Bad Religion

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Photograph of Greg Graffin at Ventura Theatre in California. Photo taken by the legendary Punk Rock photographer Fred Hammer

Contents: Top - 9 A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

Bad Religion

Bad Religion is a punk rock band that was originally formed in Southern California in 1980 by Jay Bentley (bass), Greg Graffin (vocals), Brett Gurewitz (guitars) and Jay Ziskrout (drums). This band is often credited for leading the revival of punk rock during the late 1980s, as well as influencing a large number of other punk and rock musicians throughout their career.

They are known for their erudite, socially conscious lyrics delivered melodically and often adorned with sophisticated vocal harmonies referenced in album liner notes as "oozin aahs". Bad Religion songs deal with matters of personal as well as political responsibility, and despite the band's moniker, deal more with freedom than atheism.

The band has gone through a large number of personnel changes throughout its history, singer/songwriter Greg Graffin being the sole consistent member. The lineup departure with the largest impact occurred when Brett Gurewitz, Bad Religion's other main songwriter, left in 1994. Gurewitz rejoined the band seven years later, invoking a return to form for the band, as the albums in his absence had not been as well received.

Bad Religion continues to record new material and tour around the world.

Contents: Top - 9 A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

0-9

21st Century Digital Boy: 1. Outro lyrics: Cat's foot, iron claw / Neurosurgeons (Greg often sings neurofuckingsurgeons) scream for more / Innocents raped with napalm fire / Everything I want, I really need / 21st century schizoid boy / 21st century sofa boy / 21st century digital boy / 21st century video boy (The first part was stolen from King Crimson's "21st Century Schizoid Man").

2. It is about drugs and about Brett's family (he had rich parents who spoiled him so it's kind of autobiographical) and was inspired by Hetson's comments on Nintendo. As regards including the song on STF, Brett said they did it because Atlantic said they didn't "hear a single" in STF and thought the song was a hit so they asked the band to redo it. Brett commented "since we were selling out anyway I didn't see any point in arguing". Brett says he prefers the ATG version. The outro of the ATG version has a guitar solo behind the vocals and Brett explained that on the STF one they forgot to do it and he thinks this may be one of the reasons that the old one has more energy. On the other hand, Hetson said that they re-released 21st century to improve it. According to him Brett wasn't happy with the ATG version (!). Jay said the exact same thing: " (we re-released the song) because we were playing it every night since 1989, ’90. It wasn’t that we weren’t happy with it. I was thrilled with it. I thought it was a great fucking song. Brett just happened to think that we were playing it better than we played it on the record. He just thought it was the one song of his that had a snowball’s chance in hell of being popular. I think one of Brett’s quests as a song writer was to write a pop hit. That’s hard to do when you’re in a punk rock band. He always thought that song could be a pop hit, and he fought for it to get on the record and to be a single. I eventually got tired of saying “that’s not what we do.” That’s what he wanted to do when he was a member of the band at the time and we all went “well, OK, if you feel that strongly about it, we’ll put it on the record.” We have a very democratic process which is that if 3 members vote one way, then it’s going to happen, unless one member feels so strongly about it, then we all just concede and say “that’s cool.” Greg (Graffin) said there is better drumming on the STF version and added: "Stranger than Fiction was a weird record; it was our first major-label record. We knew that a lot of new people would be hearing it, and so we just wanted to make sure that there was something from our history on there that showed that it was still relevant today."

3. A Swedish band called Charta 77 made a Swedish version of 21st Century... and called it something like "det tjugoförsta århundradets digitala grabb" or something, and Paha Uskonto (the Finnish Bad Religion bootleg band) covered it as well (called it Digitaalimies). They made a true English cover too on their live album "Hel!". The British CD single included Leaders and Followers, Mediocrity and a live version of American Jesus. It carried a sticker with Bad Religion's logo as seen in the single's sleeve and in the single itself. It sold 15,000 copies very quickly for a country which has always ignored Bad Religion. It was also released as a (very cheap) picturedisc which also included No Control, American Jesus and We're only Gonna Die live. This release exists in CD version too: on the cover there is the same spacesuit that appears in STF, and there is a sticker pointing out that the CD "Contains previously unreleased live versions of.." etc. etc. The actual CD has the crossbuster on it in traditional black-red-white. And it exists in 12" version in white vinyl.. There was also a UK 12" promo with Incomplete and with the UK tour dates printed on it; and a UK CD single promo which has a yellow sleeve with reviews of Stranger than Fiction printed on it -these are from the N.M.E. ("their finest album to date"), Kerrang ("seek out this dizzying disc at all costs") and Q Magazine ("beating The Clash hands down at the subversive former and Sugar at the melodic later"). In Germany, there were two different single Cds. One contained live versions of American Jesus, No Control and We're Only Gonna Die (from Palladium in L.A., 7.30.1994). The other one had Leaders And Followers and Mediocrity, and American Jesus live (same gig as above).

4. Alternative Press said this songs is considered by many Bad Religion fans to be their Smells Like Teen Spirit.

5. As for video clips, when it first came out in Against the Grain, they did a video for it with live footage and some images of helicopters and stuff. It was shown in Headbanger's Ball back then. When it was re-released with Stranger than Fiction, they did a video in which a toddler was staring at a TV screen while Bad Religion were on the TV (although it is known that to get the toddler to stare at the screen, the crew filming the video had to play a videotape of Barney). And then there's this guy (Burt Haggith, a big Bad Religion fan) who came accross yet another video of 21st Century Digital Boy in the internet. It is made up of images from the Japanese Manga Film Ghost In The Shell so it's full of futuristic gun fighting. Someone just put the song over that vid cause it fit the song, however, the video does look like it goes with the song. And there is one part where someone in the video seems to be singing with the lyrics.

80 percent: NME published an interview with Greg in which they asked him about some declarations Greg had allegedly made (to the NME) saying that 80% of his fans were complete idiots. He replied that he never said that. He said that his words had been taken out of context and that what he had said is that in any random sample of the general population you'd find that 80% of the people are complete idiots. When they guest-starred in Bruce Dickinson's radio program in England on 2.21.1995, they talked for a while about the 80% issue. At one point they were explaining that Jay got beaten up as a kid for being punk and Bruce asked "why?!". Greg's answer was "I told you Bruce: because 80% of the people are idiots". Then they played Incomplete and Infected live in the studio (released on the Infected 1 and 2 singles) and Greg sang "let's talk about no-one, someone, 80%".

Contents: Top - 9 A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

A

A Walk: The A Walk video was the first from The Gray Race and was first played in 120 Minutes. The CD single came with a The Gray Race sticker and it has Cease (album version), Leave mine To Me and Change of Ideas (both live). The sleeve is a picture of a snare and someone about to walk into it. The video was directed by David Bragger. At California Angels baseball games, when a batter is walked, they used to play (maybe still do) A Walk on the loudspeaker.

Against the Grain -the album Cover for Against The Grain: It was released on 11.5.90, which is after Bad Religion's 80-85 was released. It was the first 100,000 seller, and showed how quickly they were growing. Bobby: "That was where the harmonies really started to take off. It was a good album, more experimental, and showed the potential the band had songwriting-wise. It brought out a lot of Greg and Brett's own sound and style". It's my favorite album ever and it has come first in almost all the Bad Religion surveys I have seen. Everybody loved it when it came out. That's when Roy Bittain (keyboard player for Bruce Springsteen's E Street Band) walked into Epitaph headquarters and told Jay and Brett that they should re-release the album and he would produce it and he would re-write the songs. They laughed their asses off for a while and told him to leave.

Accept: They have a song called Bad Religion on their 1995 LP Death Row (Pavement Music 15006).

Against The Grain: The album most consistently voted best Bad Religion album by their fans. In 1998 it was number 30 in Alternative Press' Top 90 of the 90's.

All Good Soldiers: Brett: "It's an anti-conscription song and an anti-war song". In 1996 it was one of Brett's favorite Bad Religion songs.

All Our Yesterdays: A bootleg of a 1983 concert in which they only play stuff off of Into the Unknown (It's Only Over When... and The Dichotomy).

All Star: in 1999 All Star asked artists to list their top ten anythings (as opposed to the traditional top ten best albums of the year) and this is what Greg Graffin came up with (published on 12.12.99):

All Star: Top 10 Things To Spend Your Entertainment Dollars On: 1. Guns, Germs, and Steel paperback edition, a book by Jared Diamond / 2. The Professor and the Madman, a book by Simon Winchester / 3. An Encyclopedia of Claims, Frauds, and Hoaxes of the Occult and Supernatural, a book by James Randi / 4. Rushmore, the movie starring Bill Murray / 5. Amadeus, on DVD / 6. Monty Python and the Holy Grail and The Life of Brian on DVD / 7. A Neotropical Companion, 2nd ed. , a book by John Kricher / 8. Everest IMAX adventure film / 9. The Ground Beneath Her Feet, a book by Salmon Rushdie / 10. Consilience, a book by E.O. Wilson.

Along the Way -the song: Greg seems to have sang "I refuse to abuse what is kind to abuse", also "...what is kind to the muse" and "... to defuse". The muses are a part of the pantheon of Greek gods and other deities. There were twelve of them, all women, and each was a patron of one of the arts. The Muse is 1)a source of inspiration and 2)a state of deep thought or dreamy abstraction. The Webster's dictionary defines muse as any of the nine sister goddesses in Greek mythology presiding over song and poetry and the arts and sciences; source of inspiration; a guiding genius. It has been voted best Bad Religion song.

Along the Way -the video: There are two different versions of the video, both put out by Tribal Crew and Epitaph. In one the sleeve is a cool pic of Greg and Brett playing live and in the other one there's a picture of someone but it's hard to see who it is. The audio on the video is from one show in Bremen, Germany, but the video is from many different shows on that European tour. Greg said he likes that about it. In 1996 Greg said he hadn't watched it since 1989.

Along the Way -the video: According to Arvind Karman, who was at the Ogden Theatre gig in Denver on March 27 1999, after the boys played Along The Way, Greg mentioned that there was a video released by that name and said that it was made by some European film students as a project or something. Greg said that it wasn't made to be sold or anything, but now he hears that they've been selling it for money in the states, and Arvind thinks he said that they haven't seen any of that money.

Alternative music: Jay: "what IS "alternative" right now with Nirvana selling 4 million records? What is "alternative" anymore? Is "alternative" strictly a numbers thing? If you don't sell more than 100,000 records, are you considered an alternative band because you're not selling that many?".

Alternative Press: Against The Grain was number 30 in Alternative Press' Top 90 of the 90's. It also said that 21st Century was considered by many Bad Religion fans to be their Smells Like Teen Spirit.

American Jesus: According to Brett, he wrote all the music and the lyrics in the chorus, while all Greg wrote was the verse and bridge lyrics. The chorus says: In god we trust / because he's one of us / break down, cave in / we can redeem your sins / strong heart, clear mind / and infinitely kind / you lose, we win / he's our champion. The guys from Loss, who did a cover version for the album Fuck Hell -This is a Tribute to Bad Religion, didn't know the chorus lyrics; they only got the most obvious lines right and made up the rest. At the end they keep repeating "one mission, one god" while the main vocalist repeats three times the bit from "he's the farmer's..." to "he's inside me". There is a 7" single but no CD single. There are two promo CDs, one of which (released by Semaphore Records from Germany) includes Skyscraper and is extremely hard to find.

See the Video for American Jesus

American Jesus: The song was played during the Winter X-games on ESPN2 as background music, and MTV used to use the opening of the song during their Extreme Beach Competition show.

American Jesus: According to Jay the song was prompted by something George Bush said about how the USA could not do wrong in the gulf war because Jesus is on the Americans' side. But then Greg said that it was interestign for Jay to say that when he didn't write the song.

