1994 was a big year for sellouts. In February, Green Day came through with their major-label debut Dookie, inciting a firestorm of backlash from punk purists in the process. Six months later, their California underground contemporaries suffered a similar character assault. Bad Religion, who had been a staple of the Los Angeles hardcore scene for over a decade by the time they left Epitaph Records in 1993, were crucified by fans for signing to Atlantic. Beginning with their debut, 1982’s How Could Hell Be Any Worse?, the band had released seven albums with Epitaph, each one billowing with indictments of materialism and capitalist greed. Now, according to hardcore fans, they were feeding into what they had so ardently reviled, abandoning their authentic roots for more monied production and publicity. Thus, their major label debut, Stranger Than Fiction, was doomed to drown in criticism no matter the quality.
Though diehard fans saw Stranger Than Fiction as a representation of Bad Religion abandoning everything they had stood for, the record improves upon the best qualities of their most celebrated work from their time at Epitaph. Suffer and No Control, released in 1988 and 1989, respectively, helped create a new lane in hardcore punk. On those two critically acclaimed records, Bad Religion moved away from the underproduced, unhinged sound that was characteristic of LA hardcore in the early 80s in favor of a cleaner, more melodic approach. This shift signified the growing maturity of the band members, as Suffer came five years after their previous release.
On Stranger Than Fiction, all of the improvements the band made to their sound in the late 80s are even more refined. As with a number of the tracks on No Control, Stranger Than Fiction prominently features downtuned, sludgy guitar riffs that have more in common with something that might be found on an early grunge record than with any of the blistering hardcore leads characteristic of LA. “Infected,” one of the band’s best-selling singles, is perhaps the best example of this. The four-minute (which, in hardcore punk, constitutes a marathon) anthem is paced by a chunky lead from Gurewitz that, with the help of a dynamic second guitar part and bombastic drum fills, slowly builds to a rabid climax where Graffin screams twisted threats at a toxic partner.
Despite the intensity of its subject matter, Stranger Than Fiction remains accessible through focusing on melody. Graffin’s vocals, though gruff, deliver killer chorus after killer chorus, and his conflicting timbre and talent for melody make his performance a uniquely pleasing one. Even more unusual for a hardcore album are the beautiful (yes, beautiful) three-part vocal harmonies that furnish the album’s electrifying hooks. On “Tiny Voices,” the harmonies are so entrancing that they almost take attention away from Graffin, whose command of the microphone makes such occurrences extremely rare.
Indeed, to listen to Stranger Than Fiction is to strain to hear every lyric. Graffin and Gurewitz, who by this time were both over 30 years old, put their penchant for verbose takedowns of the establishment to full use on songs like “Inner Logic,” and “News From the Front.” In “News From the Front” especially, the duo take their poetry to another level, using evocative imagery to paint a disturbing picture of the frontlines of battle:
Blood is a river
Flowing darkly amidst the tangled roots of the tall shining city
Crazy flowing mantide migrations
Engorge the big ventricle of heartbroken America
So many heaven hoping, hopeful groping breathers
All tap together quietly and desperately in unison
Hey, hey, hey, is anybody listening?
At other times, though, Graffin and Gurewitz, who consider themselves the Lennon and McCartney of punk lyricists, opt for a more straightforward approach. One of many urgently delivered rebukes of suburban monotony and sloth on Stranger Than Fiction, “21st Century (Digital Boy)” is the album’s sardonic peak, highlighted by perhaps the stickiest chorus on the entire project:
'Cause I'm a 21st century digital boy
I don't know how to live, but I've got a lot of toys
My daddy's a lazy middle class intellectual
My mummy's on Valium, so ineffectual
Ain't life a mystery?
In conjunction with singles like the titular “Stranger Than Fiction” and the aforementioned “Infected,” “21st Century (Digital Boy)” helped launch Stranger Than Fiction to certified gold status in the United States. This was the greatest crime of all to Bad Religion’s former fans from the LA hardcore scene, as it was concrete proof that they had been corrupted. The content of Stranger Than Fiction, however, proves that Bad Religion still had their spines, as every entry packs a formidable punch. With this record, Bad Religion were able to make a genre that was once seen as deviant more approachable without sacrificing their message. If that is selling out, then every band should try it.
