Guitars, Drums, Tones, and Saxophones

Bad Religion - Suffer (1987)

I’m going to start this blog with a review of an incredibly important album to any fan of modern punk rock. Well, this is less a review, since the last thing the Internet needs is another review of an undisputed classic, and more just writing on why this record is important.

Note that this is in no way objective. Suffer is my favorite record of all-time.

Previous to this 1987 release, Bad Religion were a well-known and well-liked L.A. hardcore band, but not the legends of punk they are today. They had released an excellent self-titled EP, an incredible first album (1982′s How Could Hell Be Any Worse?), and one completely out-of-left-field LP, the prog-rock Into the Unknown. During the recording of that album, the band had largely broken up. The future didn’t look bright for Bad Religion.

Come around 1986; the original members were coaxed into reuniting (reportedly, Jay Bentley had to be promised they wouldn’t play any Into the Unknown material), and they dropped the Back to the Known EP. The production was cleaner, the sound was still the hard-hitting punk they were known for, but there were… vocal harmonies? What! The release was met with much love from the punk community. A promising young band had found its way again. But no one was ready for what came next.

When Suffer was released in late 1987, it was stunning. At a time when most punk releases sounded like they had been recorded in someone’s bathroom, this sounded incredibly professional. The guitars were crisp and brutal, and FAST. Opening track “You Are (the Government)” explodes out of the gate, delivering propulsive drumming, simple yet incredible effective guitar lines, and fast, clear, and well-enunciated vocals from Greg Graffin, and backing harmonies (or as the liner notes say, “Oozin’ Aahs”) from the rest of the band. The twin guitar attack from Brett Gurewitz and ex-Circle Jerk Greg Hetson bring to mind countless circle pits ’round the globe. Bad Religion weren’t content to just stir the punk rockers physically, though; Graffin and Gurewitz, the band’s two songwriters, were pissed off at the world, and had the vocabulary to express it in an erudite way that most of their peers never came close to. At a time when most hardcore bands were content to rail against Ronald Reagan, Bad Religion wanted to write songs about bigger problems that looked beyond the scope of any single person, to the world as a whole.

Clocking in at 15 songs in under half an hour, it’s a quintessential punk record. But the quality of the presentation, and of the contents, both musical and lyrical, raised this above the rest of the stagnating scene. Fat Mike, of NOFX, has called this “the record that changed everything.” It is often credited with “saving” SoCal punk. Indeed, it’s hard to find a punk band that doesn’t claim Bad Religion as an influence.

Many of the hallmarks of this record- the clear vocals, the professional production values, the pop-influenced backing vocals- are now commonplace in punk. As a result, the importance of this record might be lost on younger generations of punk fans. But listen to other hardcore records coming out of SoCal in 1985. Then listen to Suffer. Then listen to records that came after. There’s a sharp divide. This album changed everything.

Tags: bad religion