BUSH *****

Bush are a British alternative rock band formed in London in 1992 shortly after vocalist/guitarist Gavin Rossdale and guitarist Nigel Pulsford met in a London niteclub. Realizing they shared a love for such diverse artists as the Pixies, Bob Marley, The Jesus Lizard, MC5, Hüsker Dü, and Big Black, they decided to form a band together. It was not long before they recruited drummer Robin Goodridge and bassist Dave Parsons and started writing. Dave Parsons joined Bush shortly after leaving the band Transvision Vamp. Drummers such as Sasha Gervasi, Amir, and Spencer Cobrin had all taken their go as Bush drummers before Robin Goodridge was made the permanent fit and thus completing the Bush lineup.

The band found immediate success with the release of their debut album Sixteen Stone in 1994, which is certified 6× multi-platinum by the RIAA. Bush went on to become one of the most commercially successful rock bands of the 1990s, selling over 10 million records in the United States. Despite their success in the United States, the band were less well known in their native hometown and enjoyed only marginal success there. Bush have had numerous top ten singles on the Billboard rock charts, and one #1 album for Razorblade Suitcase in 1996. The band separated in 2002 but the name was revived in 2010 to support a new album, Everything Always Now, due for release in early 2011 and some live shows.

The group chose the name "Bush" because they used to live in Shepherd's Bush, London.

In Canada, they were once known as Bush^x, because the 1970s band Bush, led by Domenic Troiano, owned the Canadian rights to the name. In April 1997, it was announced that Troiano had agreed to let them use the name Bush in Canada without the exponent x, in exchange for donating $20,000 each to the Starlight Children's Foundation and the Canadian Music Therapy Trust Fund.

History

Formation and Sixteen Stone (1992-1995)

After leaving his band Midnight, Gavin Rossdale met former King Blank guitarist Nigel Pulsford in 1992. The two bonded over an appreciation of the American alternative rock group the Pixies. The two formed a new band which they called Future Primitive. Describing the early sound of the group, one British record label executive said years later, "They weren't what they are today -- they were a little like the more commercial side of INXS".The pair recruited bassist Dave Parsons (formerly of The Partisans and Transvision Vamp) and drummer Robin Goodridge to complete the lineup.

In 1993, the band was signed by Rob Kahane, who had a distribution deal with Disney's Hollywood Records. The band completed recording its debut album Sixteen Stone in early 1994. However, the death of Disney executive Frank G. Wells eliminated a supporter for Kahane, and executives at Hollywood deemed Bush's album unacceptable for release. As a result, the members of Bush took jobs performing menial labour. Interscope Records ultimately decided to release the album, and at the end of 1994, Kahane sent an advance copy of the album to a friend at influential Los Angeles radio station KROQ-FM, which added the song "Everything Zen" to its rotation.

Razorblade Suitcase (1996-1998)

In late 1996 Bush released the first single "Swallowed" from their second album titled Razorblade Suitcase, The song spent seven weeks on top of the Modern Rock Tracks chart. The album hit number 1 in America and placed high in many European countries. Although a success, at two hit singles compared to four the album did not sell as well as Sixteen Stone. Razorblade Suitcase featured Steve Albini as the audio engineer, a move which was criticized by critics. Albini had worked with Nirvana on their final studio album, In Utero, only 3 years before. Many claimed they were trying too hard to sound like the grunge pack. Following the success of "Swallowed," the album had one more hit, "Greedy Fly", but then failed to produce any more sizeable hits.

Possibly to boost the sales of Razorblade Suitcase or move into new ground, Bush released the remix album Deconstructed. The album saw Bush re-arranging their songs into dance and techno stylings. The album was a moderate success going platinum less than a year after release.

The Science of Things (1999-2000)

Following the completion of touring, Rossdale went into seclusion in Ireland, where he worked on material for the group's next album. Rossdale periodically sent demo tapes of his works in progress to his bandmates. The group finally convened to record in London in August 1998, where the band reteamed with Sixteen Stone producers Clive Langer and Alan Winstanley.

The release of The Science of Things was held up by a court battle between the band and Trauma Records. The case was settled in early 1999 and the album was finally released that October. The Science of Things was a major departure in several forms from Bush's first two albums. Like the multi-platinum successes of Bush's first two albums, this album also reached platinum status. Also, while the band's previous albums were strongly influenced by grunge, The Science of Things featured some electronic music influences that distinguished the work from Bush's earlier sound. For example, although lead single "The Chemicals Between Us" had a prominent guitar riff, it also had many electronic elements usually found in dance music. Although the album had a few hit songs, it failed to chart within the top 10. The band's performance at Woodstock '99, however, helped The Science of Things achieve platinum status despite its slow start.

Three singles were released from The Science of Things, most notably "The Chemicals Between Us", which spent five weeks at #1 on the Modern Rock Tracks and peaked at #67 on the U.S. Hot 100. "Letting the Cables Sleep," the third single, reached #4 on the Modern Rock Tracks and also received considerable airplay.

Golden State and breakup (2001-2002)

Bush released its final album, Golden State, in October 2001. While the album attempted to return to the simple, catchy sound of the band's debut, it failed to achieve commercial success due to a lack of support from the band's new record label, Atlantic Records. Several singles were released, most notably the hit "The People That We Love", but none were mainstream successes. The album was the band's least successful, selling only 380,000 copies in the US. "The People That We Love" was used in the game Need For Speed: Hot Pursuit 2.

In January 2002, Pulsford left the band after the release of Golden State to spend more time with his family and Chris Traynor took over on lead guitar for the subsequent tour, which would turn out to be Bush's last for 8 years.

Due to declining record sales and a lack of support from Atlantic Records, Bush disbanded in 2002. In 2005, the band released a greatest hits album called The Best of: 1994-1999, and, a few months later, a live album called Zen X Four.

