Review: Bad Religion – Age of Unreason

Bad religion strikes back!

As we already said earlier this week, the legendary Californian band has just released their seventeenth studio album, called Age of Unreason, after some videos that just delighted us.

The album, which contains 14 tracks, starts exactly with the three singles that we enjoyed weeks ago, Chaos from Within, My Sanity and Do the Paranoid Style. Three tracks that make us plunge into the classic sound of Bad Religion and into the album atmosphere: politics, comment on society and a keen vision of the world’s issues. It is 40 years now that Bad Religion propose us their ferocious and smart analysis of society, with themes such as American politics, environment, religion, far-right movements and towards a better society. All these themes are back in Age of Unreason, and one of the most striking things about the band is their ability to write incredible lyrics and combine them with a sound which becomes their trademark: a beating rhythmic section, fast guitars that recall their first hardcore years and a melodic voice. After the first three tracks, the songs’ style follows this style, with tracks such as Candidate, one of the most powerful songs of the album, with a folk intro (inspired by Greg’s solo album maybe) which then gives space to the punk chords we all recognize. And then the sound goes back to speed with Faces of Grief. Another peculiar but powerful song is Big Black Dog, in which we can hear some electronic beats. Also with Downfall and Since Now, we hear some new sounds, a different approach to composition, and a most modern and ‘pop’ sound, pardon me!

In the cd version, you will find, at the end of What Tomorrow Brings, a classic Bad Religion song, The Kids Are Alt-Right and as a bonus track The Profane Rights of Man, both songs released as singles.

What can I say about this album? It is essentially a good work, worthy of their long career, and as always they demonstrate that they have something to say and that they can always teach us something new. So, press play and remember: Bad Religion are back!

GRADE: 8/10