Into the Unknown (Bad Religion album)

Into the Unknown is the second studio album by Bad Religion, released in August 1983 through Epitaph Records. The album marks a distinct departure from the band's previous album; instead of featuring hardcore punk, the album is characterized by slower tempos, use of electronic organ and pianos, and a prog-influenced hard rock sound. Into the Unknown is the only Bad Religion album to feature Paul Dedona on bass and Davy Goldman on drums. Dedona was fired from the band before their next recording and was replaced by Tim Gallegos, and former drummer Pete Finestone returned to the band in 1986. The album also features Bad Religion's longest track to date, "Time and Disregard", which is seven minutes long.

Into the Unknown proved to be the band's most controversial release: despite favorable reviews from music critics, it was a commercial failure, and was characterized as a "misstep" by guitarist Brett Gurewitz. It was not reissued on any format until 2010, when it was issued on vinyl as part of the box set 30 Years of Bad Religion, and has never been reissued on its own.

Background and production

While on tour promoting their debut studio album How Could Hell Be Any Worse? (1982), the members of Bad Religion noticed a shift in the mood of people involved in the punk rock scene in Southern California. In the lead up to the record sessions of their second album, the band members were adamant that punk is dead and decided to move on from the genre. According to author Dave Thompson in his book Alternative Rock (2000), the subsequent sessions were "fraught at the best of times and positively disastrous at the worse of times." Guitarist Brett Gurewitz stated that it was quickly produced after the release of the band's debut album because the band did not take themselves seriously and did not think it would last very long, despite the success of their debut and popularity on the underground music scene. Gurewitz said that little thought was put into the album's production. , and power pop. Thompson described the album's sound as Graffin's "auteur keyboards colliding punk and proto-synthpop, before sailing off into distinctly softer, rockier pastures and prescient soaring harmonies."

| rev3 = The Encyclopedia of Popular Music

| rev3score =

| rev4 = The Great Rock Discography

| rev4score = 7/10

| rev5 = The Rolling Stone Album Guide

| rev5score =

| rev6 = Spin Alternative Record Guide

| rev6score = 3/10

| rev7 = Ventura County Star

| rev7score = B+

| rev8 = The Village Voice

| rev8Score = A−

Because of the band's success, they produced more copies of this album than they had of their debut. The album was a commercial failure to the point that the band and Epitaph Records, their label, disbanded. In a positive review of the album, The Village Voice critic Robert Christgau said, "I find myself moved by its anthemic ambition--and achievement." Chuck Eddy has praised the album, saying it "sounds like Hawkwind but feels way less exotic, more like how the prairie art-schlockers in Kansas and Styx always tried to feel."

Legacy

Into the Unknown is Bad Religion's most controversial release. The band broke up after the album's release, but reformed in 1985.

;Bad Religion

Greg Graffin – lead vocals, keyboards (tracks 1 and 2), synthesizer (tracks 3–5, 7 and 8), piano (tracks 3, 4, 6 and 8), acoustic guitar (tracks 4 and 6), backing vocals (tracks 1, 3 and 4), production
Brett Gurewitz – electric guitars, acoustic guitar (on "Chasing The Wild Goose"), backing vocals (on "Chasing The Wild Goose"), production
Paul Dedona – bass
Davy Goldman – drums, wood block (on "Chasing The Wild Goose")

;Technical personnel

Jim Mankey – engineering
Ron Russell – cover art
Lynda Le Cons – graphic design, art direction

References

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