Post-breakup (2003-2009)

Gavin Rossdale formed a new band, Institute, in 2004, serving as their lead vocalist and guitarist, just as in Bush. Chris Traynor also joined the band, as lead guitarist. (In addition to playing in Institute, Traynor also joined the reunited metal band Helmet in 2004 on bass; he quit the band in 2006.) Institute released one album, Distort Yourself, but failed to achieve much commercial success in spite of opening for U2's Vertigo Tour at some shows. Institute broke up in 2006 and Rossdale then embarked on a solo career. In 2007, he covered the John Lennon song "Mind Games" for the Lennon tribute album Instant Karma: The Amnesty International Campaign to Save Darfur. His first solo album, Wanderlust, supported by leading single "Love Remains the Same", was released in June 2008. Wanderlust was originally intended to be the next Bush album but after originally agreeing to take part in the Bush reunion, guitarist Nigel Pulsford opted out as he doesn't care to tour anymore.

Rossdale has also ventured into the world of acting, appearing in the films Zoolander, Little Black Book, The Game of Their Lives, Constantine, How to Rob a Bank and others.

Robin Goodridge recorded with the British rock band Elyss in 2004, although they have not released any new material since. In 2006, Goodridge began drumming for indie rock band Spear of Destiny, and appeared on their 2007 album, Imperial Prototype. During the summer of 2008, he toured the UK with British rock band Stone Gods after their current drummer Ed Graham reportedly fell ill. On 29 July it was announced that Graham had left the band and on 6 October 2008, the band's website announced that Goodridge had joined the band full time.

Nigel Pulsford has spent most of his time since leaving Bush raising his children with his wife.

In an interview with Blender, Gavin Rossdale admitted that the likelihood of a Bush reunion was "very high". He then added "quite high," In a November 2008 interview, Rossdale revealed that he had tried to contact the other members of Bush, "I reached out to them."

Everything Always Now (2010-present)

On June 22, 2010, it was announced that Bush would play their first show in eight years at the second-annual Epicenter Music Festival in Fontana, California on September 25, 2010. A new album, Everything Always Now, was also confirmed and a new single, "Afterlife", was released.

Founding members Nigel Pulsford and Dave Parsons both decided not to rejoin the band, with Rossdale stating: I’ve been speaking to Nigel a lot and each time I do a record, I’d ask him to do it. He’s happy and it’s not something he wanted to do — he has a family. I spoke to Dave. I was surprised because I thought he’d do it. He thought about it for the weekend and then said he couldn’t. He didn’t want to commit and then back out — he didn’t know how long he could tour. It’s an absurd amount of work.

Pulsford and Parsons were replaced by Chris Traynor and Corey Britz respectively. Traynor had also stood in for Pulsford during the Golden State tour. The new line up played seven shows in 2010, performing songs from Bush's previous four albums as well as their new song "Afterlife".

BETTER THAN EZRA *****

Than Ezra is an American alternative rock trio based in New Orleans, Louisiana.

Current members

In addition to vocalist, chief songwriter and guitarist Kevin Griffin from Monroe, Louisiana, the other current members of Better Than Ezra as of February 2009 are bassist and backing vocalist Tom Drummond and drummer Michael Jerome, who joined the band in 2009. In addition, James Arthur Payne accompanies the band on tour, singing background vocals and playing supplemental guitar and keyboard accompaniment.

History

Formation and early success

Better Than Ezra was formed in 1988 by its four original members - vocalist and guitarist Kevin Griffin; Joel Rundell, the lead guitarist; bassist Tom Drummond; and drummer, Cary Bonnecaze. All four members were attending Louisiana State University at the time of Better Than Ezra's formation. Their first practice also took place in 1988, shortly after the band's formation. Better Than Ezra's first public performance was at Murphy's in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, also in 1988. Though many theories abound, the band refuses to disclose the origin of its name. Fans of the group often refer to themselves as Ezralites.

Better Than Ezra circulated a demo cassette tape later in 1988, the Chimes Street Demo. While not an official release, this demo is sought-after by the band's fans, and traded by collectors. In 1990 the band released a cassette-only album, Surprise.

Joel Rundell, the band's lead guitarist, committed suicide on August 8, 1990. The remaining three members of the band took some time off to reassess its future following Rundell's death. However, Griffin, Drummond and Bonnecaze reunited Better Than Ezra as a trio by the end of 1990. The trio continued playing house parties and fraternity shows across southern United States during the early 1990s.

The band released its first nationally-distributed album Deluxe in 1993 on its own indie label,Swell Records, which caught the attention of major record labels and radio. Better Than Ezra signed with Elektra Records in 1995. Elektra Records rereleased Deluxe in 1995 and the single, "Good", reached the #1 position on the Hot Modern Rock Tracks chart which helped push the album to platinum record status by the end of 1995.

Success came quickly to Better Than Ezra. Tom Drummond commented later in a 1998 interview with CNN, "It took us seven years to get signed, and then seven weeks to get to No. 1." when describing the overnight success of Deluxe and its single "Good".

1996–2000

After Deluxe's major label release, original drummer Cary Bonnecaze left the band in 1996. He was replaced by drummer Travis McNabb, formerly of the band Vigilantes of Love, who was tapped to play on the band's upcoming album, Friction Baby. Bonnecaze's departure set off a series of lawsuits and counter-suits between Bonnecaze and Better Than Ezra. Bonnecaze, who brought his suit to the United States District Court in New Orleans, argued that the band owed him money "based on his role in fortifying the band's reputation," according to Rolling Stone. He asked for approximately $1 million dollars in damages. A settlement was reached between the band and Bonnecaze on August 5, 1999, while a jury was simultaneously deliberating on the lawsuit. The exact terms of the settlement were not released at the time, though Better Than Ezra's manager John Isbell was quoted as saying that Bonnecaze received "way less" than the one million dollars he had originally requested.

