|
Review Navigator   FeaturesContestsReviews
| Bad ReligionNew Maps of Hell2007 Epitaph 
  Review by: GlassPipeMurder See others by this writer ![[staff]](/images/icons/staffsticker.gif){kind=icon}
Official website (link) Only registered users can post comments 
 
Published on July 10th 2007 Since the distinguished rockers of Tenacious D received an unexpected shout-out in the liner notes of New Maps of Hell, it's only appropriate that the legendary rock of Bad Religion receive the same beaming introduction as bestowed upon the D by Paul F. Tompkins in "The Pick of Destiny": This next band asked me not to read this…but goddamnit, I'm going to read it anyway, because I wrote it, and it's the truth: I fucking love this band. They are the best band ever, PERIOD. Ladies and gentleman…Bad Religion has done it again. With an excessive amount of members. With an ill-received single. And with twelve stylistically similar albums already under their belt. Bad Religion has redefined themselves once again with a crushing wall of sound approach incorporated into the band's legendary command of precision skatepunk. When Bad Religion regained founding guitarist Brett Gurewitz for 2002's The Process of Belief, the resulting three-guitar attack opened new possibilities that began to reach fruition with songs like "Sinister Rouge" from 2004's The Empire Strikes First that took advantage of the five layers of instruments and opulence of background vocals. With New Maps of Hell, the songs hit hard, and at no loss of pace, but they also manufacture a sonic depth to match the epochal lyricism of Greg Graffin. Don't let Dr. Graffin's PhD fool you -- the unrelenting assaults on hegemonic preemption, predominance of religion on society, and the glorification of a culture of war are as scathing and merciless as ever, with a delivery that bears no mark of a band 25 years into their existence. Even "Requiem for Dissent," which hilariously features God-fearing scenesters Vanna, remains untarnished, held up by Graffin's eloquently pissed contempt: "The sanctimonious minions how they grovel at the feet / Authority is populist deceit / Pity yet another casualty's demoralized decline / Just a victim of irrational design." The fuzzy, sauntering "Honest Goodbye" had many scratching their heads after falling into heavy rotation at KROQ, but it makes more sense on New Maps of Hell, sandwiched between "Before You Die" and "Dearly Beloved." The trademark melodic skatepunk Bad Religion pioneered in Suffer hasn't lost a thing, appearing in prime form with songs like "Scrutiny" and the minute-and-25-second "Heroes and Martyrs." Slower, bouncy rhythms on "Submission Complete" and "Before You Die" allow Graffin to harness some of the catchiest hooks on the record, while the album opener "52 Seconds" sears by at Bad Religions' most ferocious. The dedication and drive of Bad Religion, a legendary band now 27-years-old, is unmatched in nearly all of rock music. While many veteran acts are content to wallow in their glory days, rehashing tired sounds and playing the same predictable crowd-pleasers to naive fans, Bad Religion continues to challenge themselves, revamping and redefining their sound without straying into the unknown. New Maps of Hell is a perfect example, and amazingly, some of the band's finest work yet. People who liked this also liked:           Please login or register to post comments. What are the benefits of having a Punknews.org account?
"Firstly, I'm a hug bad reoligion fan and have been since I first heard them in the early ninties. probably my least favorite bad religion album. i can't stand the production on this record. "Posted by TardytotheParty on 2007-07-12 13:20:57 This album's pretty kick ass, fast and very punk "It sounds like everything else they've done." this album is awesome!! love every song. except maybe the more boring rock numbers near the end. This is a decent album at best. It sounds like everything else they've done. There's nothing new or extraordinary; it's just decent. Personally, I think New Wavew beats it by a mile. Good review, but there's one thing that bugs me: Brett writes the lyrics too. You seem to only be giving credit to one songwriter/lyricist. After The Empire and Process, this album just seems so bland and boring. yawn! can i have an order of the usual This is the best punk band...ever. love this album, better than Empire but not quite as good as Process god isn't this typical they don't need to release an album to have good reviews. it's like a band for the cool punk kids. i like bad religion but nothing pasted gray race after that repeats. i'll still give it a listen and maybe change my opinion about their recent efforts but def not going for the bad religion trend " even a fan of this band has to realize that they've changed absolutely nothing in their sound since, "the New America." Whoops: Meant "Germs Of Perfection," not "Germs And Perfection." My bad. I listened to this all weekend and feel like I can properly critique it now. It's definitely a fast-paced, enjoyable listen and the great songs are REALLY great, but there's a good chunk in the album's second half that just glide by (tracks 13-15 especially). " even a fan of this band has to realize that they've changed absolutely nothing