Like a Rock, Like a Planet... (Generator - Bad Religion)

Member Name: rleigh

Product:	Generator - Bad Religion
Date:	25/06/08 (23 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: The album contains a number of excellent punk rock tracks.

Disadvantages: The first track is the best on the album and the rest pale in comparison.

'Generator' is the sixth studio album from Bad Religion; a thirteen track album which clocks in at 34 minutes and 40 seconds in length. The album was released through Epitaph Records and originally saw its release on March 12th 1992. This is not the best album that Bad Religion has ever released as a band, it's certainly one that is still well worth listening to however and a number of tracks are contained within this release that are really rather impressive. This 'Generator' album sticks firmly to the Bad Religion script; this is a fast and furious display of punk rock, a well constructed release of music and one with which Bad Religion shows itself to be an incredibly capable band of releasing a fine album of punk rock.

Kicking off with title track 'Generator' the album fires into life right from the offset; the sound created here is incredibly energetic and this is I feel one of the finest tracks that the band has ever written. The chorus is proudly sung out by the bands vocalist Greg Graffin; the music is well put across by the band here and this fine opening three minutes of music certainly starts the album in an incredibly strong fashion. 'Generator' is an absolute classic of a punk rock track, every time I hear this one I smile and never do I tire of listening to it.

After the first track of 'Generator' I'd have to say that the rest of this release pales in comparison; the album is by no means bad, after such a strong opening track it's hard for the rest of the album to live up to this level of excellence however and 'Generator' is I feel an album that peaks far too soon. 'No Direction', 'Tomorrow', and 'Heaven Is Falling' also are three further excellent tracks from this album; although these are strong however they still don't reach the incredibly high level of excellence reached with opening track 'Generator'. Don't be put off listening to this album purely because the opening track is the best that the album has to offer; this is still a fine thirteen track construction of music, it's just that the best track has here been placed firmly at the very beginning of the album. It's a shame that the rest of the album is not so strong as the track 'Generator', throughout the rest of the album the band does however continue to churn out a number of excellent punk rock anthems.

Although this album now consists of thirteen tracks, it originally had eleven and it was only in 2004 that a further two tracks were added when the album was completely remastered and re-released by Epitaph Records. The two tracks that were added were those of 'Fertile Crescent', and 'Heaven Is Falling' also. Both of these tracks were taken from a split 7" with Noam Chomsky which originally surfaced in 1991; 'Fertile Crescent' is a track that the album could really have done without, 'Heaven Is Falling' is an excellent track however and one that is well worth its inclusion on this 'Generator' album. 'Heaven Is Falling' provides this 'Generator' album with a fantastic final 2 minutes of music, it's another of my favourite tracks from this album and certainly ends this 'Generator' release in style; before these two tracks were added the album already sounded complete, I do however appreciate the record labels decision to add these further two tracks to the album as 'Heaven Is Falling' at least is one that is well worth listening to.

If you like punk rock music then Bad Religion's 'Generator' album is definitely an album that you should listen to. This is not one of the bands all time best albums, it's still a pretty strong Bad Religion record however and despite the fact that the opening track is the best on the album and it's therefore all downhill from there; the rest of this release still comes complete with a number of excellent punk rock offerings. If you've ever heard and appreciated a Bad Religion track then perhaps consider giving this 'Generator' album a listen; it's not so strong as the bands 'No Control' or 'Against the Grain' albums but still provides for a powerful 34 minutes of music.

Summary: 'Generator' is a pretty decent album from Bad Religion; not the bands best but still worth a listen.