Empire Strikes First, The - Bad Religion

Author's product rating:   

Originality	Definitely a cut above the rest
Lyrics	Not applicable
Quality and consistency of tracks	A couple of weak links
How does it compare to the artist's other releases	Outstanding
Value for Money

Advantages:	Awesome recording with perfect blend of songs and flawless result
Disadvantages:	Couple of tracks that are difficult to get used to

Recommend to potential buyers:

yes

Full review

Stemming back to the early 1980's, Bad Religion have been blasting out punk-rock anthems for almost 25 years and what better way to continue this powerful legacy by releasing their most controversial album to this day?

Ever since the birth of the Bad Religion EP in 1981, punk-rock enthusiasts urged the band to release more and more albums and play live shows. Playing in a garage in Southern California for the majority of their early years, Bad Religion have struggled to really emerge as a successful and relatively commercial band (the amount of publicity they receive in the UK and the USA is diabolically low) but I strongly respect them for the projects they have done and the status they have achieved.

Bad Religion have always had a flair for music, which is clearly evident in their lives' work (albums such as Suffer, The Gray Race and the highly recommended live album Tested). Devoting their lives to punk-rock, the Bad Religion team have managed to pull together stunning vocals from lead singer Greg Graffin, combined with harmonised backing vocals (highly evident in The Empire Strikes First) and an original approach to punk rock (the intervention of guitar performances or 'solos' proves that punk-rock doesn't just consist of power chords and similar riffs that everyone has heard before).

The Empire Strikes First precedes the latest Bad Religion album, The Process Of Belief. Bad Religion took a step in the direction of harmonising and produced an album that really tested the extent of their vocal and all round instrumental talent. They pulled off something that was out of this world, very easy on the ears (less power chords, more guitar solos and more songs about love and relationships). This would be difficult to follow up on... and a long awaited two years saw the release of:

The Empire Strikes First.

Well, I was going to go straight into the track listing, but then I realised how much I love the album title! 'The Empire Strikes First', a parody of the 'Empire Strikes Back', the fifth Star Wars film. This clever title is an obvious reference to the oppression of the U.S.A (or anything corporate for that matter) and how the public really has no chance to act on or influence a governments' decision. Very controversial for me to be saying so, but you will understand if you listen to the album and read 'Dude, Where's My Country?' by Michael Moore.

Track listing:

1. Overture (1:09)
A really creepy and somewhat menacing start to the album. Drumbeat starts with a distorted guitar feedback in the background, this is then interrupted by the twang of an electric guitar and my hairs stand on end. A few eerie notes are played on a keyboard, giving a more intensified welcome to this album. This instrumental ends with a sudden leap to track 2...

2. Sinister Rouge (1:53)
Wow. Power chords blast out from you stereo, perfectly melted into this powerful guitar riff are harmonised backing vocals. This follows a fast and clear burst on the guitar and then Graffin makes his entrance: "Innocents burned alive at the stake, tortured and dumped in nameless graves." Quite. The songs' instrumental interlude involves a powerful blast from Brett Gurewitz (lead guitar), skilful and quick.
This song itself is a heavy attack on religion and the church and how it has brought evil, suffering and war into the world ("Give us this day our daily bread, Your legacy - we'll not forget"). Graffin focussing on corruption within the church and the problem of good and evil (with regards to the argument against God).

3. Social Suicide (1:35)
This song starts with some nice guitar feedback and follows up with a much slower chord than Sinister Rouge, but catchy and powerful nonetheless. Graffin's vocals are typical of the punk-rock scene, melodic and powerful. The chorus has incredible backing vocals which mix so well the guitar, bass and the quick drumming of Wackerman that this song is just a wave of perfect sound. The song itself is attacking authority, or more importantly George W; "I don't even know if I can ever find the Truth, But I'm sure it won't come from following you" (reference to the series of lies that George has presented his U.S. citizens with).

4. Atheist Peace (1:57)
A powerful little piece, both lyric and music wise. Quickening the pace from Social Suicide, Graffin takes it upon himself to headline this song with some strong and meaningful lyrics, packing in as many opinionated statements as possible. His strong and unrelenting voice is powered home with amazing backing vocals and flawless guitar work. The track itself (music and vocal wise) ends relatively early and a relaxed guitar piece kicks in, providing this fast intro to an album with a break, giving us an idea the album will in fact slow down a little!

