Thanks for the great review of 'Punk Paradox' Alan! I would not have known about Greg Graffin's autobiography/memoir otherwise. I think you are absolutely correct about the philosophies that drove Greg's lyrics in the band and to me, the idea of a book that helps dissect how he developed not only as an important member of the punk rock community but as a scholar, a lyricist and just another human trying to navigate all the twists and turns in life sounds like a must-read. Bad Religion got a lot of spins for me in the early 90's during my teenage rebellious phase and I always viewed them at that time as having a very unique, mature approach to songwriting. Their lyrics and their rich vocal harmonies are a great hallmark and in my opinion, put them a cut above other bands of their vintage. I did lose touch with them some time later in the 90's but I have tons of respect for them and would really enjoy reading about Greg's life journey in and more so, outside of music. Greg wrote a lyric from the 'Generator' album that goes: "A righteous student came and asked me to reflect. He judged my lifestyle was politically incorrect. I don't believe in self important folks who preach. No Bad Religion song can make your life complete." To me, 'Generator' and 'Against the Grain' are the perfect starting points for Bad Religion. Cheers!

@letstalkmetal

2 ай бұрын

I hope you enjoy the book Gregg! 'Against the Grain' was one of the albums I used to have. I liked it a lot, but it just got lost in the pile of CDRs I used to have. I'll be keeping an eye out for some of their albums moving forward; been meaning to check them out again for quite awhile.

I absolutely love the 5 albums from Suffer in 88 to Recipe for Hate in 93. Our gang of friends all got into Bad Religion because of Mille Petrozza. He used to wear T shirts and had a sticker on his guitar around 88/89. Stuff like that was important back then lol. Thanks for the review Alan. I think I'd skip it because I'd only be interested in the nerdy backstory on the albums really.

@letstalkmetal

2 ай бұрын

Cheers Mike! Greg does spend a little more time discussing those albums compared to other parts of the BR catalog, but I wouldn't buy this for a deep dive into the history of those albums.

Great video Alan! Before becoming a metalhead, my first favourite band was BR. That was the 90s, absolutely loved them back then, mainly because of their more sophisticated lyrics, which i would interpret in various ways as a teenager in my formative years. Still follow them, and lately I am aiming to complete their discography with their post-00 stuff. Favourite albums for me: suffer, against the grain, no control, and the gray race. Tested is a great live album. For some reason, i also believe they are an underrated band, you rarely hear people mentioning them together with other punk/hc favourites. For me they will always be the best band musically and lyrically from that genre (i dont love any other, tbh!). I may have a look at gregg's book, always liked his sophistication.

@letstalkmetal

2 ай бұрын

That's cool that BR was a huge band for you even before you got into metal! I think the two I used to have were No Control and Against the Grain. I've always meant to follow up on them but I just never come across their albums. I'll have to start looking harder :)

Hey Alan. I don’t have much to offer this week, as this is well outside my wheelhouse. I had a BR album on CD-R back in the day and never really liked it to be honest. Maybe it just wasn’t the right album to jump in with. Anyways, great video as always man.

@letstalkmetal

2 ай бұрын

Cheers Frosty! Hope you're school year is wrapping up OK.

I highly recommend their live 96 album "tested" And reading the liner notes on how it was recorded.

@letstalkmetal

2 ай бұрын

I'll keep an eye out for Tested, thanks for the recommendation!

@brendancarson8325

2 ай бұрын

It's testament to how good they are as a band. No studio trickery.

thanks for the review. just a note, there was a history of Bad Religion book released in 2020 called "So What You Want" that may be why he doesn't focus on the band so much in this book.

@letstalkmetal

Ай бұрын

Ah, that makes sense! I've never come across that one; I'll have to keep an eye for it. This book feels like a reflection on his own life and not just his music career so it made sense that he spent a lot of time on other aspects of his life.

@nogodhere666

Ай бұрын

Correction. Book name is "Do What You Want" not "So". sorry about that. again, nice work on your review.

@letstalkmetal

Ай бұрын

@@nogodhere666 Thanks Mark!