BAD RELIGION: NEW MAPS OF HELL (2007)
1) 52 Seconds; 2) Heroes &
Martyrs; 3) Germs Of Perfection; 4) New Dark Ages; 5) Requiem For Dissent; 6)
Before You Die; 7) Honest Goodbye; 8) Dearly Beloved; 9) Grains Of Wrath; 10)
Murder; 11) Scrutiny; 12) Prodigal Son; 13) The Grand Delusion; 14) Lost
Pilgrim; 15) Submission Complete; 16) Fields Of Mars.
Nothing I can say, write, or even think of will
seem fresh, relevant, or startling when it comes to New Maps Of Hell, Bad Religion's 14th studio album that could just
as well be 5th, 12th, 16th, or 667th. By now, it is clear that there are only
two types of Bad Religion albums: those that are fast, aggressive, and
kick-ass, and those that are slower, feebler, and duller. With Gurewitz still
in the band, and Hetson and Baker still sticking to second and third guitar
respectively, and — most importantly
— the George W. Bush administration still in power, you may make a safe bet
that this album will rather fall in the first than the second category. And
that's about all that may matter to anyone who ever cared about Bad Religion.
Well, on second thought, let us be fair:
Gurewitz and Graffin are still trying
to come up with new chord sequences and new patterns of guitar interplay. As
simple as the basic formula is, any musicologist will tell you that its raw
potential is not that limited —
particularly when you have three guitars at your disposal and a permission to
work poppy vocal hooks into your choruses. ʽHeroes & Martyrsʼ may be
undistinguishable from ʽGerms Of Perfectionʼ upon first listen, going for the
same mood at the same speed with the same guitar tones, but the main riffs are
different — first one a little more syncopated and metallic, second one a
little more «folk-punkish» (first one credited to Gurewitz, second to Graffin:
feel the difference?).
And goddamnit, but they do sound great on ʽNew
Dark Agesʼ — an even better anthem than ʽThe Empire Strikes Firstʼ, especially
for those ready to believe that the «new dark ages» are indeed upon us (living
in Putin's Russia helps plenty, but is hardly an obligatory condition). The scratchy
choo-choo train riffage, the well-crafted vocal buildup to the chorus, the
desperate release of "these are the new dark ages and the world may end
tonight" — all that's lacking is one of these bursting-with-madness Mötörhead-ish
guitar solos.
What this means is, if there is at least one great track on a Bad Religion album
that one feels pressed to mention, this is already a positive sign — there
actually may be others. You just have to grope around a bit; I do not have much
time for that, so I can only say that ʽFields Of Marsʼ has a brief piano intro
(which then returns for an interlude), and that ʽProdigal Sonʼ features a blunt
lyrical reference to Fogerty's ʽFortunate Sonʼ (just for the sake of being able
to sing "I ain't no prodigal
son" instead of "fortunate son" — intertextuality ahoy!).
In the end, we will just let it be with another
thumbs up
— maybe the songs, overall, are a trifle less inventive than the ones on Empire, but the motivation, the fire,
and the hooks are all there, even if albums like these are like a wave of
reviewer's nightmares.
Check "New Maps Of Hell" (CD) on Amazon
Check "New Maps Of Hell" (MP3) on Amazon
New Dark Ages is a clever song. Not that it contains anything new or even presents a new angle to things already known; everything is just well thought, the interlude and choirs being the most clear, but not the only features. And the chorus is catchy! I bet I'll be humming "welcome the new dark ages" for a couple of hours.
ReplyDeleteThere is not a spark of originality in this album (the only one I heard from Bad Religion). They sound like an average teenage rock band, except that they have ambitions ... That don't pay much, given that the lyrics are too "easy" and excessively catastophists to be oracles.
ReplyDeleteI'm sorry, I hadn't read the previous reviews on this band. You had already mentioned their ambitions falling flat very often.
ReplyDeleteYour reviews are very good, by the way.
Billy Preston v. Bad Religion: The gospel vs. the manifesto!! Ayreon vs. Banco: Dreamy altruistic neo-prog vs. dramatic humanistic musico progressivo!! You're setting up a real battle of the ages here, George. Will it go round in circles, or will we enter the new dark age? It it the Last Experiment, or are we already RIP??
ReplyDelete