10 Worst Genre Switches In Rock Music History

2. Into the Unknown - Bad Religion

When you're just starting out making your debut record, you're able to capture a certain amount of magic that can't be done once you've been in the game. Starting off with a bang, Bad Religion's debut How Could Hell Be Any Worse is one of the most impactful punk records because of how grimy it sounds, with the members still in their teens and trying their best to squeeze as much emotion out of these tunes as possible. So naturally for the follow up they...figured it was a fluke and went in the exact opposite direction.

Not wanting to go back into punk rock, Greg Graffin actually had his mind set on the future of Bad Religion being prog rock, which led half of the band to quit in protest. Graffin was determined though, and Into the Unknown stands as one of the most perplexing albums ever made in the golden age of underground punk. Instead of the harsh songs about your fellow man, this whole thing feels like a really bad Emerson Lake and Palmer jam session, complete with synth tones that feel like they were ripped straight out of cheesy '80s television.

The band themselves have at least owned up the fact that they were in over their heads here, going so far as to not include the album when they remastered the rest of their discography. It's bad enough that the band was trying something new and failing. This feels like they're actively trying to erase it from existence.