American Lesion

Album cover for American Lesion

Graffin's solo project/album. Pete Finestone: "I am soooo proud of him [Greg] that I almost feel embarrassed. A release [A.L.] full of recriminations but also cognizant of his own shortcomings. You need to get it". Greg gave three solo concerts playing the AL songs in November 1997: at the Knitting Factory in New York city (November 4th), at The Haunt in Ithaca, NY (Greg's hometown) (9th) and at the Viper Room, Los Angeles (12th). In addition to A.L. tracks, the L.A. set also featured acoustic or piano-backed renditions of Struck A Nerve, Punk Rock Song, God Song, etc. The show itself was phenomenal, regarding the performance, and detestable, regarding the audience involvement and seeming lack of interest. Greg was the opening act for a band called Nickel Bag, whose singer is purportedly a backup singer for the Rolling Stones. There developed a ludicrous buzz on the street that the Stones were going to perform at the Viper Room (which holds 250 people) unannounced. Needless to say, the place was packed and nobody was there to see Greg's acoustic set. Those who did participate in the show enjoyed it thoroughly, despite the disinterest of the other patrons. Pete Finestone was there, thrilled to see acoustic renditions of Get Off and God Song. On 1.5.1998 the American Lesion Cybercast was going to be broadcast through the internet to let everyone hear this A.L. L.A. gig, but it didn't happen. The cybercast of the show was originally going to be live but had been cancelled due to technical difficulties. On April 27, 1998, there was an AL show at CSUN (California State University Northridge, where Greg had studied back in the days). There were a few die-hard Bad Religion fans, but the majority of the people there had no clue who the hell he was. The show was awesome as usual. Greg played a few requests from the audience.

American Lesion: On 12.10.1997 The Oklahoma Daily ran a positively glowing review of American Lesion by Heidi Holeman. This is the review pretty much in its entirety: "American Lesion is seemingly much happier than standard Bad Religion tunes, but his is a deceptive first impression of the music. Graffin's lyrics are characteristically critical of society and biting in nature…In reference to the album, Graffin said people who try to do something that isn't profitable, regardless of the emotional benefit it creates, become lesions on the placid surface of American prosperity. He goes on to equate our new national heritage with dollar signs and a trail of broken hearts…. Despite slow, sometimes acoustic ballads, this attitude is apparent throughout most of American Lesion. The rest of the CD is more introspective than we've come to expect from the Bad Religion frontman… Fate's Cruel Hand for example, is a slow, bluesy tune about desperation in the face of complete confusion. Another standout is the piano version of 'Cease' from The Grey Race. Obviously, this CD reveals a much more emotional and personal side of Graffin, much to the appreciation of fans. And, never fear, the band hasn't broken up, this is just a side project of tunes written in the past ten years". On November 3, 1998 (one year minus one day since the last NY gig) Greg played the Knitting Factory (New York city) again. It was an incredible show. Here's the entire in-order setlist: on acoustic guitar: Opinion, When I Fail, Shades of Truth (very uptempo, faster than on No Substance), Billy (yes, a Brett song; he said "this was written by a friend of Bad Religion's"), Dream Of Unity, The Fault Line and Punk Rock Song. On Piano: Back To Earth (he fucked up the last reprise, added an "oh shit" and when the song ended my fried Dave yelled out to play it again; Greg picked it up from where he screwed up, amazingly), Cease, Henchman (biggest ovation of the night for this one; truly amazing), Along The Way (someone shouted out from the audience "Along the Way" and Greg improvised it; He fumbled with the chord structure and mumbled something about the progression), In So Many Ways (incredible rendition of this in-itself incredible song), Predicament, Struck A Nerve (en encore, believe it or not). The words "American Lesion" appear in Tony Kushners play "Angels in America: Millennium Approaches", 1992. Prior and Louis are gay lovers and Prior talks about his lesions: "Lesion number one. Lookit. The wine-dark kiss of the angel of death (...) I'm a lesionnaire. The foreign lesion. The American lesion. Lesionnaire's disease".American Lesion is the name under which the Adolescents, Suicidal Tendencies and TSOL published their songs (copyright American Lesion music).

American Lesion: There's a promo for American Lesion which is pretty non-descript, no booklet, plain white rear insert that lists the things. And one that is simply the album with some golden writting printed on the cover that reads "For promotional use only. Sale or other transfer is prohibited, must be returned on demand of recording company". No singles or song promos were released.

American Youth Report: A compilation LP put out in 1982 by Bomp Records and distributed by Dr Strange. It was reissued 1991 on CD. It has We're Only Gonna Die.

Amerifucks, the: The bassist from The Amerifucks said that Bad Religion "lost it years ago." He said after No Control they went downhill and now they're at the very bottom. After a big argument with the guy he conceded that Bad Religion still "has it" but Brett sucks. They do believe that Bad Religion started punk up again when it was dying.

Anagrams: Libido Anger is an anagram for Bad Religion, and Greg Hetson is the Green Ghost.

Anathema: Band that recorded a cover of Better Of Dead that was released on the compilation for the anniversary of the Peaceville label. It's a slow, piano version with string.

Anesthesia: Brett: "Anesthesia is a metaphor comparing addiction to love. It also has a an open question regarding the fate of the female love interest". The Beatles' song You Never Give Me your Money, from Abbey Road, is where the line "12345678 all good children go to heaven" comes from. Charlie Manson used to quote this very sentence to his followers and even made them write it in blood after one of their killing sprees. A family member stated in an interview, "The Beatles were spokesman. They were speaking to Charlie, through their songs, letting him know from across the ocean that this is what was going to go down. He considered their songs prophecy, especially the songs in the so-called White Album". About the "delivery man" mentioned in Anesthesia: Steven Parent was unfortunate enough to be arriving at Sharon Tate's house just as Manson's "family" was. Squeaky Fromme and friends killed him before entering the house and killing the others (Voytek Frykowski, Jay Sebring, Sharon Tate and her unborn child). Yet despite the coincidences, Brett assured in an interview that there was "no deliberate Manson reference in Anesthesia". Anastasia was also the daughter of a Russian tsar at the time of the 1917 revolution. Some think she survived the slaughter of her family, escaped and lived a life of secrecy. In the 1970s, a woman claimed to be Anastasia and she did so until her death recently, but DNA fingerprinting has shown she was actually executed along with the rest of her family. Many have speculated about the possible link between this story and the song but, again, Brett hasn't confirmed this. A band from Northern California called Your Mother did a song about Bad Religion indicting them. The part that is played to the rythm of Anasthaesia says, instead of "all good children go to heaven", "All harmony makes big money."

Anesthesia: In a show in Berlin (4.13.00) Greg announced Anesthesia saying "here's a song; we don't know what it means but...".

Ancient Chinese Secret: This was the name of the mail service Bad Religion organised so their fans could buy Tested cheap directly from them. The popular origin of the name is an ad for Calgon laundry detergent which used this catchphrase. The U.S. TV show Get Smart, which was a sitcom in the mid 60's, then capitalised on it. There was a character called The Claw (pronounced "craw" as in: "not the craw, the craw!", which he would say everytime he was addressed as the craw) and whenever he was to torture the secret agent Maxwell Smart, he was asked by his assistant Bobo where he learned the particular brand of torture. The Claw would reply "ahh Bobo, that is ancient chinese secret".

Anders Skip Peterson: Their guitar technician -for The Gray Race Tour at least.

Andy Wallace: The producer for Stranger than Fiction (also played Hammond organ on it). He has also produced Nirvana (Nevermind), Sonic Youth and the Rollins Band.

Answer, The: Greg said it was his favourite song in 1993. In the CD bootleg Classic Traxx Greg loses himself and sings "the man was banished something something he's a mockery, you know?". He then sings (as he often used to do, adapting the lyrics to wherever they were playing) "Amsterdam sits chocking on its discharge" because the song was recorded at an Amsterdam gig.

Approchability: Brian: "Well, it depends. I like to go out, I like to watch the opening bands, I like to go out in the crowd, and I don't have problems with people coming back either. The only thing is: if you're playing a show with 4,000 people and I'm out there and 20 guys recognize me, then it starts to get a little bit... a little bit of a pain in the ass. I like to be out there as long as it doesn't turn into a hassle. A hassle to me means that people are paying attention to me instead of SNFU or any of the other bands that we have with us. I'm not there to be recognized, I'm just there like anybody else, to sit out there and enjoy the music. And I'll talk to anybody who wants to talk to me, but when you get a bunch of people asking me to sign their front teeth and their pants and slapping me on the back, screaming about straight edge, it's not any fun for me to be there any more, so I go backstage and have a coke. I mean, that's how it works. But we're not hiding from anybody, and anybody who wants to talk to us can.

Aquarian Music Magazine: Mag from Jersey which featured a long interview with Greg about The Gray Race.

Argentina: According to Greg (on a radio interview in March 2001), the show they were supposed to play there in 1999 was cancelled because The Offspring didn't want to share the stage with them. He said they only found out in Brazil, when they were about to fly to Argentina.

Argentina, South America Tour: Bad Religion went to Argentina on 12th of april of 2007. It share the scenary with other local bands and made a wonderful and amazingly show.

Atlantic -the switch from Epitaph: Brett said one of the main reasons for choosing Atlantic from all the labels the band met with was that the president is a pretty cool guy and seemed to be genuinely enthusiastic about them, their lyrics, their politics and so on. Jay explained when they were looking for a label that people from certain labels were telling them in meetings that Epitaph and Bad Religion had credibility, but what they really meant was that they sucked and so needed Bad Religion to gain some credibility. The contract talks with labels were simple: Bad Religion presented interested suitors with their Epitaph contracts from Generator and Recipe, and demanded an advance equal to what Recipe had already sold. When they signed to Atlantic, that was 180,000 records in the US alone. Brett didn't license Bad Religion; he sold them outright. At first Jay couldn't believe it, but Brett made him realize what they had to believe, realistically, was that Epitaph could never do the job that Atlantic and WEA (Warner, Elektra, Asylum) could do.

Atlantic -the switch from Epitaph: At the time of signing, Atlantic promised to give Bad Religion complete creative freedom. Jay said Danny Goldberg (Atlantic manager) told them he didn't want to know, he just wanted to hear the final album, and everybody else just told them to go, have a good time and make a record. Brian explained that having been in major label situations where there was a lot of pressure for the band to change, he's amazed at how Atlantic seems to understand the value of not screwing with anything. Brian: "No one is sitting in their office going 'this one's gotta be a hit'. Or at least they don't say it to us". Jay said that "if Atlantic wants to play indie they better do what the fuck the band wants". Brian: " you get to a point where Epitaph and Bad Religion are both too big for five guys to run . You make a choice. Sub Pop wasn't interested...". Greg: "I thought we would bite the bullet together and show people that it was possible to transition to a major and still make great music, and be true to our original intent. But Brett leaving made me realize he had his own agenda.....I'm still not sure what it is though." Brett also voted to leave Epitaph but he claims the reason he did so was that the move required a unanimous vote and he didn't want to be the one who was later accused of "holding them back" for selfish reasons being that he owns the record label. He adds that "playing in the band, writing, engineering, producing and running the label all at once presented many delicate conflicts of interest."

Atlantic -the switch from Epitaph: Greg: "Brett's goal will be to show how much Bad Religion needed Epitaph. Our goal is to show how much Bad Religion supported Epitaph. In 1996 Hetson said they've never regretted leaving Epitaph.