Better Than Ezra released their second major label album, Friction, Baby, in 1996 through Elektra Records. Friction, Baby produced the hits "Desperately Wanting" and "King of New Orleans". Their sophomore release was not as commercially successful as Deluxe, but, as of 1999, sold almost 500,000 units.

The trio began work on their third major release, How Does Your Garden Grow?, soon after the end of touring for Friction, Baby. The album was recorded between mid-January and late-April at a studio in New Orleans. The album was produced by record producer Malcolm Burn and released on August 25, 1998. The sound of album was described "experimental" and a significant departure from their previous two albums. Griffin described the album in 1998 as "guitar driven ... rhythmic." Likewise, Tom Drummond described the band's thinking on its third major album, "We thought the third album was a very important record, because generally a band either makes or breaks on the third record. We wanted it to be a record that didn't necessarily sound like what people expected." Despite the emphasis on guitar experimentation, two tracks, "One More Murder" and "Je ne m'en souviens pas" contain no guitars.

The single "At the Stars" debuted, and peaked, at number 78 on the Billboard Hot 100. The band was dropped by Elektra Records following the release of How Does Your Garden Grow? in 1999.

Subsequent album releases from Better Than Ezra include Closer, (Beyond Records, 2001), Before the Robots, (Artemis Records, 2005) and Paper Empire.

2000–2008

The band released the B-Sides and rarities collection Artifakt on its own "Ezra Dry Goods/Fudge" label in 2000. Artifakt was only sold online. Tom Drummond, the band's bassist, noted in 2002, "It's basically an album full of rarities."

Better Than Ezra, now no longer with Elektra Records, signed with the Beyond Records label and began work on new material. Drummond explained the reasoning for choosing a smaller label, "We decided we wanted to be big fish in a small pond instead of a little fish in a big pond. We just wanted to be with a label who wanted success as much as we did."

Griffin, Drummond and McNabb spent 18 months working on Closer, their follow-up album to 1998's How Does Your Garden Grow? and their first new material since being dropped by Elektra Records.The album was recorded in New Orleans in the band's own studio, which allowed the members to focus on creating music rather than rental costs per day. Closer was mixed in Los Angeles by Better Than Ezra and the album's producer, Brad Wood. However, the band felt that some tracks needed scratching. Producer Brad Wood's management company recommended DJ Swamp, who had previously worked with Beck, to mix several tracks. The use of a DJ for two of the album's tracks, the first single "Extra Ordinary" and "Recognize," marked a departure for the band, who hadn't previously employed a DJ before.

Closer was released on August 7, 2001. Better Than Ezra launched a tour in support of the album on July 26, 2001. The first single off the album, "Extra Ordinary," which had been mixed by DJ Swamp, was inspired by an AC/DC song which Griffin heard on the radio. The album's promotion hit a snag after its record label, Beyond Records, went out of business in 2002 shortly after Closer's release. Beyond Record's bankruptcy left Closer out of print for several years. In June 2009, Better Than Ezra announced that it had acquired the rights to Closer and would re-release it in the Fall of 2009 with two new previously unreleased tracks, "Simple Song" and "Screwed Up and Beautiful."

In June 2001, Better Than Ezra filmed a series of commercials for ESPN's College GameDay. The promo features the band while sports analyst Lee Corso crowd surfs to the stage, where he continues his sports reporting.

On September 28, 2004, the band simultaneously released their first live concert DVD, as well as an official live album, both entitled Live at the House of Blues New Orleans through Sanctuary Records. The DVD and album were filmed and recorded at two separate shows at the House of Blues in New Orleans during the summer of 2004.

A Greatest Hits collection was released on March 15, 2005, through Rhino Entertainment, a division of the Warner Music Group.

Better Than Ezra's sixth studio album entitled Before the Robots (Artemis Records), was released on May 31, 2005. In 2005, Desperate Housewives creator Marc Cherry used the band's song "Juicy" as the background music for the second season of the show's promotional advertisements, which Griffin credited with bringing attention to the album. The song "Juicy" has also been heard in the background in commercials for Applebee's restaurants.

2009–2010

Longtime drummer Travis McNabb left Better Than Ezra in February 2009, and their last performance together was Family Gras in Metairie, Louisiana. The primary reason given for his departure was the demand on his time by country and bluegrass group, Sugarland, with whom McNabb had previously been touring for some time. The split was amicable, with bassist Tom Drummond saying, "It's bittersweet. He's fantastic. We're still good friends, and there are no hard feelings. We'll miss him. But this is an opportunity he needed to take." Following his departure, McNabb remained on the board of the band's charity, The Better Than Ezra Foundation.

Announced at the same time was McNabb's replacement, New Orleans-based drummer Michael Jerome, formerly of the band Pleasure Club. In addition, Better Than Ezra announced the May 12, 2009 release date for their seventh studio album, entitled Paper Empire, which is produced by Warren Huart and singer Kevin Griffin. The first single, "Absolutely Still" was released for iTunes purchase on March 17.

On January 22, 2010, American country-pop singer Taylor Swift covered "Breathless" at a performance on Hope for Haiti Now: A Global Benefit for

Earthquake Relief, a charity telethon to benefit the victims of the 2010 Haiti earthquake.

On September 30, 2010, Kevin Griffin announced at an Orlando FL show that the band had been signed to Capitol Records and is working on new material. The signing to Capitol and subsequent release, will be the first major label work since 1998's How Does Your Garden Grow? on Elektra.

