Customer Reviews

No Control

5 star:		(53)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

BR have done very little wrong and damn near everything right, especially in the late 80's when they were at the height of their powers. No Control is an interesting release- it shows the band switching up styles a bit... it was put out between their best straight forward no frills punk album: Suffer (1988)- one of the best of its kind- and their explosive, experimental, incendiary, thematically-rich, dictionary-bursting masterpiece: Against the Grain (1990)- one of the best albums period. Of any genre or group. If you disagree fine, you're certainly entitled to be moron.

On No Control you can sense the growing pains. Personally, I don't think it holds a candle to the album it followed OR the album it preceded... Still, on this one you can hear the band become supreme punk badasses, veering into alien territory. Greg and Brett are starting to adopt their own unique lyrical tacts, and the band is exploring different rhythms and shifts in sonic texture. It's far better produced than any of their preceding albums. Lyrically it's closer to Suffer, musically it edges into the blazing speed attack that burned so bright on against the grain and dimmed on subsequent releases (Generator, Stranger than Fiction, Recipe for hate...)

While I dig Suffer's brazen rawness more than this and Against the Grains tightly constrained yet explosive fury more than this- without No Control everything that came later might not have come to pass. So I am thankful for it. had it not been for Bad religion, all of the crappy bands I played in would have been even crappier... If you can imagine...

Pick it up. It's better than anything you'll hear on your local alternative rock (whatever that means these days) station.

Yep, that about sums up BR's entire sound. As fast and angry as any good punk offering should be and yet at the same incredibly melodic and meaningful, with lyrics like no other band out there. No Control was put out in 1989 as the middle child of quite possibly one of the greatest three-album anthologies in music's history (among the likes of tri-album glory as Public Enemy and Led Zeppelin). The album feels exactly the way it suggests: like that there is absolutely no control. Just when you think the blazing guitars, pounding drums, and machine-gun lyrics (yeah, that's a stupid adjective I know) could not possibly come together to form anything even close to resembling music, it shocks you by forming something entirely better than 90% of music out there. Unlike many BR fans, I don't see this album as the weaker of the amazing trifecta (Suffer in '88 and Against the Grain in '90). I think this as just as good if not better than those albums (well I take it back...Suffer is still in my mind the best punk album of all time). Nevertheless, this album is one of the enjoyable and truly-punk masterpieces of all time and belongs in any music fans collection, let alone punk music fan. It also proves once again that BR is clearly one of the most unique, thought-provoking, and musically talented bands of all time. Period.

RAD RAD RAD album...definitely one of my favorite Bad Religion albums, up there with "Generator". It's short, sweet, and to the point: that Bad Religion is the best band ever!

1. Change of Ideas - Great song to open with, it sums up the whole mood of the album. Awesome harmony.

2. Big Bang - Easily one of the best songs on the album: the quintessence of old school, fast-paced, purely intense punk!

3. No Control - Cool double vocals and one of those catchy songs that always gets stuck in your head. Good song to name the album after. Greg's harmonizing is great in this song!

4. Sometimes I Feel Like - Sick idea, great song. CAN'T GET ENOUGH OF THESE GUYS!! Greg's voice is whiny but smooth at the same time, a nice combination.

5. Automatic Man - Pretty rad guitar. I always like it when bands incorporate group singing into songs, it adds a nice effect.

6. I Want To Conquer the World - DEFINITELY the best song on the CD. Wonderful melody, guitar riffs, and lyrics!! It's a pretty funny song, and when I think of BR, this song always comes to mind. It's one of their best.

7. Sanity - Not my favorite, but nothing Bad Religion does is ever "bad". It's just a little boring, not one of their good slow songs. They sound better fast.

8. Henchman - Intense, a really good song. It's really fast and has the signature Greg Graffin harmonizing.

9. It must Look Pretty Appealing - Nothing really stands out, but a great song nonetheless.

10. You - Funny song, Greg gets badass and swears! It's one of my favorites on the CD...great melody! It's got one of those great prolonged endings.

11. Progress - RAD song! It's got awesome rhythm and gets right to the point. No extra long riffs or pauses.

12. I Want Something More - Short and perfect! Intense from beginning to end.

13. Anxiety - Cool lyrics. BR is definitely political, and has great ways of sharing their views on thew world through incredible music.

14. Billy - not my favorite, but nice guitar.

15. The World Won't Stop - Just like the beginning song, a great song to end with. It leaves you thinking about how good BR is!