Atlantic -the switch from Epitaph: Jay in 1997: "I wouldn't say that moving to Atlantic was the right move, but moving off Epitaph was. It became difficult for Brett and I to be out on the road, because while there we'd have to have meetings with distributors and record store people. You're out on a tour and having all these business meetings, and your going, 'This sucks'. Personalities started to evolve, because that's what success does to people. Success makes people have to kind of put their hand up and say, 'I did that.' And all of a sudden, you start running into conflicts of saying look we can accomplish this, and it gets a lot more difficult when certain people begin to believe that they're the reason for everything good happening [he's talking about Brett]. I'm not going to say any one person, because we were all doing it. A lot of that had to do with being on our own label (...) and it got to the point of saying maybe we need to have someone else doing this, so we can go back to being Bad Religion, a band, and not necessarily be responsible for whatever the version of success was for the individual". Jay also explained that while they were on Epitaph, for every 10 calls 8 were for Bad Religion. They were trying to sell other band's albums but all that the guy on the phone wanted to talk about was Bad Religion. So him and Brett thought if they got Bad Religion off Epitaph the other bands could thrive. Brett said he would have made more money if he had kept Recipe For Hate in Epitaph, but the band asked him to turn it over to Atlantic. In early 1994 Brett said "if it comes down to a vote, everybody probably has their own motivations. I did it strictly for the money" and he said he's not sure Atlantic could promote them better than Epitaph.

Atlantic -the switch from Epitaph: Jay:"I don't have more money in my pockets since we are with Atlantic. I made great money on Epitaph. We sold 250,000 records worldwide on a small label. We walked into Atlantic and said “we sell 250,000 records worldwide. Here’s our contract with Epitaph. Match it and we’ll go with you because we don’t want to deal with the everyday minutia of ‘gee, I don’t like that 8x10 as much as I like that other one.’” That’s work. “Can Bad Religion come play at my prom?” “No!” We needed someone else to do the everyday shitwork and let Bad Religion make music and make records".

Atom And His Package: This one-man band has a song called Punk Rock Academy that says "...and we fired the guy from Bad Religion because he sold punk rock out". However, Atom the man explained that "the line is 100% tongue in cheek, referring to punk's overwillingness to jump on anyone and call them a sellout. I have no problem with Mr. Brett or Mr. Graffin. I certainly think there are waaaay more serious issues to be concerned about than Bad Religion's record label".

Atomic Garden: Brett: "It's about nuclear proliferation". There's a videoclip (filmed and edited by Gregor Verbinsky) that can be found in the video Big Bang. Blender recorded a cover version for the album Fuck Hell -This is a Tribute to Bad Religion, without actually knowing the lyrics to the song. During Atomic Garden in Las Vegas in 1999 Greg replaced Gorbachev's name with that of Slobodan Milosevic (that was in the middle of the bombing of Serbia).

See the Video for Atomic Garden

Atomic Garden: But the greatest thing about this song is that I (Roger) sang it, from beginning to end, onstage and with Hetson, Jay, Brian and Bobby playing for me.

Australia: Both Punk Rock Song and 21st Century were popular singles. During their 1997 dates they appeared in Recovery (TV show) singing Come Join Us (on 16.2.1997) and on Rage on 15.2.1997. The following is the dialogue of the interview after Bad Religion played on Recovery (they opened the show) on Australia's ABC TV: "Q: How come it took you so long for you guys to get here?" "A: uh.. well actually we fear the dingo" "Q: you fear the dingo.. you've been together 17 years and you have never set foot on our shores before" "A: This is the first time and let me just say I think we're comin' back" (Big cheer from audience). Since 1992 Triple J (youth radio network) conducts a poll called "The hottest 100" over Xmas. It's just a poll of what listeners reckon is the best song of the year, and they count down the top 100 in February. In 1997 (for 1996) Bad Religion made 63 with Punk Rock Song, and the previous year with 21st Century Digital Boy made 76. Over 250,000 people voted, and it's supposed to be one of the biggest music polls in the world.

Autographs: A guitar shop in Ithaca had a Gibson SG "autographed by Greg", except Greg doesn't think he ever signed it.

Automatic Man: It is about the danger of not thinking before acting or more concisely, complacency in general.

Available stuff: Rare tracks: news from the front, markovian process, leaders and followers, mediocrity, universal cynic, the dodo, punk rock song in German, waiting for the fire, runnin' fast, every day, (unknown song from '82), acoustic version of do what you want / covers by Bad Religion: noel, do they know it's Xmas?, joy to the world, silent night, fuck Christmas, I saw the light, we're a happy family, johnny b. goode, louie louie, rock n roll, ridin' the storm out, problems, takin' care of business, tom sawyer, girl from ipanema, give punk a chance, nervous breakdown, (four songs by The Cars, including moving in stereo), (Germs song?) / Bad Religion covers: were only gonna die (covered by Sublimes, Trippin Daisies and Biohazard), 21st century digital boy (covered by Charta 77), chasing the wild goose (covered by No Empathy) and all the covers by Paha Uskonto and from the tribute album Fuck Hell...

Contents: Top - 9 A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

B

B-sides: Greg never listens to the live b-sides on Bad Religion's singles because he thinks they are all flawed: "the people who mix most live things try to add too much audience (...) they try to make you feel like you're there. That's not my intention, and it doesn't interest me" (see Tested liner notes).

Back to the Known

Album cover for "Back to the Known"

Recorded at Pacifica Studio in 1985 with Brett producing. Tim Gallego played bass and both Gregs and Pete filled out the band. There is a 7" version with a black and white picture of the white house on the cover. And a 12" with the logo and the symbol and what P. Finestone called "frogger footprints". The original release was one-sided and although it says 1984 on the record, it came out in 1985. Distributed by Suite Beat

a California company

and pressed in the UK, like the first How Could Hell Be Any Worse albums. The back cover has a pic of the US capitol building, pretty much like the cover of the 7" bootleg.

Bad Religion -the first E.P.: Recorded at a small studio in Westlake, run by Jay Ziskrout's drum teacher, out of his garage. They took their tapes to Goldstar Recorders (which is now gone, but they were the best in Hollywood) for mastering. Goldstar sent the masters on from there to a place called Greg Lee for the two-step processing. The receptionist at the front desk of Goldstar was Johnette Napolitano, who back then was just a wannabe singer and a fellow punk (with dyed purple hair and all -she became famous with Concrete Blonde). Bad Religion gave her a copy of the EP and she was so impressed that she asked them to have her boyfriend (Jim Mankey) produce their next album; she assured them he would get them studio time and stuff. Brett and co. took the masters to a record plant and had 500 made up and then Brett went to a little distributor called Jem Records (which is now also out of business). Jem was based in Reseda and was also an importer. Brett met with a guy over there who bought most of the records from him. Then they realized that the snare drum was mastered too high, and with each snare hit, the record skipped. However, no one else seemed to notice, and Jem Records, who could tell just how good Bad Religion were, happily distributed the EPs to all the record shops in the area. Brett and co. also brought records directly into stores. They would drive to Moby Disk or Middle Earth and drop off two or three or five records. It came out in 1981 (many people think it was 1980 because of the "80-85" comp). When they came to press up another batch, this time of 1,500, they had the flaw fixed, only for a new one to appear. As was typical for the day, the band had a message scratched on the run-off groove; on one side was written, "We're not Bad Religion..." on the other "... you are". They called down to make sure that the message would be etched into the second pressing, but to their horror, the records came back with "We're not Bad Religion..." "Ellipsis U R". With only 2,000 pressed, the EP remains Bad Religion's most collectable release, and with only 500 copies correctly inscribed, the first pressing will inevitably fetch even higher prices. One of their fans back then was Bobby (Schayer): "The EP was phenomenal! I like it because of the fact that at that time, every band in LA didn't sound the same, and the record was unique. What separated the band was that Greg had a really unique voice, that made a big impression on me". Brett had borrowed about $1,500 from his dad and with that money he hired a graphic artist to design the 7" sleeve and, according to him, also a logo for Epitath. With the success of the EP, they were able to pay back the money they'd borrowed for the pressing, and still have enough left over to record How Could Hell... The 7" itself has pretty rare pictures (never published anywhere else as far as I know) and folds out to the size of an album cover. The lyrics are copyright 1981, but "The Original Bad Religion" 12" re-issue states that it was "previously released in 1980 as a limited edition 7" e.p." The 12" has remarkably different mixing, compared to the 80-85 mixing. There's a lot more reverb on the entire mix, especially the drums, which are a bit louder. And perhaps most remarkably, there's a heavy delay effect on Greg's voice throughout the record. The end of Slaves, when the song falls apart and Greg groans, "Ahhaahhh" goes on a lot longer than on the cd, and Greg's screaming is cut off.

Bad Religion -the name: Greg: "in a lot of respects very small interest groups can be thought of as bad religions too, because they definitely prescribe ways of thinking". Greg called Greenpeace a bad religion despite being himself a member of the organization.

Bad Religion 80-85: They didn't put it out until 1990 because Chameleon Records owned How Could Hell.... Hetson's notes in it are incorrect in places. Greg and jay think he did that deliberately. Even the date on the back of the record is confusing. It says 1991, while ATG is dated 1990, yet the former came out first. There is a punk compilation with the same cover.

Bad Religion Dictionary: A dictionary with all the big words from Bad Religion's songs (on the web). Greg said it was "nice, a kind gesture".

Bad Times: Bad Religion's official occasional newsletter, which they send for free to all the fans they have in their database (built over many years). The last issue at the time of writing this (March 98) was number 7 which came out in October 1997. To get it, write to michele@badreligion.com.

Baseball: In the 11th round of the MLB players draft, Rex Rundgren, Todd's son, was drafted by the Florida Marlins. Also, The Angels play A Walk at their games.

Basketball: Although Bad Religion is basically a hockey team (though they do play music too) they play driveway basketball in Greg's frontyard in between recording songs and stuff. Greg claims to be 80% from the free-throw line. Jay says he used to play when he was a kid. Now he plays with Greg Graffin, "and pretty much only him, because he’s such a serious competitor. I just like to play anything against him". When asked whether he can take Graffin, Jay says: "we’re pretty much even. He’s got me on weight but obviously I got him on height. He can drive through me and I can just go over him. It’s pretty even".

Basque Country, the: A very punky country where Bad Religion are really well known. During a concert in a disco in the town of Oiartzun (near Donostia), during the Recipe for Hate tour, the floor where the crowd was standing gave in during the first or second song and dozens of people fell to the basement of the venue. Many people had to be taken to hospital but there were no fatalities. When on 4.4.1998 they played the Basque Country (Donostia) for the first time since the incident (different, bigger venue), they started the show with Recipe For Hate and Greg said "we'll start with the same song as the last time" with a cynical grin. When on 10.11.1998 NOFX played Donosti, Fat Mike started off the gig by saying "shit, it's the same place as the last time. Why don't we get venues where the floor collapses?". Greg was interviewed in the Basque music newspaper El Tubo and was asked about his awareness of the separatist movement in the Basque Country. He replied "yes, I heard some of you are Spanish, some are French, and some just want to be yourselves". Dream of Unity got to the list of hits of Euskadi Gaztea (the biggest radio station in the country) even before the single was released (over The Offspring, Foo Fighters and Spice Girls). A walk made it to number 4 and even It's Reciprocal (which didn't have a single or a promo) made it to their hits list. Hear It was number 24 in mid March 1998 (one month before No Substance was released!!!) and by late March it had climbed to number 9. In 1998 they were about to play in the disco Young Play in Hernani but the band wanted 4 million pesetas to play there and in the end it didn't happen. They did play at the Polideportivo Anoeta in Donostia, were Greg started the show by saying "hola vascos" and then he said "we´re gonna start with the same song as the last time" (the last time was the accident in Oiartzun).

Beatles, the: On Summer 1993 Brett said they were his favourite band.

Beatles, the -We Can Work it Out: It has the line "there is no time for fussing and fighting, my friend", which Brett used in You.

Beatles, the -You Never Give Me your Money: Song from Abbey Road. This is where the line "12345678 all good children go to heaven" comes from (although The Beatles sing 1234567 -Bad Religion added the 8).

Benefit concerts: Hetson in 1994: "We'll play at every benefit that interests us, wherever we find a good cause to defend".

