The Dissent of Man is the fifteenth studio album by American punk rock band Bad Religion, which was released on September 28, 2010. It was their first album in three years, following the release of New Maps of Hell in 2007. The band commenced writing new material in 2008, but would not begin studio work until May 2010. The writing and recording process spanned two years and was slowed down considerably by touring schedules. The album was finally finished in June 2010. Some of the material ("The Resist Stance", which originally appeared on the live album 30 Years Live, and an updated version of "Won't Somebody", which was a bonus track on the deluxe edition of previous album New Maps of Hell) was originally performed live by Bad Religion on its 30th anniversary tour in early 2010. "The Devil in Stitches" was released as a single to accompany the release of this album, while "Cyanide" and "Wrong Way Kids" also received radio airplay. Clocking in at 43 minutes, The Dissent of Man is Bad Religion's longest album to date.

The Dissent of Man
Studio album by
ReleasedSeptember 28, 2010 (2010-09-28)
RecordedMay–June 2010
StudioJoe's House of Compression, Pasadena, California
Genre
Length43:00
LabelEpitaph
Producer
Bad Religion chronology
30 Years Live
(2010)
The Dissent of Man
(2010)
True North
(2013)
Singles from The Dissent of Man
  1. "The Devil in Stitches"
    Released: July 27, 2010
  2. "Cyanide"
    Released: November 2010
  3. "Wrong Way Kids"
    Released: April 5, 2011

Background

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Work for The Dissent of Man dates back to June 2008, when bassist Jay Bentley revealed in an interview at the Pinkpop Festival in Landgraaf, Netherlands that guitarist Brett Gurewitz had already started writing new material for the next Bad Religion album. He also revealed that Bad Religion was planning to return to the studio after frontman Greg Graffin teaches UCLA to start work on the album planned for a June 2009 release.[1] However, in December 2008, Bentley revealed that, due to Bad Religion's upcoming touring commitments for 2009, the band would not have a chance to record their new album until around the end of the year, for an expected 2010 release date.[2]

Recording

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In December 2009, Bentley revealed to the fan site The Bad Religion Page that the band was expected to go into the studio on April 26, 2010 to start recording their new album. He stated that a few songs for the album had been written and "it feels like the songwriting is picking up momentum. Baker said he was going to drive up to Graffin's, Brooks and I are going to do some demos with Brett, so we have a pretty good jump."[3] In the following month, Bentley revealed that Bad Religion would record their new album at a studio in Pasadena, California with Joe Barresi, who produced New Maps of Hell and engineered its 2004 predecessor The Empire Strikes First.[4] Despite the statement made by Bentley about entering the studio in April, he noted that the recording date was now May 1.[5] On April 6, 2010, Bentley revealed in an interview with KROQ's Kevin and Bean that the date on which the band would record their new album was now May 6.[6]

On May 12, 2010 (Gurewitz's 48th birthday), Bentley posted an update on their Facebook page regarding the recording process of the album:

First week of recording at Joe [Barresi]'s house of compression and Brooks [Wackerman] gets the medal for "super-ass-kicking". Brian [Baker] has finished 14 basics... a couple more to go. I started getting some good bass sounds late, late last night, the liver wins the shootout again. Brett [Gurewitz] is playing late night tracks on his birthday, some way to celebrate! Happy birthday B.G.! Quote of the day; BG – "What percentage of the sound is coming from the snakeskin?". Ha ha... working of album titles and ideas today. It's all coming together. Joe [Barresi] says the corn flavored Kit Kats are gross, but the wasabi ones are quite delicious... get back to work. Work, work, work. Will send photo's [sic] soon.[7]