 

BAD RELIGION ***

Bad Religion is an American punk rock band founded in 1979 by Jay Bentley (bass), Greg Graffin (vocals), Brett Gurewitz (guitars), and Jay Ziskrout (drums). They are often credited for being involved in the revival of punk rock and inspiring several subsequent punk bands during the late 1980s, as well as influencing a large number of other punk and rock musicians throughout their career. In the 32 years since its inception, Bad Religion has had numerous lineup changes, and Graffin has been the only constant member, although the band currently features three of the original members.
Bad Religion has released fifteen studio albums, two EPs, three compilation albums, two live recordings, and two DVDs since their formation. Almost all of their albums were released on Epitaph Records, started in 1980 by Gurewitz, who still runs the label today. Bad Religion is considered one of the most successful independent punk acts, selling over 5 million albums worldwide. The band earned a growing fan base in the underground music community and critical acclaim, with their 1988 album Suffer cited by some critics as one of the most important punk rock albums of all time. Following a series of albums on Epitaph, Bad Religion signed to Atlantic Records in 1993. The band achieved their greatest success with their 1994 album Stranger Than Fiction, which peaked at number 87 on the Billboard 200, and spawned their well-known hit singles "21st Century (Digital Boy)" and "Infected". That album also became the only Bad Religion album to obtain gold status in the US. Following Gurewitz's departure in 1994, Graffin took over the majority of the songwriting duties, which lasted for the next three albums. Gurewitz rejoined in 2001, making Bad Religion a six-piece band, and contributed to their four most recent albums (the last being 2010's The Dissent of Man). They are particularly known for their use of soaring 3 part vocal harmonies (which they refer to in their album liner notes as the "oozin' aahs"), sophisticated and intellectual lyrics, and political or religious commentary. Their lyrics often relate to matters of social responsibility.

History

Formation and early career (1979–1982)

Bad Religion was formed in Los Angeles in 1979 by high school students Greg Graffin (vocals, keyboards), Jay Bentley (bass), Jay Ziskrout (drums), and Brett Gurewitz, also known as "Mr. Brett" (guitar). James O'Hanlon from New York filled in on guitar briefly as well while Brett was in the hospital with a broken leg. The band's major influences stemmed from earlier punk acts such as The Ramones, The Adolescents, Black Flag, The Germs, and The Sex Pistols. Outside of the punk scene, their influences ranged from Elvis Costello, The Jam, and Nick Lowe to authors like Jack Kerouac. Greg Graffin called his influences "pop sounding rock tunes that were not necessarily commercial."

Bad Religion considers their first show to be held in 1980, opening for Social Distortion in Fullerton, CA, at a warehouse.

In 1981, the band released their eponymous debut EP on the newly-formed label, Epitaph Records, which was and continues to be managed and owned by Gurewitz. 1982 saw the release of their first full-length album, How Could Hell Be Any Worse?, gaining the band a sizable following. During the recording of How Could Hell Be Any Worse?, Jay Ziskrout left the band and was replaced by Peter Finestone.

Into the Unknown, Back to the Known and hiatus (1983–1985)

In 1983, the band released Into the Unknown, a keyboard-driven progressive rock album that was enormously unpopular with the band's core fanbase. It is now officially out of print, after almost all of the 10,000 copies were surreptitiously sold out of the warehouse they were being stored in by Gurewitz's ex-girlfriend, Suzy Shaw (who currently runs Bomp Records). The record has since become a collectors item, and has also gained acceptance from some fans. It can be seen going for more than $100 on eBay.

Also in 1983, the Mystic Records compilation album "The Sound Of Hollywood, Vol. 2" was released featuring two Bad Religion songs- "Every Day" and "Waiting For The Fire" which continued in the mellow acoustic/keyboard direction of the previous album. Every Day is exclusive to this vinyl-only release which has been out of print for many years, while Waiting For The Fire is available on the "It Ain't My War!" compilation available on iTunes.

In 1984, Greg Hetson of Circle Jerks fame, who had played the guitar solo for "Part III" on How Could Hell Be Any Worse?, teamed up with Graffin on the song "Running Fast" for the soundtrack of the film Desperate Teenage Lovedolls. Originally credited to Greg Greg on the initial release, the 1997 CD reissue lists the artist as Greg Graffin and Greg Hetson. Soon after, Graffin reassembled Bad Religion with Hetson replacing Gurewitz, who had gone into rehab for his drug problem. Bad Religion returned to a somewhat mellower, rock and roll version of their original sound with the Back to the Known EP, but disbanded temporarily soon after.

In 1985, Brett Gurewitz released a 5-song EP on Epitaph Records under the name The Seeing Eye Gods. This psychedelic influenced record is long out of print and has never been released on CD.

Reunion and Suffer (1986–1988)

Bad Religion slowly reformed in 1986 out of the Back to the Known lineup when Greg Graffin called Jay Bentley and asked him to return. Bentley's response was tentative, but after being assured that the setlist consisted mostly of tracks from How Could Hell Be Any Worse?, he agreed to return for one show, and ended up staying on because he had so much fun. A freshly rehabilitated Gurewitz was eventually convinced to come back aboard, and with Pete Finestone returning on drums and Greg Hetson on second guitar, Bad Religion was back.

The reunited band released their long-awaited third album Suffer in 1988, cementing their comeback in the punk community. Not only is this album often cited as one of their very best by fans, but it is credited with "saving" the Southern California punk rock scene by fans and Bad Religion's contemporaries alike.

No Control, Against the Grain and Generator (1989–1992)

During the Suffer tour in 1988, Bad Religion began writing "albums worth of material. In early 1989, while the band was on a brief break from their Suffer tour, they decided to commence work on their next album and entered the Westbeach Recorders studio in June of that year to record it. The resulting album, No Control, was released in November 1989, and ended up selling more than 60,000 copies.[16] By the time it was released, the band had become one of the most critically-praised hardcore punk bands of the time, in spite of lack of mainstream success.

Bad Religion's hardcore punk style continued with their next album, Against the Grain, which was released in 1990. While the album still did not break the band into mainstream audiences, it was the first 100,000 seller, and showed how quickly they were growing. "21st Century (Digital Boy)", one of the tracks off the album, is generally regarded as the band's most well-known song, and has been played at almost every live show.

