Shades Of Truth (No Substance - Bad Religion)

Member Name: rleigh

Product:	No Substance - Bad Religion
Date:	25/06/08 (38 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: A number of excellent tracks reside within the 42 minutes of this album.

Disadvantages: The band has recorded and released better albums than this.

'No Substance' is the tenth studio album from Bad Religion, it consists of a total of sixteen tracks and features 42 minutes of music. Although not the finest album that Bad Religion has ever released as a band, 'No Substance' is still quite an interesting album release from Bad Religion and a worthwhile addition to the music collection of any major fan of the band. This was the bands third album release through Atlantic Records and although it was the tenth album that Bad Religion released as a band they had certainly not here run out of ideas.

The album begins with 'Hear It', the second shortest track on the album and one that has a run time of a mere 1 minute and 49 seconds. It's an excellent way to start the album, kicking this 'No Substance' release off in style and right from the offset here the fine music sets in motion. At twice the opening tracks length, 'Shades Of Truth' is the second track on this album and continues where the first track leaves off; it's another fine track and one of my personal favourites from this 'No Substance' album.

'The Hippy Killers', 'Mediocre Minds', and 'The Biggest Killer In American History' also are three further favourites of mine from this 'No Substance' album; all of them are excellent and never does the music of Bad Religion disappoint here. From start to finish this album consists of fast and furious punk rock, never is there a dull moment with the music of Bad Religion and with this album the sound created here always is hugely impressive. Many of the tracks from this album hover around the two/three minute mark; the tracks are quite short in length but incredibly effective in terms of energy and power.

Not everyone will appreciate the music of Bad Religion, for a start most of the bands material sounds incredibly similar so if you're looking for a band that is stylistically adventurous then Bad Religion is most definitely not going to be the band for you. Bad Religion found their sound very early on and have stuck to it pretty rigidly ever since; there has been some deviation away from the original script, for the most part however Bad Religion is a band that plays fast and furious punk rock music and always with this album the music is incredibly hard hitting and highly entertaining to listen to. The album was released in May 1998, it followed on from live album 'Tested' in terms of physical releases; 'The Gray Race' was however its studio album predecessor. I do prefer 'The Gray Race' to this 'No Substance' release; 'No Substance' is however an album that I'd thoroughly recommend listening to, another fine album from the great American punk rock band that is Bad Religion.

Summary: 'No Substance' is a decent sixteen track album from Bad Religion which is well worth listening to.