Why is Bad Religion’s Suffer on my best 1,000 albums ever list?
Don’t suffer the fools who refuse to get enough-er of this construct of musical performances.
Some stats & info about Bad Religion – Suffer
- What kind of musical stylings does this album represent? Punk Rock, Rock Music, SoCal Bands, American Underground, Hardcore Punk
- Rolling Stone’s greatest 500 albums ranking – not ranked!
- All Music’s rating – 4 out of 5 stars
- When was Suffer released? 1988
- My ranking, the one you’re reading right now – #715 out of 1,000
Bad Religion’s Suffer on Spotify
What does the “best 1,000 albums ever” mean and why are you doing this?
Yeah, I know it’s audacious, a little crazy (okay, maybe a lot cray cray), bordering on criminal nerdery.
But here’s what it’s NOT: a definitive list of the Greatest Albums of All-Time. This is 100% my own personal super biased, incredibly subjective review of what my top 1,000 albums are, ranked in painstaking order over the course of doing research for nearly a year, Rob from High Fidelity style. Find out more about why I embarked on a best 1,000 albums ever project.
What does Bad Religion’s Suffer mean to me? What does it make me feel? Why is it exciting or compelling?
A friend of mine told me back in the day that Bad Religion are the “grandfathers of Thesaurus Rock.” To get a sense of what that means, check out this line from “1000 More Fools,” off of Suffer.
The masses are obsequious contented in their sleep
The vortex of their minds contented in the murky deep
“You Are (The Government)” has what I think of as the “classic” Bad Religion punk rock song. Which is to say it’s most excellent. And at a 1:20 running time, it’s a powerhouse of punk energy and political indignation. Which is to say, the Bad Religion wheelhouse.
There’s really no wrong turns you can take on Suffer’s 15 tracks and slight 26 minutes plus. A good example on an absolutely right turn is “Give You Nothing.” While doing research for this here best 1,000 albums ever project I succinctly jotted down the following for “Give You Nothing”: “This song kicks ass.”
And it does.
Also, the lyrics beg for close study and admiration. Another example:
Hey, everybody’s looking but they never can see
All the angst, corruption and the dishonesty
Look around and ask someone if you are alive
You’re a sidewalk cipher speaking prionic jive
“Best For You” is endlessly catchy, another typical quality that so many Bad Religion songs possess.