5. All There Is (2:57)
It turns out the outro of the last song was in fact preparing the listener for the greatest Bad Religion song that they have created thus far (NOTE: any radical, opinionated comments such as these are only thoughts on behalf of myself and there is a strict possibility this will not hold true to the reader!). The track starts off with the signature Bad Religion guitar noise (plectrum run from the bottom of the guitar to the top, positioned in between to strings), rekindling memories of their early works. The pace of the song is quite a lot slower than the three tracks before it and the power chords are almost long forgotten. At first hearing, the song does not seem to be all that exciting, the guitar riff (as mentioned above) not as hard hitting as before. Graffin begins to sing, those political and such strong lyrics executed with such enthusiasm and vigour hit the listener and getting to the chorus, I can feel something special is still in store for us. After the second chorus, Bad Religion have managed to create my favourite piece of music of all time (thus far). This is difficult for me to admit, because I am interested in such a wide range of music, I do not want to limit myself to one song, but this is just irresistible. After that second chorus is a moving guitar solo, which is in perfect match with the rest of the song and rhythm guitar. These lyrics then follow this guitar solo: "There’s an endless disposition, and it doesn’t mean a god damn thing, there’s space for a paper airplane race in the eye of a hurricane, and if pigs could fly, then surely so could I, but this pedestrian knows better than to even try, my divinity is caught between the colours of a butterfly". Beautiful. Graffin reminds us of the catchy solo and relays it for us once again before the song ends.

6. Los Angeles Is Burning (3:23)
The album is beginning to calm down a bit and settles in, providing us with a little relief. I think the main message behind this track is how the media its influence is destroying America: "And I cannot believe the media Mecca - they're only trying to peddle reality". A little easier on the ears, I must say, Graffin sounds much calmer and the drum beat is a lot more relaxed. The guitar work also seems a lot more upbeat and light hearted even. It was the first track Bad Religion chose to release off the album and they have also produced a music video for it. It also features on Rock Against Bush Vol II (DVD video included).

7. Let Them Eat War (2:58)
Whilst having the most hard hitting lyrics and shocking statements, the music itself is rather like Los Angeles Is Burning, upbeat and not as dramatic as the first few songs. The intro is just guitar, closely followed by a strong and consistent drum beat. The guitar then slows and quietens down, giving way to Graffin's vocals: "Let them ear war! That's how to ration the poor". After two of these choruses, rap... in a Bad Religion song. And wouldn't you know it, it sounds great, fitting perfectly. The outro to this song is similar to that of the intro, signing the band off for a mere couple of seconds...
(This song also features on Rock Against Bush II, proving that it really is against the regime!)

8. God's Love (2:32)
Quick drum beat, conjuring memories of the introduction to this album... Again, we have the power chords and anti-religious lyrics, but with perhaps a little more thought on Graffin's behalf. If you were to listen to the song, you would notice how Graffin manages to fit such a long line into such a few bars of music. His voice is full of emotion, experience and brimming with confidence in this song. "There's no justice, just a cause and a cure and a bounty of suffering, It seems we all endure," to name just a couple of well structured and well integrated lyrics in this track. Again, Graffin's message needs to be driven home and to do this, there are the familiar "ahhhhhs" from the backing vocals, toning down the hard-hitting punk-rock. Leaning toward the end of the song, Gurewitz plays a fantastic solo, signing off Bad Religion once again.

9. To Another Abyss (4:07)
As you can see, this track is up to two minutes longer than some of the others, providing the album with some balance and 'middle ground'. The song itself is slower in pace than the previous, and this is evident as Graffin's vocals welcome us to a new Bad Religion song, not cramming in as many syllables into one line! The instruments in this song (drum, guitar and bass) seem to outmatch (volume wise) by Graffin, this allows the vocalist to portray his views in an outstanding way. The guitar work is more relaxed and not as fast and rushed as the other tracks. The song is about the current situation in world today, the Iraq shambles and the search for Weapons Of Mass Destruction ("The search is bound to fail, To another abyss - to no avail, So long ago I set sail and it chills me to the bone that I'm so far away from home").

10. The Quickening (2:19)
The name says it all, the Bad Religion team decide to up the pace and add an ironic upbeat track, exploring the ethics of abortion and the loss of human life (Brett Gurewitz explained it was his take on abortion). The song explores the classic issue that always arises when discussing abortion; "when does a human being become a human being?" or more simply "when does an embryo become alive?" (Graffin: "Oh what does it mean to come alive?") The song starts off quickly with guitar followed up by Graffin's vocals. As the song is shorter, the pace is fast and it's thrill from start to finish, the melodic chorus and quick burst of a guitar solo all thrown into a 139 second space. Fantastic lyrics, but perhaps a little short for my liking, the lyrical content could be extended by a verse or two.