Release

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Between June and August 2010, the band played various festivals across Europe, including Rock am Ring, Rebellion and Sziget.[8] In an interview at the Azkena Rock Festival in Spain in late June 2010, Wackerman and Bentley revealed that the album would be called The Dissent of Man and would be released in four months' time.[9] On July 27, 2010, anyone who was a member of the Bad Religion mailing list received a link showing the album art and song list. Additionally, some members of the mailing list received a set of links. One allowed them to listen to the first single from the album, "The Devil in Stitches".[10] The others were to get "first dibs" on pre-sale for the album and merchandise. Following this, they went on a short tour of the UK.[11] "The Devil in Stitches" was released to radio on August 24, 2010.[12]

On September 21, 2010 the full album was made available for streaming on Bad Religion's MySpace page. Five days later, the band performed at the Epicenter festival.[13] In mid-November 2010, KROQ began playing the second single "Cyanide".[14] A month earlier, Bad Religion announced plans to make a video for "Wrong Way Kids", to which the band was looking for "old punk rock photos to use in the video." Fans were required to submit their photos at the Wrong Way Kids website or by e-mail.[15] After months of speculation, the video for "Wrong Way Kids" was premiered on April 19, 2011. "Wrong Way Kids" was released to radio on April 5, 2011.[16]

Reception

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Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic75/100 link
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic     [17]
The A.V. ClubB− [18]
Kerrang!      [19]
Rock Sound           [20]
Spin           [21]
The Music Cycle      [22]
Punknews.org      [23]
BLARE Magazine      [24]

The Dissent of Man debuted at #35 on the Billboard 200 chart and at #6 on the Billboard Independent Albums chart.[25]

The album's lead single "The Devil in Stitches" enjoyed some success on the charts, reaching #39 on the Hot Modern Rock Tracks, while it reached #38 on the Rock Songs chart.[26]

Track listing

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All tracks credited jointly to Greg Graffin and Brett Gurewitz in the album liner notes.[27]

No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."The Day That the Earth Stalled"Graffin1:23
2."Only Rain"Gurewitz2:43
3."The Resist Stance"Graffin2:32
4."Won't Somebody"Gurewitz2:42
5."The Devil in Stitches"Gurewitz3:28
6."Pride and the Pallor"Graffin2:56
7."Wrong Way Kids"Gurewitz2:43
8."Meeting of the Minds"Graffin2:06
9."Someone to Believe"Graffin2:38
10."Avalon"Graffin3:28
11."Cyanide"Gurewitz3:55
12."Turn Your Back on Me"Gurewitz2:24
13."Ad Hominem"Graffin3:28
14."Where the Fun Is"Gurewitz3:04
15."I Won't Say Anything"Gurewitz3:22
Total length:43:00
Bonus tracks
Japanese CD and deluxe digital download bonus track
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
16."Finite"Graffin3:51
Total length:46:51
Deluxe digital download tracks
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
17."Best for You" (Live)Graffin2:09
18."Pessimistic Lines" (Live)Graffin1:15
19."How Much Is Enough?" (Live)Gurewitz1:33
20."Generator" (Live)Gurewitz3:36
Total length:55:15

Personnel

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Adapted from the album liner notes.[27]

Charts

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Chart (2010) Peak
position
Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)[28] 61
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[29] 97
Finnish Albums (Suomen virallinen lista)[30] 43
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[31] 33
Japanese Albums (Oricon)[32] 46
Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)[33] 56
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[34] 79
UK Independent Albums (OCC)[35] 13
UK Rock & Metal Albums (OCC)[36] 15
US Billboard 200[37] 35
US Independent Albums (Billboard)[38] 6
US Top Alternative Albums (Billboard)[39] 7
US Top Rock Albums (Billboard)[40] 11

