Get ready for some exciting news about the release of Generator! This awesome album was released on 3/13/1992 on Epitaph Records, but it actually took a bit longer to come out because the band wasn’t happy with the artwork and packaging. They had some ideas, but they ended up declining them and had to wait for new ones. Talk about anticipation!
But even before Generator was released, it was already selling like crazy. In fact, it sold more copies in advance orders than Against The Grain, which had been out for over a year and sold about 85,000 copies. That’s impressive! And in Germany, over 50,000 records were pre-ordered as an import. People couldn’t wait to get their hands on this album.
The band put a lot of effort into the songwriting for Generator. Brett wanted to change things up and try something different. He was getting bored, so they decided to record in a different studio and experiment with their songwriting. Greg and Brett were both amazing songwriters, and the songs on Generator became more intricate as a result. Brett also mentioned that they wanted to keep the lyrics more down-to-earth and avoid using big words like they did on Against The Grain. They wanted to make the songs more relatable and easier to sing along to.
And let’s not forget about the recording process! Generator was recorded in just ten days in May 1991. They recorded almost live in the studio, which was a new experience for them. They didn’t do much preparation or rehearsal beforehand. They would learn a song all the way through and then start recording it. It only took them about an hour and a half to learn each song. So every song on Generator is the first performance of that song in its entirety by Bad Religion. Talk about spontaneity!
The album title was decided after the album was already recorded. Brett had the idea of calling it “The Generator,” but they thought it sounded too much like Yes, who had an album called “Big Generator.” So they went with just “Generator” instead.
The artwork for Generator is pretty cool too. Greg came up with the idea of including quotes next to the songs in the lyric booklet. He wanted something thought-provoking, and he had access to a lot of research materials because he’s a teacher. Brett found some quotes from books and added a little levity to his. They also included a picture of blood on the door, although
This content was originally written by the badass contributors of thebrpage.net, the best superfan resource and website that exists for any band, let alone the best band in the whole entire world. I’ve been lurking on that site for over 20 years and if you’re into Bad Religion as much as I am, I’m sure you’re familiar. If you are not, go there right now and never come back to this site again. You should, and I totally understand.
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