10 Rock Albums That Artists Want You To Forget About
1. Into the Unknown - Bad Religion
Bad Religion are pretty underrated in the grand scheme of underground punk bands. Right alongside acts like Black Flag, Bad Brains, and even FEAR, BR's debut How Could Hell Be Any Worse? was a juggernaut for the genre, along with being one of the first big successes for Epitaph Records. Where do you go from there though? How about...throw all goodwill out the window and start again from scratch?
When Greg Graffin and Brett Gurewitz were contemplating their new direction, they were convinced that their delve into hardcore was just a fluke, so it would be best if they just try again with another genre. Arming themselves with squelchy keyboards, Into the Unknown is a real anomaly in Bad Religion's catalog. Considering the other half of the band quit in protest upon hearing their new vision, this was an album that was slated to be contentious from the first time you heard it.
Though this is nowhere near the Bad Religion you look for, there are still a few decent attempts at prog rock on songs like Billy Gnosis and A Million Days. However, goodwill is not nearly enough to save these things, with the band basically rebooting their lineup and not even including this record in the actual reissue of their albums. While Into the Unknown certainly has its faults, it might have deserved a little more than a premature burial like this.