Christmas Songs | ||||
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EP by | ||||
Released | October 29, 2013 | |||
Recorded | 2013 | |||
Studio | Joe's House Of Compression, Pasadena, California | |||
Genre | Punk rock, Christmas | |||
Length | 19:01 | |||
Label | Epitaph | |||
Producer | ||||
Bad Religion chronology | ||||
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Christmas Songs is the third EP album by American punk rock band Bad Religion, released October 29, 2013 on Epitaph Records. [1] It is their first full-length Christmas album, featuring eight covers of seasonal songs and an "Andy Wallace mix" version of "American Jesus". [2] This is also the first Bad Religion album not to feature Greg Hetson on guitar since 1983's Into the Unknown , although he appears on "American Jesus", and the first time they recorded as a five-piece since 2000's The New America . Christmas Songs is also Bad Religion's final release with Brooks Wackerman on drums.
Although Bad Religion had played many Christmas songs in the past, mostly during the KROQ Almost Acoustic Christmas shows, [3] the band had reportedly turned down offers to release a Christmas album. [2] After three days of speculation, the official announcement of Christmas Songs came via Epitaph press release on September 10, 2013. [2] 20% of the proceeds from Christmas Songs will go to SNAP (Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests). [4]
The cover picture comes from a picture titled "New Shoes" by Gerald Waller (Austria 1946). It is of an orphan boy who received new shoes from the American Red Cross. [5]
Aggregate scores | |
---|---|
Source | Rating |
Metacritic | 60/100 [6] |
Review scores | |
Source | Rating |
AllMusic | [7] |
Alternative Press | [8] |
Classic Rock | [9] |
Christmas Songs received mixed reviews from music critics upon its release. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album has received an average score of 60, based on 15 reviews, indicating "mixed or average" reviews. [6]
No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
---|---|---|---|
1. | "Hark! The Herald Angels Sing" | Felix Mendelssohn, Charles Wesley | 1:59 |
2. | "O Come All Ye Faithful" | John Francis Wade, Frederick Oakeley | 2:04 |
3. | "O come, O come, Emmanuel" | Traditional, John Mason Neale | 2:07 |
4. | "White Christmas" (to the beat of I Wanna Be Sedated by the Ramones [ citation needed ]) | Irving Berlin | 1:49 |
5. | "Little Drummer Boy" (contains an interpolation of California Uber Alles by the Dead Kennedys [ citation needed ]) | Katherine Kennicott Davis | 2:04 |
6. | "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen" | Traditional | 1:39 |
7. | "What Child Is This?" | Traditional, William Chatterton Dix | 1:53 |
8. | "Angels We Have Heard on High" | Traditional | 2:07 |
9. | "American Jesus (Andy Wallace Mix)" | Brett Gurewitz, Greg Graffin | 3:19 |
Total length: | 19:01 |
Adapted from the album liner notes. [10]
Chart (2013) | Peak position |
---|---|
US Billboard 200 [11] | 101 |
US Independent Albums (Billboard) [12] | 7 |
US Top Alternative Albums (Billboard) [13] | 18 |
US Top Hard Rock Albums (Billboard) [14] | 7 |
US Top Holiday Albums (Billboard) [15] | 7 |
US Top Rock Albums (Billboard) [16] | 31 |
Bad Religion is an American punk rock band, formed in Los Angeles, California, in 1980. The band's lyrics cover topics related to religion, politics, society, the media and science. Musically, they are noted for their melodic sensibilities and extensive use of three-part vocal harmonies. The band has experienced multiple line-up changes, with singer Greg Graffin being the band's only constant member, though fellow founding members Jay Bentley and Brett Gurewitz have also been with the band for most of their history while guitarist Brian Baker has been a member of the group since 1994. Guitarist Mike Dimkich and drummer Jamie Miller have been members of the band since 2013 and 2015 respectively. To date, Bad Religion has released seventeen studio albums, two live albums, three compilation albums, three EPs, and two live DVDs. They are considered to be one of the best-selling punk rock acts of all time, having sold over five million albums worldwide.
The Process of Belief is the twelfth studio album by the American punk rock band Bad Religion. It was produced by its leaders Greg Graffin and Brett Gurewitz, and was released on January 22, 2002, through Epitaph Records. After touring in support of its previous studio album, The New America (2000), Gurewitz re-joined Bad Religion in 2001 after a seven-year hiatus. The band re-signed with Epitaph, and then began work on its first album for the label in over eight years. The album also marked the first album to feature Brooks Wackerman, who replaced former drummer Bobby Schayer.
Generator is the sixth studio album by the punk rock band Bad Religion. Although the album was completed in the spring of 1991, it was not released until 1992; the band was not happy with the artwork and packaging, and went through several ideas that were eventually scrapped. Generator was the band's first release with drummer Bobby Schayer, who replaced Pete Finestone during the Against the Grain tour.
