Generator

Following the seminal punk rock trilogy of Suffer, No Control, and Against the Grain, 1992’s Generator opened a new chapter for Bad Religion. The essential components—bouncy hardcore riffs and Greg Graffin’s distinctly sonorous croon—were still there, but there were new elements that felt more like '90s alt-rock than '80s punk rock. The title track incorporates speed metal's halting rhythms and Fugazi's clanging atonal guitars. Yet the tune-laden chorus makes the song one of the band’s most melodic and vulnerable, and one of its best. The album's song structures are longer, but on the whole the set is more concise, forcing the band to fit more ideas into single works. The investment in vocal harmonies and structural arrangements is apparent on “Too Much to Ask,” “No Direction," and “Atomic Garden.” Graffin remained the group’s mouthpiece, but Generator was strengthened by the guitar work of Brett Hetson and the shattering rhythms of new drummer Bobby Schayer. “The Answer” was a perfect statement for a group that never stopped asking questions.