Best For You: According to an interview with Jay in 2000, Jennifer Finch and someone else form L7 played guitar on it. Toast recorded a really bad cover version for the album Fuck Hell -This is a Tribute to Bad Religion. The Catalan band Torra-Ska (fronted by Adrià Serra) did a much better live version of it.

Better Off Dead: The missing bit says "so if you're looking for a patsy..."(patsy is American slang for a scapegoat). Brett: "Better off Dead is not a love song. It's a song about personal responsibility".

Better Youth Organization: They are on a BYO compilation called Someone Got Their Head Kicked In (which was sort-of re-released as the CD Someone's Gonna Get Their Head to Believe in Something) with 7 Seconds, Youth Brigade, Jughead's Revenge, Adolescents, etc.

Beverly Hills 90210: This is a revolting series; you know it, right? After the opening credits they have their commercials then come back and have the opening scene with additional credits (guest stars, writers, etc.). In the final eposide of this 10 year teenager drama (5.17.2000), all this was set to the tune of The New America. They played a good chunk of it, at least the full chorus and one verse.

Bible, The: During a gig someone threw a French bible on stage. Greg read some of it and said "I'm sorry, I speak French but I don't speak bible".

Big Bang -the video: Videotape of live performances from 18 different shows off the Against the Grain Tour. Filmed, edited and produced by Matthias Kollek and Thorsten Bach. Released on Tribal Video. Includes the promo video for Atomic Garden.

Big Takeover, The: An amazing music magazine. Issues number 28, 29, 32, 33, 36 and 40 all have an interview with Bad Religion (the longest interviews you've ever seen). They were featured (but no interview) in many other issues e.g. 25, 30 and 31. The editor Jack Rabid is currently (as of March 1998) writing the first Bad Religion book ever (at the bands request). He is also meant to write the liner notes for the re-release of Into the Unknown should that ever happen. He has called Bad Religion "the hottest band that we humans still have" and this is a man who knows every band that ever existed. The address (for past issues, subscriptions or anything else) is 249 Eldridge Street No. 14 New York NY 10002. http://www.bigtakeover.com

Biggest Killer In American History, the: A fan asked Greg at a concert who the biggest killer in American history was. He replied quite matter-of-factly that it was the US military. Hetson on the other hand said it is Edward Teller (mentioned in the song). Teller and Robert Oppenheimer spearheaded the Manhattan Project which created the atom bomb during the second world war. He preached how great the bomb was until his death and, unlike Oppenheimer, never had any regrets about it.

Billy Gnosis: The character in the song is supposed to be Brett (just as Billy from the song Billy is Brett). Notice: Billy Gnosis has the same initials as Brett Gurewitz. When in a show a guy held up signs requesting the song, they played a satirical 5 second riff from Billy Gnosis and then switched into another song. However, they played it in soundchecks, so they could have played it.

Billy: Billy is Brett. He is an ex-crack addict and the song it is deliberately autobiographical. On side 2 of all No Control tapes the song is listed as Bizzy.

Biohazard: They covered We're Only Gonna Die on Urban Discipline in 1992. Bad Religion and Biohazard also playr We're Only Gonna Die together on the Streets of America single with the Multimedia Track that was released in 1996. They played it together in New York's Roseland back in January 1994 as well.

Blenderhead: Brett said the song is about "how it feels to question too often and too deeply." There is a British band named after the song and another band (American) also called Blenderhead but, according to them, they didn't name their band after the song.

Board Aid: Bad Religion gave a concert in Big Bear for them. It was a one-time event. They played four songs off The Gray Race (before the album was released): A Walk, The Gray Race, Punk Rock Song and 10 in 2010. Also playing there were Unwritten Law.

Bobby: Bobby Schayer's grandparents were Mexican but he's never lived there and can't speak Spanish. He's from Encino in San Fernando Valley and is the youngest Bad Religion member. He was one of the early Bad Religion fans and heard the first EP when it came out: "They were from the valley, and so was I; it was inspiring to know that if these guys could do it, anyone could do it". When Pete left Bad Religion in 1991 Bobby was just hanging around LA playing in various bands; according to Greg "He was wasting away in this terribly abusive band called 'Two Free Stooges', it was a shame (...) he's such a great drummer, he was a lot more versatile [than Pete]". he grew up listening to glam rock (Bowie, Sweet, Slade and the Bay City Rollers). One weekend, he saw The Ramones on Don Kirshner's Rock Concert. Soon after, for his twelfth birthday, his sister bought him The Ramones' eponymous debut album and Rocket To Russia, and his fate was sealed. He began playing drums in 1980, but that was after he'd learned guitar and bass. His first band was The Questions, which he joined in 1988. Not long after he hooked up with The Two Free Stooges, which could've been considered a supergroup by membership alone. Most of the group had ties to Alex Cox (The director of such movies as Repo Man and Sid and Nancy), and the band sported former members of the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Porno for Pyros, the Circle Jerks, the Dead Kennedys, Thelonius Monster, etc. The only problem was their material. They did loungy and weird covers of The Cream, Led Zeppelin, The Clash, etc. Bobby says the frontmen (two guys) told a lot of racist and stupid jokes onstage and half the time people would get offended instead of laugh. Bobby stayed with them for about a year total, quitting and going back several times, as the line-up constantly shifted. They never put a record out but did three tours ("we knew people in the right places" says Bobby). The Smithereens were recording in LA, and stayed at the hotel behind the Central (now the Viper Room, the pub River Phoenix died in, owned by Johnny Depp). They got in the pub for a drink, and 'The Stooges' were playing. The Smithereens loved them and that's how The Stooges ended up opening for them. The Peppers took them on tour too, in 1989. Then they toured with The Dead Milkmen. Bobby says if he hadn't done that, he would have never ended up in Bad Religion. But that's probably a lot of bullshit. He already had a connection to Bad Religion, as when he had first started playing drums, it was Lucky Lehrer who taught him too (Lucky also taught Pete, he toured with Bad Religion and he was in Circle Jerks like Hetson). Hetson left a message in his answering machine asking whether he'd be interested in joining Bad Religion. The day he tried out for the band, Nicky Beat, who'd played with the Germs and a million other bands, was there; Colin Sears from Dag Nasty was there too, but Bobby got it because he knew every song. He had two days to learn songs, and he learned 25. He was third in the audition. He asked "what song do you want me to play?" and Jay said "what do you know?"; Bobby replied "all of them". They said "bullshit" so he went out and did it and Jay said "you're in". Actually they told him to come back the following day so Brett could hear him. The following day, after three songs Brett said, "OK you're in the band". Then, he asked if Bobby played chess, and he said, "Yeah, kind of" and Brett said, "OK you're in the band". Bobby once said he had also been in The Silly Joke Band, The Screech band, The Tammy Pon, The Monthly Cycle, The Montsanno Ride, The Feelies, The Tripes, The All-Out Underground, The Smock Sessions and used to be a roadie for the Dickies; but I'm sure this is not true. He is a big feelies fan. He's also kind of a punk historian; he has a photographic memory and his brain stores tons of dates and facts relating to the history of punk. He plays with his Zildjian Session Master drumsticks upside down (hitting the heads with the butt end). He also chops his drumsticks for extra grip (looking like scales).

Bobby: He lives in Seattle.

Bobby: Jay once said "Peter is amazing, but Bobby is a better drummer". He's also said that "Bob's got a twisted sense of humor".

Bobby: Bobby left Bad Religion in 2001, after the New America tour, due to a chronic progressive shoulder injury that will not heal. He was suffering from this shoulder injury and full-blown tendonitis and was in great pain after each show. He will never be able to play the drums again. These were Greg's words on Bad Times: "During the last legs of that tour, we also witnessed the last legs of one of the great punk drummers, Bobby Schayer. As you might have read in the news wires, Bobby sustained a career-ending progressive injury to his shoulder that finally sidelined him for good a couple weeks ago. We all miss him, and we have received hundreds of emails and letters wishing him well and hoping that his life will still prosper despite the inability to play drums. Thanks to all of you who wished him well during this difficult time".

Bomp: The label that reissued the Buried Alive (The Best of Smoke Seven Records 1981-1983) comp in 1995, containing the theme song (Bad Religion) and Drastic Actions; and another comp (Buried Alive 2) in 1996 containing Slaves. It also released the LP American Youth Report with Only Gonna Die. In 1983, after most of 10,000 copies of Into the Unknown were returned, they put them in the Bomp warehouse, because Brett worked there for a bit and was dating a girl from there called Suzy Shaw. Suzy sold most of the albums without telling the band. When they found out, they stopped it and Jay said only about 300 copies were left at that time. Suzy says that she only sold about 2,000 and that she had every right to do it since she did a lot for Brett and never got anything in return (Brett lived with her for free, she cooked for him everyday etc.).

Boltzman

Ludwig Eduard Boltzmann (Born in 1844) was an Austrian physicist famous for his founding contributions in the fields of statistical mechanics and statistical thermodynamics. He is mentioned in the Bad Religion song "Entropy"

(Mentioned in "Entropy"). Firstly, entropy is the amount of disorder or randomness in a system. A "system" can be anything. If your system is a small balloon full of air, then you can measure the amount of disorder in your balloon. Entropy is usually measured in Joules/Kelvin. It can be used in thermodynamics to determine whether or not (and to what magnitude) a process will happen all by itself, without any external influences (whether or not the process is spontaneous). All spontaneous processes result in an increase in the total combined entropy (or disorder) of a system and its surroundings. This is shown by the second law of thermodynamics. There are always more disordered states than ordered states, so disorder always happens naturally.). According to physics, entropy (sort of) gives time its forward direction because the entropy of the universe always increases as time moves forward. It is impossible to go backwards in time because it would decrease the entropy of the universe (which the second law of thermodynamics will not allow). In the song ("Entropy") Greg sings, "We're in a play of slow decay orchestrated by Boltzmann, it's entropy...". Ludwig Boltzmann was an Austrian physicist. Basically, he said that the entropy of any given state is related to the number of ways that the state can be acheived. If a state can be acheived in a lot of different ways, it has higher entropy than a state that can be acheived in a smaller number of ways. This is also known as "positional disorder." His equation for calculating entropy is: S = k ln W. S is the entropy of the state in Joules / Kelvin degrees. W is the number of ways that the state can be acheived. k is Boltzman's constant. It is 1.38 e-23 J/K (rounded). Boltzmann's constant was derived by dividing the gas law constant, R, by Avagadro's number. [8.314(J/(moles*Kelvin)] / [6.02e23 (particles/mole)]. The moles cancel and you're left with 1.38 e-23 J/K.

Boltzman: The second law of thermodynamics shows that all processes result in an increase in the disorder (entropy) of the universe. The entropy of the universe cannot decrease. So the song is connected to the idea that at some far away time in the far distant future, all will be disorder and the universe as we know it will have to come to an end. There will be no order or free energy left. So when Greg sings "We're in a play of slow decay orchestrated by Boltzmann," we know that we are slowly but surely losing the order in the universe as time moves forward. Eventually, all will be disorder. The universe will not reach equilibrium until this happens. There's nothing we can do about it. It's not a human issue.

Bootlegs: Brett said he wasn't against bootlegs of live shows but was against bootlegs of studio albums which he called "more a 'counterfeit' than a bootleg". Brian: "I don't mind bootlegs at all, except that in my case they show how truly shitty I can play when I'm jumping around". Jay: "anyone who goes to the trouble and expense of taping a show or making a T-shirt or bootlegging whatever has the option of choosing hundreds of bands of which they can bootleg; if they choose bad religion, I have to consider that a compliment. The only issue that I have ever raised with them is what they do with their profits. I have told numerous bootleggers that I don't mind if they sell products with our name on them if they give some of the money they make to charity. I don't care which one, choose one that means something to you, but give back a little something." There are around about 100 bootlegs of Bad Religion shows (but half of them only exist on tape and have never been released by a bootleg label). Several bootlegs which claim to be recorded in the U.S. include songs from the gig at the Paradiso, Amsterdam, 4.4.1992. This is true for the Christmas Show Bootleg 1994 (tracks 11-24), Promise of Prosperity and Classic Traxx. To top this, Classic Traxx contains the studio versions of Stranger than Fiction, Leave Mine To Me and Infected, with some crowd noises mixed under.

