Good Riddance

Good Riddance: For God and CountryFor God and Country (1995)
Fat Wreck Chords

Reviewer Rating: 5

User Rating:

Contributed by: fatpunkguyfatpunkguy
(others by this writer | submit your own)
Published on May 14th 2010Back before the internet made it so easy to find new punk rock we often relied on comps to introduce us to new bands. I will never love a comp as much as Fat Music for Fat People. I found so many good bands on that comp and one of them was Good Riddance. After hearing "United Cigar" I went and picke.

Back before the internet made it so easy to find new punk rock we often relied on comps to introduce us to new bands. I will never love a comp as much as Fat Music for Fat People. I found so many good bands on that comp and one of them was Good Riddance. After hearing "United Cigar" I went and picked up For God and Country, and to this day it's one of my favorites.

Good Riddance were known for mixing melodic punk with more hardcore punk, and it comes across best on this album. Every song is driving and aggressive yet melodic and catchy at the same time. Later Good Riddance would suffer from compartmentalizing the different styles between songs, which could sometimes throw off the flow of the record. On For God and Country, every song is a great mix of these styles and the album flows wonderfully from start to finish without ever letting up, but also without ever blowing your face off.

This was their last recording with drummer Rich McDermott. I have often wondered what their later work would have been like if he had stayed. Anyways, he does an excellent job here--his playing is technically proficient without ever being too flashy. Chuck Platt fills out the rhythm section in sort of a bare-bones manner; at no point do any basslines really make or break any of the songs. Luke Pabich does a good job here as well. It's probably more the result of strong songwriting, but the guitar parts are very expressive and move the songs along. Different from later Good Riddance releases, they don't rely on octave chords on this album. Of course, Russ Rankin brings it with the vocals. On top of that, the intelligent lyrics really make you want to listen to what Russ is singing.

Like a lot of Fat albums in the '90s, this album was produced by Ryan Greene and he does a decent job here. Everything sounds nice and organic without sounding sloppy. Later Greene-produced albums were a bit overproduced, but this album is recorded just like it should be.

Overall, if you are a Good Riddance fan or a fan of '90s punk rock you should own this album. It is definitely what I would consider a classic.

Login to rate this album

People who liked this also liked:

Please login or register to post comments.What are the benefits of having a Punknews.org account?

Share your opinion by posting comments on the stories that interest you
Rate music and bands and help shape the weekly top ten
Let Punknews.org use your ratings to help you find bands and albums you might like
Customize features on the site to get the news the way you want.

Fine Print: The following comments are owned by whoever posted them. We are not respon sible for them in any way. Seriously.

peebux (May 18, 2010)

One of my favorite records from any band.

rkl (May 16, 2010)

this deserves a longer review. detail the songs.

brandonsideleau (May 16, 2010)

This album is great...but I always liked Operation Phoenix the best.

kickaha (May 15, 2010)

When I was in high school I got to see these guys on the first Fat Tour (with Strung Out, NUFAN, & Tilt) and they just blew me away. The tour was before this album came out, so I was really exited when it was released.

This will always bring me back to the days of albums like Propagadhi's, "How To Clean...", 88's, "Behind Bars", Face To Face's, "Don't Turn Away", Rancid's first album, and Lifetime's, "Hello Bastards". Good times for some great skate rock.

hobbzoid (May 14, 2010)

this was good but I'd say they got a lot lot better. Matter of fact they got great.

Misanthropee (May 14, 2010)

I absolutely LOVED this like 12 years ago, but for whatever reason it does nothing for me now.

The only records I can think of that deserve a perfect score are so great as to be historically significant (Sgt. Pepper's, Horowitz in Moscow, A Love Supreme, Master of Puppets, etc). I'm glad the five-star reviews are much less common than they were a few years back, though.

jeffernator (May 14, 2010)

I'd day my 2nd fave GR album, behind Ballads. Love it.

hubitcherkokov (May 14, 2010)

Correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't Russ write all of the guitars for Good Riddance?

xrxpx (May 14, 2010)

I remember when this came out and changed my world

facetofacereunion08 (May 14, 2010)

Damn wish all reviews were like this, great review! Love early-mid 90's skate punk. feel like things were better without the oversaturation the internet provided.

Cos (May 14, 2010)

"America flies first class!"

paulsilence (May 14, 2010)

I love this album. Reminds me of good times, and a lot of the tracks are classics. I've always struggled to figure out who had the better "All Fall Down" track: GR or Against All Authority. I think GR wins by a nose.

To the guy who ranked them: I really dig Symptoms of a Levelling Spirit. I'd say it's my favorite GR album. It just came out at the right moment, and it reminds me of my undergrad days, studying and trying to change my little piece of my world for the better. That's also why Sick of It All's Yours Truly stands out.

mill83 (May 14, 2010)

Fuck I was 12 when this came out?! Wow. Definitely my favorite GR album and a big reason I started listening to more punk rock.

notfeelingcreative (May 14, 2010)

I've always been partial to "Ballads from the revolution" but this album is great. I'd rank them:
1. Ballads
2. Comprehensive Guide
3. For God and Country
4. Operation Phoneix
5. My Republic
6. Symptoms of a leveling spirit
7. Bound by ties...

pricey123 (May 14, 2010)

the last good riddance album i bought so it didn't really have much of an impact for me. 'comprehensive guide...' and 'bound by ties...' are my favourite

publichousing (May 14, 2010)

I love this album and it was one of the first punk albums I actually bought with my own money. That said, I think Good Riddance got better as time went on.

hayman (May 14, 2010)

One of my staples during high school. This album is killer.