Bad Religion kicks ***, and this is their best album. My favorite two Bad Religion songs ever ("You" and "I'm Gonna Conquer the World") are on this album. Extremely intelligent lyrics accompany super fast hard core drumming and excellent guitar and bass work. Greg Graffin's vocals are incredible! Even though they have mellowed with age, they will always be my favorite punk band.

Anyone reading these reviews has probably got the message by now: when out of 40-something reviews the only real negative comments are obvious jokes, you must start to ask yourself why you do not already own this album.

What I find most amazing about this release is that I just NEVER seem to get tired of it. Frequently I'll get to the end of the cd and start thinking about what I want to hear next, and then realise that I really want to hear No Control again. and again. and again... This album has regularly been in my cd player ever since I got turned on to this band 5 years ago. The short song and album length means that, unlike followers in the "pop-punk" idiom who find a nice chorus or harmony and then repeat it over and over in the one song, so that by the end you're quite content to leave it there and go on to the next one, the songs on No Control are short, to-the-point statements, both lyrically and musically, with no needless repetition of the hooks or themes. This is why it's so compulsive - Bad Religion have mastered the art of giving the listener just enough to make him keep coming back for more. Moments like the end of Anxiety - where the chorus comes in "Have more than the other guy.." - or the superbly ironic lyrics of I Want to Conquer the World - "I want to conquer the world; expose the culprits and feed them to the children" - are things I will never tire of. The balance this band strikes between articulate intelligence and enthusiastic optimism makes this a really positive piece of music to have in your life. Very highly recommended.

"There's no vestige of beginning, no prospect of an end, when we all disintegrate it will happen again". This line from the title track really sums up BR's attitude on this album, all of the songs contain the basic message of "this world is f***ed". It does not display the fury of "Suffer" but more than makes up for this with its detached, cold appraisal of society today.

Standout tracks: Big Bang, No Control, Automatic Man, I Want to Conquer the World, Sanity, You, Progress, Billy, The World Won't Stop

I definitely recommend this CD

First of all, this is a great album and my personal favorite by BR. They have a great ORIGINAL sound. I'd like to address teh accusation of Bad Religion trying to sound like Sum 41. As I'm sure all of you BR fans know, this album was released in the late 80s. According to a previous post "Television" (which is from the album "Stranger Than Fiction"), is "a complete rip-off of Sum 41". For those of you who do not know, "Stranger Than Fiction" was released in '94, while Sum 41 was formed in '96. Just thought I'd point that out. Also, if you like this album, try "Generator" and "Process of Belief".

This album is alot of people's favorite BR record, but I never quite understood why. It too me sounds like BR trying to milk out another SUFFER, and it's not working. Don't get me wrong it's a great album, but it's just not as good as alot of people say it is.

1. Change of Ideas (9/10)
2. Big Bang (9/10)
3. No Control (9/10)
4. Sometimes I Feel Like (7/10)
5. Automatic Man (9/10)
6. I Want to Conquer the World (10/10) one of the songs that gets a really huge reaction at their shows.
7. Sanity (10/10) My personal favorite from the album, it sounds alot like later Bad Religion albums.
8. Henchman (7/10)
9. It Must Look Pretty Appealing (9/10)
10. You (10/10)
11. Progress (8/10) What's with that inro?
12. I Want Something More (7/10)
13. Anxiety (10/10)
14. Billy (10/10)
15. World Won't Stop (7/10)

It's Bad Religion, what can I say?

As I mentioned in my review for Suffer, BR invented the whole So-Cal melodic punk/hardcore sound and they did it best. They're an extremely accessible band and even someone who's new to punk can get into BR. All of the songs on No Control are hard, fast (except "Sanity"), catchy, melodic, and intelligent. The sociopolitical lyrics are absolutely divine and Greg takes full advantage of his obviously massive vocabulary. If you like fast, catchy, melodic rock, or if you're just getting into punk, definitely pick up No Control. Bad Religion are definitely one of the best punk rock bands of all time and are definitely worth your hard-earned dollars. I've owned this album for god-knows-how-long and I still listen to it all the time. If you buy this and get addicted, pick up Suffer and Against the Grain. If you buy this and dislike it, visit a doctor. Immediately.

This is the holy grail of punk. I've never heard any punk cd by any band that even comes close to being as good as this one. It gets a 100%, not even 99. I know every chord, every note, and every word of every song. you'll never hear a better cd in your life