Bad Religion – The Gray Race – 1996

The Gray Race is the ninth studio album by Punk Rock band Bad Religion. Punk Rock belongs to a genre that I generally have an incredibly hard time with, and there are only a few bands/albums I like. Bad Religion, or at least their album The Gray Race, is among the exceptions. I’m simply not knowledgeable enough to speak more generally about this genre than about this particular album. However, I find it interesting enough that I will explore more eventually!

Bad Religion achieves the feat here of not making it sound too raucous, and they also manage to maintain sensible melodies. One might jokingly call it punk-pop instead, but it’s too “hard” for such a designation really. This is an album that manages to balance on the edge. It’s melodic enough to be appealing and also well-produced enough not to be unbearable. There’s really not much more to say…