CD of the Day

Occasionally, I’ll feature one of my 850 CDs I own that I’m currently listening to. For those of you open to new types of music and haven’t heard the albums I feature, maybe you’ll give these CDs a listen sometime.

Today, it’s Bad Religion’s Suffer that is featured. Suffer, released in 1988, is generally considered Bad Religion’s breakthrough album that set the tone for the next two decades of Bad Religion albums. For those of you who like punk and haven’t heard this one, shame on you. Bad Religion is one of punk’s most gifted lyrical composers. Every song sends a deep message. Every song uses intelligent viewpoints and uses big words to get the message across. In typical punk fashion Suffer features 15 fast paced songs all clocking in under 3 minutes and each song sends a powerful message that will focus on politics, humanity, and the human spirit.

Part of the Bad Religion experience is getting caught up in the catchy fast paced music. The other half is reading the lyrics and picking up on what they’re saying. There are some songs on this album that are brilliant considering the fact that the music and the lyrics are both great. A couple of these songs include: “Land of Competition” which talks about people forgetting about who they are and focusing on following trends set forth by famous people, “Do What You Want” which is saying that people should do what they wish to do but don’t force their beliefs on other people, the title song “Suffer” which explains that mankind will always have suffering and we have no one to blame but ourselves, and “You Are (The Government)” which explains that the people, not the government, are supposed to have the real power in a democracy.

Bad Religion has persevered well into this decade and they will always be one of my favorite bands. I personally enjoy hearing bands like this that are willing to sing about serious issues among society. If you’re looking for a good album to start with by Bad Religion this is a sure bet. If you like Bad Religion and want to learn more about them, visit this site: www.thebrpage.net.