How Could Hell Be Any Worse? [Original recording remastered]

Bad Religion | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (April 6, 2004)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Original recording remastered
• Label: Epitaph / Ada
• ASIN: B0001JXP7U
• Also Available in: Vinyl
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #74,045 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. We're Only Gonna Die

2. Latch Key Kids

3. Part III

4. Faith in God

5. Fuck Armageddon, This is Hell

6. Pity

7. In the Night

8. Damned to be Free

9. White Trash (2nd Generation)

10. American Dream

11. Eat Your Dog

12. Voice of God is Government

13. Oligarchy

14. Doing Time

15. Bad Religion

16. Politics

17. Sensory Overload

18. Slaves

19. Drastic Actions

20. World War III

Editorial Reviews

This digitally re-mastered version of "How Could Hell Be Any Worse?" is taking place of the "80-85" album which is now out ...see site for more info.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I've got the answer to the title- if this didn't exist., April 29, 2006

By 

Mage Brmarlin, Pixelante "-Signitures shall n... (Where I Live) - See all my reviews

This review is from: How Could Hell Be Any Worse? (Audio CD)

Into the Unknown would have been nice here as well, but I'll just review the compilation that there is here. Each song blows me away, with catchy hooks, stabby claws, and Greg Graffin's voice delivers perfectly, while Brett, Jay Bentley, Pete Finestone and Jay Ziskrout throw out a set of blazingly incredibly fast yet melodic songs.

And that's just for the first 14 songs.

The version of the 1st EP they have here is great - although now because of the person who said its not the same version makes me want to hear it very badly. The music here pwns teh genre of punk.

After the first EP, the Into the Unknown album SHOULD go here. But it doesn't. Damn self-censorship. Anyway, the Back to the Known, is without Brett Gruewitz, who is being replaced by Greg Hetson. Oddly enough, it sounds a lot like The Gray Race. Except its so much better....The only low point is the version of "Bad Religion" on here -its a bit slow and not as good.

Wrapping it all up is the Public Service compilation. It is three songs, redone from the first EP. The versions on Public Service are better - "Bad Religion" and "Slaves" are even faster and better, while the second version of "Drastic Actions" is kicked up a notch or two.

This album is incredible, fortunately it has all the lyrics, and you might have to listen carefully if you're used to hearing other Bad Religion CDs first - Greg will sound incoherent at first - I still can't quite hear all the lyrics.

Bands should have to kill to achieve an album this great. This has been said somewhere or other on the Bad Religion website (I think), but I have to add that here.
(Disclaimer: Any bands trying to make a CD this great - don't kill anyone please....I don't wanna be an accomplice to a murder here!)

9 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Whatta 'bout "Into the Unknown"?, July 14, 2004

By 

L Salisbury (Maryland United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: How Could Hell Be Any Worse? (Audio CD)

First off: While "How Can Hell" has never been out of print (see "80-85") it is great to have it back with its original title & cover. This is one of my favorite US hardcore LPs. NOW- why can't we see a CD re release of their second LP "Into the Unknown"? Sure, at the time, fans hated it and dismissed it as a "sell out" (which was typical of punk bands in the early 80s- look at the Red Rockers and TSOL). And, yes, this heavy new wave arena rock (for want of a better discription) sounds nothing like the rest of the BR catalog before or since. But, that-was-then-this-is-now: why not let the current generation of BR fans hear it and make up their own minds. As an owner of one of the original vinyl pressings I can say "Unknown" has gotten better with age and features some of their best stuff: "Billy Gnosis", "million days", "wild goose" and "it's only over when you give up".
As of this writing there's a guy on Ebay letting his "Unknown" LP go for $165 starting bid! I've seen it on Ebay for as much as $300! (Not to mention several bootleg CD-Rs of this album.) Not to deminish the greatness of "Suffer" or "Generator" but Gregg & Co. should be convinced to let their current audience decide- at least with a "limmited edition" CD of "Into the Unknown". (At the time of "Unknown's" 1983 release BR contributed two great "unplugged" tracks to the "Sound of Hollywood" comp: "waiting for the fire" and "everyday". Those would make great bonus tracks.) 21 years later it's time for Bad Religion to STOP apologising for this record- not to mention, STOP the self-censorship!

15 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars How could the original tracks be any worse?, July 7, 2004

By 

D. K. Malone (earth) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: How Could Hell Be Any Worse? (Audio CD)

I've owned the original Bad Religion six song EP since the early 80s. To this day, it's still my favorite Bad Religion record. Back when I was discovering the joy of replacing my old worn out vinyl records with CD re-releases, BR released "80-85" which contained How Could Hell Be Any Worse, the first EP, the Back To The Known EP, and some compilation tracks. The highlight for me was of course the tracks from the first EP. Or at least, it should have been. When I listened to that CD for the first time, I was sorely disappointed to discover that they didn't use the exact same tracks that were used on the original EP. It sounded like they may have started out as the same tracks I remembered, but had then been edited and altered with alternate takes, overdubs, a remix, and other such shenanigans. I found out about this new version of the 80-85 CD, and that it was remastered. I hoped that now finally I'd have the original versions of the 1st EP tracks on CD, but to no avail... this is the same stuff from the 80-85 disk. Damn it. Why not use the originals?

I'm taking off another star because it still annoys me that BR continues to stubbornly deny the existence of their 2nd album, Into the Unknown. For those of you who aren't aware, in 1983 BR released an LP with cover art that would have made Journey and Boston proud, and songs to match. Dominant keyboards, acoustic guitars, 10+ minute songs, a conceptual quadrilogy... Somehow BR had become 70s arena rock. I really dug it. Not only were some of the songs great (especially the first three: It's Only Over When..., Chasing the Wild Goose, and Billy Gnosis) but I thought it was a response to the scene itself. In 1983 the punk scene had become unbearably conformist. If you didn't sound and dress according to accepted hardcore norms, you were rejected. It seemed like just the sort of thing BR would do, to release an album that was basically a big middle finger F-you to all of that. But the next thing I knew, they were refusing to acknowledge the record's existence, or making glib excuses like "We were doing way too much acid when we made that album." When they left it off of 80-85, I was disappointed in them, because leaving it out is a lie. At least it isn't quite so much of a lie to leave it off of this CD, but I'm sure some younger fans must wonder why they titled a record "Back to the Known."

Whatever. How Could Hell Be Any Worse is an all time L.A. hardcore classic, up there with Circle Jerks- Group Sex, Adolescents self titled LP, Black Flag- Damaged, Social Distortion- Mommy's Little Monster, etc., and Back to the Known was a great EP. Buy buy buy.