Bad Religion is band from the United States, which specializes, in hardcore punk and rock music. The band led the resurgence of punk rock in America during the late 1980s and went on to influence several rock musicians of the times. Its music is notable for the sophisticated use of vocal harmonies and the lyrics often include comment on socio-political situations.
The band Bad Religion was formed in 1980 in Southern California. Among its founding members were Greg Graffin on vocals, Jay Bentley on bass, Jay Ziscrout on drums and Bret Gurewitz on guitar. Over the years the band went through numerous changes in its line up and since its birth Greg Graffin has been the only constant member. In 1994 Bret Gurewitz left the band which resulted in a drop in popularity as well as record sales. Gurewitz rejoined in 2001 and has been part of the band ever since.
In 1981 Bad Religion came up with their fist self-titled EP and next year saw the release of the bands debut full-length album titled How Could Hell be Any Worse. The album proved to a moderate success and established a niche audience. However, the next album Into the Unknown performed poorly and quietly went out of print. After the release of the EP titled Back to the Know, the band members went their own ways for a short while.
In 1986 original members like Jay Bentley and Greg Graffin came together and even brought back Bret Gurewitz and thus with two other new members, Bad Religion was once again ready to make music. In 1988 came their path-breaking popular album, Suffer which revived the punk rock scene in Southern California. Other albums like No Control, Against the Grain and Generator followed all of which found favor with fans.
In the mid-1990s Bad Religion experienced its greatest commercial success with the release of albums like Recipe for Hate and Stranger than Fiction. The latter proved to be the bands most popular album and included hits like Infected and 21st Century (Digital Boy). However tensions among the band members continued and in 1994 Gurewitz left the band.
In 2001 Gurewitz came back to the band which resulted in Bad Religion regaining its earlier form. the albums which followed were The Process of Belief (2002), The Empire Strikes First (2004) and most recently New Maps of Hell (2007). Currently the band is engaged in tours and concerts in support of their latest album.
Bad Religion
