Bad Religion Process Of Belief Vinyl LP Record

Bad Religion has been the iron man of Southern California hardcore punk for more than two decades. The core of the group, founded in the San Fernando Valley in 1980 by teenagers Brett Gurewitz (guitarist), Greg Graffin (vocalist) and Jay Bentley (bassist), are reunited on their twelfth album, THE PROCESS OF BELIEF. Gurewitz rejoined the band for a second time in 2001 to record 14 blasts of melodic punk that take off with the hyperdrive rocker "Supersonic," in which Graffin yearns to live "decently, meaningfully" over double-time drums and buzzing guitars. The album is a return to form for the group, mixing pop-inflected hard rock songs about alienated, throwaway teens ("Broken") with intricately worded, mile-a-minute rants like "Materialist," which slams dollar-chasers obsessed with "nonsense and incipient senescence."

Its Graffin and Guerwitz's erudite songwriting that elevates their sometimes by-the-numbers punk over that of contemporaries 20 years their junior. Whether ranting about environmental issues ("Kyoto Now"), crooning over a punkabilly swing tune describing the fractured relationship between a father and son ("Sorrow"), or bemoaning the modern culture of surveillance in the straight-up pop/rocker "The Defense," Bad Religion remains the premier choice for punk rockers who love both Minor Threat and the "The New York Times."

Recorded at Sound City and West Beach, Los Angeles, California.

Bad Religion: Greg Graffin (vocals); Brett Gurewitz (guitar, background vocals); Brian Baker, Greg Hetson (guitar); Jay Bentley (bass, background vocals); Brooks Wackerman (drums).

Producers: Greg Graffin, Brett Gurewitz.

Rolling Stone (2/14/02, p.65) - 3 stars out of 5 - "...The best songs here compress provocative ideas about self-esteem, fate and personal responsability into brash, blistering, exceedingly tuneful polemics....instantly memorable..."
Spin (3/02, pp.90-92) - "...hardcore riffing beneath polished vocal harmonies--augmented by keyboard flourishes, acoustic guitar, and even some tape-loopy wish-wash..."
Entertainment Weekly (2/01/02, p.106) - "...Catchier melodies and more breathlessly clever wordplay than the band has managed in years..." - Rating: B
Q (Jan/02, p.96) - 4 out of 5 stars - "...beating heart of Southern Californian punk rock....high speed melody, humanism and pessimism..."
Alternative Press (3/02, p.71) - 8 out of 10 - "...It sounds more like Bad Religion than any Bad Religion record has in years....they're back where they belong."