Stranger than Fiction (Bad Religion album)

Stranger than Fiction
Studio album by Bad Religion
Released	September 6, 1994 (1994-09-06)
Recorded	April-May 1994 at Rumbo Recorders in Canoga Park, California
Genre	Punk rock, melodic hardcore
Length	38:28
Label	Atlantic (Original) Epitaph (Re-release) Rhino Records (Vinyl re-release)
Producer	Andy Wallace and Bad Religion
Bad Religion chronology
Recipe for Hate (1993) Stranger Than Fiction (1994) All Ages (1995)
Singles from Stranger Than Fiction
"21st Century (Digital Boy)" Released: 1994 "Infected" Released: 1994 "Stranger Than Fiction" Released: 1994 "Incomplete" Released: 1995

Stranger than Fiction is the eighth full-length studio album (tenth release overall) by Bad Religion, released in 1994 (see 1994 in music). It was their first album released on the major label Atlantic Records (although that label re-released the previous album, Recipe for Hate) and also its last release with guitarist Brett Gurewitz, who left just prior to the 1994-1995 world tour, only to return to the band seven years later. On tour, Gurewitz was replaced by Brian Baker, who would stay with the band permanently.

With sales continuing seventeen years after its release, Stranger Than Fiction is one of Bad Religion's most successful albums, featuring two of their well-known hit singles, "Infected" and the re-recorded version of "21st Century (Digital Boy)", which both earned airplay on MTV and radio stations, such as KROQ. The album included one more hit single, "Stranger Than Fiction", though the last one, "Incomplete", failed to make any national chart. As of today, Stranger Than Fiction remains the only Bad Religion record to obtain gold status in the United States. The album was re-released by Epitaph Records on September 15, 2008.

In 2009, Rhino Records released a colored vinyl to coincide with this album's 15th anniversary.

Musical style

The album found the band retreating from the experimentation of Generator and Recipe for Hate and producing a fast and harmonic punk record, perhaps in response to allegations of the band "selling out" when they signed with Atlantic Records.

Production and marketing

After the Recipe for Hate tour ended, Bad Religion immediately began writing songs for their eighth studio album. The band teamed up with producer Andy Wallace (of Nirvana, Sepultura and Slayer fame), then entered Rumbo Recorders in April 1994, booking five weeks of studio time in which to record the album. This would be the first time Bad Religion had not recorded an album at Westbeach Recorders since 1984's Back to the Known. As far as the song selections, bassist Jay Bentley commented:

“

That was an ordeal! We chose the songs, but man did we fight. The songs that were left off the U.S. release were voted off by a majority. You should've seen the lobbying!

”

The closing track (on the US release), "21st Century (Digital Boy)", was originally recorded on Bad Religion's fifth full-length album Against the Grain, released in 1990; four years before the release of Stranger Than Fiction. Sony wanted them to release it again because they could not "hear a single" on this album.

Reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic
Robert Christgau
Hot Press	7/12
Rolling Stone

Stranger Than Fiction was released on September 6, 1994 and became the first Bad Religion album distributed via Atlantic Records. On September 24 of that year, the album peaked at number 87 on the Billboard 200 album chart, and on March 4, 1998, also became Bad Religion's first (and only) album to be certified gold in the United States.

Allmusic's Jack Rabid (The Big Takeover) praised this album as a "rare case of selling out in reverse" and songs such as "Leave Mine to Me", "Individual", "Tiny Voices" and "Marked", calling them "all uptempo barnburners, pulverizing in their rapid passion". He also criticizes "'Infected' and 'Television'" as "the two least effective songs of their 15 years, the former a third-rate 'Sanity'", referring to the seventh track on 1989's No Control.

In November 2011, Stranger Than Fiction was ranked number one on Guitar World magazine's top ten list of guitar albums of 1994, with The Offspring's Smash in second place and Weezer's Weezer in third place.