Drummer Pete Finestone left Bad Religion again in April 1991 to focus on his other band, The Fishermen, which had signed with a major label, and Bobby Schayer joined the band as his replacement. In May 1991, Bad Religion entered the Westbeach Recorders studio to begin recording material for their sixth studio album, Generator, which was not released until March 1992. The album was recorded almost live in the studio, because, at the time, Gurewitz had moved Westbeach to larger premises, and for the first time, the entire band could play in the studio at the same time. He stated that it was "time to change" and the band "did it in a different studio, but as far as the songwriting, it was a deliberate effort to try something different". To accompany the album, Bad Religion filmed their first music video "Atomic Garden", which was also their first song to be released as a single.

To coincide with the band's success, Bad Religion released a compilation album, 80–85, in 1991. It is a repackaging of their debut album, How Could Hell Be Any Worse?, their two EPs, Bad Religion and Back to the Known and the band's three track contributions to the Public Service EP. This compilation did not include Into the Unknown. 80–85 is now out of print and has been replaced by the 2004 re-issued version of How Could Hell Be Any Worse? with the same track listings.

Mainstream success and departure of Gurewitz (1993–1995)

With alternative rock and grunge breaking into the mainstream, Bad Religion decided to leave Epitaph for Atlantic Records in 1993 and quickly re-released their seventh full-length studio album Recipe for Hate on the label that same year. Despite receiving mixed reviews from music critics, the album finally broke Bad Religion into mainstream audiences and got their highest U.S. chart position to date, debuting at #14 on Billboard's Heatseekers chart, with "American Jesus" and "Struck a Nerve" in particular becoming major rock radio hits at their time. Also in 1993, the band recorded the song "Leaders and Followers" (which later appeared as a bonus track on the Japanese version of their next album) for the soundtrack for the Kevin Smith film, Clerks.

Recipe for Hate was followed up by Bad Religion's eighth studio album Stranger Than Fiction. The album met high critical reception upon its release in September 1994, and subsequently became their most successful album, scoring hits with "Infected" and a re-recording of "21st Century (Digital Boy)", which was originally released on Against the Grain. The album was Bad Religion's first to enter the Billboard 200; the release peaked at number 87, and was awarded gold certification on 4 March 1998 for sales of over half a million copies. Before the release of Stranger Than Fiction, Gurewitz left the band. He officially cited the reason for his departure as the increasing amount of time he was needed at Epitaph as The Offspring (who had just released Smash to unexpected success and acclaim) became one of the biggest bands of the mid-1990s, but it was well known that his departure was not on good terms. Gurewitz, along with many fans, accused the band of selling out for leaving Epitaph to seek greater financial success despite the fact that Gurewitz was making millions off of The Offspring alone.

As tensions increased, Graffin would sing alternate lyrics during concerts such as "I want to know where Brett gets his crack" or "I want to know why Gurewitz cracked," on the song "Stranger Than Fiction".These barbs referred to Gurewitz's struggles with crack, heroin and other addictions which plagued him for years. Brett discussed his drug use in an interview on the band's Suffer Tour documentary, Along the Way, and is now clean and sober. In response, Gurewitz recorded a song with his new band The Daredevils entitled "Hate You", reportedly directed towards Jay Bentley.

Gurewitz was replaced as a guitarist by Brian Baker, a former member of bands such as Minor Threat, Dag Nasty, and Junkyard. Since Greg Graffin and Gurewitz had split songwriting duties, Graffin was now Bad Religion's primary songwriter.

Post-Gurewitz period (1996–2000)

Bad Religion continued touring and recording without Brett Gurewitz and released three more albums for Atlantic, starting with The Gray Race (1996), produced by former Cars frontman Ric Ocasek. Despite never garnering the amount of attention that Stranger Than Fiction received, it would score Bad Religion a minor U.S. radio hit with the song "A Walk" as well as the European release of "Punk Rock Song" (sung in both English and German).The band would find its greatest success in Europe, where the album would reach the German music charts at #6 and score the band their first European gold record for sales in Scandinavia alone.

In 1998, Bad Religion released their tenth full-length album, No Substance, produced by Alex Perialas, Ronnie Kimball and the band themselves. While the album was anticipated by both music critics and fans as a result of the band's previous worldwide successes with Stranger Than Fiction and The Gray Race, it was given mixed reviews by critics and fans. Following the release of No Substance, the band embarked on a year-long tour. They were supposed to play with The Offspring in Argentina in 1999, and while Bad Religion was flying to Buenos Aires, they were told that The Offspring refused to play, so this never happened. The Offspring have yet to explain to Bad Religion why they did that, but they suspect it was The Offspring being petty, wanting to be the headliners, and not wanting to share the stage with Bad Religion, as Greg Graffin explained in a radio interview in Buenos Aires in 2001.

In 1999, Gurewitz reunited with Graffin to co-write a song together, called "Believe It", which would appear on their next album, The New America (2000). For it, Todd Rundgren, an early musical inspiration for Graffin, was brought in to produce. "Todd was kind of an underground sensation back in 1974. Here's a guy who was making pop music but in a way that you wouldn't hear on the radio. So much of my early musical identity was wrapped up in the way he conducted himself." In the summer of 2000, they set out on a three month US arena tour opening for Blink-182. Unfortunately, the experience might not have been all that Greg and the rest of the band might have hoped. Interest in recording the record waned, due to Rundgren's poor attitude. Jay Bentley reflects on this by saying, "I didn't feel we were going anywhere and so did Greg. Todd didn't like Greg and that made Greg so mad! He met his idol and he was a jerk! I don't think Todd gave a shit about anything." However, Greg Graffin later writes in his book, Anarchy Evolution, that although Todd Rundgren was difficult to work with, he and Greg are friends to this day. Meanwhile, Bobby Schayer left the band following a serious shoulder injury and was replaced by Brooks Wackerman (Suicidal Tendencies).

Bad Religion departed from Atlantic Records in 2001 and returned to Epitaph.

