Everytime BAD RELIGION puts out a new release, I get very nervous about it. This was the band that started it all for me more than 6 years ago, and I tend to hold their older albums as sacred musical documents. Their last album “No Substance,” was bipolar. The harder tracks rocked very hard and showed their aggressive side returning, but their softer, more melodic tunes fell somewhat flat musically. With the early word that “The New America” was going to fall in line with the more melodic stuff, I was hesitant in what to expect, but upon listening to the new album more than 8 times within 48 hours of purchasing it, fret not, BAD RELIGION is still alive and pounding away – just with not the same rawness. The most obvious change on the this release is not the style of the songs, or the production, but the lyrical outlook by Greg Graffin. We all know how brillant he is, and how he used to throw syllables around like crazy on the earlier albums, but this time, Graffin trades most of the negativity for a more positive hopeful view of the world, littered with sarcasm without the often welcome bitterness. Does it Work? Sometimes. “A Streetkid Named Desire,” is a powerful song that encourages the youth of today to not lose track of goals, and “Don’t Sell Me Short,” the last track on the cd again approaches the lyrical framework of hope. That track though is a hard hitter reminiscent of anything off of “Against the Grain,” or “Generator.” Amazingly, Brett Gurewitz appears on track 8, “Believe It,” a song he co-wrote with the band, thus hopefully ending the rift between him and the band. I’ve always debated who the better song writer was, Gurewitz or Graffin, and “Believe It,” settles the score, with Gurewitz in the lead. The potential for BAD RELIGION becoming a part of the mainstream in the United States seems to always be there, but for some reason, it never breaks through. With the more poppier, radio friendly tunes on “The New America” I wonder how far off it is until they become truly huge. The title track appeared on the opening to the series finale of the TV show Beverly Hills 90210, and BR is currently on tour with BLINK 182, hitting arenas nationwide. If there was ever an album to propel them farther, this would be it. As a devoted fan, as usual, I am satisfied, and waiting for more. The artwork is very cool, and is the most visually stunning cover since “Suffer.” “The New America” doesn’t compete with “No Control,” or “Against the Grain,” as their best stuff, but it is move in yet another direction for the band, and it is hard not to like.

Atlantic

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