Bad Religion - The Gray Race (1996)

Tracklist
1. Gray Race
2. Them and Us
3. Walk
4. Parallel
5. Punk Rock Song
6. Empty Causes
7. Nobody Listens
8. Pity the Dead
9. Spirit Shine
10. Streets of America
11. Ten in 2010
12. Victory
13. Drunk Sincerity
14. Come Join Us
15. Cease

With their ninth album, this Los Angeles-based hardcore band continue their distinctive recipe of slashing, frenetic guitar, inviting vocal harmonies and socially-conscious lyrics. THE GRAY RACE showcases Bad Religion's chaotic, two-guitar punk, ... Full Descriptionwhich is driven by an intense, high-strung urgency; each track provides just the right amount of unapologetic melodicism along with Greg Graffin's rough-voiced yet lucid vocals.

The band's sound is loud, fast, and basically simple, in contrast to the broad, complex themes they tackle. Many songs are a variation on the "think for yourself" motif, including "A Walk," a defiant rant against the system ("Who the hell are you to tell me what to do?/You can't even tie your own haggard shoes/Your closet is a mess, and your backyard's falling down"). There are also brilliant feats of multisyllabic rhyming here, betraying Graffin's striking intellect as a lyricist, as on "Them And Us": "Despite that he saw blatant similarity/He struggled to find a distinctive moiety/All he found was vulgar superficiality."

Recorded at Electric Lady Studios, New York, New York in October and November 1995.

Personnel: Greg Graffin (vocals); Greg Hetson, Brian Baker (guitar); Jay Bentley (bass guitar); Bobby Schayer (drums).

Recording information: Electric Lady Studios, New York, NY (10/1995-11/1995).

Bad Religion: Greg Graffin (vocals); Greg Hetson, Brian Baker (guitar); Jay Bentley (bass); Bobby Schayer (drums).

Rolling Stone (3/7/96, p.48) - 3 Stars - Good - "...Bad Religion are working to bring a deeper sense of purpose to a music they can honestly call their own."
Spin (3/96, p.107) - 7 - Flawed Yet Worthy - "...a hell of a record for a band that just lost 52 percent of its songwriting, proof that Graffin's voice and vision define the band..."
Q (4/96, p.105) - 4 Stars - Excellent - "...at one bound THE GRAY RACE pushes American punk forward....a level of sophistication that calls for endless, depth-creating harmonies and the technical ability to carry off more adventurous concepts like `Ten in 2010'..."
New York Times (Publisher) (2/25/96, Sec.2, p.34) - "...The messages can be didactic, but the songs--burly rockers, full of minor chords--wrap desperation in choruses that aim to be anthems despite their own alienation..."