Reunion with Gurewitz (2001–2004)

In 2001, Brett Gurewitz rejoined the band. The expanded six-piece lineup then recorded and released The Process of Belief (2002). Graffin states, "there was a little bit of disappointment on my part when he left the band, but we never had any serious acrimony between the two of us. I can't say the same for the rest of the band. But he and I, being the songwriters from way back, we really wanted to try again."

Their next album, The Empire Strikes First, was released in June 2004. Like The Process of Belief, it is widely regarded by fans as a return to the faster punk-style songwriting that some felt was less prominent in the band's music during their time on Atlantic.

In April 2004, the band also re-released digitally-remastered versions of all of their first six studio albums on Epitaph Records (except Into the Unknown). The How Could Hell Be Any Worse? re-issue, though reclaiming the original title of the band's debut LP, contained all of the same material as the previously issued 80–85 compilation, including their first EP, the Public Service EP (with different versions of the songs Bad Religion, Slaves, and Drastic Actions than the self-titled EP) and the "Back To The Known" EP. To coincide with the reissues, they also released their long-out of print live VHS Along the Way on DVD for the first time. Though Recipe for Hate was released on Epitaph, the album could not be reissued; due to the fact that it was re-issued on Atlantic, problems with the rights ownership made a reissue unlikely.

New Maps of Hell (2005–2008)

On 7 March 2006, a live DVD, Live at the Palladium was released. This DVD featured a live show performed in late 2004 at the Hollywood Palladium, as well as extensive interviews, several music videos, and a photo gallery. During one of the interview segments, guitarist Brett Gurewitz said the band's next album would be a double length release, but this turned out not to be the case.

Greg Graffin released his second solo album, Cold as the Clay, on 11 July 2006.

Bad Religion's fourteenth studio album, New Maps of Hell, was released on 10 July 2007. On 29 June of that year (Greg Hetson's 46th birthday), Epitaph Records started selling New Maps of Hell at the Warped Tour in Pomona, California. The album was a commercial success and spawned three hit singles "Honest Goodbye", "Heroes and Martyrs", and "New Dark Ages", and as a result, New Maps of Hell reached number 35 on the Billboard 200, marking Bad Religion's highest ever chart position. Bad Religion also joined the 2007 Warped Tour to support the album.

Hetson formed a supergroup band called Black President, consisting of Charlie Paulson (from Goldfinger), Jason Christopher, Wade Youman (both from Unwritten Law) and Christian Martucci (from Dee Dee Ramone).

In early March 2008, Bad Religion played several-night residences at House of Blues venues in Southern California as well as Las Vegas. They also played at the KROQ Weenie Roast (y Fiesta) on 17 May along such bands as Flobots, Metallica, The Offspring, Pennywise, Rise Against, and Scars on Broadway. Following that, they performed four European festival appearances in May and June.

On 8 July 2008, Bad Religion released their first-ever deluxe edition CD, a reissue of then-current album New Maps of Hell. The deluxe version includes the original 16 song CD, along with seven new acoustic tracks recorded by Graffin (vocals) and Gurewitz (guitars/back vocals). Three of the acoustic songs are new, written specifically for this release; the other four tracks are new acoustic versions of BR songs. The release also includes a DVD with an hour-long live performance, music videos, and behind-the-scenes footage.

30 Years Live, The Dissent of Man and beyond (2009–present)

In June 2008, Jay Bentley said in an interview at the Pinkpop Festival in Landgraaf, Netherlands that Gurewitz had already begun writing new material for the next Bad Religion album. Bentley stated that the band was planning to return to the studio after Graffin teaches UCLA to start work on the follow-up to New Maps of Hell planned for a June 2009 release. However, according to a December 2008 report on the fan site The Bad Religion Page, Bentley revealed that due to Bad Religion's upcoming touring commitments for 2009, the band would not have a chance to record their new album until around the end of the year, for an expected 2010 release date.

In August 2009, guitarist Brett Gurewitz sent an e-mail to a fan site mentioning he was writing new material for the next Bad Religion album.

In December 2009, Bentley revealed to the fan site The Bad Religion Page that the band was expected to go into the studio on 26 April 2010 to start recording their new album. He stated that a few songs for the album had been written and "it feels like the songwriting is picking up momentum. Baker said he was going to drive up to Graffin's, Brooks and I are going to do some demos with Brett, so we have a pretty good jump." According to Brett's Twitter, Bad Religion is aiming for a fall release of the new album. In January 2010, Bentley revealed that Bad Religion would record their new album at a studio in Pasadena, California with Joe Barresi, who engineered 2004's The Empire Strikes First and produced its 2007 follow-up New Maps of Hell. Despite the statement made by Bentley about entering the studio in April, he noted that the recording date was now 1 May.[37] On 6 April 2010, Bentley revealed in an interview with KROQ's Kevin and Bean that the date on which the band would record their new album is now 6 May.

Bad Religion toured Southern California and Nevada House of Blues locations, in March & April. To commemorate their 30th anniversary Bad Religion played a 30 day tour, playing a 30 song set each night.

They also have plans for a tour of Europe from June to August.

To coincide with the band's 30th anniversary tour, Bad Religion announced a live album called 30 Years Live, which was a released as a free download for those who had signed up on the mailing list at Bad Religion's website. It consists of songs recorded during their House of Blues tour during March and April 2010 which also includes some new songs from their 15th studio album, before the new album was released. 30 Years Live was released on 18 May 2010.

At the House of Blues concert in Anaheim, California on 17 March 2010, the band debuted a new song called "Resist-Stance", which will appear on their upcoming album and is included on 30 Years Live.

On 1 May 2010, Brett posted an update on his Twitter saying, "threw me a going away [to the studio] party and all my friends hung with me tonight – thx everybody, I love you guys." This adds fuel to the possibility of the band's new album being recorded the first week of May. According to a report on thebrpage.net, the band started recording on 5 May 2010.

