line of site

Bad religion the empire strikes first

the empire strikes first is no better or no worse than your average bad religion album. Yes, that’s right: it sounds pretty much like every other bad religion album in the last twenty years. Which is quite amazing if you think about it. I’m not suggesting bad religion hang up the shoes; it’s good to have some things always stay constant in your life. It gives you something to hang onto. Something you can always be sure of

What is also amazing, is that while bad religion’s music pretty much stays the same, what they sing about also stays the same, which is amazing because the world has changed a lot in twenty years, and for a left coast, left wing band like bad religion, they can still sing the same old tune about social inequity, lack of justice, and how technology is spoiling the youth of america no matter which president is in office. I guess that’s their point; the government doesn’t work no matter who is in control. Fine. I can empathize with that; one of the reasons I never registered to vote until about two weeks ago was because there just was never a candidate bad enough to vote against since I was eighteen.

Yeah, don’t expect any keyboards, or blues riffs sneaking into the empire strikes first - although maybe there’s a few more guitar solos than we come to expect, and what is almost a rap snuck into the bridge of “let them eat war,” you can still name that band in one note. it’s dual guitar, bass, drums, greg gaffin singing, and backing vocals that NOFX likes to make fun of. Nothing for the greatest hits collection, either...this is a pot boiler to keep the fans happy. Fans like me.

[buy at amazon]