Bad Religion
Suffer
Epitaph, 1988
If you like punk rock at all and you don't like Bad Religion, then f**k you. Seriously. No other punk band, other than The Ramones, has influenced as many other bands and artists and spawned as many imitators as these guys. This album never gets old and is by far my favorite. The production is phenomenal, especially for a punk rock record from the 80's. You would never be able to date it if you didn't already know when it was recorded.
But for me, what has always made Bad Religion the band that they are is Greg Graffin. I would put his vocals up against pretty much anyone from any genre you choose. His lyrics have always been intelligent and thought-provoking as well, even before he earned his f**king master's degree in geology from UCLA and his Ph.D. from Cornell. They made being smart acceptable in the punk rock scene. Yeah, it's fun to listen to mindless, melodic punk rock but I need a shot of reality every once in a while. Yeah, Sheena is a Punk Rocker and that's awesome, but how does Sheena feel about globalization? That's where Bad Religion comes in. They have the ability to be profound without being preachy or pretentious.
Bad Religion will always be one of my favorite bands and this will always be my favorite BR record. Absolutely classic.
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