To start off, I would just like to say that political talk does NOT belong in Amazon.com CD reviews. Just talk about the blasted CD.

Ok, Bad Religion can screw up sometimes, just listen to Into The Unknown and No Substance. But even those are worth at least one listen (e-mail me for ITU mp3s), and everyone should buy this album in particular. Bad Religion has fully recovered from their Atlantic slump, and by gum, it shows in TESF.

Hallelujah: Brooks has settled. In The Process of Belief, new drummer Brooks Wackerman seemed to be holding back, as if he was unsure. He's certainly over it now, and in TESF, he goes all out to impress. He's adopted the Bad Religion style while making it his own. He rules.

The first few songs are really hard, No Control/Against The Grain rock. They're all too similar, though. "Los Angeles Is Burning" is one of my favorite songs from this album; it's basically Stranger Than Fiction meets New America (the albums). "Let Them Eat War" is fast-paced upbeat BR rock. "God's Love" is okay; the chorus is pretty good. The lyrics for "To Another Abyss" are kind of bad, but the tune is nice. "The Quickening" and "Beyond Electric Dreams" are good as well; it's the harder rock, but better. "The Empire Strikes First" is the political rock that inevitably comes with a BR album, and this one doesn't fail to deliver. "Boot Stamping On a Human Face Forever", besides having an awesome name, is like nothing I've ever heard before. Just listen to it. "Live Again (The Fall Of Man)" is probably the most melodic song on the CD, and is a treat to end with.

I can't pit this against other BR albums yet (except for the Atlantic albums), but this is definitely all I'm listening to right now. If you're a fan or not, you should get this, and listen to it a bunch.

As a child, I was exposed to the Beatles all the time; I'd heard bits of nearly every album, and to this day, I'm recognizing songs I'd thought I'd never heard before. There were three albums I'd never really heard: Please Please Me (which is so-so), The White Album (which I've only heard a little of), and their final album, the masterpiece Abbey Road.

That's right: Abbey Road truly was the final Beatles album, having been recorded last. I know that Let It Be was released after, and I don't really know why, but I prefer the more natural (musically) flow of White Album - Let It Be - Abbey Road.

It brings about an interesting question: if your band, in four years, has created itself to be the greatest music phenomena of all time, and you know you're only making one more album before you split, how? Simply, how? It's certainly no mean feat, and I know I would be intimidated as hell in addition. But this album is masterfully done, and a worthy end to a great musical legacy. Let's review:

1. "Come Together": A surprising, and surprisingly surrealistic, start for a Beatles album. Certainly, they haven't done too much like this before, and it gives this album a fresh start. The lyrics are nonsensical enough to be really enjoyable, even though this song is about some guy John and Yoko met. Quite the treat.

2. "Something": This song is, simply put, beautiful. I used to not like it, back when I was musically thick, but now I can really appreciate the time and soul investment a song like this takes. I can no longer help but sing along whenever I hear this song. It's just amazing.

3. "Maxwell's Silver Hammer": Wow, this song is really funny. The overtone is just so not serious it's hard to believe this song is about a serial killer. Yep; Maxwell Edison, majoring in medicine, kills his girlfriend, then his teacher, then the judge trying him, and the Beatles managed to put a super happy face on the whole thing. Great stuff.

4. "Oh! Darling": This song is Beatles rock at its best. The screaming bridge is just great, and the guitar fits in really well with the bass and piano, along with the background oozin' aahs. Another one of my favorites.

5. "Octopus's Garden": One of the few songs Ringo Starr (who I guess turned into Graham Chapman) wrote, this helps balance the album while lightening a potentially serious mood. I love the underwater singing during the guitar solo. It's just like the Beatles, really.

6. "I Want You (She's So Heavy)": This slow song is really deep, and gets really heavy and involved later in the song. I would call this their last great shot at experimentation, and it turned out really well.

7. "Here Comes The Sun": A very upbeat mood lightener, Here Comes The Sun was the last song off this album I ever heard as a child. This song is really simple in concept, but delivers a message so powerfully in implementation. The gradual buildup during the bridge is really amazing. 8. "Because": An interestingly slow song with very nice lyrics and great harmonies. This seems like another balancing song, probably to offset what the finale brings.