in their sound since, "the New America." So Mr. Brett's grand return affects the Production. Gotcha. If I want to know about "Wall(s) of Sound" I'll check out some Phil Spector. misterspike- "wall of sound" is how this album was promoted. if u listen on headphones it's a thicker, deeper sound than before. Fantastic. One of the best BR albums ever. When Bad Religion regained founding guitarist Brett Gurewitz for 2002's The Process of Belief, the resulting three-guitar attack opened new possibilities that began to reach fruition with songs like "Sinister Rouge" from 2004's The Empire Strikes First that took advantage of the five layers of instruments and opulence of background vocals. @strewtho: I love Lost Pilgrim, but am less fond of "Murder". It's growing on me rather quickly, however. This album is good as the new Against Me! is bad. I guess that means New Wave gets a 3. Just a question to those who think theres filler on this album, which songs do you consider filler? I do consider this to be one of the best and most consistent albums of the last decade.....so YES.....by all means this is within the top 3 Bad Religion albums. "Posted by TardytotheParty on 2007-07-12 13:20:57 Dude, this is the worst bad religion shit i've heard, respectable that they made another album and tour, but it sucks. and yes I am a "hug" BR fan. Firstly, I'm a hug bad reoligion fan and have been since I first heard them in the early ninties. saw bad religion on the day this came out. they did not disappoint. and it was FREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE muhahahahaha Let me try that again: Bad Religion > Eddie Murphy's solo career > Against Me! Not only is it my favorite BR album (and to-date, I couldn't decide on one at all), I would argue that it is easily on of the best punk rock album of the last 15 years. It's brutal and intense, poingiant and intelligent. Begining to end, this album is astounding. BR rocks hard at times and I respect them a lot but once a friend heard me listening to some BR (sorrow?) and said it sounded like Great Big Sea... fellow Canadians I'm sure you can understand how unsettling that is. That about sums up my thoughts on BR. Prodigal Son's chorus is out of this world! "Don't let Dr. Graffin's PhD fool you " Best Bad Religion records: Wow.... ties the Nightwatchman for release of the year, simply outstanding. There is not a weak song on the CD, it flows from track to track superbly. I had some misgivings about it before it was released, especially with Honest Goodbye, but in the context of the album the song is fantastic. Lyrically Graffin does it again, truly some of the best lyrics (if not hands down that best) being written now period. This is easily the best Bad Religion release out of the 3 recent Epitaph albums.....I liked TESF alot but I thought it lost some steam towards the end (although the last track is cool) and TPOB was great but I don't think it can hold up to the brilliance of New Maps Of Hell. This album is easily up there with Suffer, No Control and Against The Grain.....an equal to those (if not better) in my opinion. There isn't a single song on this record that I don't love. I don't know what it is about this album. More than any other release I've witnessed in a long time, there is an enormous discrepancy in the response from listeners. I think it's one of the best punk albums of the decade, whereas people, long time Bad Religion fans included, think it's garbage. I guess it's just one of those albums. I'm not going to be angry with anyone for disliking this album, but I'm still surprised by some of the negative things I've heard said about it. Great, dark album, and the new Gogol Bordello is fantastic as well. THIS got a better review than the new Against Me! ? This album is better than great. "so if 1/2 of 1 band "rocked this hard" we'd be in a better place?" This is much better than The Empire Strikes First...that album was so bland I could never get through it in one listen. Not as good as Process of Belief but a close second. Kick ass! Anybody know the story behind "Lost Pilgrim". One of Bad Religion's top friends is this "Pilgrim" whose heroes include Donald Rumsfeld and John McCain: http://www.myspace.com/pilgrimdoss "If half as many new, young, fresh bands rocked this hard we'd all be in a better place." fucking incredible album. im so stoked about it. "Against the Grain 10/10, No Control 10/10, Suffer 9.5/10, TPOB 9.5/10, Generator 9.5/10, New Maps 9/10, TESF 9/10, Stranger than Fiction 9/10, Recipe For Hate 9/10, The Gray Race 8/10, HCHBAW 8/10, New America 6.5/10, No Substance 6/10 and Into the Unknown 5/10 This just might be their best album yet. Hard to tell at such an early stage. Amazing, this band just never stops. ""Why the fuck are some of these people hating on BR! The album's great." who said punk rock was about individuality and thinking for yourself? certainly not bad religion superfans posting on punknews! oh the fucking irony. "Why the fuck are some of these people hating on BR! The album's great." Why the fuck are some of these people hating on BR! The album's great. Much better than I expected. I was not going to buy the album until I read all of the positive feedback. I wasn't really a big fan of "The Empire Strikes First" and had