Bad Religion: No Control (Epitaph Records/1989)

Bad Religion is one of the longest-running bands from the original late 70's Los Angeles, California punk scene. Their fourth album, released in late 1989 on Epitaph Records (which was formed by Bad Religion guitarist  Brett Gurewitz) - No Control is arguably the band's greatest album. It one-ups their previous album (Suffer) ever-so slightly in terms of top-notch material and a brighter overall sound. Granted there's a certain samey-ness to the materiel (arrangement-wise) however this doesn't seem to detract from the overall impact of the album as a whole. 

 

Greg Graffin's sociopolitical and sociological concerns suit the materiel perfectly and the harmony vocal arrangements are extremely tight (as is the band itself). Greg Hetson and Brett Gurewitz's dual guitars are equally matched by the rhythm section of Jay Bently and Pete Finestone. The highlights include “I Want To Conquer The World”, “Automatic Man”, “Change Of Ideas”, “Sanity” and the title track.

If you're new to Bad Religion, this is about as good a starting point as any. Also recommended are Suffer, Recipe For Hate and Against The Grain.

Here's the video review:

Special Thanks: Amy Riley-McClelland.