Bad Religion

Bad Religion is an American punk rock band that formed in Los Angeles, California in 1980. The band makes extensive use of soaring 3-part vocal harmonies (which they refer to in their album liner notes as the "oozin' aahs"), guitar solos and lyrics that often contain religious and political commentary. Their lyrics often relate to matters of social responsibility. The band's lineup has changed several times over its lifespan, with lead vocalist Greg Graffin being the only consistent member; the current lineup, however, features three of the band's four original members (Graffin, Brett Gurewitz and Jay Bentley). As of 2015, Bad Religion has released sixteen studio albums, two live albums, three compilation albums, three EPs (one of which is composed of covers of Christmas songs) and two DVDs (which were both recorded live). They are one of the best-selling punk rock acts of all time,[1] having sold over 5 million albums worldwide.[2] Although they had gained a cult following with many of their early albums, Bad Religion did not experience major American commercial success until the 1993 release of their seventh studio album Recipe for Hate, which peaked at number 14 on Billboard's Heatseekers chart.[3] Recipe for Hate was followed a year later by Stranger Than Fiction, which spawned their biggest hits "Infected" and a re-recorded version of "21st Century (Digital Boy)",[3] and was certified gold in both the United States and Canada. Shortly before the release of Stranger than Fiction, Gurewitz left Bad Religion to focus on his label Epitaph, and was replaced by Brian Baker. Since the return of Gurewitz in 2001, the band has undergone a resurgence in popularity, with their sixteenth studio album True North (2013) becoming Bad Religion's first album to crack the top 20 on the Billboard 200 chart, where it peaked at number 19.[3] The band is expected to release their seventeenth studio album in 2016,[4] which will be their first with Mike Dimkich, who replaced longtime guitarist Greg Hetson in 2013.