Search - Bad Religion :: New America

At Least This Would End The Slump

LeftManOut | TheCityThatNeverSleeps, FL | 03/17/2006

(2 out of 5 stars)

"Probably being Bad Religion's most controversial release of their career, "The New America" is the album that almost put the nail in the group's coffin. Honestly I've listened to this album hundreds of times. I've tried to give it every possible chance I could to somehow see the genius in it, just like I've done for "The Grey Race" and "No Substance". But no matter how many times I listen to this album, I still arrive at the same conclusion; This is by far Bad Religion's worst release. Now before going off and getting upset, there's plenty of legitimate and justifiable reasons as to why this album is bad. For a band of this standard (probably one of the greatest, if not the greatest, punk bands of modern music) this album is just not up to par. Although I give them plenty of credit for releasing this (hey it had been 19 years since they had put out their first album "How Could Hell Be Any Worse?"), there's no way I can honestly say that this sounds like it should have come from an amazing band like Bad Religion.



A brief history note first:

Bad Religion's career can basically be separated into four distinct eras. First there is their beginning which housed anything they released before their brief breakup and then reuniting (anything that was released before "Suffer"). Next there is their prime, which saw them release a string of unbelievably good releases ("Suffer", "No Control", "Against The Grain", "Generator" and "Recipe For Hate"). Following you have their post-Brett period which showcased three below-average-for-this-band quality albums ("The Grey Race", "No Substance" and this record "The New America"), and finally the current era which now has them reunited with Brett and has seen two great pieces of music ("The Process Of Belief" and "The Empire Strikes First"). Of course there are albums which fall out of these four respected divisions (Their compilations and various EPs and "Stranger Than Fiction" which was their transition album from "Recipe For Hate" (prime era) to "The Grey Race" (not so good era)).



"The New America" was the last of three mediocre albums from Bad Religion. Compared to anything the band put out in their "Suffer" era, this album feels totally recycled and contrived. The songs themselves hold no real substance and seem to drag on much past their relevance, even when they're only three minutes. I swore I heard better versions of these songs on previous releases. For a band which was known for great guitar solos, powerful melodies and insightful lyrics, you'd never guess it. While there are a few good tracks ("You've Got A Chance", "1000 Memories" and "Don't Sell Me Short"), most everything here is slow and boring. The passion that embodied previous releases is all but gone, and for sake of sounding over-critical the band really does sound like they were ready to throw in the towel. In the past Bad Religion were known prominently for their distinct political messages and views on free-thinking and religion, but this time around the lyrics are all but stale (and of considerably lesser quality than anything written previously). Not to mention Greg seems terribly uninterested in singing them. His voice used to have a certain presence to it, but now it just feels like he's going through the motions (much like the rest of the band), almost like "ok let's do another album, here's my vocals". Look at "Whisper In Time" or the god awful "I Love My Computer" and try to tell me different. Also there's a terrible use of the backing vocals that have always made Bad Religion's music so great.



There are plenty of reasons which could be attributed to why these things make this album bad. One could argue Bad Religion had simply run out of ideas, and no longer possessed the same intensity and passion for writing music that they did on their earlier releases. However the following record "Process of Belief" totally destroys that theory. It could also be said that the label (Atlantic) had a hand in this and changed the band's sound. Too bad they were dropped shortly after this record hit the shelves. The simplest explanation was simply that they were in a slump after parting ways with Brett (who left the band to manage his record label Epitaph primarily). If you look at their last album with Brett, "Stranger Than Fiction" and their first one after reuniting with him, "The Process Of Belief", this seems to be the most logical explanation. The three albums that fell in between these two releases are anything but memorable and show just how much the band suffered from Brett's departure.



Now I understand that Bad Religion are no longer in this slump (just listen to "Process Of Belief"), but that doesn't make this album any better. "The New America" is totally forgettable, and almost laughable at times. Not laughing in the good way though, laughing in the way that you can't believe you spent money on it. Aside from the 3 or 4 good songs, you have an album more or less compiled of "No Substance" and "The Grey Race" b-sides (or so it feels like) and that's not a good thing. Even if I had never heard another Bad Religion release, I still wouldn't change my view on this record. Boring music is boring music. Period. While I have the utmost respect for this band and what they do, and they still are one of my highest regarded and favorite groups, "The New America" is simply not up to standards. If you are looking for something from these guys, check out anything from "Suffer" to "Recipe For Hate" first. If you must, sample "The New America" sparingly. While it may not be anything to write home about, at least it paved the way for Bad Religion to return back to Epitaph and release the phenomenal "Process Of Belief". For that reason I guess it serves some purpose. Otherwise avoid."