Track listing

1. "Incomplete" (Gurewitz) - 2:28
2. "Leave Mine To Me" (Graffin) - 2:07
3. "Stranger Than Fiction" (Gurewitz) - 2:20
4. "Tiny Voices" (Graffin) - 2:36
5. "The Handshake" (Graffin) - 2:50
6. "Better Off Dead" (Gurewitz) - 2:39
7. "Infected" (Gurewitz) - 4:08
8. "Television" (Gurewitz/Johnette Napolitano) - 2:03
9. "Individual" (Graffin) - 1:58
10. "Hooray for Me..." (Gurewitz) - 2:50
11. "Slumber" (Graffin) - 2:39
12. "Marked" (Gurewitz) - 1:48
13. "Inner Logic" (Graffin) - 2:58
14. "What It Is" (Graffin) - 2:08
15. "21st Century (Digital Boy)" (Gurewitz) - 2:47

Bonus tracks

16. "News from the Front" (Gurewitz/Bentley/Schayer) - 2:22 (Europe, Brazil and Japan bonus track)
17. "Markovian Process" (Graffin) - 1:29 (Europe, Brazil and Japan bonus track)
18. "Leaders and Followers" (Graffin) - 2:40 (Japan only bonus track)

B-Sides

19. "Mediocrity" (Graffin) - 2:45

Personnel

• Greg Graffin – lead vocals
• Greg Hetson – guitar
• Brett Gurewitz – guitar, backing vocals
• Jay Bentley – bass guitar, backing vocals
• Bobby Schayer – drums, percussion
• Tim Armstrong of Rancid – guest vocals on "Television"
• Jim Lindberg of Pennywise – guest vocals on "Marked"
• Andy Wallace – production
• Norman Moore – art direction

Collaborations

• Wayne Kramer (of the MC5) plays lead guitar on opening track "Incomplete".
• Tim Armstrong (of Operation Ivy, Rancid and eventually The Transplants) contributed lead vocals on "Television", which Concrete Blonde's Johnette Napolitano co-wrote with Brett Gurewitz.
• Jim Lindberg (of Pennywise) contributing backing vocals on "Marked"

In pop culture

• "21st Century (Digital Boy)" is a downloadable song for the Rock Band video game. "Infected" also appeared on the very first Guitar Hero.
• The Japan only bonus track "Leaders and Followers" was featured in the movie Clerks.
• The song "Inner Logic" was included on the soundtrack for the video game Crazy Taxi.
• Kubo Tite chose "News From the Front" as the theme song of Ichigo Kurosaki, the main character of his manga Bleach.
• Progressive rock band Anathema covered the song "Better Off Dead" with female vocals. Anathema's version is very slow and involves mostly piano.
• New York melodic hardcore punk band After the Fall mentioned Stranger Than Fiction in their song "1994", which appears on their 2009 album Fort Orange.

Re-releases

Stranger Than Fiction was re-released several times, with different labels, covers and formats in different countries (see the table below).

Year	Country	Format	Label	Note
1994	Europe	CD	Sony 477343 2	Bonus Tracks
1994	USA	Vinyl LP	Atlantic 82658-1
1994	Germany	CD	Dragnet DRA 477343 6	Alternative Cover; Bonus Tracks; Collector's Edition
1994	USA	Cassette	Atlantic 82658-4
1994	USA	CD	Atlantic 82658-2
1995	Germany	CD	Dragnet DRA 477343 60	Bonus Tracks
2009	USA	Vinyl LP	Rhino R1 82658	Reissue; Colored Vinyl

Charts

Album - Billboard (North America)

Year	Chart	Position
1994	The Billboard 200	87

Singles - Billboard (North America)

Year	Single	Chart	Position
1994	"21st Century (Digital Boy)"	Modern Rock Tracks	11
	"Stranger Than Fiction"	Modern Rock Tracks	28
1995	"Infected"	Mainstream Rock Tracks	33
		Modern Rock Tracks	27