For God and Country (Good Riddance album)

Last updated
For God and Country
Good Riddance - For God and Country cover.jpg
Studio album by
ReleasedFebruary 1, 1995 (1995-02-01)
RecordedOctober 1994 at Razor's Edge Studios, San Francisco
Genre Punk rock [1]
Length30:45
Label Fat Wreck Chords (FAT 523)
Producer Fat Mike, Ryan Greene, Good Riddance
Good Riddance chronology
Gidget
(1993)
For God and Country
(1995)
Decoy
(1995)

For God and Country is the debut album by the Santa Cruz, California-based hardcore punk band Good Riddance, released February 7, 1995 through Fat Wreck Chords.

Santa Cruz, California City in California, United States

Santa Cruz is the county seat and largest city of Santa Cruz County, California. As of 2013 the U.S. Census Bureau estimated Santa Cruz's population at 62,864.

Hardcore punk Subgenre of punk rock

Hardcore punk is a punk rock music genre and subculture that originated in the late 1970s. It is generally faster, harder, and more aggressive than other forms of punk rock. Its roots can be traced to earlier punk scenes in San Francisco and Southern California which arose as a reaction against the still predominant hippie cultural climate of the time. It was also inspired by New York punk rock and early proto-punk. New York punk had a harder-edged sound than its San Francisco counterpart, featuring anti-art expressions of masculine anger, energy, and subversive humor. Hardcore punk generally disavows commercialism, the established music industry and "anything similar to the characteristics of mainstream rock" and often addresses social and political topics with "confrontational, politically-charged lyrics."

Good Riddance is an American punk rock band from Santa Cruz, California. They released seven full-length studio albums on Fat Wreck Chords, then disbanded after releasing a live recording of their farewell concert in 2007. They reformed in 2012 and released an eighth studio album, Peace in Our Time, in 2015. Led by vocalist Russ Rankin, the band's longtime lineup includes guitarist Luke Pabich, bassist Chuck Platt, and drummer Sean "SC" Sellers. Their sound is influenced by the hardcore punk scene and the band was known for their combination of fast punk with catchy melodies. Lyrical themes vary from political protests and critical analyses of American society to personal struggles and alienation.

Contents

Reception

Andy Hinds of Allmusic called For God and Country "quite a mature and focused debut, thanks largely to the leadership of singer Russ Rankin, whose deep personal convictions give the band an intelligently idealistic variation on SoCal punk ... Musically, the band are typical of most Fat Wreck and Epitaph groups (they seem to have learned most of their tricks from the tremendously influential Bad Religion), but the group's heartfelt message gives their music a resonating power that lifts them above their contemporaries." [2]

Epitaph Records American record label

Epitaph Records is an American independent record label owned by Bad Religion guitarist Brett Gurewitz. Throughout the 1980s and 1990s, most acts signed to the label were punk and pop punk acts, while there are many post-hardcore and emo bands signed to the label as well. A large portion of the record label, known as Hellcat Records, is owned by Tim Armstrong, frontman of the punk rock band Rancid. Several sister labels also exist, such as ANTI-, Burning Heart Records, Fat Possum Records, Hellcat Records, and Heart & Skull Records that have signed other types of bands.

Bad Religion American melodic hardcore band

Bad Religion is an American rock band that formed in Los Angeles, California in 1980. The band is noted for covering several topics in their lyrics, such as society in general, criticism of religion, politics, racism, equal rights, the media, humanitarianism, personification, mental disorder and the use of drugs. 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 since rejoined, and guitarist Brian Baker has performed with the group since 1994. The most recent additions to the band are guitarist Mike Dimkich and drummer Jamie Miller, who joined in 2013 and 2015 respectively. To date, Bad Religion has released sixteen 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.

Track listing

All tracks written by Good Riddance (Russ Rankin, Luke Pabich, Chuck Platt, and Rich McDermott).

Russ Rankin is an American musician, record producer, hockey scout and writer from Santa Cruz, California. He is best known as the singer for the punk rock bands Good Riddance and Only Crime.

No.TitleLength
1."Flies First Class"2:39
2."Better"2:22
3."All Fall Down"2:00
4."United Cigar"2:46
5."Decoy"2:46
6."Boys and Girls"3:00
7."Mother Superior"3:05
8."Twelve Year Circus"2:45
9."Man of God"1:42
10."Lisa"2:44
11."Wrong Again"2:42
12."October"2:10
Total length:30:45

Personnel

[3]

Singing act of producing musical sounds with the voice

Singing is the act of producing musical sounds with the voice and augments regular speech by the use of sustained tonality, rhythm, and a variety of vocal techniques. A person who sings is called a singer or vocalist. Singers perform music that can be sung with or without accompaniment by musical instruments. Singing is often done in an ensemble of musicians, such as a choir of singers or a band of instrumentalists. Singers may perform as soloists or accompanied by anything from a single instrument up to a symphony orchestra or big band. Different singing styles include art music such as opera and Chinese opera, Indian music and religious music styles such as gospel, traditional music styles, world music, jazz, blues, gazal and popular music styles such as pop, rock, electronic dance music and filmi.

Guitar fretted string instrument

The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that usually has six strings. It is typically played with both hands by strumming or plucking the strings with either a guitar pick or the finger(s)/fingernails of one hand, while simultaneously fretting with the fingers of the other hand. The sound of the vibrating strings is projected either acoustically, by means of the hollow chamber of the guitar, or through an electrical amplifier and a speaker.

Bass guitar Electric bass instrument

The bass guitar is a plucked string instrument similar in appearance and construction to an electric guitar, except with a longer neck and scale length, and four to six strings or courses.

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We did our first three albums with Ryan Greene and Ryan Greene is a great engineer and a really great guy and we learned a lot about being prepared to record ... his studio know-how was top-notch, his demeanor was top-notch, and we learned a lot, but when we decided we wanted a change, and we went to the Blasting Room, it was like...so different ... they knew what we were trying to do ... Also, the way they recorded...it was completely out of the ordinary...we'd been through the culture where you'd lay down the drums first, then you lay down the bass, then you lay down the guitars, and then you do the vocals...and we get to the Blasting Room and once the drums were done it was like, all bets are off, Chuck [Platt, bassist] would go in for a couple hours, then I would go in, then Luke [Pabich, guitarist] would go in, and we'd just be chipping away at these songs ... it was definitely a new approach for us anyway, we'd never done anything like that before...so I think that those guys really brought out the best in us, they challenged us, but they also, I think, had a really innate sense of knowing what we were trying to get done.

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References

  1. Chesler, Josh (June 8, 2015). "10 Best Political Punk Albums". Phoenix New Times. Retrieved June 12, 2016.
  2. Hinds, Andy. "Review: For God and Country". Allmusic . Retrieved 2010-08-31.
  3. For God and Country (CD booklet). Good Riddance. San Francisco: Fat Wreck Chords. 1995. FAT523-2.