Bottom 12: Greg produced their album Songs for the Disgruntled Postman. According to a member of the band, The Gray Race was already pretty much written after the Stranger than Fiction tour.

Brazen Abbot: This band has an LP called Bad Religion but it contains no reference to the band at all. The lyrics are about religion being bad, that's all. The band feautres ex-Yngwie Malmsteen singers Goran Edman and Joe Lynn Turner and ex-Europe members Ian Haughland, Mic Micheli, and John Leven.

Brazil: they played a festival in Rio de Janeiro with Sex Pistols, Marky Ramone and the intruders, Cypress Hill and a Brasilian punk band called Little Quail and the mad birds. The last show of the Gray Race Tour was in Curitiba on 12.1.1996 (with Resist Control as support band). On 30.11.1996 they played in Sao Paulo the Close-Up Festival with the Sex Pistols too.

Brazil: In 1999 they were supposed to play three dates (November 19, 20 and 21) but they only played 11.20.99. Here's the explanation/apology from Greg himself:"I am sorry to report that we will only be playing one show in South America this time, and that is the show in Sao Paulo. This is due to the fact that the Offspring don't want us on the bill for their shows in Curitiba or Rio. In fairness, it is their show in those two towns and they have a right to decide who their opening band should be. The show in S.P. is a festival and the promoter decided that Bad Religion was a good addition to the show. I am sure that the Offspring and the promoter got mixed up in their conversations about adding us to the shows in Curitiba and Rio. It is a shame that we are caught in the middle of this mis-communication, but nonetheless, we are looking forward to playing our show in S.P. We are sorry to our fans in Rio and Curitiba who can't make it, but we will be back sometime in the next year. Sincerely, Greg Graffin".

Brett: Brett Gurewitz was brought up Jewish and became disillusioned with it when he was 9 or 10 years old. "I used to dare God to do things and he would never do that particular thing. 'o.k. God, if you dare, move this pencil' and I'd be in 4th grade, you know?". He is a high-school drop-out and a founder member of Bad Religion. He worked as a salesman for a record importer for a while. By the time they had finished and sold How Could Hell... he was working at the Chameleon label. He did another pressing of the album without the rest of the band's knowledge, sold them to Chameleon, and never accounted for the money (spent it on drugs). He always felt guilty about it, and part of what he wanted to do when he started Epitaph up again in 1987 was to make it up to the band. After Into the Unknown, he was forced to disband Epitaph, as the label was bankrupt, so he concentrated on his job at Chameleon. He also worked for his dad's company, which manufactures trash liners and other plastic items. He'd had jobs in business, but didn't have a real business background at the time of starting Epitaph. He did get a lot of advice from his dad, who has always been supportive of Brett: "I guess he was glad to see that I was recovered and not using drugs anymore. I went to him a lot for advice because he's a pretty smart businessman". By early 1987 he kept bumping into Greg and Jay in L.A. By now, he had put his drug problems behind him, and they kept asking him to rejoin. He was unsure, because Into the Unknown had been perceived by many to be responsible for the destruction of the SoCal punk scene; but time had passed and they were no longer considered traitors. Then Bad Religion had a show lined up in San Francisco, but Hetson wasn't able to play, as he was off touring with the Circle Jerks. Brett agreed to stand in for this one show, and he had so much fun he ended up staying on. Greg: "It really motivated Brett, and me too, that's why Suffer has so much life to it. Here was a bunch of guys that hadn't been together for a while, and then we find out not only do we have a better outlook on life and understand more about the world so we can write a little more lucidly, but we both sound better than ever". Brett had been working as a studio engineer and, with partner Donnell Cameron, set up his own studio in Hollywood, Westbeach (or West Beach) Recorders. It would also become the early home of the revived Epitaph. Some maintain Brett only rejoined Bad Religion because he saw the reunion as the best thing to relaunch Epitaph.

Brett: Brett says he personally recorded, mixed and produced every Bad Religion record while they were on Epitaph and functioned as Bad Religion's manager as well for the first 6 years or so before Bad Religion hired one for themselves. He said he ran Epitaph in its first three years without taking a penny in salary or record royalties for himself.

Brett: His last show with Bad Religion was on 30.7.1994. He was married to Maggie and they had two children: Max and Freida. A few years later he got divorced and Gina Davis, who had worked at Epitaph and been a good friend of his for a long time, became his girlfriend. Around about this time, in 1996, he started doing heroin again. Some blame Gina and her friends, who were all doing drugs. In early 1997 (I think) he left Epitaph and went into rehab. Over the following year he was arrested four times (for possession) and at the time of writing this (March 1998) he is back in rehab, only court-ordered rehab this time (he got arrested with 14 balloons of heroin) and Andy at Epitaph says he hasn't called them since one year ago. There are also rumours of an attempted suicide. When Claudia came up with the idea of setting up a Brett website, Gina told her Brett didn't want that ("it goes against his philosophy about always putting the spotlight on the bands and never on himself or even Epitaph"). Claudia abandoned the idea and Greg commented "I'm sorry for you but glad at the same time that Brett made a decision that I feel is upstanding and correct".

Brett: He loves chess. Also, according to his old friend (and ex-girlfriend) Suzy, "he still seems to have superficial interest in science, at least when I talk to him. He did have a genuine love for all the Vonnegut books. I also taught him to love food. He still loves to find all the good restaurants and have some fun chewing down on unusual cuisines".

Brett -departure: Brett: "I left the band because of the hypocrisy. Atlantic is a terrible label". However, on an MTV appearance during the Recipe for Hate Tour he had no problems with the Atlantic deal -he was actually praising Atlantic. Brett: "one of the reasons I called it quits when I did was because I thought at the time Bad Religion was at the 'top of its game' and therefore I might be able to 'bow out' with a modicum of dignity". According to the current members of Bad Religion the reason Brett left was "his interest in selling records and not making them". They called him "A minor 5th". Brian said the only difference the departure of Brett had made is that Bad Religion doesn't have songs with the word "babies" in their title anymore. Jay said repeatedly that Brett's departure was the best thing that had happened to Bad Religion in the last 15 years. He also said Brett is desperately trying to maintain his punk rock image and that's impossible when you are a multimillionaire. Hetson commented about the atmosphere before Brett decided to quit that "there were some tense moments. There wasn't a lot of solidarity; the camps were divided. It was a little weird and awkward at times". The actual press release from Atlantic announcing the departure gave as sole reason Brett's will to concentrate on Epitaph and that is what all magazines published and what most people believe. Here's Brett telling the truth: "I didn't quit because I didn't have enough time, I quit because it was becoming unbearable for me to stay. We were fighting like cats and dogs. It's all personal shit, we just got on each others nerves (...) A band is a group of guys who are tight, love each other, have camaraderie, and that's why they go traveling around with each other, because they want to, there's a genuine bond, a genuine affinity. For me, I was going through the motions. It's supposed to be artistic, supposed to be about the art, how do you make something genuine and from the heart, when the whole things feels like a charade (...) I believe that I got on their nerves as well. So, I believe it was for the best. I definitely wish them no ill will, but I think we're all happier being apart". When Brett called Greg to tell him he was leaving the band he gave as the main reason an argument he had with Jay (Brett's first song with new band The Daredevils, entitled Hate You, was written for and about Jay). But in 2002, with Brett back in the band, he said that "Looking back, the argument with Jay was an excuse to leave the band. I was overwhelmed by how much was going on in my life at the time (...) I couldn't turn on the radio in 1994 without hearing something that I was involved with, I didn't know how to handle it. It led to my relapse. I went seven and a half years where I was clean, extremely clean, so when I relapsed, I relapsed on heroin. The drugs led to the band breakup and subsequent turmoil I experienced. I don't want to make excuses. I'm responsible for my own recovery, but when I'm on drugs, I'm an asshole. So there". Rumors, perpetuated by Brett himself, claimed that he was coerced into signing with Atlantic. Brett admits that "I acted like that's what happened. No one's perfect. I wanted the band to believe in my little company. I wanted them to turn their backs on the major offers. I did, however, have as much to do with the band going to Atlantic as they did, so it was complex emotionally." He only spoke with Greg 2 or 3 times during the two years following his departure.

Brett -departure: In June 1999 135 people voted on a survey carried out by The Generator. The answers to the question "should Mr. Brett Return?" were as follows: 41% said "Ayup, ayup. He's better 'n dat Baker guy they got now". 8% said, "No, I never liked him anyway". 26% said, "Isn't he going to jail for shooting h2o?" and 2% said, "Mr. Brett? Who's that?".

Brett -equipment: "I play a customised piece of junk with a duncan 59 pickup an esp neck a bad ass bridge and schaller tuners".

Brett -inspiration: "I'm inspired to write by all kinds of everyday life experience like having my ass tickled with a feather".

Brett -music preferences: He listens to The Beatles (on Summer 1993 he said they were his favourite band), The Beachboys, rockabilly, oldies, ska, blues, gospel, country etc. In 1988 he loved The Ramones (and Elvis Costello, like the rest of Bad Religion). He hates Rush and thinks Eric Clapton is god. After the release of the first Daredevils single Brett said his two biggest influences were The Beatles and Nick Lowe. He considers Marquee Moon by Television to be one of the very best albums ever. His major influences are bands from the old Skiff-label. In 1996 he said his favourite Bad Religion songs are probably Generator, Anesthesia and Infected. By late November 1996 All Good Soldiers was one of his favourite songs.

Brett Religion: Name given to Brett in the album Peace Thru Vandalism by The Vandals. Greg also calls him Brett Religion in the Big Bang video.

Brett vs Greg: When in early 1996 Greg was asked about his relationship with Brett, he replied that "Brett doesn't care about his friends." He then went on to elaborate about how Mr. Brett is now "Mr. Business" and doesn't have time for them anymore. He also made it sound as if Brett insinuated that they needed his label and would die without it. Brett e-mailed a fan calling Greg a "hypocritical back stabbing liar" and in another e-mail to another fan he said "I will never put myself in the presence of those ungrateful hypocrites ever again". A whole e-mail about Greg: "Greg panders to his major label record company at every opportunity, he also is a snob who looks down his nose at anyone who is not rich or powerful while ass kissing those above him and spewing socialist rhetoric in his lyrics and to fans. He also is scornful of his fans both publicly but especially privately. To him fans are "dollar signs". Greg thinks it's important to keep Bad Religion's ticket prices high and insists upon staying at 4 star hotels which often are not luxurious enough for him while Bad Religion's crew stays elsewhere. Greg talks bad about me every chance he gets including in songs which he plays that I've written. he has no problem earning bucks off my songs and lyrics while describing me as a calculating marketing man. I could go on for several pages but prefer not to. The only reason I'm paying you the respect of a response is that I'd like the truth about Greg to be known".

Brett vs Greg: After much mutual flaming, in late 1996 Greg met up with Brett and they settled their differences.

