So why is Bad Religion’s Against the Grain on this best 1,000 albums ever thing?
The first time Bad Religion was introduced to me it was through my group of friends, and I recall the term “godfathers of thesaurus rock” being used to describe the band.
That mouthful (mindful?) of words has long stuck with me. First of all, I’m sort of impressed that my crew back in our far-flung youth days used this kind of terminology, but more importantly it conveys that Bad Religion is no ordinary band of punk rockers.*
* And in fact singer Greg Gaffin holds a PhD in Zoology from Cornell University!
The first Bad Religion song that I ever heard was “21st Century (Digital Boy),” the music video for which saw some rotation on MTV around that time. And I’ll admit that I really didn’t know what to think of it at first. 21st Century digital boy, I thought, really? My daddy’s a lazy middle class intellectual?
And then each time I heard it, I started to get it a little more. Musically, that monstrous hook, that delicious crunch, that heavy yet melodic punk energy grew on me. And then it grew on me a lot. At some point, the script flipped for me with regard to the lyrics. No, this isn’t lame at all – these guys are talking about things that no one else is talking about and doing it in a way that no one else is.
And I don’t want it
The things you’re offering me
Symbolized bar code, quick ID
Oh, yeah
Bad Religion spoke to me on multiple levels, I guess you could say, and I became a fan for life.
“21st Century (Digital Boy)” remains my favorite BR song to this day – it’s a distillation of everything the band does well, put together in ultra-crisp and finely executed form.
The incredible thing about Against the Grain is that the rest of the album is nearly as good. The title track is an iconic statement of individuality: there’s truly nothing more punk rock than that.
The flow is getting stronger with small increments of time
And eddies of new ideas are increasingly hard to find
You need all that the other has your right to seize the day
But in all your acquisitions you will soon be swept away
Against the grain
That’s where I’ll stay
Swimming upstream
I maintain against the grain
“Modern Man,” the album opener, is a ferocious, delicious blast of punk.
And it’s just crazy that songs like “Flat Earth Society” are just as prescient today as in 1990. Bonus: it’s a flat-out great song.
Personal stuff that has something to do with Bad Religion’s Against the Grain
I’ve only seen Bad Religion in concert once. It wasn’t an ideal experience, but I’m still deeply grateful nonetheless. The less than ideal part is related to the fact that it was held at a huge outdoor festival (Van’s Warped Tour) on Randall’s Island, which is located in New York City between Queens and Manhattan.
It was the middle of the summer, and hot. It must not have rained for a while, too, as my most striking memory of that day is that there was dust everywhere. So much dust, in fact, that it obscured the stages where the bands performed. And breathing and stuff wasn’t fun to boot.
That being said, Bad Religion sounded fantastic, as did the ludicrous slew of other incredible bands that I got to catch that day, which included The Suicide Machines, Voodoo Glow Skulls, and Hepcat.
Some stats & info about Bad Religion – Against the Grain
- What kind of musical stylings does this album represent? Rock Music, Punk Rock, SoCal Bands, American Underground, Hardcore Punk
- Rolling Stone’s greatest 500 albums ranking – not ranked!
- All Music’s rating – 4.5 out of 5 stars
- When was Against the Grain released? 1990
- My ranking, the one you’re reading right now – #219 out of 1,000
Bad Religion’s Against the Grain on Spotify
A lyrical snippet from Bad Religion’s Against the Grain that’s evocative of the album in some way, maybe
‘Cause I’m a 21st century digital boy. I don’t know how to read, but I’ve got a lot of toys.
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.