Generator

Generator
Studio album by Bad Religion
Released	March 13, 1992
Recorded	May 1991 at Westbeach Recorders, Hollywood, California
Genre	Punk rock
Length	30:04
Label	Epitaph
Producer	Bad Religion
Professional reviews
Allmusic link Pop Matters link Robert Christgau link
Bad Religion chronology
80-85 (1991) Generator (1992) Recipe for Hate (1993)

Generator is the sixth studio album by the punk rock band Bad Religion. Although the album was completed in the spring of 1991, it was not released until 1992. It was also the band's first release with drummer Bobby Schayer, who replaced Pete Finestone during the Against the Grain tour. Today, Generator has been remembered as one of the best albums to emerge from the early 90s punk scene, and one of the most enduring works of Bad Religion's career.^{[citation needed]} The album was originally planned for release sometime around mid to late 1991, but was delayed until March 1992 as to not compete with then-current album Against the Grain.^{[citation needed]}

Like Bad Religion's first four albums (minus Into the Unknown), Epitaph Records released a remastered version of Generator on April 6, 2004, with two exclusive tracks that were taken from the split 7" with Noam Chomsky issued by Maximum Rock'N Roll in 1991. These versions feature Finestone on drums, making it his final recordings with Bad Religion. As of 2008, the original CD version of the album is out of print.

A video was made for "Atomic Garden". It is available for watching here. This was the first video Bad Religion ever released.

Production and marketing

This section requires expansion.

Writing sessions for Generator began around late 1990/early 1991. After Schayer joined Bad Religion in April 1991, the band immediately started work on their follow-up to Against the Grain. With an intended release date of mid to late 1991, they recorded it at Westbeach Recorders in Hollywood, California in May of that year.

Generator was recorded almost live in the studio,^[1] because, at the time, guitarist Brett Gurewitz had moved Westbeach to larger premises, and for the first time, the entire band could play in the studio at the same time. He stated that it was "time to change" and the band "did it in a different studio, but as far as the songwriting, it was a deliberate effort to try something different".^[1]

According to The Bad Religion Page, 100,000 copies of the album were shipped.^[1]

Track listing

1. "Generator" (Gurewitz) - 3:21
2. "Too Much to Ask" (Graffin) - 2:45
3. "No Direction" (Graffin) - 3:14
4. "Tomorrow" (Graffin) - 1:56
5. "Two Babies in the Dark" (Gurewitz) - 2:25
6. "Heaven Is Falling" (Gurewitz) - 2:04
7. "Atomic Garden" (Gurewitz) - 3:10
8. "The Answer" (Graffin) - 3:21
9. "Fertile Crescent" (Graffin) - 2:08
10. "Chimaera" (Graffin) - 2:28
11. "Only Entertainment" (Graffin) - 3:12

2004 CD reissue bonus tracks

12. "Fertile Crescent" (Graffin) - 2:18
13. "Heaven Is Falling" (Gurewitz) - 2:18
    • Prior to the recording of the album, these tracks were part of the 7" split with Noam Chomsky, issued by Maximum Rock 'N' Roll as part of an anti-Gulf War benefit.

Personnel

• Greg Graffin – lead vocals
• Greg Hetson – guitar
• Brett Gurewitz – guitar, backing vocals
• Jay Bentley – bass guitar, backing vocals
• Bobby Schayer – drums, percussion

• The Legendary Starbolt – engineering
• Donnell Cameron – engineering
• Joe Peccerillo – assistant engineering
• Eddie Schreyer – mastering

• Norman Moore – art direction, photography
• The Douglas Brothers – photography
• Merlyn Rosenberg – photography
• Gregor Verbinski – photography

References