Bad Religion - No Control

The Best of All Time

Do I need to say anything more. This is at the peak of their career when you could just hear their soul. Pulsating and intense pop-classic punk. If you only buy one punk cd your whole life, this one will not only turn you on but also stimulate your mind as well. January 22, 2008

Well...What's HERE Is Good, Anyway

You know, I really do like Bad Religion. I really do. Though they have a tendency to overreach themselves a little in their lyrical choices (I'm convinced that it's all in an effort to sound smart, but that's not really the point), they have managed to be one of the most consistently good punk acts for twenty years now. No Control features the group arguably at their peak. Certainly, nobody will ever convince me that they've recorded a BETTER song than Big Bang, though they've equaled the effort. When it comes to recommending that somebody spend between ten and fifteen dollars on this piece of plastic, however, I have a couple of reservations that I should put down here as warning.

To start, for those not in the know, Bad Religion is, as mentioned before, a punk rock band, pretty typical of the sound you can expect. If you're a more mainstream music fan who's just wondered here out of curiosity, another person who'd never heard them before compared them to The Offspring, but, you know, better, and not as irreverent (or as gimmicky). This record in particular is more oriented toward the hardcore punk scene than their previous outing (the also-much-ballyhooed Suffer), at least according to the Wikipedia entry, which should imply "faster and louder." If you're okay with that, there's a pretty good chance that you'll like the CD. If you're not, I'd advise you to steer clear. This is pretty far from a mainstream pop rock record, though a couple of the more radio-friendly numbers (like the aforementioned Big Bang) might still appeal. For established Bad Religion fans or people just starting with the group, you either have this record or you should.

But, on to my problems, and it all boils down to how much music has been put on the disc in the first place. There's not much. The album length is somewhere in the 20s of minutes. For $10+, I kind of expect a little bit more than that. The sad thing is that this is really a problem that could have been easily remedied. In country music right now, there's a couple of labels that have taken to going back through the older LPs for their established artists (Merle Haggard and Johnny Cash and whatnot), pulling out two of them, and pressing them onto a single CD. Bad Religion and their various publishers need to learn from that. No Control is a masterful album, but a distressingly short one, and that's damaging to its value. Were this paired with, for example, Suffer (as I have done - and you still end up well under the 1 hour mark, so I could probably have shoved another half an album on there if I were just trying to maximize storage), I could recommend this CD to anybody who's down with the music.

As it stands, I downloaded this from eMusic. I'm not a big fan of digital downloading - I prefer to get my music in as uncompressed a medium as possible, and downloaded MP3s do not offer you any uncompressed format - but I just cannot justify recommending that anybody pay for a record this short unless that person is a true die-hard fan. It's not that I dislike the music at all, but that I think you ought to be able to get it at a better value. Certainly, if the return on investment doesn't bother you, I would unconditionally recommend purchase, but I'd politely suggest to the band that it might be a good idea to look into maybe double-packing some of its older catalog to cut new and incoming fans a break.

EDIT 9/17/2007: Well, now it would appear that Epitaph has seen fit to discontinue their relationship with eMusic, so your opportunity to download this at a reasonable discount is gone. I'm not feeling particularly generous to them as a company, given the decision, so I'm tempted not to recommend buying it on CD, but if you are a dedicated fan of punk rock, it's probably still worth your money. September 6, 2007

"Give all the idiots a brand new religion"

Not my favorite Bad Religion album, although I've listened to it much less than others, so that may be why. I love the song "I Want to Conquer the World", with Greg's voice so unique and raw. January 9, 2007

best BR album

i might be under thirteen but when i hear a good band i know it, Bad Religions' one of them. my two favorite songs are "i want to conquer the world" (a great song) and "sanity" (not as good but still awsome) the rest of the album is great to. November 26, 2006

sometimes it feels like....

Bad Religion is the only band who cares (along with pennywise) about our world. This album is close to perfection. Obliterate your music collections and stop listening to green day, good charlotte, fall out boy etc and listen to PUNK ROCK AS IT SHOULD BE!

1. Change of ideas (Not really a song as its under a minute but pretty good) 4.5/5

2. Big Bang. Love this f***ing song so much. 5/5

3.No Control. Oh yeah what awesome lyrics. 5/5

4. Sometimes it feels like.States Exactly what i feel like most of the time when standing in line or talking to someone who isnt listening to me. 5/5

5.Automatic Man. Extremely furious and fast just the way we like it. 5/5

6. I want to conquer the world. If you havent heard this song then why are u here. Pick up the album now! 5/5

7.Sanity. This song grew on me. Could of been a single if they wanted to. 5/5

8. Henchman. Sorta sounds like automatic man, well same kinda theme but still 5/5

9.It must look pretty appealing. One of my fav songs on the album. Basically stating that what one person sees as good will be cool for you and so others follow leading to the construction of what we now know as the masses. 5/5

10. You. Probably the best punk rock song ever. 5/5

11. Progress. Great song catchy as well. 5/5

12. I want something more. How about alonger song this ones like 40 seconds but is very complex. 4.5/5

13. Anxiety. not much to say on this one. 4.7/5

14. Billy. Great tune. 5/5

15. The World wont stop. Without you. Love this track. 5/5

Ok so its short about 26 minutes but feels longer than Generator even though it aint but maybe thats because it has more songs. Whatever the case this is a CD that no punk rock fan should be without. July 17, 2006

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