9. "You Never Give Me Your Money": This is a fun song to listen to, as it changes mood abruptly halfway through, to a tune that reminds me a lot of the tunes played while showing Vegas in movies. A nicely written song.

10. "Sun King": This song is a lot like Because, but it signals the beginning of the Beatles finale, which I liken to the finale of fireworks on the Fourth of July; a bunch of small fireworks go off in quick succession before the big bang finally comes.

11. "Mean Mr. Mustard": The first finale song, this is an interesting short tune about a homeless old man; it's mellow and wacky at the same time.

12. "Polythene Pam": A harder song, probably as close as the Beatles got to modern hard rock. This is a great old song, and the old sound just adds to the effect.

13. "She Came In Through The Bathroom Window": A great short story song, spawning from when some fans made it past security one time. The melody is really catchy, and the guitar is a great offset.

14. "Golden Slumbers": The beginning of the end, Golden Slumbers is a great short song as well, with very nice lyrics and a spot-on melody. My dad had planned to sing this to my brother as a lullaby.

15. "Carry That Weight": This song has a lot of meaning for me, as whenever I listen to it, I invariably look back on four amazing years of Beatles music, and it leaves me, simply put, awestruck. All of this leads right up to...

16. "The End": It's the end, and the only way the Beatles could have ended, in my opinion. They knew, at a time when this really was the end, that this was the last impression they would leave with the world, and it shows; if you listen to this song while realizing all of this, you'll achieve temporary enlightenment. The rock portion is very powerful with the context, and the buildup is strong, but not too strong, leading up to the Beatles' final, mystifying, beautiful, ultimate message to all of us:

"And, in the end, the love you take is equal to the love you make."

Could it really have been any better?

17. "Her Majesty": Do you remember in Family Guy, on "Brian Wallows and Peter's Swallows", when Pearl has just died, and Peter has just let the baby birds go, and it's a very sentimental scene, and then the doctor comes and looks in the room, then turns around and yells, "Hey! Who wants to see a dead body?", and the whole mood is shot straight to hell? This is exactly what this song does. It really could have gone somewhere else.

Even with that tiny imperfection, this is the greatest album of all time. It certainly sold like it, and it's affected me personally in ways I can't describe; I just tried, and probably screwed up big time. But don't take my word for it. Go buy the album and see its greatness for yourself.

This is not an album from punk/ska gods Goldfinger. This is a rap album by a rap group of the same name.

If I had to describe this album in one word, it would be: real. Trent Reznor had a band that toured with him all through the Fragility 2.0 tour, and it gives the album a very real sound, differentiating from all the studio albums. The screaming audience just makes it all better.

Each of the songs has amazing intensity and ferocity (even The Frail, interestingly) and are many times better than their studio-produced counterparts. Here's a rundown of the tracks:

1. Terrible Lie - As soon as you put this in your stereo, BAMBAMBAMBAMBAM HEY GOD this song starts playing. The PHM version lacked consistency, which this version provides in abundance. One of the better tunes on the CD. Extended ending. 5/5

2. Sin - The PHM version had nothing to make it interesting; it was the same dull beat over and over. This version practically rewrote the song, and it's infinitely better. Very good stuff. 5/5

3. March Of The Pigs - This version of the song is similar to the TDS version, but the piano parts are taken ritardando, and it sounds AWESOME. This song also contains the "All The Pigs, All Lined Up" ending. 5/5

4. Piggy - This is a nice slow track to cool you down. This album is worth buying just to hear Trent scream...If you listen closely, you'll hear a random cymbal crash; that's the bored-out-of-his-mind guitarist bashing the drum set. And at the end, Trent Reznor gives his microphone to the audience. 4/5

5. The Frail - This is a piano song, yet it garnishes the largest distinguishable cheer on the CD. NIN fans rock. 4/5

6. The Wretched - This tune is crazy good. Starts nice and slow, then WHAM gets real furious real fast. Listen to the lyric about God's arm. 5/5

