The Gray Race

The Gray Race
Studio album by Bad Religion
Released	February 27, 1996
Recorded	October–November 1995
Studio	Electric Lady (New York City)
Genre	Punk rock [1]
Length	38:04
Label	Atlantic
Producer	Ric Ocasek Bad Religion
Bad Religion chronology
All Ages (1995) The Gray Race (1996) Tested (1997)
Singles from The Gray Race
"A Walk" Released: 1996 "Punk Rock Song" Released: 1996 "The Streets of America" Released: 1996 (EU)

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 .

This was the band's first album not recorded with original guitarist Brett Gurewitz (since the 1985 EP Back to the Known ) and is their first release with Brian Baker, who replaced him during the Stranger Than Fiction tour.

Some songs on the album are considered fan favorites, such as, "Them And Us", "A Walk", "Punk Rock Song", "Spirit Shine", "Ten in 2010", "Come Join Us", and "Cease".

Although not as successful as Stranger Than Fiction, The Gray Race achieved modest success when MTV ran a commercial for the album during its release. The album was re-released by Epitaph Records on September 15, 2008.

Production and marketing

After the 10-month Stranger Than Fiction tour, frontman Graffin soon began writing songs for Stranger Than Fiction's follow-up. The band recorded it at Electric Lady Studios, New York City with producer Ric Ocasek (of the Cars, Bad Brains and Weezer fame). The recording lasted throughout much of October and November 1995.

Reception

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[2]
Alternative Rock	9/10 [3]
Robert Christgau	[4]
Los Angeles Times	[5]
NME	1/10 [6]
Rolling Stone	[7]
Spin	7/10 [1]

The Gray Race was released on February 27, 1996, and peaked at No. 56 on the Billboard 200 album chart. ^[8] It spawned the moderately successful single "A Walk" in the United States. In Europe, the album also reached the German charts at No. 6 as well as earn the group a gold record for sales in Scandinavia. Then-former and now current guitarist Brett Gurewitz disliked the album, however, and commented that it was "BR's worst-selling record to date" and described it as "uninspired." He has since taken that back. ^[9] Author Dave Thompson, in his book Alternative Rock (2000), wrote that Baker "not only brings new blood to the band, but also some superior guitar work. Gritty classics, tougher than recent offerings, dance on an edge not visited since the days of Generator." ^[3]

Track listing

All tracks are written by Greg Graffin, except where noted.

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"The Gray Race"	Graffin, Brian Baker	2:06
2.	"Them and Us"		2:50
3.	"A Walk"		2:14
4.	"Parallel"		3:19
5.	"Punk Rock Song"		2:27
6.	"Empty Causes"		2:51
7.	"Nobody Listens"	Graffin, Baker	1:57
8.	"Pity the Dead"		2:56
9.	"Spirit Shine"	Graffin, Baker	2:11
10.	"The Streets of America"	Graffin, Baker	3:48
11.	"Ten in 2010"		2:22
12.	"Victory"		2:36
13.	"Drunk Sincerity"		2:13
14.	"Come Join Us"		2:03
15.	"Cease"		2:35
Total length:			38:04

European bonus track

No.	Title	Length
16.	"Punk Rock Song" (German language version)	2:27

Japanese bonus tracks

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
16.	"The Universal Cynic"		2:18
17.	"The Dodo"	Graffin, Baker	2:12

Personnel

Adapted from the album liner notes. ^[10]

Bad Religion

• Greg Graffin  – lead vocals, backing vocals
• Greg Hetson  – guitar
• Brian Baker  – guitar, backing vocals
• Jay Bentley  – bass, backing vocals
• Bobby Schayer  – drums, backing vocals

Technical

• Ric Ocasek  – production
• Bad Religion  – production
• Bruce Calder – engineer
• Andy Salas – assistant engineer
• George Marino  – mastering
• Frank Gargiulo – art direction, design
• STAIN – design
• Ryan J. McGuiness – design assistance
• Richard Burbridge – photography (portraits)
• Frank Ockenfels 3  – photography (band)

Notes and trivia

• Due to Gurewitz's departure a year before the album was recorded, all tracks for this album were written by Greg Graffin, though guitarist Brian Baker co-wrote 4 out of 15 of the songs.
• The track "Cease" was later re-recorded for Greg Graffin's 1997 solo album, American Lesion , this time as a piano and vocal arrangement. This version was played by Graffin on their 2006 DVD Live at the Palladium .
• The album liner contains ten portraits of faces in black and white. Different versions exist, with different pictures as the front cover.
• The album would earn Bad Religion a gold record for sales in Scandinavia and reach # 6 on the German charts for the single "Punk Rock Song".
• The songs "Them and Us" and "Ten in 2010" were featured in the 1999 game Crazy Taxi .
• The album was re-released by Epitaph Records on September 15, 2008.

