Bad Religion

Bad Religion was formed in Southern California in 1980. The original four members consisted of Jay Bently, Jay Ziskrout, Brett Gurewitz, and Greg Griffin. The band itself has been around for almost 30 years and has had many lineup changes with the exception of Greg Griffin who has remained as the vocalist the whole time. Although all three of the other band members have left at one point, both Brett Gurewitz and Jay Bently aremembers today. The other current members of Bad Religion are Greg Hetson, Brian Baker, and Brooks Wackerman.

Their first album, How Could Hell be Any Worse?, was released in 1982, and their most recent album, New Maps of Hell was released in 2007. In total, Bad religion has 14 full albums out, soon to be 15 when they release their next album in 2010.

Bad Religion is known for having very sophisticated lyrics as well as for their vocal harmonies. Despite their name, many of the songs do not touch upon the actual theme of religion, rather using religion as a metaphor for anything that does not allow individual freedom in expression and thought. The songs are more about anti- conformity than they are about anti-religion. Some of the band members themselves do have spiritual beliefs.

Bad Religion does not have the hard sounds of a lot of punk bands. Instead they are very harmonized but sill lots of fun to listen to. Their lyrics can really get you thinking. It's defiantly worth the listen. So my verdict on Bad Religion is PLAY IT!