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Stranger than Fiction is the eighth full-length studio album by American punk rock band Bad Religion, released in 1994. It was a major breakthrough for Bad Religion, being certified Gold by the Recording Industry Association of America and becoming the band's first album to chart on the Billboard 200, peaking at 87.

Stranger than Fiction
Studio album by Bad Religion
Released	August 30, 1994 (1994-08-30)
Recorded	April–May 1994
Studio	Rumbo Recorders in Canoga Park, Los Angeles
Genre	Punk rock[1] melodic hardcore[2] skate punk[3] alternative rock[4]
Length	38:28 42:19 (European version)
Label	Atlantic
Producer	Andy Wallace, Bad Religion
Bad Religion chronology
Recipe for Hate (1993) Stranger than Fiction (1994) All Ages (1995)
Singles from Stranger Than Fiction
"21st Century (Digital Boy)" Released: 1994 "Infected" Released: 1994 "Stranger Than Fiction" Released: 1994 "Incomplete" Released: 1995

Release

Stranger Than Fiction was their first album released on the major label Atlantic Records (although that label re-released the previous album, Recipe for Hate), and also its last release with guitarist Brett Gurewitz, who left just prior to the album's 1994-1995 world tour, only to return to the band seven years later. On tour, Gurewitz was replaced by Brian Baker, who would stay with the band permanently.

With sales continuing 28 years after its release, Stranger Than Fiction is one of Bad Religion's most successful albums, featuring two of their well-known hit singles, "Infected" (released on January 6, 1995)[5] and the re-recorded version of "21st Century (Digital Boy)", first appeared on Against the Grain. Both songs earned airplay on MTV and radio stations, such as KROQ. The album included another hit single, "Stranger Than Fiction", though the last one, "Incomplete", failed to make any national chart. The album also includes fan favorites, "Leave Mine To Me", "Tiny Voices", "The Handshake", and "Better Off Dead." As of today, Stranger Than Fiction remains the only Bad Religion record to obtain gold status in the United States and Canada. The album was re-released by Epitaph Records on September 15, 2008.

In 2009, Rhino Records released a colored vinyl to coincide with this album's 15th anniversary.

Reception

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[6]
Chicago Tribune	[7]
Christgau's Consumer Guide	[8]
Entertainment Weekly	A−[9]
Los Angeles Times	[10]
NME	8/10[11]
Q	[12]
Rolling Stone	[13]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide	[14]
Spin Alternative Record Guide	7/10[15]

Stranger Than Fiction was released on September 6, 1994 and became the first Bad Religion album distributed via Atlantic Records. On September 24 of that year, the album peaked at number 87 on the Billboard 200 album chart,[16] and on March 4, 1998, also became Bad Religion's first (and only) album to be certified gold in the United States.[17]

AllMusic's Jack Rabid praised this album as a "rare case of selling out in reverse" and songs such as "Leave Mine to Me", "Individual", "Tiny Voices" and "Marked", calling them "all uptempo barnburners, pulverizing in their rapid passion". He also criticizes "'Infected' and 'Television'" as "the two least effective songs of their 15 years, the former a third-rate 'Sanity'", referring to the seventh track on 1989's No Control.

In November 2011, Stranger Than Fiction was ranked number one on Guitar World magazine's top ten list of guitar albums of 1994, with The Offspring's Smash in second place and Weezer's Weezer in third place.[18] Loudwire placed Stranger Than Fiction at No. 9 on its "10 Best Hard Rock Albums of 1994" list.[19] In July 2014, Stranger Than Fiction was featured on Guitar World magazine's "Superunknown: 50 Iconic Albums That Defined 1994" list.[20]

Track listing

B-sides

• "Mediocrity" (Graffin) – 2:45

Personnel

• Greg Graffin – lead vocals
• Greg Hetson – guitar
• Brett Gurewitz – guitar, backing vocals
• Jay Bentley – bass guitar, backing vocals
• Bobby Schayer – drums, percussion
• Tim Armstrong of Rancid – guest vocals on "Television"
• Jim Lindberg of Pennywise – guest vocals on "Marked"
• Andy Wallace – production, mixing, organ on "Stranger Than Fiction"
• Dale Lavi – photography
• Norman Moore – art direction

Collaborations

• Wayne Kramer (of the MC5) plays lead guitar on opening track "Incomplete".
• Tim Armstrong (of Operation Ivy, Rancid and eventually The Transplants) contributed lead vocals on "Television", which Concrete Blonde's Johnette Napolitano co-wrote with Brett Gurewitz.
• Jim Lindberg (of Pennywise) contributing backing vocals on "Marked"

Re-releases

Stranger Than Fiction was re-released several times, with different labels, covers and formats in different countries (see the table below).[22]

Year	Country	Format	Label	Note
1994	Europe	CD	Sony 477343 2	Bonus Tracks
1994	USA	Vinyl LP	Atlantic 82658-1
1994	Germany	CD	Dragnet DRA 477343 6	Alternative Cover; Bonus Tracks; Collector's Edition
1994	USA	Cassette	Atlantic 82658-4
1994	USA	CD	Atlantic 82658-2
1995	Germany	CD	Dragnet DRA 477343 60	Bonus Tracks
2009	USA	Vinyl LP	Rhino R1 82658	Reissue; Colored Vinyl
2018	USA, Europe	Vinyl LP, CD, Cassette	Epitaph 86994-1	Reissue; Remaster

Charts

Singles - Billboard (North America)

Year	Single	Chart	Position
1994	"21st Century (Digital Boy)"	Modern Rock Tracks	11
	"Stranger Than Fiction"	Modern Rock Tracks	28
1995	"Infected"	Mainstream Rock Tracks	33
		Modern Rock Tracks	27

References

Citations

Sources

External links

• Stranger than Fiction at YouTube (streamed copy where licensed)

На других языках

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[de] Stranger Than Fiction (Album)

Stranger Than Fiction erschien 1994 und ist das letzte Bad-Religion-Album mit Brett Gurewitz (vor The Process of Belief) und die erste Veröffentlichung auf dem Label Atlantic Records. Die Experimente mit Country- oder Folk-Elementen wurde zugunsten eines schnellen und melodischen Punkrocks zurückgestellt, möglicherweise als Antwort auf die aufkommende Unterstellung des Ausverkaufs der Band nach dem Wechsel zu Atlantic Records. Als Singles Veröffentlicht wurden Infected sowie eine Neuauflage des bereits auf Against The Grain zu hörenden Song 21st Century (Digital Boy). Außerdem sind Gastauftritte von Tim Armstrong von Rancid in Television und von Jim Lindberg von Pennywise in Marked zu hören.

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- [en] Stranger Than Fiction (Bad Religion album)

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[es] Stranger than Fiction (álbum)

Stranger than Fiction es el octavo álbum del grupo Bad Religion, publicado el 6 de septiembre de 1994. En él se aprecian canciones que hablan de la drogadicción del guitarrista Brett Gurewitz, como el éxito "Infected", que es un clásico del grupo. Incluye una nueva versión del tema "21st Century (Digital Boy)", que ya aparecía en su disco de 1990 Against the Grain, pero esta versión está mucho más trabajada, sobre todo el solo y los coros.

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