Charts

Weekly charts Weekly chart performance for The Gray Race Chart (1996) Peak position Australian Albums (ARIA) [11] 44 Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria) [12] 15 Canada Top Albums/CDs ( RPM ) [13] 41 Dutch Albums (Album Top 100) [14] 61 Finnish Albums (Suomen virallinen lista) [15] 2 German Albums (Offizielle Top 100) [16] 11 Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan) [17] 6 Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade) [18] 21 UK Rock & Metal Albums (OCC) [19] 16 US Billboard 200 [20] 56

Year-end charts Year-end chart performance for The Gray Race Chart (1996) Position German Albums (Offizielle Top 100) [21] 60

Certifications

Certifications for The Gray Race

Region	Certification	Certified units/sales
Finland (Musiikkituottajat) [22]	Gold	20,147 [22]

References

Citations

1. Christgau, Robert (March 1, 1996). "Spins". Spin . SPIN Media LLC. p. 107.
2. "The Gray Race - Bad Religion | Album". AllMusic . Archived from the original on January 24, 2025. Retrieved February 27, 2025.
3. Thompson 2000, p. 170
4. "Robert Christgau: CG: bad religion". Robertchristgau.com. Archived from the original on July 15, 2011. Retrieved February 27, 2025.
5. Masuo, Sandy (March 3, 1996). "** 1/2 BAD RELIGION, "The Gray Race", Atlantic". Los Angeles Times . ISSN   0458-3035 . Retrieved December 14, 2017.
6. Cigarettes, Johnny (March 2, 1996). "Bad Religion - The Gray Race". NME . Archived from the original on August 17, 2000. Retrieved November 1, 2019.
7. "Rolling Stone : Bad Religion: The Gray Race : Music Reviews". Rolling Stone . July 3, 2007. Archived from the original on April 18, 2008. Retrieved February 27, 2025.
8. "The Gray Race's entry at Billboard.com" (PDF). Billboard.com. Archived from the original on April 7, 2015. Retrieved November 6, 2007.
9. "The Gray Race (Album) | the Answer | the Bad Religion Page - Since 1995". Archived from the original on August 19, 2017. Retrieved December 29, 2010.
10. The Gray Race (Media notes). Bad Religion. Atlantic. 1996.
11. "Australiancharts.com – Bad Religion – The Gray Race". Hung Medien. Retrieved June 30, 2024.
12. "Austriancharts.at – Bad Religion – The Gray Race" (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved June 30, 2024.
13. "Top RPM Albums: Issue 2925". RPM . Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved June 30, 2024.
14. "Dutchcharts.nl – Bad Religion – The Gray Race" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved June 30, 2024.
15. "Bad Religion: The Gray Race" (in Finnish). Musiikkituottajat – IFPI Finland. Retrieved June 30, 2024.
16. "Offiziellecharts.de – Bad Religion – The Gray Race" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved June 30, 2024.
17. "Swedishcharts.com – Bad Religion – The Gray Race". Hung Medien. Retrieved June 30, 2024.
18. "Swisscharts.com – Bad Religion – The Gray Race". Hung Medien. Retrieved June 30, 2024.
19. "Official Rock & Metal Albums Chart Top 40". Official Charts Company. Retrieved June 30, 2024.
20. "Bad Religion Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved June 30, 2024.
21. "Top 100 Album-Jahrescharts". GfK Entertainment (in German). Offiziellecharts.de. Archived from the original on May 9, 2015. Retrieved March 26, 2021.
22. "Bad Religion" (in Finnish). Musiikkituottajat – IFPI Finland . Retrieved July 15, 2022.

Sources

• Thompson, Dave (2000). Alternative Rock. Third Ear: The Essential Listening Companion. San Francisco, California: Miller Freeman Books. ISBN   0-87930-607-6.

External links

• The Gray Race at YouTube (streamed copy where licensed)