11. The Empire Strikes First (3:24)
The headliner of this album and my word, they managed to pull this off perfectly. One of my favourite Bad Religion songs to be released, this track starts with a slow drumbeat and a few higher notes played on the guitar. The chords kick in, a slower but stronger sounding riff. Rather than going on an all out musical attack, the band have formulated a slower and more coherent song with an obvious target in mind: the USA and George W. Thought provoking lyrics such as "Here we go again to stage the greatest show on heaven and on earth," suggesting that Bush is showing off to the world, his lies and charades are all too much for this band. "We stumbled once in 'Nam now we're glad to finally say those days have passed," Graffin has hit out once again, implying the Iraq situation is just as bad as the 'war' launched in Vietnam. Political controversy from beginning to an end with literature references: "Yeah you deserve two minutes hate," they have obviously been reading George Orwell's 'Nineteen Eighty Four' (the controlled society of Oceania is instructed to release all their pent up anger in a two minute frenzy of hate they have for an enemy state, all fuelled by propaganda). The song ends with a nice little bit of guitar work from Gurewitz as the song fades to silence.

12. Beyond Electric Dreams (4:02)
Quick, but light strumming with a new guitar sound. It doesn't resemble anything on the album, but the sound is somewhat distorted and 'tangy'. The song is quick and upbeat and the lyrics are brilliant. Its chorus is four very long lines and extremely catchy, this song being a little different to that of a normal punk-rock anthem. Gurewitz said that the song was about finding spirituality and morality in nature and therefore the title "Beyond Electric Dreams" was perfectly fitting, the fact that nature is so beyond man-made (electrics and other products associated with it). Change and differences are always welcome in my mind and the use of voice distortion for the backing vocals adds more affect and a new age punk-rock genre to the album.

13. Boot Stamping On A Human Face Forever (3:49)
"If you want a picture of the future, imagine a boot stamping on a human face... FOREVER!" - George Orwell, 'Nineteen Eighty Four'.
Bad Religion are taking the speed down a further notch in this one and the guitar is distorted in a kind of eerie, sorrowful way. It is apparent that the band have been dabbling in literature these past couple of years and studied the text 'Nineteen Eighty Four' by George Orwell (which I wrote a 3000 word essay on for English coursework not so long ago... not the most uplifting novels you shall ever read!) and the song itself looks to be based on the main characters of that book; Winston Smith and Julia. The book has been assessed in many ways and Bad Religion have explored the love story/tragedy aspect of it, and how their story is hopeless from start to end: "We can't win! And we're stuck here together." The speed and overall feel to the song perfectly sum up the depressing situation Winston and Julia are in; doomed. Graffin's singing part are almost spoken for the first few lines, which is soon broken by the well sung chorus with long lasting notes and harmonised backing vocals. The song also has a small guitar piece, played relatively slowly, but very emotional and talented nonetheless.

14. Live Again (The Fall Again) (3:35)
The last song on the album and with no doubt, a fitting and thrilling end. I also hasten to add that this is my favourite "last track" on any album. Revisiting their album Process Of Belief, Bad Religion have created a song that is familiar to the bouncy, harmonised and melodic punk-rock anthems they produced two years ago. It starts of with a relatively simple riff, which is then accompanied by a short blast on the drums and then backed up by Graffin's vocals: "But what good is something if you can't have it until you die?" the attack on religion from the opening lyrics to the close. After the blinding choruses (Graffin holding those notes fantastically) there follows something oh so familiar to that of Bad Religion; "Let's go!" followed by a memorable guitar solo. This song is probably the catchiest and it is well worth listening to the whole album, just for the build up to this track.

Packaging:
The American flag painted in red and black, two evil looking colours face you when you look at the box. Standing before this mock flag is a man in a tie, hands clasped together in prayer, an obvious parody and irony of "Bad Religion". On the back, all tracks are clearly marked from numbers one to 14. The CD is an attractive black colour with red stars (representing the stars on the American flag) and "Bad Religion" in white, followed by "The Empire Strikes First" in red. This CD looks very intimidating, the black and red dominant. The booklet has all the (correct) lyrics to each song, designed in the familiar red, black and white. It is very well set out and there is quite a good attention to detail and I have no complaints about that at all.

Summary:
Bad Religion have come together once again and produced something out of this world. Managing to stick to their roots, they have written some great material and put together with their unlimited musical talent, this album is not for the weak hearted! Punk-rock thrills from the Sinister Rouge to Live Again, the CD does have a few happy mediums that are more than worth listening to (Los Angeles Is Burning and Beyond Electric Dreams).

Anyone who enjoys any kind of punk-rock, I would strongly urge you to have a listen to this. On first sampling this, I was a little apprehensive, because of such high expectations of the band, but there is no let down here, so check it out and if you are disappointed, then you and I are a little different!

Please visit badreligion.com to research the band and support them if you wish. They are currently touring America, they are very much devoted to their fans.

Sorry for such an 'essay', but I needed to make my re-entrance a little special and I hope this did not bore you too much!

Many thanks to all,

DaveGriffiths