Brian Baker: Brian Baker got a rented acoustic guitar when he was eight, right around Christmas. During that same Christmas, his best friend (who would later be the guitarist in S.O.A. and the Faith and Embrace) got a guitar. They quickly formed their band, kind of like The Everly Brothers, but they hardly knew how to play. He has never not had a guitar since he was eight. He begun his career back in the early 80s in the DC hardcore band Minor Threat (which would become Fugazi). There he played bass by default, but also guitar when the band added a fifth member to play bass. In the mid-80s, when the Misfits split (around the same time as Minor Threat) Glenn Danzig set up Samhain, and Brian played at early jams and rehearsals, together with Lyle Preslar and Jeff Nelson. He was an actual member of the band too, for about 10 minutes. From there, Brian went on to the seminal Meatmen (for a few minutes too), before leaving to form Dag Nasty. The latter had close ties to Fugazi's Ian MacKay, who co-produced the group's first three records; eventually, however, Dag Nasty would move to Epitaph for one album. Brian's next step was into the majors with Junkyard, who released two albums on Geffen, before he finally joined Careless. He was also in Government Issue and other bands. In 1988 he was voted by Flipside readers second biggest asshole of the year (only surpassed by GG Allin), though he was also voted second best guitarist. The editor for Sold Out magazine voted him asshole of the year (over GG Allin!). He first met Bad Religion several years ago when Dag Nasty released their album Four on the Floor via Epitaph, although he had known Hetson since 1981. In 1994 he was working as a guitarist-for-hire, he had just finished a stint with Tommy Stinson's Bash and Pop and was working in a pool hall; the very same week he had been asked (and had accepted) to fill in for Peter Holsapple of R.E.M., and was preparing to join R.E.M.'s Monster Tour, he got the call from Bad Religion offering him the job. He considered R.E.M. one of the biggest bands in the world, but also considered Bad Religion one of the biggest punk bands in the world. So two days after Greg's call he phoned R.E.M. again to tell them he was joining Bad Religion, he packed his bags, sold his car and left the Hollywood bar scene to move to Washington DC. and begin his new career; or as he puts it "that's me in the corner, choosing Bad Religion". "Touring for 19 months with one of the biggest bands in the world isn't exactly a shitty offer, and I was absolutely blown away that these R.E.M. people even knew who I was (...) My best friend Nathan [ex-Careless] got the gig. After the Monster tour ended, Nathan bought a house and built a home studio in the backyard. He's happy. I rent a one bedroom apartment and record my songs with an acoustic and a boom box, but I am in Bad Religion. I'm happy". His first gig with Bad Religion was in a festival in Germany. Greg at a DC concert (4/96): "This is our new guitarist, Mr Brian Baker -don't you think he sounds a lot better than that other guy?". He says his only real influence, the one you can still hear when he plays today, is Captain Sensible from The Damned. He heard him and that's how he wanted to play guitar. He wanted to look and sound like him, and learned every single note he ever played. And according to Brian everything he plays to this day is a combination of Captain Sensible and Angus Young. He now lives in D.C. In 1997 he recorded an album with Ric Ocasek on vocals, Mellissa from Hole on bass and the drummer from Nada Surf (whose albums are produced by Ric). I think Billy Corgan of the Smashing Pumpkins produced the album.

Brian Baker: Brian says that if someone writes his biography the title should be "Arrogance and Affluence: the rise and fall of Brian Baker". By the way, his earliest childhood memory is falling out of the back of a convertible and cracking his head open at age 2.

Brian -equipment: "I'm wireless, but the wireless is plugged directly into the Marshall 100 W head. I have no effects of any kind. Nothing. I have two completely stock JCM 800 Marshall heads and they go through two Mesa Boogie cabinets. I know they have Celestion speakers, but I don't know how many watts they are. My main guitar is a completely stock '90 Les Paul Standard. It was a factory second and says 'Not for sale' on the back of the headstock. I got it in a horse trade a couple of years ago."

Britain: They have played Liverpool, Bristol, Wolverhampton, Edinburgh, London and Glasgow in the past, but they don't really like playing in this island. Their first concert was on the 4th of July of 1991 in London. During a subsequent concert in London Astoria they told the audience that they were cool but their country sucked. People there don't like (mostly don't know) Bad Religion, although their following is very loyal -two London shows sold out without even being advertised. The sell very little. Only the single for 21st Century... sold 15,000 copies (twice the amount of Stranger than Fiction albums sold) very quickly, because it was sold very cheap and the video was repeatedly shown on TV. Stranger than Fiction is the only album that got good reviews, presumably because the press was paid to do so. On Summer 1996 the whole UK tour (consisting of three concerts -London, Birmingham, Glasgow-) was cancelled and the excuse given in UK music magazines is that they were very busy tending to the media in Germany. Here's a letter that Greg wrote to a British fan that was complaining about the lack of gigs in his country: "I am well aware that there are a lot of devoted Bad Religion fans in the UK. However, there are a lot of devoted Bad Religion fans all over the world. It is very difficult each year to try and determine where we should play in the limited amount of time that we have. Here are some of the factors that weigh heavily against England in our considerations: 1) Poor record sales: this is probably because of the un-supportive SONY UK label. We have had awesome support from our labels in every other country, but the fact that we have sold 4 times the number of albums in Finland alone over the UK shows that we are not well-supported in your country. 2) Poor venues and promoters: we have had numerous problems getting decent venues, promoted properly. London seems to be the only consistent place to play with good venues and proper promotion. We have ventured outside of London on 3 separate occasions and each time saw very poor promotion and low ticket sales. The exception was Glasgow, where we will return when it is convenient, which had a wonderful reception and proper promotion. 3) Poor Press Coverage: the UK press is notorious for being arrogant and self-important. They have not ever represented Bad Religion in a favorable light (which is okay) nor in an accurate portrayal (which is not forgivable). We need a certain amount of accurate press if we are to do a proper tour. The USA leads the way in shortcomings in all of these categories. But we tour extensively in the USA because the payoff is so much more rewarding. There are a lot more people in the USA, a lot more Bad Religion fans, and therefore it is worth putting up with the shit from promoters, the record company, and the feeble press. The UK has a relatively low payoff. We could tour there for months and maybe increase our sales, but on a relative note.......the UK as a market is simply not important to us. I don't think highly of the British government nor the way the music industry is structured there. I cant think of a British music periodical that I would waste a moment of my time reading, they are riddled with inaccuracies and propaganda. (Incidentally, contending that the USA is no better is not a valid argument, it says nothing about the truth in what I am telling). In fact, the entire British music industry is riddled with old-school mentality, hype-and-bust ideology, and arrogant general ignorance of the way the rest of the world works. Sadly, this characterization also is pervasive in certain sectors of British society. The Bad Religion fans in the UK are important to us. They show surprising independence from the powerful compulsions of their society by liking a band as peculiar as Bad Religion. We would like to play shows for them, but given the current situation it is hard to imagine how we can do it. I could see playing a show in London, of course, and one in Glasgow, and I would like to play for our listeners in Ireland too. But I cannot see extensive touring in England, unless conditions change drastically. Thanks for your bluntness and concern. We do care about our UK fans and appreciate your intelligence. Sincerely, Greg Graffin". Terry, a British member of the Bad ReligionML decided to start a "complaining campaign" against Sony UK and asked all British members of the Bad ReligionML to write to Sony UK through him. He also explained the idea to Bad Religion and this is what they answered: Michelle: "Wow, that is great. I don't think it's complaining just asking for something you want and believe in". Greg: "I think a petition would be very useful, but of course, I would want Sony UK to know that it was from the fans and that we had nothing at all to do with it. So please exclude us from any of your communications with them. I believe that a part of my ancestry is from good ole Blighty, but also from Germany". Hetson: "Keep on bugging us to come to the UK. Get your friends to bug us too. The crap about the canceled dates last year was written by some lame publicist at the label. I guess we should be more on top of that but it's difficult during the middle of the tour when travel is hectic (...) We're down on the label who pressured us into the Brixton fiasco and wouldn't help with expenses so we wouldn't lose money, not our fans there". Ian Winwood deserves a mention since he is just about the only critic in the UK who likes Bad Religion. For example his review of Generator in Metal Forces back in 1991 said that the title track had more ideas in it than most bands have in an entire career. However, he gave a 2 out of 5 to Tested.

Bad ReligionML, The: The Bad Religion mailing list, founded by Len Smith. The first issue came out on 15.1.1996. In early 1997 it had around 1,600 members and in early 1998 I think it was like 2,300. It came out daily until late 1997 when it became a bit more irregular. Since Joe Manis became the maintainer / moderator it has less members but is much more civil, friendly and interesting (and comes out daily once more (as of early 2000)). Joe also built The Generator, the first web-based guide to the list.

Brooks Wackerman: Brooks Wakerman joined the band after Bobby had to quit playing the drums forever due to an chronic, progressive shoulder injury, in 2001. When the band found out, they had booked a few weeks of rehearsal studio time and so they were all in LA, without a drummer. Thefore, instead of using that studio time for rehearsals, it became an audition session. The fifth person to try-out for Bobby's position was Brooks, who had been playing with Suicidal Tendencies, and the Vandals for a few years. His family is well-known in the percussion world, his brother Chad is one of only a few drummers to play with Frank Zappa's band. Greg says that Brooks was so good, they only had to hear him play one or two songs before they knew that he was "the best drummer we had ever heard". Greg asked him innocently: "do you WANT to be in Bad Religion, because we need a drummer for touring and recording and to be a part of this band, not just a temporary stand-in for Bobby?" Of course he replied with a big YES.

Brooks Wackerman: Technical stuff that drummers may want to know, from the man himself: "as far as my set goes with Bad Religion, i probably won't be using the ocpd (at least not the one with the vents in the shell); the sound is too thin, so i need something fatter. But i have another one thats a solid shell that i may use,but it'll probably be a d.w.snare. The rest will be the same a four piece with maybe an additional 16 inch floor,and it breaks my heart my to say but i'll be leaving the other half of my double pedle home,unless we break out reign in blood by slayer."

Brothers, The: Pete Finestone's new band. Formed in 1997. As of March 1998, they just finished recording an LP that they hope to put out on Low Blow Records (Pete's label). Pete: "The material reminds me of later Bad Religion stuff -melodic, great songs at slower tempos". All current Bad Religion members heard the stuff and loved it, and Pete wanted to get Greg to sing backups for the album, but apparently he had problems reaching him (in early 1998 Greg was extremely busy finishing No Substance and dealing with several other things) so it never happened.

Bruce Dickinson: Bad Religion were in Bruce Dickinson's radio program in England on 2.21.1995. They talked to him and played Incomplete and Infected live in the studio. Greg apologized for his sore vocals and explained he had just landed in England and hadn't been able to warm up his voice. Nevertheless, those songs made it to the Infected #1 single as well as several bootlegs.

Buried Alive: Buried Alive (The Best Of Smoke Seven 1981-1983) was a compilation put out by Smoke 7 Records in 1981 containing Bad Religion (theme song) and Drastic Actions (same versions as Public Service). Bomp reissued it in 1995 on CD and released Buried Alive 2 the following year, which contained Slaves.

Buffalo: They never play in Buffalo because they totally hate the place, at least Greg does. In a concert in Cleveland a guy in the audience said he was from Western NY and Greg replied "Thats too bad. cuz you see, western new york, buffalo in particular is the cesspool of the world. and every person who's been kicked out of every other respectable city ends up in buffalo. I guess cleveland was the closest 'big' city for someone from buffalo to come see us in..."

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Carl Sagan: He was one of the foremost astronomers in the world. Published nearly 500 scientific papers and articles and wrote or co-wrote over a dozen books, including Intelligent Life In The Universe (1966), The Cosmic Connection (1973), The Dragons of Eden (1977; Pulitzer prize 1978), Murmurs of Earth (1978) and Broca's Brain (1979). He used to teach at Cornell University, where Graffin studied/taught. Graffin was both a friend and fan of him; actually spent a weekend at his house. Carl died in the fall of 1996.

Cars, The: They have covered several Cars songs (at least four). Ric Ocasek (The Gray Race producer) used to be the frontman of the band.

CD-ROM: The single for Streets of America has a CD-ROM track with the promo video. It was all an idea of Dragnet, which Brian thinks is great "for people with computers, because it's kind of fun to play with. You know, we could definitely explore that a little bit further and do a better job of it, if we had time. But most of these things happen while we're on tour, so, you're on stage in Amsterdam and somebody is calling you on the phone, saying 'We're doing a CD-Rom, we need to know by 10 o' clock tonight whether this is OK', and then you're kinda like going back on stage, finish playing "Atomic Garden" and you say 'Do whatever you want!' and hang up the telephone. Everything had been real rushed for us, because we've been on tour for 2 years. And part of the reason why we're taking a little bit of a break now is to make sure that we can gain further control of these kind of things, because most of them don't come out to our satisfaction".