kind of stopped caring, because in my opinion, that album lacked energy. Still, I am not going to say this is one of their finest works, bu this is a solid Bad Religion album which is more than I ever expected. Anyone who doesn't like this is a poo poo head! The first band I liked in my life is still great. This band is for me the only reason to listen to Music. Bad Religion is the best Punk-Rock (More talented than punk-rock bands, it's not really punk-rock anymore.) band ever... Musically it depends on your tastes, but lyrically, it's the best. Fuckin Excellent!! Good fuckin job guys, I can't wait for the club tour in the fall! Against the Grain 10/10, No Control 10/10, Suffer 9.5/10, TPOB 9.5/10, Generator 9.5/10, New Maps 9/10, TESF 9/10, Stranger than Fiction 9/10, Recipe For Hate 9/10, The Gray Race 8/10, HCHBAW 8/10, New America 6.5/10, No Substance 6/10 and Into the Unknown 5/10 "god you guys are fucking pitiful. bad religion releases a shit release and you still worship it." bad religion is my favorite band, but i am not one to be blinded by their glory. they've put out some pretty mediocre albums in the past, but this one is just awesome. there is no filler in here. they put a lot into each song and it makes a great album. great job guys. Greg Graffin's oft-mentioned doctorate does not save his band from boring the living shit out of me. god you guys are fucking pitiful. bad religion releases a shit release and you still worship it. Great fucking album. Guys are in their 40s and rocking harder and better than most of the bullshit out today. This album is really great. Some of you people must be smoking crack......this album is amazing. "4.5/5? Haha, let's get realistic here. There were maybe 2 good songs, the rest subpar at best. Only this site would give this album a near perfect score. That's like Rolling Stone giving anyone their friends with good reviews" Nice "Into the unknown" pun. Snooze. Then again, I've never been a big BR fan. Each album seems to have 1-2 great songs and the rest are mediocre at best. 4.5/5? Haha, let's get realistic here. There were maybe 2 good songs, the rest subpar at best. Only this site would give this album a near perfect score. That's like Rolling Stone giving anyone their friends with good reviews. whoa this is like every bad religion album in one!!!!new dark ages kicks some god damn ass! Good album, but it doesn't seem to be quite as good to me as their last few albums. I'll probably end up liking it when I listen to it a bit more. this album is approved. very good. sweet mother of god, this album is amazing! Holy fried arseholes, this is amazing! The only song I'm not really floored by is "Murder". Everything else is stunning. Great BR release!!! I don't understand how anyone can't like this album. unless of coarse, you don't like bad religion - in which case why would you dicide to listen to this album? there's some fantastic songs here (New Dark Ages, Grains of Wrath, Scrutiny, Heroes and Martyrs) but there's a lot of ho-hum been there, done that. hardly redefining or reinventing. enjoyable? catchy? sure. it's standard bad religion. it's hard for me to not find at least something i like about each song and i'm liking it more and more since the first time i heard it. but it seems like they're running out of ideas and riffs. this isn't a landmark record by a longshot. it doesn't have the longevity of a no control, against the grain, or even a process of belief, simple as that. This is a good album but I think Glasspipemurder is way too generous in handing out stars. Start looking beyond punk and ska music (or at least reviewing more random albums) and maybe you'll see that in the context of music as a whole, that some of these albums you praise don't deserve so many stars. I'm not calling 'pipe out, I'm just saying review these albums as if you're not into punk at all, be more objective, like the Against Me review, its not about the bullshit, its about the substance of the music. not as polished as TESF, but raw and a great cut through all their albums, a lot of riffs that remind people of older albums, even from no substance. having finished this "homage" and looking back , i cant wait for their next album. Their best album since well Process of Belief. What's funny is I am hearing prise for their last album "Empire Strikes First" which i thought to be a huge step back following Process of Belief. I've heard the leak, and it sounds like your standard Bad Religion album. Nothing more, nothing less. 3 good albums in a row. bad religion are definitely back in their prime. I haven't liked them this much since i bought Suffer :) This record seems to be getting crap just because it was released on the same day as the orgcore band Against Me's new record. The one thing that has always drawn me to this band is Greg Graffin's ablility to rip apart modern society song after song. He is probably the most politicaly aware song writer of today. While the comments that state "the sound has never changed since the late 80's" are partially true, they never dumb down the lyrics, which are their strength. And the guitar solos on here aren't bad either. Best album of theirs since "Generator" in my opiinion. This is a landmark album from one of the greatest bands of all