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Bad Religion - New Maps of Hell (Deluxe)

With ex-members hailing from both Pg. 99 and City of Caterpillar, who knows what the hell one would expect from Malady. Is it epic, grandiose, larger-than-life as displayed by CoC? Nah. Does it retain Pg. 99's intensity and forceful confrontation? No way. So what? Malady's debut and sole album falls somewhere in between, proving to be more thought-provoking than Pg. 99 and a hell of a lot noisier than City of Caterpillar.

The first track, "Tongue," almost sounds like radio play; it's that easy, but, of course, that could never happen. "Yeah" has got to be my favorite track on the album, clocking in at a mere minute thirty-eight. It starts off slow, deep, almost shoegaze-y, I'll say it. You're caught in its hardcore tranquility until it finally breaks at the end into a consistent ride of noise and yelling, a flow so hard to produce, yet they do it with such ease and without any care. "Well Again" is slow, painful, and incredibly heavy. It's the final minute of spaciness that makes you realize, "Hey, the fuck is going on?"

And then you're blown by the explosion that is the fourth track. It's classic hardcore, only to contain what is probably the most interesting and (undoubtedly) one of the coolest breakdowns ever to be recorded, considering its increasing unpopularity. "Bad Life" and "Heroine" are hardly fillers, exhibiting two different passions not commonly encountered in emocore. The songs lift you up until finally crushing your puny little heart and throwing you down into the ground. "Let's Face It" is the finale, writing the album off on a humorous note: "...Singing some shitty song about sadness or sincerity. Let's face it, you're in your twenties, and a bad poet. And you're not an artist, you're a fartist..." Chris Taylor is without a doubt referring to the millions of spawned emo bands, ruining the title and ruining musical credibilty altogether.

Personally, I find Malady to be a lot better than either of the previous two parent bands, providing for the listener something that is still very much punk rock, and something that is deeply intelligent.



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    Posted by blursblending on 2007-06-29 23:14:49

    I can't seem to get this album out of my speakers. Depending on the specific type of emotional massacre at hand, I usually choose either Blonde Redhead, Bright Eyes, The Blood Brothers, The Vogue, Head Wound City, Neon Blonde, Mewithoutyou, The Murder City Devils, These Arms Are Snakes, Controlling The Famous, Radiohead, Detachment Kit, Interpol, Zao, Against Me, or The Velvet Teen, but lately, this Malady album has been my all purpose anti-depressent. Based on the preceding list and the said album of discussion, If anybody knows of a more perfectly painfully gut-wrenching angst of a record, please, let me know, because as it stands, I'm addicted to Malady.

    Posted by Paris_In_flames on 2007-06-11 23:49:26
    My Score:

    This cd is pretty bad.

    Posted by nate_derby on 2007-02-22 16:28:22
    My Score:

    This is just being reviewed...NOW?

    Either way, this album has ruled for years. Not as good as PG99, but better than CoC in my opinion. I almost saw them on their one and only tour, but...missed it somehow. I'll have to check out their new band...hopefully they'll rule too.

    Posted by SilentStorms on 2007-02-22 01:34:00

    "I back colin's comment wholeheartedly, although you don't have to be a pg. 99 or COC fan to get into this (because I'm not a fan of either).

    I sitll stick to my description of this as what Planes Mistaken For Stars would sound like if they were good at writing songs.

    -Scott"

    Yikes

    Posted by elephantdwarf on 2007-02-21 16:44:57

    not much is better than pg.99's document 8. or the CoC LP.

    this album is really fucking good but nothing near those two records... so for me:

    pg.99 > CoC > Malady

    Posted by Anonymous on Wednesday, February 21, 2007 at 2:47 PM (EST)

    Amazing album. They need to make a follow up!

    Posted by soundaslanguage on 2007-02-21 13:08:25
    My Score:

    great album. better than pg99 but doesn't top coc.

    Posted by Anonymous on Tuesday, February 20, 2007 at 10:02 PM (EST)

    Released on Level-Plane LP071.

    Posted by Anonymous on Tuesday, February 20, 2007 at 10:37 AM (EST)

    3 of these guys are now in a band called pygmylush.

    They're super-nice dudes... my band's leaving for tour in a few days and we've got a show with them. I can't wait.

    Pygmylush is soooo good.

    here's my take:
    CoC > Malady > Pg.99

    Posted by Benjasauruss on 2007-02-20 03:12:01

    not to downplay the greatness of the work of pg. 99 and CoC, but this album destroys all of that
    so
    fucking
    good

    the guitarwork on this album is absolutely unmatched anywhere

    Posted by Anonymous on Tuesday, February 20, 2007 at 2:17 AM (EST)

    this band was way beyond its predecessors, and this album is incredible.

    Posted by maverick on 2007-02-20 02:07:05
    My Score:

    I back colin's comment wholeheartedly, although you don't have to be a pg. 99 or COC fan to get into this (because I'm not a fan of either).

    I sitll stick to my description of this as what Planes Mistaken For Stars would sound like if they were good at writing songs.

    -Scott

    Posted by Ianw on 2007-02-20 01:38:21

    Fuck art, lets fart!

    Posted by SilentStorms on 2007-02-20 01:12:10

    Wow. I'm the complete opposite. I loved City of Caterpillar and thought Pg. 99 was alright. I bought this cd, listened to it three times and then sold it. Perhaps I sold it without completely emersing myself in it. Perhaps it was kinda crappy. I'll never know. But if there is one thing I do know, it's that I'm gay. Oh and those two other bands sounded better to me than these guys. Give me Hot Water Music if I'm going to listen to rock.

    Posted by colin on 2007-02-20 00:55:28
    My Score:

    this.
    album.
    fucking.
    rules.

    it's everything you would expect and want it to be from the bands involved.

    just.. so... great.

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