Let's Talk About Nothing (Stranger Than Fiction - Bad Religion)

Member Name: Frankingsteins

Product:	Stranger Than Fiction - Bad Religion
Date:	08/02/08 (19 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Fine return to form, without selling out.

Disadvantages: Abandons the experiments of recent years in favour of a more commercially viable sound.

Tensions were high as Bad Religion sold out to the mainstream and released their first album on major label Atlantic in 1994, but fortunately for everyone, 'Stranger Than Fiction' made no compromise and stuck rigidly to the band's popular punk sound, with an even greater authenticity than had been heard since the eighties. Regularly cited as one of their classic releases, I find it a little disappointing compared to their earlier classic period, and in the wake of the experimental 'Generator' and 'Recipe for Hate' it's almost disappointingly consistent, but the songwriting ability is still as strong as it ever was, or would be again until Brett Gurewitz's eventual return, this being his final album with the band for now.

The higher budget is clearly evident in the greater production sound, which now seems somehow louder and clearer, and although there's a distinctly melodic orientation on many songs, you only have to look into the past with albums such as 'Suffer' and 'Against the Grain' to see that Bad Religion has possessed this sense of accessibility all along, and it doesn't represent an attempt to snag new fans by changing their sound. The title track in particular is a great mellow song in the band's tradition, complete with backing singing that was so definitive of their releases until other bands started to imitate it, and it's nice to hear the country style from the previous album finding its way into 'Hooray' in a small fashion.

There are more memorable songs here than has been the case for some time, but as expected, there's quite a wide gulf between those that work, and those that don't, depending on each listener's taste. I personally find the guest performance of Rancid's Tim Armstrong in the otherwise fun 'Television' to be annoying in its near-rap style, while it's fairly obvious that 'Infected' has received a little greater attention to detail for its release as a single, with its catchy riff and slow chorus. The inclusion of '21st Century (Digital Boy)' at the end is the only real sign of record label coercion evident here, as the song was originally released on the 'Against the Grain' album but was allegedly re-recorded here in order to provide a suitable single, as the rest of the songs weren't up to the task. It proved successful, but also unfortunately demonstrated that Bad Religion were now, to some extent, bitches.

1. Incomplete
2. Leave Mine to Me
3. Stranger Than Fiction
4. Tiny Voices
5. The Handshake
6. Better Off Dead
7. Infected
8. Television
9. Individual
10. Hooray for Me...
11. Slumber
12. Marked
13. Inner Logic
14. What It Is
15. 21st Century (Digital Boy)
 

Summary: Bad Religion's eighth album (1994).