On 12 May 2010 (which happened to be Brett's 48th birthday), bassist Jay Bentley posted an update on their Facebook page regarding the recording process of the album: "first week of recording at joe's house of compression and brooks gets the medal for superasskicking. brian has finished 14 basics... a couple more to go. i started getting some good bass sounds late, late last night, the liver wins the shootout again. brett is playing late night tracks on his birthday, some way to celebrate! happy birthday bg! quote of the day; BG "what percentage of the sound is coming from the snakeskin?". haha... working of album titles and ideas today. it's all coming together. joe says the corn flavored kit kats are gross, but the wasabi ones are quite delicious.... get back to work. work work work. will send photo's soon".

In June 2010, The Bad Religion Page reported that the new album would be released on September 28, 2010. Jay (who goes by jabberwock in The Bad Religion Page) mentioned in the site's message board that Bad Religion had finished recording their new album and was mixing it. In an interview at the Azkena Rock Festival on June 26, 2010, the band members announced that the new album would be called The Dissent of Man.

On August 30, 2010 the album version of the song "The Resist Stance" was released on Bad Religion's MySpace page.

On September 21, 2010 the full album was made available for streaming on Bad Religion's MySpace page.

On 7 October 2010, The band began a North American tour that will continue through early 2011.

The Dissent Of Man was released on September 28, 2010. The album debuted at #35 on the billboard 200 chart and at #6 on the Billboard Independent Albums chart.

On 18 October 2010 Bad Religion released a Vinyl box set of all their albums that is limited to 3000 copies, including Into The Unknown, the first time the album has been officially reissued.

Style and influences

Brett Gurewitz acknowledges attempting to emulate The Germs singer Darby Crash early on in Bad Religion's lyrical style. "He wrote some intelligent stuff, and didn't shy away from the vocabulary, which I thought was cool." In addition to their use of unusually sophisticated vocabulary for a punk band, Bad Religion is also known for their frequent use of vocal harmonies. They took their cues from The Adolescents, in the way that they used three-part harmonies. Bassist Jay Bentley says, "Seeing The Adolescents live, it was so brilliant. So, in a way, the Adolescents influenced us into saying we can do it too, because look, they're doing it."

Many of Bad Religion's songs are about different social ills, although they try not to ascribe the causes of these ills to any single person or group. Greg Graffin believes that the current political situation in the United States can make it difficult to voice these concerns, as he doesn't want to feed the polarization of viewpoints.

The band contributed a song to the Rock Against Bush series organized by Fat Mike's Punkvoter, a political activist group and website whose supporters are primarily left-liberal members of the punk subculture.

Brett Gurewitz attributed his anger towards former U.S. president George W. Bush as the major inspiration for The Empire Strikes First. "Our whole album is dedicated to getting Bush out of office. I'm not a presidential scholar but I don't think you'll find a worse president in the history of the United States. He's probably one of the worst leaders in the history of world leaders. I just hate the guy."

In 2008, while at the San Diego, California stop of the Vans Warped Tour, the band autographed a Gibson Guitar for the non-profit Music Saves Lives and assisted in their goal of raising the nation's blood supply.

Many of today's punk groups cite Bad Religion as an influence, including AFI, All, Authority Zero, The Bouncing Souls, Death by Stereo, Lagwagon, NOFX, The Offspring, Pennywise, and Rise Against.

Religion

Faith in your partner, your fellow men, your friends, is very important, because without it there's no mutual component to your relationship, and relationships are important. So faith plays an important role, but faith in people you don't know, faith in religious or political leaders or even people on stages, people who are popular in the public eye, you shouldn't have faith in those people. You should listen to what they have to say and use it.– Greg Graffin

Despite the name of the band, or the band's logo, the members do not consider themselves antitheist. Singer Greg Graffin states that more often than not, the band prefers to use religion as a metaphor for anything that doesn't allow for an individual's freedom to think or express themselves as they choose. In this way, their songs are more about anti-religion. Contrary to popular belief, Greg Graffin does not identify himself as an atheist, but chooses to identify as a naturalist.

Wired Magazine came out with a big exposé of "the new atheists". Uh.. I was interviewed for it—and yet I think I was included as a sidebar but not as a main feature and I think the main reason they did that was because they noticed that I wasn’t that happy billing myself as an atheist. To me it just doesn’t say that much; it doesn’t say much about you. Um instead I bill myself as a naturalist, which I think says a lot more. Uh because a naturalist is uh someone who.. first of all—they study natural science, and they have a hopeful message—I think—to send to the world, which is.. we can agree on what the truth is, but it has to be through verification, discovery—and uh, well it has to be through experimentation, verification, and new discoveries, followed by more verification. So.. if we can agree that—on those terms—if we can agree on those terms, we can agree that the truth changes, based on new discoveries, and the structure of science is such that you can never be so sure of something, because a new discovery can rework the framework—uh it can reconstruct the framework of your science and you have to look at the world differently. That makes it a very dynamic and exciting place to be. And if you say "you're an atheist", it's not really saying much about how you came to that conclusion. But if you say "you're a naturalist", I think it says something. You've—You've reached that point because uh you've studied science, because you believe there's a uh.. fundamental way of looking at the world that is part of a long tradition. And so, I prefer naturalist. – Greg Graffin

Despite this, he did co-author the book Is Belief in God Good, Bad or Irrelevant?, which is based on a series of lengthy debates about science and religion between Graffin and historian Preston Jones. In 2010, Graffin released Anarchy Evolution, in which he promotes his naturalist worldview.

The band's bassist Jay Bentley has stated that he has spiritual beliefs. Brett Gurewitz is a "provisional deist."

