Let's face it, as the mid eighties became the late eighties the american punk scene was filled with loud, fast, but not so talented bands. Sure, there were some exceptions, but most of the new bands were pretty brutal at the time... enter the return of Bad Religion.

After 1982's "How Can Hell...", Bad Religion's production slowed dramatically, by 1985, the band was essentially inactive. In 1987, the four original members, plus Circle Jerk's Greg Heston, decided to have another go at the punk rock thing. The results have essentially changed punk rock music forever.

From the first power chord to the last, it becomes quite evident that this is a changed band. Gone is the screaming, grainy voice of a young Greg Graffin, it has evolved into a much more melodic sounding voice suplemented by ridiculously good harmonies. What makes this album so good is that the vocals and musical skill have increased since their debut, but the raw punk energy is still there. Some may say mixing skill with punk results in poppy sounding garbage (Blink 182 ring a bell?), but for BR, this just isn't the case.

Song for song, this album is solid, there are alot of great songs, and some that are just good, but there isnt a single song that you will want to skip. This is something that can't be said for the majority of records, most have at least one or two complete duds.

Based on the overalll strength of the album, and its lasting influence on punk rock, I can't give Suffer anything less than a perfect score.