BAD RELIGION - Against The Grain LP

Label: Epitaph

The third in a flurry of releases that followed Bad Religion's 1988 reunion, Against the Grain found the band's edge honed sharper than it had been in years. Epitaph's 2004 remaster respects this. Increased clarity between mouthpiece Greg Graffin, guitarists Brett Gurewitz and Greg Hetson, and the rhythm section of Jay Bentley and Pete Finestone increases the inherent melodic tension and amplifies Graffin's righteous lyrical anger.

As a thick, trademark Bad Religion melody rips in the background, Graffin spits out lyrics that define ideology with literate pacing, even as they ignite the genre's base emotions. "I'll construct a rack of tempered beams and trusses and equip it with a million tiny suns," Graffin sings. "...and I'll burn like a Roman f*cking candle."

Songs began in an instant, with the single crack of a snare drum signaling the beginning of another screed. The guitars came in, twining between fiery leads and urgent, sometimes hyper chording -- the album seemed like a signal fire to the lost tribes of hardcore.