In the media and legacy

Bad Religion appeared once on Late Show with David Letterman in 1994, twice on The Jon Stewart Show in 1994 and 1995, twice on The Late Late Show with Craig Kilborn in 2000 and 2002 and Late Night with Conan O'Brien five times in 1993, 1995, 1996, 2002, and 2007. In the early days, Bad Religion appeared twice on the New Wave Theatre in 1981 and 1982. During the 90's, MTV sponsored their The Gray Race Tour. They were considered a "classic" band on MTV's 120 Minutes, appearing a number of times live on the show. They also appeared on MTV's Most Wanted in 1995. Frontman Greg Graffin appeared three times on Politically Incorrect in 1994, 1996, and 2000. In 1993, one of their concerts at the Riviera Theatre in Chicago, IL was featured on JBTV. In 2010, the band was featured on NBC's Last Call with Carson Daly about their 30 year anniversary. In 2004, Brett and Jay from the band were featured on CNNfn's show The Biz. In the comic book "Blackheart Billy" by Rick Remender, the story a guy who had trouble letting go of the 1980s hardcore punk scene, Bad Religion is constantly referenced through their Crossbuster logo on the main character's jacket and poster in his room.

Bad Religion music has appeared in movies such as Clerks, The Chase, Glory Daze, The Hammer, Eyeborgs and Stoked: The Rise and Fall of Gator. Bad Religion's "Crossbuster" logo appears in Juno, SLC Punk!, 8mm and Helmiä ja sikoja. Posters for The Empire Strikes First appear in Superbad, Strange Wilderness, Kids in America, Special, Dishdogz, Lilla Jönssonligan och stjärnkuppen and Fifty Pills. A Bad Religion poster appears in The Sentimental Engine Slayer. A Bad Religion sticker appears in The Ring and Cheaper By the Dozen. A poster for Recipe for Hate appears in PCU. Two Bad Religion songs appear in the 2000 short movie entitled "What to Do?". On TV, Bad Religion's song "New America" appeared in the final episode of Beverly Hills, 90210 and "Portrait of Authority" was in an episode of Lizzie McGuire. During the 2000 MTV Movie Awards, a guitar riff from "New America" was played before it cut to commercials. A sample of "Infected" was played during a commercial for Vans Warped Tour 2009. In an episode of Las Vegas, Piper requests that she has Saturday off because Bad Religion are in town and she has "killer tickets". A poster for The Empire Strikes First appears in an episode of Zoey 101. A Bad Religion poster appears in an episode of Weird Science. A boy wears a Bad Religion t-shirt in an episode of CSI: Crime Scene Investigation. In an episode of The Gilmore Girls, Graffin's master in biology and his PhD in evolutionary biology are used as examples of how college and rock n' roll go together. A poster for Recipe for Hate appears in the music video to Back to School (Mini Maggit) by Deftones.

In video games, Bad Religion songs have made it into Crazy Taxi, Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2, Tony Hawk Underground, Tony Hawk's American Wasteland, Tony Hawk's Project 8, NCAA Football 2006, Crazy Taxi 3: High Roller, NHL 2K9 and Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit. A cover of "Infected" (from Stranger Than Fiction) appears in Guitar Hero and is downloadable for Guitar Hero 2. The song "21st Century (Digital Boy)" (from Against the Grain) is downloadable for Guitar Hero: World Tour. The songs "Sorrow" (from The Process of Belief), "21st Century (Digital Boy)" (from Against the Grain), New Dark Ages (from New Maps of Hell) and No Control (from No Control) appear as downloadable songs for both Rock Band and Rock Band 2. Bad Religion have been featured twice on ScrewAttack's Video Game Vault, once in the review for Crazy Taxi (which also featured some Bad Religion music in the background) and again in a review for Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2. A Crossbuster can be seen on ScrewAttack's "Top 10: Local Multiplayer Games (Console Edition)". Bad Religion were also featured in GameTrailers' review of Tony Hawk: Project 8.

The Los Angeles modern rock radio station KROQ listed Bad Religion at #39 in the "top 106.7 biggest KROQ bands of all time" memorial for six years in a row, and #70 at the "Top 166 Artists of 1980–2008" list.

Alternative Press did a Top Ten Singles of the Decade list in 2009. It was a list for the 2000s. "Los Angeles Is Burning" came in at number 90 and "Sorrow" came in at number 56.

The Crossbuster

Bad Religion's logo has been referred to by fans as the "Crossbuster". It features a black cross with a red prohibition sign over it. It was created by guitarist Brett Gurewitz by drawing it on a piece of paper and showing it to the rest of the band. They supposedly thought it would be a good way to annoy their parents.

In the live documentary Along the Way, frontman Greg Graffin claimed to regret choosing that as their symbol because it may put off a lot of religious people who he feels could benefit from listening to Bad Religion. When bassist Jay Bentley was asked about it in the same documentary, he claimed it was a symbol meant to "piss off our parents" and that it was "something easy to put on t-shirts and for kids to spray paint on walls"; when people ask him what it means, he says, "whatever you think it means". Guitarist Greg Hetson claims in the documentary that it stands for anti-establishment.

Brian Baker, who joined the band later in their career, sums it up as follows:

“The name Bad Religion and the crossbuster logo came to pass in the minds of two fifteen year olds who were trying to find the most offensive name and image they could possibly find for the punk band they were starting in their garage… These are not people who thought that 21 years later they would be on the telephone doing interviews.”

The Crossbuster caused controversy in Russia when a religious group found a shop in Moscow selling Bad Religion posters.

A lot of Bad Religion merchandise including hats, t-shirts, and hoodies contain the Crossbuster. The logo was also used on the covers for their early EPs, 1981's self-titled and 1985's Back to the Known, and the disc for New Maps of Hell. It can also be found on other Bad Religion albums including Suffer (on the back of the boy on fire's t-shirt), No Substance (on Kristen Johnston's right breast, behind one of the actors playing a TV host and on a woman's fingernails), The Process of Belief (inside the booklet there is a small one mixed with all the other symbols) and on 30 Years Live (replacing the zero in 30).