7. Gave Up - This is a fast tune with a good tune and a sweet chorus. 5/5

8. The Great Below - This song starts slow and stays slow. Doesn't get too interesting anywhere, really. 3/5

9. The Mark Has Been Made - A purely techno song that's some pretty sweet ear candy. 4/5

10. Wish - My favorite song on this CD. The alternation from furious to less furious, from half-time to fast time is almost perfectly executed; this song just sounds awesome, in summary. 5/5

11. Suck - The verses of this song leave something to be desired, but the chorus is awesome, so it sort of evens out. 4/5

12. Closer - NIN's all-time most popular song. This is a timeless deliverance of a great tune, with even more intensity than the original. 5/5

13. Head Like A Hole - The album wouldn't be complete without this tune. This has just as much ferocity as the original, if not more, and still sounds awesome. 5/5

14. The Day The World Went Away - A slower tune that sounds awesome, especially near the end, with all the na na na's. 4/5

15. Star****ers, Inc. - This speedy song about prostitution is faster than the original, and the ending isn't nearly as repetitive or mind-numbing. 5/5

16. Hurt - An interesting selection for the end of this album, but after listening to it, it all makes sense in your mind. This slow tune has great harmonies, and is fun to listen to. Beware of the giant feedback wave at the end. 4/5

With driving melodies, amazing harmonies and real sound, this album truly delivers like no other. 10/10

Recipe For Hate is a classic Bad Religion album. The songwriting, as always (well, not ALWAYS), is excellent, and the music takes an interesting turn (which is why I can see some people not liking this CD; then again, I hate those people). This is the album with the coveted "American Jesus" which was voted by fans as the best Bad Religion song ever, and they may be right. Here are some good ones:

"American Jesus" - How can I not bring this up? The lyrics are incredible, and the riff (A ABC BCD CBCBA) is SO, so catchy. You'll be humming this classic song for a long time.

"Struck A Nerve" - This is the best song Greg Graffin ever wrote. I think this is the slowest BR song ever (perhaps ITU has slower), which makes for a lot of song, which is a lot of cool. Listen for Johnette Napolitano of Concrete Blonde during the bridge.

"Skyscraper" - Very different. But still excellent.

If you already have Stranger Than Fiction, this is definitely worth $10.99.

For a long time, I couldn't even play an Xbox because MY FINGERS COULDN'T REACH THE BUTTONS! And setting that aside, there are flaws. For one, I have to move my thumb way down, usually taking my hand off of the controller, to press the start button. Second, the buttons themselves are cursed with an evil curse, which is you will press the wrong button. They're all the same over there, you can't tell what you're trying to press. I can put my thumb right over the B button, press it, look up at the screen, and find out that for some weird reason I actually pressed A. This controller needs some serious improvements. Get an S.

I was only a casual BR fan when I saw this on Amazon.com and bought it at the local record store. After listening to it once, I was a devout Bad Religion fanatic. It's that good.

To tell the truth, it's the selection that rocks, and a lot of the covers are really good. Here are the ones that I think are good:

The Line "Along The Way"
Jeffries Fan Club "Suffer"
Mind Driver "Generator"
The Jeff Tucker Extravaganza "I Want To Conquer The World"
The Quadratics "Pessimistic Lines"
Pushover "Struck A Nerve"
Brotherhood Of Death "Billy"
Los Villains "Atomic Garden/What Can You Do?/White Trash (Second Generation)"
Cheater "Faith Alone"
Bullet Treatment "Part III/Damned To Be Free"

I excluded One Hit Wonder "Two Babies In The Dark" because it isn't just 'good', it is EXCELLENT. All in all, I would say buy this CD if you listen to BR or not.

This is definitely one of the best albums of 2002. I've always been a fan of these kind of 'rarities' albums, and Steal This Album is no exception. Lots of very powerful songs, but also with driving melodies and captivating lyrics. The singles, "Innervision" and "Boom!", are excellent selections, and if you've heard them, you'll probably agree. But, as always, the best tracks are never released on the radio (it's an effective psychological gimmick that I won't go into here); the real beauty lies on the CD, in songs like "Mr. Jack", "Roulette", "A.D.D. (American Dream Disorder)", and my personal favorite, "I-E-A-I-A-I-O", which I think is the world's best way to get a crowd riled up. This is a definite must-buy for music fans.