Bad Religion - The Process Of Belief (2002)

Bad Religion has been the iron man of Southern California melodic hardcore-punk for more than two decades. The core of the group, founded in the San Fernando Valley in 1980 by teenagers Brett Gurewitz (guitarist), Greg Graffin (vocalist) and Jay Bentley (bassist), are reunited on their twelfth album, 'The Process Of Belief'. Gurewitz rejoined the band for a second time in 2001 to record 14 blasts of melodic punk that take off with the hyperdrive rocker "Supersonic", in which Graffin yearns to live "decently, meaningfully" over double-time drums and buzzing guitars. The album is a return to form for the group, mixing pop-inflected hard rock songs about alienated, throwaway teens ("Broken") with intricately worded, mile-a-minute rants like "Materialist", which slams dollar-chasers obsessed with "nonsense and incipient senescence". Its Graffin and Guerwitz's erudite songwriting that elevates their sometimes by-the-numbers punk over that of contemporaries 20 years their junior. Whether ranting about environmental issues ("Kyoto Now"), crooning over a punkabilly swing tune describing the fractured relationship between a father and son ("Sorrow"), or bemoaning the modern culture of surveillance in the straight-up pop/rocker "The Defense", Bad Religion remains the premier choice for punk rockers who love both MINOR THREAT and the "The New York Times".

The Process of Belief marks the band's first album released on Epitaph Records since 1993's Recipe for Hate and to feature original guitarist Brett Gurewitz since 1994's Stranger Than Fiction. It was also the first Bad Religion album to feature new drummer Brooks Wackerman, replacing Bobby Schayer who suffered a severe shoulder injury which left him unable to drum professionally. The album marked the return of Bad Religion's punk rock roots, and many have compared it favorably to their past releases, including Generator and their 1989 classic No Control. This was the first time Bad Religion recorded an album at Westbeach Recorders since Recipe for Hate, and this would be Bad Religion's most successful album since 1996's The Gray Race.

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Bad Religion - The Process Of Belief (2002)

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Based on only one or two listens to The Process of Belief, one would be tempted to retitle it The Process of Backsliding. It's like a batch of outtakes from their 1988 comeback LP, Suffer, or the amazing juggernauts that followed, No Control and Against the Grain. But successive immersions into the new LP's brute, lashing power and wild honey melodies disarms such critical impulses as efficiently as a martial arts master. Regression rarely feels this fresh or this welcome. For anyone who forgot how much had been absent without Brett Gurewitz, The Process of Belief radiates his singular seasoning in technicolor. First, with him back in the fold, Greg Graffin need only compose seven ace songs instead of 14 like the previous three LPs. A higher quality control results, as well as the rediscovered compliment of Gurewitz's searing tunes with Graffin's pop hooks. One also notes the lustrous sound of Gurewitz's backing vocals, once again meshed with Graffin's in the kind of familiar near-perfection that has signaled the best harmony teams: a sound so pleasing and comfortable it drives the chorus melodies and the "ooohs and ahhhs" much deeper, like a stake into the heart. Third is the more clearly-pointed edge of the band's attack, clearly captured by Gurewitz's bursting production. And once one gets used to the late-'80s feel and chalks it up to a pardonable retrench, there isn't a bad moment in The Process' 37 minutes. No sooner does one "Supersonic" hook subside than another – like the frantic, frenetic, kinetic "Prove It" – relieves it. The old dog didn't need any new tricks, it just needed to race like a real greyhound again. The Process of Belief earns its hopeful title, and it's a short process towards complete and utter conviction.

~ Jack Rabid, The Big Takeover

Tracklist:

01. Supersonic
02. Prove It
03. Can't Stop It
04. Broken
05. Destined For Nothing
06. Materialist
07. Kyoto Now!
08. Sorrow
09. Epiphany
10. Evangeline
11. The Defense
12. The Lie
13. You Don't Belong
14. Bored & Extremely Dangerous

all songs written by Greg Graffin & Brett Gurewitz


Produced Brett Gurewitz & Greg Graffin
Recorded by Billy Joe Bowers in June - September 2001 at
Sound City, Los Angeles & Westbeach Recorders, Hollywood, CA
Mixed by Brett Gurewitz except "9" by Jerry Finn at Larabee East
Mastered by Bob Ludwig at Gateway

• Greg Graffin – lead & backing vocals
• Brett Gurewitz - guitars, backing vocals
• Greg Hetson – lead & rhythm guitars
• Brian Baker - lead & rhythm guitars
• Jay Bentley – bass guitar, backing vocals
• Brooks Wackerman – drums

Release Date: January 21, 2002
Format: Original Recording
Label: Epitaph Europe
Catalog No.: 6635-2