time.....plain and simple. Every song is great and 90% of them rank up with Bad Religion's all time best. I cannot think of how this album could have been any better. this album isn't any good. it's like a rehash of process of belief which was a rehash of stranger than fiction and this time around, it's stale. with process, it was refreshing to hear that sound that was lost when brett left the band. this time around, it just sounds like they gave up on writing and just re-hashed the same songs. i'd much rather the broadness of the empire strikes first over this rotted, stale piece of shit. Everything the new Against Me! should have been. great record. maybe a little exagerated review, but everyone's entitled to an opinion Goddammit...bad religion could all take a collective shit, put it on a plate and release it and it would garner 4 or 5 stars at this site...then shoot to a week later when the songs have already grown stale and everyone hates them again. "where a band like against me! tries something new..." bad religion is still amazing. I've listened to most of the album now, and while it's a good punk album, it's nothing groundbreaking. If you like Bad Religion's last couple albums, you'll like this one. I enjoy the album but a 9 seems a bit high for it. woops, wasn't logged in. after listening to this i have no choice but to agree with scott: i have no idea what is wrong with you people. hahahah love the Pick of Destiny reference at the beginning. that guy is hilarious. Did someone reverse the scores of this and New Wave? Because I could have sworn that album was awesome and this album was a rehashed mess of poorly written versions of old songs. I've listened to this album non-stop since it has leaked and I'm planning to go to the store and buy this CD very soon... not the best bad religion album but still SOOO GOOOD!!! I can't believe Against Me! got two stars and this got four and a half. SO so so damn good seriously? a nine? Bad Religion > Eddie Murphy's solo career > Against Me! I can't believe that this ONLY got 4 1/2 stars either Scotty! Very good album – way better than The Empire Strikes First (and also way better than against me, but that's obvious.) I can't believe Against Me! got two stars and this got four and a half. There's only two songs on this I don't love. absolutely awesome. been listening to it no stop since it leaked and it just gets better and better.... this is vastly superior to the last record and on par with process of belief. i like learning big words from bad religion, but i haven't been the least bit interested in hearing new music from them since "the grey race" (with the exception of the big non-comeback that was "process of belief"). I've liked all the Post-"Process" records as a whole better than the old BR records. Sure, the old ones have better songs, but they make better RECORDS now. at first i was thinking this was just ok. after having it a few weeks, i think it may be in the top 5 albums of theirs. "Album reviews, while articulate, are getting a little predictable GlassPipe" More like Brad Religion. The rebel frat boys like to drop this band name in between The Used and Dylan. arent there supposed to be blackhawks on there somewhere? it is pretty dang amazing Bad Religion can be this good after 25 years...not too many early 80's bands still have i t. predictable in what way? Album reviews, while articulate, are getting a little predictable GlassPipe "elephantdwarf has the shittiest taste out of any 'org poster. score is for bad religion." I'll download this album just so I know the new shit when I see them at Warped. Holy shit this is an amazing cd. And yeah, I'm going to have to agree with the few people and say that this is one of my favorite BR cds ever. elephantdwarf has the shittiest taste out of any 'org poster. score is for bad religion. see score. Very good album, but far from being the most precious jewl in their crown there is no problem with this record. I fucking love this record....and although I am bound to be attacked for saying this......but this is my favorite Bad Religion album. I've been listening to it almost non-stop for 3 weeks now and it never has a dull moment.....it features all of their strengths and none of their weaknesses. Bravo indeed! I know it leaked, I know they streamed it, but I'll be damned if I hear this album without the cd booklet in front of me. Bad Religion and Black Flag were the two bands that got me into punk. This is a good album, but too much filler. The track sequencing is also a tad bizarre. If they had cut it to say, 11 or 12 songs it would be a very solid album. just from listening to it all the way through once i can tell this album is epic. Bad Religion has done it again, and have proven why they are the best punk band ever. Great Album, I really didn't want to enjoy it as much as I do Easily one of their best. Good job on the review. I'm not really a BR fan but I can't stop listening to this record. Yeah, because Bad Religion has never put out any bad albums/EPs... I like both CDs, but it's kind of sad/amazing that Bad Religion can create one of their best CDs, after 12 full lengths, while Against Me! can't even make one of their best after 3 CDs. I love what I've heard, and it's only gonna grow on me even more. |
