Bad Religion - The Empire Strikes First
It's hard to imagine a political punk band staying relevant for 20+ years but it's even harder to imagine one that's able to churn out an album that shames their younger peers both musically
and lyrically. While most pop punk bands are whining about their girlfriends over too sugary choruses, Bad Religion is keeping true to their anti-establishment hardcore roots with biting social commentaries wrapped in fast paced melodic punk rock. This is even more impressive given that, short of NOFX's recent work, Bad Religion is almost single handedly keeping this type
of punk rock alive. Where the 80's had legions of these types of bands railing against Reagan it seems as if almost no one cares anymore so it makes albums like this even more special.
As for "The Empire Strikes First", this is the second album with Mr. Brett back in the fold and it really shows. Greg Graffin has written many great BR songs but the majority of the classics were written by Mr. Brett. His style is more melodic and aggressive, the pillars of BR's sound, than Graffin so those three albums they had without him are in my opinion the weakest of the bunch. Even more so than the previous "The Process Of Belief", the songwriting here is punchy and catchy and, if not quite up to snuff with their earlier work, at least on par with their middle period albums like "Stranger Than Fiction".
Bad Religion has always been overtly political but this album seems especially pointed with the title track being an obvious reference to George Bush's preemptive strike against Iraq (as well as a nice nod to the best Star Wars flick!) Not content to stop with just one anti-Administration song, there's the scorching anti-war/poverty song titled "Let Them Eat War" which is even more poignant in the wake of the Katrina disaster. Of course no good BR album is without the classic anti-religion song and there's some great ones here, especially the blazing "God's Love". To round it off there's some Decline of Western Civilization type numbers with the insanely catchy "Los Angeles Is Burning" being the best of the bunch.
The album does drag a little at the end as most of the fast paced numbers are front loaded but this a minor gripe for an otherwise stellar album for these guys. Long time fans who may have written them off after their shaky Mr. Brett-less years should welcome this album with open arms.
As for "The Empire Strikes First", this is the second album with Mr. Brett back in the fold and it really shows. Greg Graffin has written many great BR songs but the majority of the classics were written by Mr. Brett. His style is more melodic and aggressive, the pillars of BR's sound, than Graffin so those three albums they had without him are in my opinion the weakest of the bunch. Even more so than the previous "The Process Of Belief", the songwriting here is punchy and catchy and, if not quite up to snuff with their earlier work, at least on par with their middle period albums like "Stranger Than Fiction".
Bad Religion has always been overtly political but this album seems especially pointed with the title track being an obvious reference to George Bush's preemptive strike against Iraq (as well as a nice nod to the best Star Wars flick!) Not content to stop with just one anti-Administration song, there's the scorching anti-war/poverty song titled "Let Them Eat War" which is even more poignant in the wake of the Katrina disaster. Of course no good BR album is without the classic anti-religion song and there's some great ones here, especially the blazing "God's Love". To round it off there's some Decline of Western Civilization type numbers with the insanely catchy "Los Angeles Is Burning" being the best of the bunch.
The album does drag a little at the end as most of the fast paced numbers are front loaded but this a minor gripe for an otherwise stellar album for these guys. Long time fans who may have written them off after their shaky Mr. Brett-less years should welcome this album with open arms.
