On May 3, Bad Religion will release Age of Unreason, a new studio album that serves as a reaction to the “perilous times” we find ourselves in today.
Always a band fully focused on a common theme, the iconic punk group isn’t mincing its words this time around:
Since the group’s formative years they have steadfastly advocated for humanism, reason, and individualism. Now, as these values are in decline, and nationalism and bigotry are on the rise, Bad Religion’s message has never been more essential. Age Of Unreason delivers a powerful and inspired rejoinder – a political and deeply personal treatise on all they believe in.
“The band has always stood for enlightenment values,” co-songwriter and guitarist Brett Gurewitz explains. “Today, these values of truth, freedom, equality, tolerance, and science are in real danger. This record is our response.”
“Chaos From Within” is the first official preview of the record, and it pretty much sums up the band’s point of view succinctly:
Age Of Unreason will be Bad Religion’s 17th studio album and the first since 2013’s True North, so it’s been a while since the iconic punk rock group got back to business in this regard.
Lead vocalist/co-songwriter Greg Graffin, who has a PhD in the history of science and spends some of his time as a college professor, said this in a statement:
“When I saw all these headlines about how terrible our world had become, I started doing a lot of reading. I read about the French revolution, the American Revolution, the Civil War, and I started to recognize that this is a pattern of history and something we should never venture into. There are ample warnings against it. Every school child should know this but it’s hard to get people to read about these things. Maybe this album can help. Because right now, with social media, we are just playing a version of kill the guy with the ball.”
Another song from the album, “The Profane Rights of Man,” premiered a few months back:
That track is listed as a bonus song on the album. The full track listing:
1. “Chaos From Within”
2. “My Sanity”
3. “Do The Paranoid Style”
4. “The Approach”
5. “Lose Your Head”
6. “End of History”
7. “Age of Unreason”
8. “Candidate”
9. “Faces of Grief”
10. “Old Regime”
11. “Big Black Dog”
12. “Downfall”
13. “Since Now”
14. “What Tomorrow Brings”
15. “The Profane Rights of Man” (bonus)
