Bad Religion : The Gray Race - Audio CDs (1996)

Click for larger image

Labor Day:

$7.63, Save (25%)

Your Price: $8.48

Retail Price: $9.98

You Save: $1.50 (15%)

Availability: Usually ships in 1-3 business days.

Free Shipping on orders of $75 or more
(some restrictions apply)

Format: Audio CD

Genre: Punk / New Wave

Average Customer Rating:
Based on 40 ratings.

Shipping Options

ORDER BY PHONE

1-800-336-4627

or 1-610-649-7565

Mon-Fri: 7am-9pm ET
Sat: 10am-9pm ET
Sun: 10am-8pm ET

MAIL ORDER FORM

Item Number:
ATL 828702

Product Description:

Bad Religion: Greg Graffin (vocals); Greg Hetson, Brian Baker (guitar); Jay Bentley (bass); Bobby Schayer (drums).

Recorded at Electric Lady Studios, New York, New York in October and November 1995.

With their ninth album, this Los Angeles-based hardcore band continue their distinctive recipe of slashing, frenetic guitar, inviting vocal harmonies and socially-conscious lyrics. THE GRAY RACE showcases Bad Religion's chaotic, two-guitar punk, which is driven by an intense, high-strung urgency; each track provides just the right amount of unapologetic melodicism along with Greg Graffin's rough-voiced yet lucid vocals.

The band's sound is loud, fast, and basically simple, in contrast to the broad, complex themes they tackle. Many songs are a variation on the "think for yourself" motif, including "A Walk," a defiant rant against the system ("Who the hell are you to tell me what to do?/You can't even tie your own haggard shoes/Your closet is a mess, and your backyard's falling down"). There are also brilliant feats of multisyllabic rhyming here, betraying Graffin's striking intellect as a lyricist, as on "Them And Us": "Despite that he saw blatant similarity/He struggled to find a distinctive moiety/All he found was vulgar superficiality."

Entertainment Reviews:

Rolling Stone - 3/7/96, p.48

3 Stars - Good - "...Bad Religion are working to bring a deeper sense of purpose to a music they can honestly call their own."

Spin - 3/96, p.107

7 - Flawed Yet Worthy - "...a hell of a record for a band that just lost 52 percent of its songwriting, proof that Graffin's voice and vision define the band..."

Q - 4/96, p.105

4 Stars - Excellent - "...at one bound THE GRAY RACE pushes American punk forward....a level of sophistication that calls for endless, depth-creating harmonies and the technical ability to carry off more adventurous concepts like `Ten in 2010'..."

New York Times (Publisher) - 2/25/96, Sec.2, p.34

"...The messages can be didactic, but the songs--burly rockers, full of minor chords--wrap desperation in choruses that aim to be anthems despite their own alienation..."