Suffer is the third studio album by American punk rock band Bad Religion, released on the Californian independent record label Epitaph Records on September 8, 1988. It was the first album that was both released and distributed by the label. Following the release of the EP Back to the Known (1985), Bad Religion went on a temporary hiatus, then reunited with its original members and went to work on their first full-length studio album in five years.
Brett W. Gurewitz, nicknamed Mr. Brett, is an American musician and record producer best known as the co-founder and guitarist of the punk rock band Bad Religion. He is also the owner of the music label Epitaph Records and a number of sister labels. He has produced albums for Bad Religion as well as Epitaph Records labelmates NOFX, Rancid, and Pennywise, among others. Gurewitz also had a project called Error, which also featured Atticus Ross, Leopold Ross, and Greg Puciato. He is also the co-founder of comic book and graphic novel publisher, Black Mask Studios.
Stranger than Fiction is the eighth full-length studio album and major label debut by American punk rock band Bad Religion, released in 1994. It was a major breakthrough for Bad Religion, being certified Gold by the Recording Industry Association of America and becoming the band's first album to chart on the Billboard 200, peaking at 87.
The New America is the eleventh studio album by punk band Bad Religion. It was released in 2000 and is their last album on Atlantic Records.
Recipe for Hate is the seventh studio album by American punk rock band Bad Religion, released on June 4, 1993. It was their last album on Epitaph Records for nine years and the band had switched to Atlantic Records, who re-released the album several months after its release.
The Gray Race is the ninth full-length album of the punk rock band Bad Religion, which was released in 1996. It was the follow-up to the band's highly successful 1994 album Stranger Than Fiction.
No Substance is the tenth full-length album by the punk rock band Bad Religion. It was the band's third release on Atlantic Records, and their second studio album since guitarist Brett Gurewitz's departure.
The Empire Strikes First is the thirteenth studio album by American punk rock band Bad Religion, released on June 8, 2004. The album is heavily influenced by the then-current Iraq War and also has some nods to George Orwell's novel Nineteen Eighty-Four, the latter most likely inspired by the Patriot Act.
Greg Hetson is an American musician. He is best known as the guitarist for the influential hardcore punk bands Circle Jerks and Bad Religion. He is known for his high energy stage antics which people have coined the term "The Hetson Leap". Hetson was a founding member of and also plays guitar in another supergroup, Punk Rock Karaoke, and the hardcore punk band G.F.P.
Back to the Known is the second EP released by American punk rock band Bad Religion. The name of the EP is a reference to the band abandoning the progressive rock influences of its previous album, 1983's Into the Unknown, and returning to its punk roots.
All Ages is a compilation album by the American punk rock band Bad Religion. It was released on July 26, 1995, through Epitaph Records. The compilation contains songs from How Could Hell Be Any Worse? to Generator, and two live tracks recorded during their 1994 European tour, which were the first tracks to feature guitarist Brian Baker.
The discography of Bad Religion, an American punk rock band, consists of 17 studio albums, two live albums, four compilation albums, one box set, two extended plays (EPs), 29 singles, five video albums and 25 music videos. Formed in Los Angeles, California, in 1980, the band originally featured vocalist Greg Graffin, guitarist Brett Gurewitz, bassist Jay Bentley and drummer Jay Ziskrout, who released their self-titled debut EP in February 1981 on Gurewitz's label Epitaph Records. Pete Finestone replaced Ziskrout before the release of the band's full-length debut album How Could Hell Be Any Worse? in 1982. The following year's Into the Unknown featured bassist Paul Dedona and drummer Davy Goldman, before Bentley and Finestone returned to the band and Greg Hetson joined as second guitarist.
New Maps of Hell is the fourteenth studio album by Bad Religion, released on July 10, 2007.
30 Years Live is the second live album from the band Bad Religion, which was released on May 18, 2010, therein documenting the band's 30th anniversary tour. It is the band's first live album in 13 years, since Tested in 1997. Rather than a standard release, it was originally available for free download to members of Bad Religion's official mailing list.
True North is the sixteenth studio album by the California punk rock band Bad Religion, which was released on January 22, 2013. After touring in support of their previous album The Dissent of Man (2010), Bad Religion began writing new material for an album that was planned for release in 2012. During their 2011 tour, frontman Greg Graffin stated that Bad Religion would make "one more album and then all join the navy, do honest work", which led to speculation that they were breaking up, although this turned out not to be the case. The recording sessions took place in July and August 2012 at Joe's House of Compression, a studio owned by Joe Barresi, who produced the album.
Age of Unreason is the seventeenth studio album by American punk rock band Bad Religion, released on May 3, 2019. It is the band's first studio album to feature guitarist Mike Dimkich and drummer Jamie Miller, replacing Greg Hetson and Brooks Wackerman respectively, and the first one to be produced by Carlos de la Garza, thus ending their collaboration with Joe Barresi, who had produced, mixed or engineered every Bad Religion album since 2004's The Empire Strikes First; Barresi did, however, mix "The Kids Are Alt-Right", which had already been released as a one-off single in 2018.
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