Chameleon: The label Brett worked in for a while. He did another pressing of How Could Hell... without the rest of the band's knowledge, sold the albums to Chameleon, and never accounted for the money. He used it to buy drugs. He always felt guilty about it, and part of what he wanted to do when he started Epitaph up again in 1987 was to make it up to the band. Then it took him four years to get the album back from Chameleon, to whom he had licensed it, at which point, he / they could place it on the 1980-85 anthology.

Change of Ideas: Greg's answer to a guy who proposed selectively killing those that destroy the rainforests, etc: "I can appreciate your disgust with people who terrorize the rainforests and other ecosystems, I too am angered by it. But killing key people will not reverse the course of mankind. In fact, killing each other is the very same destructive instinct that we have to get away from if we can ever hope to preserve our ecosystems. Changing political policies, or ousting bad leaders is only a temporary, unsatisfying fix, not the fundamental kind of change that we need... 'what we do need is a change of ideas'". Hetson in 1994: "There's a lot of opportunities for those who want to change something, to bring new ideas about. I think though that fear of change is still deeply rooted in aged folks: given that those in power are not youths, control on young people's activities will persist, and true freedom, authentic independence will be impossible to reach".

Charta 77: Swedish band which made a Swedish version of 21st Century Digital Boy and called it something like "det tjugoforsta arhundradets digitala grabb". It was one of three covers on a CD single called "6" (Birdnest Records, 1994 -BIRDCD058-). They made an English cover too on their live album "Hel!".

Chase, The: Movie which features Two Babies in the Dark. They play the full intro, and when Greg starts singing, they decrease the volume so the characters talk and stuff, but you can still hear it on the background, and in the end of the scene, the volume goes up again. Brett said the soundtrack to The Chase was not released by Epitaph because 1) he hated the final cut of the movie compared to the original director's version (before the studio got their hands on it). 2)The studio were total pricks and hard to work with and 3) Epitaph had no control over the album cover. Henry Rollins and Charlie Sheen are in the movie.

Chasing the Wild Goose: Covered by No Empathy in the CD single for Ben Weasel Don't Like It. Covered live by Jawbreaker. Also played live by Bad Religion (available in the CD bootleg All Our Yesterdays).

Chess: Brett loves playing chess; he used to carry his chess set around with him on tour. Once he was in London, trying to get in the US embassy, and they wouldn't let him in with his bag (the British are extremely paranoid with terrorism) so he tucked the bag under a bush in a nearby park. After getting a new passport in the embassy, he went back to the park only to discover that the police had closed it off; there was a Bobby holding his bag and asking whether it belonged to someone. Brett said it was his and the bobby grabbed him infuriated, "Do you realize how much you've cost the British Taxpayer?! You could have a bomb in this bag! open it!". And there was the timer for his chess set. It took Brett awhile to convince the bobby that it wasn't a timer for a bomb but eventually they let him go.

Chess: When they were trying Bobby out, Brett heard him play and said "you're in", then "wait! Do you play chess?"; Bobby went "Yeah, kind of" and Brett says "You're in the band".

Chicago Tribune, The: "For all its love of velocity, Bad Religion knows how to craft a memorable song... The band may play it smart, but their brainy pop songs also leave a few bruises."

Chimaera: The word has several meanings: 1) The chimaeras are a type of fish. The order Chimaeriformes (class Chondrichthyes, subcalss Holocephali) includes a number of fossil families as well as the living family Chimaeridae. The family Chimaeridae comprises about 15 species, with such suggestive names as ratfish, spookfish, ghostfish or rabbitfish (the latter's latin name is Chimaera monstrosa), i.e. they tend toward bizarre appearances. 2) The Chimaera was a mythological monster which breathed fire. The fore part of its body was a compound of the lion and the goat, and the hind part a dragon's. As the legend goes, Chimaera made great havoc in Lycia, so that the king, Iobates, sought for some hero to destroy it. At that time Bellerophon, a young warrior, arrived at his court. He accepted the king's proposal to fight The Chimaera, but before proceeding to the combat consulted the soothsayer Polyidus, who advised him to procure if possible the horse Pegasus for the conflict. Bellerophon mounted him, rose with him into the air, soon found the Chimaera, and gained an easy victory over the monster. After that he won several other battles always with the help of Pegasus, the winged horse. 3) Chimaera is a scientific term for a hybrid (spelt chimera in British English. Also called "graft-hybrid"). A chimaera is a tissue containing two or more genetically distinct cell types, or an organism composed of such tissues. It of chromosomes, affecting a particular cell during development and hence all its descendants. It can also arise from grafting. In relation with this: Geneticists call an individual which carries a macromutation that is of no benefit to that individual a "monster". It may be the third meaning that most influenced the choice of title, since the song talks about god creating an organism (a species in this case) with the most abundant smallest bits of matter, instilling them with affinity, blending up a recipe. So it is a very similar process to creating a chimaera, which has been done. For instance, plants have been cultivated which were made up of grafted tissues of different cell types or genetic origin. These were man-made chimaeras, and probably the name would come from the mythological monster. Probably the fish also got their name from the mythological monster. However, it is not unreasonable to think that Greg may have chosen the title with a second meaning in mind, either fish or mythological monster, as a play with words.

Christgau's Record Guide: Christgau's Record Guide (the 80's) is a book by a famous US rock critic rating hundreds of albums. He has entries for How Could Hell Be Any Worse? (gave it a B), Into the Future (gives it an A- ; he's referring to Into the Unknown), Suffer ( a B) and No Conviction (a B+, he means No Control, but he didn't listen real close because he quotes a typo in the text of the lyrics for Billy that's not sung in the song!). Since these typos appeared in Christgau's, they were perpetuated and have appeared in several other places.

Christmas Show 11.12.'93 + 8.1.'94 Los Angeles: Famous bootleg which includes live stuff plus Silent Night, Fuck Christmas and the four covers from the early 80s. The sleeve is a drawing of Santa Claus.

Circle Jerks, the: Hetson's band before (and after) he joined Bad Religion. Their original drummer Lucky Lehrer was the guy that got the first Bad Religion demo played on the radio in 1980 and he was also in Bad Religion for a while. Keith Morris sang backup in Operation Rescue.

City of L.A.: Power; A compilation picture disc put out by Flipside in 1990 which included Operation Rescue. It has songs from L7, Anus the Menace, Trash Can School, Paper Tulips, TVTV$, Creamers, Motorcycle Boy, Sandy Duncan's Eye, and Spiderbaby. It was compiled and produced by Joy Aoki. She did the artwork for Against the Grain. It was edited by Donnell Cameron, from Epitaph. There were only 2,300 copies pressed. It was reissued (in 1991, also by Flipside) as part of the compilation CD The Big One (still available from Flipside), which includes more bands than the original vinyl, like Offspring and Green Day.

Clash, The: Brian said their three first albums are some of the best punk ever, but "it's kind of hard with The Clash, because they made so much bad music too...".

Clawhammer: Jon Wahl and Chris Bagarazzi guest-starred in Recipe for Hate. In 1994 Brett said Clawhammer were the best band on Epitaph and maybe the best in the world.

Clerks: Movie (released 21.10.1994) in which Leaders and Followers is heard (in a different version) for a few seconds (when the main characters leave the burial).

Coke: Brian drinks lots of Coke and has a jacket with a logo on the back saying Enjoy Coca cola.

Come and Join Us: They played it live in the TV program Recovery (on Australia's ABC) and that rendition of the song was released on the double CD Hits From The Back Door, featuring the best appearances on Recovery from 1997. Greg used to introduce the song with a short speech about cults and stupid people who join them. At the Cleveland show on the Gray Race tour, he asked after the speech if anyone was offended by his previous statements. One long-haired guy raised his hand. Greg told the security to let the man on stage. Greg talked to the man and then asked if there was any song the audience would like to hear. The man replied Skyscraper. Greg said ok. The band then went into Come Join Us. The man then took Brian's mic and began singing (very poorly I might add) along with Greg. After a few minutes, Greg made a hand motion, and two security guards escorted the man off stage.

Comedy Central: Greg appeared twice on Politically Incorrect (when it was on Comedy Central).

Contact addresses: Manager: Michele Fleischli, the Talent House, 137 W. 14th Street Suite 202, New York, NY 10011 // Greg: PO Box 4416 Ithaca, NY 14852

Contest: Yarone Goren and Grant Richardson won the Bad Religion contest held by Atlantic Records and got a limited snowboard, a snowboard jacket, two Bad Religion CDs and a limited edition vinyl. The questions that they answered correctly were "what is Greg's academic field of choice" (answer: vertebrate paleontology) and what bands Brian Baker had previously played in (you just had to name two).

Continuous tuning: "Song" which is really just Brett tuning his guitar and Greg taking the piss. It is featured in the Along the Way video and in the CD bootleg Unknown Infections.

Covers: Hetson: the point of doing a cover is not to make it sound like the original. If your band is going to do a cover, just do it your own way, just destroy it.

Crazy Taxi: A sega Dreamcast videogame which features Hear It, Them And Us, 10 in 2010 and Inner Logic (bonus track). It also has The Offspring. Look for it in the arcades. A bootleg of the 13.4.2000 show in Berlin lists 10 in 2010 as Crazy Taxi.

Crew, The: An album by 7 seconds that was mixed by Brett. His name is misspelled on the back (it says Guervitz).

Czech Republic: In 1996 they played in Prague (The Ministry) along with Jesus Lizard, Slut, Frank Black, Iggy Pop and Dog eat Dog.

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Dag Nasty: One of Brian's previous bands. Brett is wearing their T-shirt on the sleeve of the video Along the Way (European version).

Damned, The: Brian said he'd nominate them for the best punk band ever award and acknowledges Captain Sensible as his greatest influence.

Danny Goldberg: The Atlantic guy who pursued and then signed Bad Religion originally. He isn't in Atlantic anymore. He used to manage Kurt Cobain.

Danny Heaps: Their current manager (as of December 2000) since earlier this year when Michele quit. He was Michele's boss, so they stayed with the same company.

Daredevils, the: Brett created this band after leaving Bad Religion. They only ever released a single with two songs: "Hate You", written for and about Jay, and "Rules, Hearts". Brett: "This is my creative outlet. It's not my business. It's something I do to keep my sanity. I'm not a rock star. I'm a record company owner". He wrote some material and said the first album would be out in 1998. The whole project came to a halt with Brett's problems with drugs and was finally abandoned for good when Brett re-joined Bad Religion in 2001. As to what happened to the songs he wrote for the Daredevils, I have no idea. In 1997 he said he was very happy with the new material and that it was much more hardcore than the single, truly in the spirit of old Bad Religion. In 2002 Brett was asked about the motivation for Hate You (about Jay Bentley, with whom he had a business-related argument that was Brett's excuse for quitting Bad Religion in 1994) and he replied that "That was uncool of me. I was being bitter." The flyers, ads, the single, the stickers, labels etc. for The Daredevils, mention that Brett is the former Bad Religion guitarist. Bad Religion used to play the Daredevils' two-song CD single before shows, between sets and after shows during some of the latest Gray Race concerts.

David Bragger: The director of several promo videos for Bad Religion songs.

Davy Goldman: The drummer on Into the Unknown.

Dead Silence: It was a fiercely anti-corporate punk band which is now defunct. They were a profane existence/MRR type of band where they are into real low door prices and against major labels. They put out a single entitled "How the hell could we make any more money?" or something whose sleeve was very similar to How Could Hell Be any Worse?.

Deadlights, The: The band cites Bad Religion as one of their main influences and Jerry was before in a band called Suffer.

