The very idea of Bad Religion releasing a ‘Deluxe Edition‘ CD is ridiculous enough in the first place, let alone that the album was originally released a year ago, and now fans are being enticed to shell out their hard money again. Why not give people the option first time around to make their decision… regular or… deluxe! But I’m no businessman, and in these rocky times for the music industry clearly record companies have got to do what they can to shift those all important units.
Tagged on to the 16 tracks from ‘New Maps of Hell‘ there are now 7 acoustic tracks performed by Greg Graffin and Brett Gurewitz, consisting 3 brand new compositions and 4 unplugged versions of established Bad Religion songs, including “Skyscraper” which goes all the way back to ’93’s ‘Recipe for Hate‘ album. Jeez, these boys haven’t gotten this mellow since ’83 and the now long forgotten “Every Day” and “Waiting for the Fire” appeared on the Mystic Records compilation “The Sound of Hollywood (Vol 2)“. There is also a DVD disc with a Greg ‘n Brett interview where they talk about the acoustic tracks, videos for the excellent “New Dark Ages” and the appalling “Honest Goodbye“, and then concert footage of the band live in Las Vegas, with their full six-piece line up, tearing through 60+ minutes of classics from their extensive back catalogue. Shot on multi-cameras, it looks and sounds great. Would have been a good show to be at…
To complete the package, both discs are parked in a chunky sleeve and accompanied by the original ‘NMOH‘ lyric booklet, two BR posters, and a very neat collection of black and white photos of Los Angeles by photographer Dave Bullock.
It’s Bad Religion Jim, but just not as we’ve known it.
Pete Craven