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14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
BR's Best Work., May 17, 2000
Definately the most well-written Bad Religion album. I just can't stop listening to this. I've been into BR for a while now, and I own all of their albums. I love Suffer, No Control, etc., and even though this isn't their fastest one, it's definately the heaviest. This is mostly because of the heavy guitar riffs, and Bobby's amazing drumming, but what really stands out on this album is Greg's voice. It's stronger than ever, and really gets you going! All of the songs stand out for me, especially A Streetkid Named Desire (I had that mp3 a month before the album came out, and I still can't stop listening to it), You've Got A Chance, New America (We Are The New America, Wa-oh, Wa-oh!), 1000 Memories, which holds a lot of meaning to me, Believe It, which Brett co-wrote and played guitar in, The Hopeless Housewife with an amazingly explosive chorus, and Don't Sell Me Short, which is probably BR's most upbeat and heaviest song, it's simply 4 minutes of thrashing, head-through-the-ceiling punk. I listen to a lot of different music, and this album is probably the best one I've ever heard. Triumphant, Greg Graffin style intelligent lyrics that get you thinking, but, for a change, in a less-depressing way. I've been listening to this album non-stop for a week now..JUST BUY IT ALREADY!
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14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Keep an open mind.., May 10, 2000
I've had this CD for over a month, in the form of MP3's. Illegal, maybe, unethical yes, so sue me.Anyway, this is just to establish the fact that I am not just an excited BR fan who bought the album yesterday or today, rushed home and gave it five stars without a second thought. I've thought about this. It seems that some BR fans, such as huttonb@home.com, are expecting No Control or Against the Grain or Suffer to be rereleased year after year after year. If that's the kind of fan you are, stay away from this album. However, if you're looking for amazing harmonies, phenomenal melodies and great instrumentals, this is THE CD to buy. Not only that, but Greg's lyrics are impressive (as usual) and have more of an uplifting tone to them, which I rather enjoyed. He also seems to be better dealing with being the band's lone songwriter.. much better than he did on No Substance, at the very least. Of course, there is some classic Bad Religion ferocity - check out Don't Sell Me Short, The Hopeless Housewife, 1000 Memories, etc. Great songs. Naturally, the others are too! BUT: Frankly I didn't like the album much at all the day I got it. However, I listened, and much like Rancid's latest, NOFX's SLATFATS, and even the new No Use For a Name CD, it grew on me. A lot. It's definitely a LOT better than No Substance, and I put it on par with the Gray/Grey Race, which is one of my favorite BR albums. One of my favorite albums, period, actually. In short, this is an amazing album, and it shows a lot of maturity & progression musically and lyrically from the boys. They've been one of my favorite bands for a while, and this amazing (have I said amazing enough yet?) record does nothing to deter that. Approach this album with an open mind, give it a few listens, (and ignore the silly song titles) and I guarantee you'll love it. Or, you know, I'll have to kill you. Oh, and for those of you preoccupied with this sort of stuff, my favorite tracks are Don't Sell Me Short (best song on the disc IMHO), A Streetkid Named Desire (which sounds kinda Brett-ish to me), Believe It, and Let It Burn. Great release. Easy five stars.
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9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
At Least This Would End The Slump, March 17, 2006
Probably being Bad Religion's most controversial release of their career, "The New America" is the album that almost put the nail in the group's coffin. Honestly I've listened to this album hundreds of times. I've tried to give it every possible chance I could to somehow see the genius in it, just like I've done for "The Grey Race" and "No Substance". But no matter how many times I listen to this album, I still arrive at the same conclusion; This is by far Bad Religion's worst release. Now before going off and getting upset, there's plenty of legitimate and justifiable reasons as to why this album is bad. For a band of this standard (probably one of the greatest, if not the greatest, punk bands of modern music) this album is just not up to par. Although I give them plenty of credit for releasing this (hey it had been 19 years since they had put out their first album "How Could Hell Be Any Worse?"), there's no way I can honestly say that this sounds like it should have come from an amazing band like Bad Religion.
A brief history note first:
Bad Religion's career can basically be separated into four distinct eras. First there is their beginning which housed anything they released before their brief breakup and then reuniting (anything that was released before "Suffer"). Next there is their prime, which saw them release a string of unbelievably good releases ("Suffer", "No Control", "Against The Grain", "Generator" and "Recipe For Hate"). Following you have their post-Brett period which showcased three below-average-for-this-band quality albums ("The Grey Race", "No Substance" and this record "The New America"), and finally the current era which now has them reunited with Brett and has seen two great pieces of music ("The Process Of Belief" and "The Empire Strikes First"). Of course there are albums which fall out of these four respected divisions (Their compilations and various EPs and "Stranger Than Fiction" which was their transition album from "Recipe For Hate" (prime era) to "The Grey Race" (not so good era)).
"The New America" was the last of three mediocre albums from Bad Religion. Compared to anything the band put out in their "Suffer" era, this album feels totally recycled and contrived. The songs themselves hold no real substance and seem to drag on much past their relevance, even when they're only three minutes. I swore I heard better versions of these songs on previous releases. For a band which was known for great guitar solos, powerful melodies and insightful lyrics, you'd never guess it. While there are a few good tracks ("You've Got A Chance", "1000 Memories" and "Don't Sell Me Short"), most everything here is slow and boring. The passion that embodied previous releases is all but gone, and for sake of sounding over-critical the band really does sound like they were ready to throw in the towel. In the past Bad Religion were known prominently for their distinct political messages and views on free-thinking and religion, but this time around the lyrics are all but stale (and of considerably lesser quality than anything written previously). Not to mention Greg seems terribly uninterested in singing them. His voice used to have a certain presence to it, but now it just feels like he's going through the motions (much like the rest of the band), almost like "ok let's do another album, here's my vocals". Look at "Whisper In Time" or the god awful "I Love My Computer" and try to tell me different. Also there's a terrible use of the backing vocals that have always made Bad Religion's music so great.
There are plenty of reasons which could be attributed to why these things make this album bad. One could argue Bad Religion had simply run out of ideas, and no longer possessed the same intensity and passion for writing music that they did on their earlier releases. However the following record "Process of Belief" totally destroys that theory. It could also be said that the label (Atlantic) had a hand in this and changed the band's sound. Too bad they were dropped shortly after this record hit the shelves. The simplest explanation was simply that they were in a slump after parting ways with Brett (who left the band to manage his record label Epitaph primarily). If you look at their last album with Brett, "Stranger Than Fiction" and their first one after reuniting with him, "The Process Of Belief", this seems to be the most logical explanation. The three albums that fell in between these two releases are anything but memorable and show just how much the band suffered from Brett's departure.
Now I understand that Bad Religion are no longer in this slump (just listen to "Process Of Belief"), but that doesn't make this album any better. "The New America" is totally forgettable, and almost laughable at times. Not laughing in the good way though, laughing in the way that you can't believe you spent money on it. Aside from the 3 or 4 good songs, you have an album more or less compiled of "No Substance" and "The Grey Race" b-sides (or so it feels like) and that's not a good thing. Even if I had never heard another Bad Religion release, I still wouldn't change my view on this record. Boring music is boring music. Period. While I have the utmost respect for this band and what they do, and they still are one of my highest regarded and favorite groups, "The New America" is simply not up to standards. If you are looking for something from these guys, check out anything from "Suffer" to "Recipe For Hate" first. If you must, sample "The New America" sparingly. While it may not be anything to write home about, at least it paved the way for Bad Religion to return back to Epitaph and release the phenomenal "Process Of Belief". For that reason I guess it serves some purpose. Otherwise avoid.
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