Delirium of Disorder: Parts of the song come from Henry Miller's classic "Tropic of Cancer". Delirium is misspelled Dilirium in several bootlegs (e.g. Bad and Worst).

Demo, the: They recorded their first demo in 1980 at Studio 4. They handed it around to friends, including Lucky Lehrer. When Lucky was invited by DJ Rodney Bingenheimer onto his show on KROQ (Rodney on the Roq) he took the tape along with him and took the opportunity to introduce the listening public to Bad Religion. The tape would get quite a few airing on KROQ in the following weeks.

Demos: There exists a 7" called Generator Demos. It has Generator and Atomic Garden, both sang by Brett; the drums are replaced by a beat probably produced by a synthesizer. It would appear Brett recorded them on his own since he also wrote both songs. Also available are the demos for Fertile Crescent and Heaven is Falling. Rather than demos, these were recordings of the songs done for a single they put out with Noam Chomsky. The songs are pretty much finished, only not so well produced. All four demos are also found in the CD bootleg Unknown Infections. There are also demos for Infected, Marked, Hooray For Me and Stranger Than Fiction circulating (all sang by Brett) as well as a bunch of demos from Greg's studio, but these are virtually impossible to get.

Denmark: They played with Bob Dylan (!) at the Arhus Festival (6.15.1996).

Desktop theme for Win95: It has sounds, mouse pointers and cursors, screen savers, Dekstop Icons Wallpaper and everything for your computer to be totally of Bad Religion.

Destroy L.A.: Magazine which put out the compilation The Sounds Of Hollywood Fanzine 2 with Every Day and Waiting For The Fire in it. It then changed its name to Alternative Beat.

Details magazine: Every year the intellectual fashion magazine Details puts out a special issue that deals with musicians and musical topics. In July 1996 this issue contained an article which focused on Greg's life as a punker. It was actually an autobiography; the first time any autobiographical sketch had been printed about Bad Religion.

Devotos de una mala religión: A tribute CD that was released in 2000 containing Bad Religion songs played by Argentinian bands (and one Chilean). The title translates as "devotees of a bad religion". All the bands got together in November 1999 to present the CD in a well-know venue in Buenos Aires called Cemento.

Discover magazine: The photos in Stranger Than Fiction, aside from the cover, all were in Discover Magazines in the early 90's.

Divorce: Several band members saw their parents divorce as kids. By 1999 both Gregs and Jay had divorced their wives. After the first fight broke out at a show in October 2000, Jay said something like "Hey, go outside if you want to fight!" and Graffin said "If you guys wanna fight, get married". Maybe She Will, found on Graffin's solo album American Lesion, is a very explicit (and beautiful) song he wrote after his divorce.

DIY: Hetson: "I wouldn't label DIY as intentional, I would rather say that it was a necessity, especially during the eighties. At that time there were no big opportunity to get your music published, and thus bands produced albums on their own, or, in a lucky situation, had little labels to finance them".

Do They Know It's Christmas?: It can be found in the CD bootlegs Christmas Show 11.12.'93 + 8.1.'94 Los Angeles and Unknown Infections (same version).

Dodo, The: Song (by Greg) that was recorded during the "Ithaca Sessions", i.e. in the basement of Greg's home, together with The Universal Cynic and Punk Rock Song sang in German. It can be found in several singles and promos for Punk Rock Song (together with the other two tracks).

Do What You Want: Check <a href="eatbuy.html">this</a>. There exists an excellent acoustic version of the song, recorded backstage at the Roskilde Festival in Denmark 7.3.1993 by the Norwegian radio station NRK P3. There is also a video. The info at the beginning and end of the song is just like in the Land of Competition video, so it looks like it was done by the same people, but this one is really jerky and punk-looking whereas the Land of Competition vid looks like it was taken from the Along the Way footage. On Do What You Want the sound is perfect; it sounds like it was recorded at a high volume-it's a great video. In the Stranger than Pulp Fiction version of the song, Greg sings "my moniker is Brett and I'm rotten to the core". He often sings "my moniker is Greg" (e.g. in the All Ages version).

Don't Prey on me: The lyrics refer to Mark David Chapman, who shot John Lennon, and to JFK (Jack) who was rumored to have had an affair with Marilyn Monroe. By Hanson and Hester Brett thought he was referring to the main characters from the novel The Scarlet Letter. Later on he was made to realize (by us fans) that their names are not Hanson and Hester at all. He apologized for the mistake/confusion. The missing lyrics are "a bitter debate and a feminine fate / lie in tandem like two precious babes / while the former gets warmer, it's the latter that matters / except on the nation's airwaves / and custodians of public opinion / state fact after vainly discussing her rights / lay hands off her body / it's not your fuckin' life!"

Dr. Music Festival: It took place on 7.14.96 in Escalarre, i.e in the middle of nowhere, in the Catalan pyrenees. The festival included Lou Reed, Iggy Pop, Blur, Patty Smith, Sepultura, etc., and other punk bands. It lasted for three days and Bad Religion headlined the third day. Greg invited a guy onstage because he was screaming in the audience; he got onstage, grabbed the mic and started calling Greg a fat, old, bald sell-out. At first Greg was joking (saying "I'd rather be fat than short" -the guy was short) but he ended up dragging him offstage quite violently (believe me, the guy deserved it).

Dragnet: A sub-label of Sony Europe. It distributes Bad Religion in Europe (Atlantic distributes them in the U.S.). On this subject, Greg has said "It is very very rare that a band gets signed to competing labels but it is also very very good for the artists. We are tickled pink that we have such great success on Sony because it illustrates a successful marketing plan that Atlantic feels compelled to improve upon. And when Sony succeeds we can put pressure on Atlantic to do better. It also gives us security if one label wants to drop us the other would love to pick up the territory. It also gives us flexibility in releasing albums and importing them if we have to. Its been a really good thing for us. If neither label works hard for a particular band .... then obviously its a bad thing to have two deadbeat labels. "

Drugs: At the time of setting up Epitaph, because they we were a partnership, what they did was pick an outside party as a co-signer on every check. Jay chose Brett's dad because he was the one person Jay trusted the most (because he was a successful business man, and Jay had spent many nights talking to him about what Bad Religion were trying to accomplish, etc.). But then Brett would go up to his dad and say, "Here sign this check, I've got to get money to this guy" and his dad would do it, and then Brett would go out and get drugs with it. All the money from How Could Hell... went because of his drug habit. The other band members were very understanding though. Jay: "It's just the music, you don't want to fight about it, you don't want to get legal about it, you just kind of go, 'Whatever'". Brett was a heroin addict and a crack addict. In 1989 he said "I think crack is probably the worst poison that has ever been introduced to human beings (...) I think there are people who can handle it and for the people who can handle it it's o.k.". In 1997 he said he had been clean for over nine years but a few months later that was revealed to be a lie when he left Epitaph and went into rehabilitation because of a two-year long heroin addiction problem. He is still (in March 1998) locked in the rehab center Impact in Arizona, but it's court-ordered rehab this time 'cause he got arrested for possession of 14 balloons of heroin. That was the third time he was arrested for possession since he went into rehab. When Bad Religion were in Santa Monica people were smoking loads. Greg realized this and said he also used to smoke weed when he was younger and that's why he got into music. Also on two bootlegs (U.S.A. 1993 and Classic Traxx) Greg begins Fuck Armageddon by asking "anybody have any hash?". Jay had also been a heroin addict and had been in rehab with Brett. He's completely clean now. Greg, Brian, Bobby and Hetson have never made any drugs as far as I know.

Drumming: Bobby almost always uses half beat hi hat and ride beats when he could definitely use quarter or eighth notes. According to some drummers I know, that is a strange thing to do. Pete did use eighth notes and sometimes quarter notes. On Tested only something like 3 songs use eighth notes, and quarter notes aren't exactly plentiful either, but he tends to hit the hi hat at the same time as the snare, which is quite uncommon. Also on Tested, there are a couple of times where he sounds like he is doing quarter notes, but really he is doing eighth notes, just accenting on the quarter.

Drunk Sincerity: A review from MTV Online: "on 'Drunk Sincerity' we see a man and woman, hot-and-heavy in the back of a car. We hear his promise of eternal love, we know she's been had. This simple scene reverberates longer than Graffin's own dozens of declarations of rotting humanity". Some magazine (I can't remember) said it was like an Irish tune played faster.

Contents: Top - 9 A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

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E-mail addresses: 1. postmaster@Badreligion.com or michele@badreligion.com / ggraffin@badreligion.com / brianb@badreligion.com / gregh@badreligion.com / bobbys@badreligion.com / jayb@badreligion.com / Brett Gurewitz: Brett@epitaph.com.

2. Greg's email is currently (March 1998) read and answered (most of it) by his personal assistant, Treva. She doesn't take very long. Hetson takes anywhere between 1 day and 2 weeks, Brett -some say he doesn't even read his mail, others assure me they got a reply from him-, Brian almost never responds, Bobby replies quickly, Jay, if he answers, doesn't take long. In 1997 Jay was getting 40-60 e-mails per week and Greg hundreds. In 1998 they were getting 350 e-mails per week. In 1991 they were getting about 50 letters a week. Now they are receiving over 100 letters a week. They read them all (both snail mail and e-mail) but can't answer them all.

Early records: Greg regards them as being "primitive" but thinks there is still something unique to them: "...that I was able to deliver it honestly and without pretension. That's what I am still doing today, so I retain part of that, and I am happy about that".

Ecological collapse: Jay: "all Greg ever says in his songs is 'we are going to die -it won't be tomorrow but it'll be pretty fucking soon, so enjoy your life' ". Greg: "I am a happy guy. That is all that I really worry about. I have a very clear idea in my head about what's gonna happen to the human species just as I have a very clear picture what's gonna happen to the birds we hear twittering as well. Just because I think extinction is inevitable though doesn't mean that I can't live a perfectly happy life and share some of my happiness with other people and hope they share a happy life as well. So if you can be happy I think hope is an irrelevant issue. Just be happy with what you've got and you don't worry about tomorrow". Hetson: "I think things are going to get a lot worse before they get better. I am doing my best personally to be an optimist environmentally, but I don't think the mass of the world in general or the countries are doing what they should do. They are thinking about their own interest rather than the interest of the whole planet". Jay: "if everything goes the way it's been going for the past 25 years, basically all that will be left are maybe some tribes that live in Australia or something. Everybody in the big cities will eventually flee to the countryside and they will do the same that they are doing to the big cities to the country so basically there will be no place left to inhabit".

Eddie Vedder: In an MTV 120 Minutes interview from 1993 Lewis Largent asks Greg and Brett about Eddie Vedder's collaboration. Greg explained that Eddie sang backup on American Jesus and Watch It Die. Those are the only two places on that record that Eddie sings. In Watch it Die he sings the second verse, from "I saw a man" to "put to sleep". In American Jesus, only backing vocals. Greg said they came up with that idea because Eddie used to sneak backstage at all of the Bad Religion shows to try to meet the band, and that's how they met him. He used to come check out Bad Religion in San Diego, where he lived, long before Pearl Jam came to be. When they were doing the background vocals overdubbing for Recipe For Hate in L.A. it just so happened that Eddie was in town so they had him on the phone and invited him over. So he said ok and cruised over in his Mazda truck, but it was very spontaneous, they hadn't planned anything beforehand. On an early promo photo of Pearl Jam, around 1990-1, Eddie Vedder was wearing a Bad Religion T-shirt. Greg also says he would like to record a whole album with Eddie someday: "I would like to put together something out of the ordinary, but still really good". When Ten came out, Bad Religion went to Europe and played some shows with Pearl Jam opening for them in Germany. Jay: "We hung out and were all getting goofy. You know how when you sit down with someone, and your jokes are all the same, you have the same sense of humor, you do things that are similar? You just kind of connect. At the second show we played with them, he and I decided to