Stranger Than Fiction - TRUEly great

Bad Religion - Stranger Than Fiction

Released August 30th 1994

Greg Graffin, Greg Hetson, Brett Gurewitz, Jay Bentley, Bobby Schayer, Tim Armstrong, Jim Lindberg, Andy Wallace, Dale Lavi, Norman Moore

Genre: Punk Rock

Intro

I know what you're thinking. "Oh boy, here we go again- another punk rock album that Sharky is unfamiliar with and wants to give a chance cause he knows how influential they are..." ha ha ha... WRONG. I FUCKING LOVE THIS BAND. THEY ARE THE BEST BAND EVER, PERIOD. LADIES AND GENTLEMEN... BAD RELIGION. I fucking adore Bad Religion. I fucking adore this album. Spoiler alert this album is great and gets high marks from me because I used to listen to it all the time back in my college days, and holy fuck is this album amazing. Let's get into why it's amazing in my comments below. Let's DO THIS.

Thoughts & Feelings?

I really should be giving some context behind all of these albums to give you all a reference point for what the music is like. So we're going to add a subcategory to this Thoughts & Feelings category. What is the overall feel / style of music? Let me tell you below.

The overall genre / style of this album is absolutely old school punk rock. These songs aren't very heavy or anything, the vocals are always going to be pretty standard and sound good enough. It's sort of a mix between early Green Day and something like The Offspring maybe? Anyway yeah these songs are pretty much vanilla punk rock from the 90's. Sounds great, the production quality isn't very high which I find a positive thing, and that's kind of the sound you will expect out of these guys.

Holy personnel on this album. Collaborations from Pennywise and Rancid. That's awesome to hear.

This album makes me feel like I'm skateboarding down a highway going fast as fuck, or actually even better- you guys know that one scene from Scott Pilgrim vs the World where Chris Evans is skateboarding down the huge rail? I feel like that. I'm Chris Evans in this scenario. Racking up high score points for grinding the rail and whatever, Tony Hawk Pro Skater style. Anyway yeah don't ask me to elaborate further. Great movie by the way, shoutout to Canada.

Smash or Pass?

Incomplete - SMMMMAAAASSSHHHHHHH. I fucking LOVE this song. I sing this song all the fucking time anytime I have the joke to make and no one ever fucking gets it. This is such a great fucking song, I absolutely love it and this fucking chorus gets stuck in my head all the fucking time. This is probably my favourite song off this album but we'll have to see how I remember the other ones. There are a couple other songs on this album that get stuck in my head pretty hard.

Leave Mine To Me - SMASH. Great song, good opening guitar to set the tone and balance of the song. I don't really have much to say about this song because it's pretty standard. Great song.

Stranger Than Fiction - SMMAAASSSHHHH. This is a great fucking song. Of course it is, it's the title song. I especially like the pre-chorus. The chorus also goes pretty fucking hard. It also has the iconic line of "Sometimes truth is stranger than fiction". Super good. That shit gets stuck in my head pretty often. 

Tiny Voices - SMAASSHHH. Great fucking song. It's hard for me to give much insight into this song because it's just pretty standard. I don't have anything exceptional to point out about this song, it's just a good punk rock song and sometimes that's all you need. Good song good song good song.

The Handshake - SMMAAASSHHHH. Holy sick ass guitar to start this one. Absolutely love to hear that. Oh FUCK this is a great song I just remembered it. Yeah this one is super catchy and follows a bit of a different line which is awesome to hear. The guitar really shines in this one, and it's super catchy without being too cliché. This is a super underrated track and deserves to be listened to.

Better Off Dead - Smash. This song is alright I just don't really enjoy the vocals during the verse. No offense. This is a great song regardless of that however. I would absolutely listen to this outside of the album because it's just a good song. I especially like the part about creating the universe and then the music drops, that shit is so good. I LOVE that kind of shit. Anyway yeah, nothing to complain about other than that. Just your standard punk rock song. Good shit. Cool solo thrown in there.

Infected - Smash. Holy fuck a 4 minute punk rock song can you believe it? This is the longest song on the album. The guitar is super fucking sick, this song is pretty good. Apparently this is the most listened to song on this album. I can't believe that though because it's just okay. That's REALLY surprising to me actually because this song is just okay in my opinion. Like yeah it's a good song but I wouldn't even give this a medal. Anyway whatever- you guys can have your own opinions. I think this song is alright but there are many more songs here that I prefer to listen to.

Television - Smash. This song is alright. I find it a little annoying but it's a good song regardless. The vocals are pretty good besides the word Television. SHOUTOUT TO RANCID BABY. Love to hear that collab. I definitely need to do a Rancid review, I have fond memories of them. But yeah this is a pretty good song.

Individual - SMASH. Oh I fucking love this one. This is a pretty good one because it's just so standard. I'm starting to feel like I'm really into these basic ass punk rock songs that just sound like what they're supposed to sound like. That's my style. Let's fucking go. Great song.

Hooray For Me... - SMASH. Holy transition. Very quick, you'd think these are the same song. Super good though. This song is pretty good. This shit is just so enjoyable to me. I'm so thankful to have a love for punk rock because this shit is just the easiest shit to listen to for me it's just so enjoyable. I especially like how they say fuck you in this song. That's great to hear.

Slumber - Smash. This is the slow song of the album. It's pretty enjoyable but I'm not super into it. I much prefer the fast action punk rock shit. Luckily this one picks up a little during the chorus. It's okay. Good song but for me it's just okay.

Marked - Smash. Good song but needs a little more energy for me to really enjoy it. It's a good song but now I'm just so tired from listening to Slumber that I need a little extra to get me back in the game. Anyway yeah but this is a good song.

Inner Logic - SMASH. Good song because the intro is pretty cool. We're very obviously in the section of the album where all the generic songs go. That's fine though this song is pretty cool, does it's job. Enjoyable but I want to move on.

What It Is - SMASH. Yep. Good song, the chorus is pretty great. I enjoy it. Cool ass solo thrown in there which is nice to hear. Definitely got a good beat in alignment with "what it is".

21st Century (Digital Boy) - SMMMMMMMAAAAAAASSSSSSSHHHHHHHHH. This is TOUGH for me because I FUCKING LOVE this song. This song gets stuck in my fucking head so often but do I like it more than Incomplete? Yeah probably I do. This is a great fucking song. It's incredible. Everything is done to perfection in this song. The guitar is great, the vocals are great, the overall vibe and feel is amazing, everything just works here. This song is so fucking catchy that it's REALLY hard not to sing along. This is easily the best song on the album in my opinion.  EDIT: HAHAHA. I was in the bar last night and this song came on. Made me smile. What a coincidence.

News From The Front - SMASH. I think this one is super underrated. Great song that has a lot of really good catchy moments. Everything shines pretty good in this one and it fits perfectly with the style of the album.

Markovian Process - Smash. Sad day for me because I really love this fucking album. Great punk rock song, great ending, there ya go. Enjoy the ride cause this album was fucking great.

Conclusion

I love this album and I love Bad Religion. If you're into that old school punk rock style then absolutely check this one out, ESPECIALLY the medal songs. Most of these songs are your pretty standard punk rock songs that follow a simple formula and usually have a good amount of energy. That's definitely my thing, so if that's your thing- then this should be for you.

RANK: A

What do you guys think? Punk rock is your style or no? What? Punk rock isn't your style? What the fuck are you doing on PUNK ROCK PICKS, then? Hm that seems like a you problem, not me. ANYWAY. You know what to do. Leave your comments and thoughts below. Love you all! Happy Thursday.

- Sharky