Bad Religion: The Process of Belief

Bad Religion: The Process of Belief

2002

Epitaph Records

Format I own it on: Compact Disc

Track Listing: 1. Supersonic  2. Prove It  3. Can't Stop It  4. Broken  5. Destined For Nothing  6. Materialist  7. Kyoto Now!  8. Sorrow  9. Epiphany  10. Evangeline  11. The Defense  12. The Lie  13. You Don't Belong  14. Bored and Extremely Dangerous

Bad Religion's 12th album, and their return to Epitaph Records. Mr. Brett rejoins the band, yet they still retain his replacement Brian Baker,  which leaves them with a total of three guitarists...No matter which era you favor, Bad Religion is undeniably back on track here..This album strongly recalls past glories, alternating between "Stranger Than Fiction" pop-hardcore and "Suffer" style speed-balls... The band even found themselves back on the radio, with "Sorrow," which made you want to make a fist and sing along again...

And there's really no shortage of this type of material on here, I mean, check out "Kyoto Now!" That's prime B.R. that I'm hearing!  The tempos and performances are once again in the red, while maintaining the musicality and melodic touches they've acquired,and also add some new contours to their sound, so it's no mere throwback...For evidence, reference the sound collage that breaks up "Bored and Extremely Dangerous"  (That section apparently sets my friend Russ on edge...the ticking clocks and the alarm going off...) They also add dub reggae touches to the intro of "Sorrow."  I can't recall anything like that on their prior albums.

You know, I always hear the complaint that all Bad Religion albums are "exactly the same." I can't really agree with this, but it might just be due to the fact that I've spent so many years at this point listening to punk rock music and B.R.in particular. I think it might be the audio version of meeting  twins for the first time and not being able to tell them apart, but once you know them for awhile they don't seem to look alike at all anymore...I see certain parallels with their albums at times, but I don't think they've ever straight-up made the exact same album twice...there's always something to distinguish it if you give it some time...

The flip-side of this are Bad Religion fans I run into who say the band changes too much...I hear this all the time too... "Bad Religion used to be good but ever since 'Generator' or 'Recipe for Hate' or 'No Substance' or 'the Dissent of Man' they changed too much!"

 Can't please everyone I guess...

But I think that if there is a Bad Religion album that might please everyone it's "Process of Belief." My wife swears by this album, by the way...It's her favorite B.R. album and she's played it sooo many times that I know the whole thing inside and out just from second hand listening...I think playing it the few times I did to write this entry was probably one of the only times I put it on of my own volition. So guys,  next time you're at the record store pick up a copy of this for your wife, too...She just might like it...

 And hey, check out "Epiphany," where they totally borrow the opening bassline of "Stickin' In my Eye" by NOFX. Why is that?  I mean, it's so exact that it has to be on purpose...Is there some sort of subtext here that holds a deeper meaning? Are the reptilians already here?

Let's check out "Kyoto Now" by Bad Religion...Enjoy...