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The Empire Strikes First
Punk · 2004 · 15 tracks

The Empire Strikes First

Bad Religion

High-speed melodic hardcore meeting academic rigor. A dense, polished assault of three-part harmonies and scathing critiques of early 2000s geopolitics.

June 2, 2004 · Stable Records (2)

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A relentless, intellectual confrontation with power and belief, delivered with anthemic urgency.

Tracklist · 15 Tracks
01
Overture
1:09
02
Sinister Rouge
1:53
03
Social Suicide
1:34
04
Atheist Peace
1:57
05
All There Is
2:57
06
Los Angeles Is Burning
3:23
07
Let Them Eat War
2:57
08
God’s Love
2:32
09
To Another Abyss
4:07
10
The Quickening
2:19
11
The Empire Strikes First
3:23
12
Beyond Electric Dreams
4:02
13
Boot Stamping on a Human Face Forever
3:49
14
Live Again (The Fall of Man)
3:39
15
The Surface of Me
2:59
Moments Worth Listening For
The haunting operatic soprano that opens Sinister Rouge before the drums explode into a d-beat
The guest verse by Sage Francis on Let Them Eat War that bridges punk and hip-hop protest
The unexpected warmth of the Hammond B-3 organ during the bridge of Los Angeles Is Burning
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AllMusic
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Where This Album DepartsEach spoke is a trait. The orange shape shows where this album pulls away from — or holds to — the rest of the artist’s catalogue. Tap for more.

How does The Empire Strikes First sound next to the rest of Bad Religion's catalogue?

Defiant+0.8σ

Defiant saturates this record a touch more than the artist's norm.

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