid 3, a 3.5 is a bit of a stretch.

Not enough harmonies. Certainly better than New Maps of Hell. Not as good as Empire Strikes First. That was fun. This is kind of boring at times.