References

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  1. ^ alex101 (June 27, 2010). "Bad Religion looks ahead to 2009 album".{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  2. ^ alex101 (December 3, 2008). "Bad Religion to release next album in 2010?".{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  3. ^ Marty (December 12, 2009). "Bad Religion plans to hit the studio in April for a fall release".
  4. ^ Jesse (January 28, 2010). "Minor League news #12".
  5. ^ Marty (February 16, 2010). "2/16/2010–2010 Album diary". Archived from the original on October 8, 2012.
  6. ^ Jesse (April 5, 2010). "Bad Religion on KROQ – Download available + pics".
  7. ^ Jay Bentley (May 12, 2010). "Bad Religion: studio update". Facebook.
  8. ^ Yancey, Bryne (March 19, 2010). "Bad Religion adds more European tour dates". Punknews.org. Retrieved October 17, 2022.
  9. ^ Yancey, Bryne (June 28, 2010). "Bad Religion titles new LP, sets release date". Punknews.org. Retrieved October 20, 2022.
  10. ^ "Devil In Stitches Preview Page".
  11. ^ Paul, Aubin (April 30, 2010). "Bad Religion (UK)". Punknews.org. Retrieved October 18, 2022.
  12. ^ "FMQB Airplay Archive: Modern Rock". Friday Morning Quarterback Album Report, Incorporated. Retrieved October 31, 2016.
  13. ^ White, Adam (June 22, 2010). "Blink-182, Bad Religion, Rise Against to play KROQ Epicenter Fest". Punknews.org. Retrieved October 20, 2022.
  14. ^ "New Music From Bad Religion And Broken Bells; Muse's 'Undisclosed Desires' Ascending On KROQ's Most-Played List".
  15. ^ "Bad Religion to make a video for Wrong Way Kids | News from the front | The Bad Religion Page - Since 1995". Thebrpage.net. Retrieved February 14, 2012.
  16. ^ "AllAccess.com Alternative eWeekly". AllAccess. March 29, 2011. Retrieved July 2, 2016.
  17. ^ "AllMusic review".
  18. ^ "Bad Religion: The Dissent Of Man". The A.V. Club. September 28, 2010. Retrieved October 3, 2016.
  19. ^ Issue No. 1330
  20. ^ "Bad Religion - The Dissent Of Man - Reviews - Rock Sound Magazine". Retrieved October 3, 2016.
  21. ^ link
  22. ^ link
  23. ^ Punknews.org. "Bad Religion - The Dissent of Man". Retrieved October 3, 2016.
  24. ^ "REVIEW: Bad Religion - "The Dissent Of Man"". October 6, 2010. Retrieved October 3, 2016.
  25. ^ "Music Albums, Top 200 Albums & Music Album Charts". Billboard.com. Retrieved February 14, 2012.
  26. ^ "The Dissent of Man - Bad Religion". AllMusic. September 28, 2010. Retrieved February 14, 2012.
  27. ^ a b The Dissent of Man (Media notes). Bad Religion. Epitaph. 2010.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  28. ^ "Austriancharts.at – Bad Religion – The Dissent of Man" (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved June 30, 2024.
  29. ^ "Ultratop.be – Bad Religion – The Dissent of Man" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved June 30, 2024.
  30. ^ "Bad Religion: The Dissent of Man" (in Finnish). Musiikkituottajat – IFPI Finland. Retrieved June 30, 2024.
  31. ^ "Offiziellecharts.de – Bad Religion – The Dissent of Man" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved June 30, 2024.
  32. ^ "ディセント・オブ・マン". Oricon.co.jp. Retrieved June 30, 2024.
  33. ^ "Swedishcharts.com – Bad Religion – The Dissent of Man". Hung Medien. Retrieved June 30, 2024.
  34. ^ "Swisscharts.com – Bad Religion – The Dissent of Man". Hung Medien. Retrieved June 30, 2024.
  35. ^ "Official Independent Albums Chart Top 50". Official Charts Company. Retrieved June 30, 2024.
  36. ^ "Official Rock & Metal Albums Chart Top 40". Official Charts Company. Retrieved June 30, 2024.
  37. ^ "Bad Religion Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved June 30, 2024.
  38. ^ "Bad Religion Chart History (Independent Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved June 30, 2024.
  39. ^ "Bad Religion Chart History (Top Alternative Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved June 30, 2024.
  40. ^ "Bad Religion Chart History (Top Rock Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved June 30, 2024.
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