The Empire Strikes First

The Empire Strikes First is the thirteenth studio album by Bad Religion, released on June 8, 2004. The album is heavily influenced by the then-current Iraq War (most notably in the songs "Atheist Peace", "Let Them Eat War" and the title track) and also has some nods to George Orwell's novel Nineteen Eighty-Four (the song title "Boot Stamping on a Human Face Forever" as well as the line "you deserve Two Minute Hate" in the title track are direct references to the book), the latter most likely inspired by the PATRIOT Act.

The Empire Strikes First
Studio album by
Bad Religion
ReleasedJune 8, 2004 (2004-06-08)
RecordedNovember 2003 - February 2004
StudioSound City in Los Angeles
GenrePunk rock, skate punk
Length39:38
LabelEpitaph
ProducerBrett Gurewitz, Greg Graffin
Bad Religion chronology
Punk Rock Songs
(2002)		 The Empire Strikes First
(2004)		 New Maps of Hell
(2007)

The album also marks the rare instance that non-members of Bad Religion received a writing credit, as Chris Wollard of Hot Water Music co-wrote two songs.

The song "Social Suicide" Appears in Both Tony Hawk Project 8 and MX vs ATV Untamed.

Release

"Los Angeles Is Burning" was released to radio on April 27, 2004.[1] The Empire Strikes First was released on June 8, 2004. In October, the band went on a tour of the US with Rise Against.[2]

Reception
Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic70/100[3]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[4]
IGN9/10 [5]
Pitchfork8.2/10 [6]
RTÉ[7]
Robert Christgau[8]
Rolling Stone[9]

It peaked at number 40 on the Billboard 200 album chart,[10] the highest position the band had attained at the time. The album scored a minor radio hit with, "Los Angeles Is Burning", which also reached No. 40 on the Billboard modern rock tracks chart.

Track listing
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Overture"Gurewitz1:09
2."Sinister Rouge"Graffin1:53
3."Social Suicide"Graffin1:35
4."Atheist Peace"Graffin1:57
5."All There Is"Gurewitz2:57
6."Los Angeles Is Burning"Gurewitz3:23
7."Let Them Eat War"Gurewitz, Francis, Wackerman, Baker, Bentley2:57
8."God's Love"Graffin2:32
9."To Another Abyss"Graffin4:07
10."The Quickening"Gurewitz, Wackerman, Chris Wollard2:19
11."The Empire Strikes First"Gurewitz, Baker3:23
12."Beyond Electric Dreams"Gurewitz, Wackerman, Wollard4:02
13."Boot Stamping on a Human Face Forever"Gurewitz3:49
14."Live Again (The Fall of Man)"Graffin3:35
Japanese bonus track
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
15."The Surface of Me"Graffin3:01

Personnel

Bad Religion

Musicians
  • David Bragger – violin on "Atheist Peace"
  • Mike Campbell – guitar on "Los Angeles is Burning"
  • Sage Francis – guest vocals on "Let Them Eat War"
  • John Ginty – Hammond B-3 on "Los Angeles is Burning"
  • Leopold Ross – Sonic Alienator on "Beyond Electric Dreams"
  • Claude Sarne – goth choir soprano on "Sinister Rouge"

Other
  • Atticus Ross – programming
  • Joe Barresi – engineer, mixing
  • Tom Baker – mastering
  • Pete Martinez – assistant engineer
  • June Murakawa – assistant engineer
  • Nick Pritchard – design
  • Sean Murphy – photography
  • Matt Rubin – photography
  • Hans Buscher - Guitar Tech

Release history
Country Release date
United Kingdom June 7, 2004 (2004-06-07)
Worldwide
United States June 8, 2004 (2004-06-08)

Charts
Chart performance for The Empire Strikes First
Chart Peak
position
Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[11] 99
French Albums (SNEP)[12] 177
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[13] 28
Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)[14] 42
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[15] 82
US Independent Albums (Billboard)[16] 2
US Top Album Sales (Billboard)[17] 40

Singles - Billboard (North America)

Year Single Chart Position
2004 "Los Angeles Is Burning" Modern rock tracks 40

References
  1. "FMQB Airplay Archive: Modern Rock". Friday Morning Quarterback Album Report, Incorporated. Archived from the original on March 22, 2013. Retrieved October 30, 2016.
  2. UG Team (August 27, 2004). "In Brief: Marilyn Manson, Used, Slipknot, Bad Religion, Fu Manchu". Ultimate Guitar. Retrieved November 12, 2017.
  3. "The Empire Strikes First by Bad Religion". Retrieved October 3, 2016.
  4. AllMusic
  5. JR (July 19, 2004). "The Empire Strikes First". IGN. Archived from the original on May 28, 2012. Retrieved July 19, 2017.
  6. Tompkins, J. H. (August 2, 2004). "Pitchfork Review". Pitchfork. Retrieved May 4, 2020.
  7. "Bad Religion - The Empire Strikes First". RTÉ News. June 30, 2004.
  8. "Robert Christgau: CG: bad religion". Retrieved October 3, 2016.
  9. Miller, Kirk (July 8, 2004). "The Empire Strikes First Review". Archived from the original on March 11, 2007. Retrieved October 3, 2016.CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  10. "The Empire Strikes First's entry at Billboard.com". Billboard.com. Retrieved November 6, 2007.
  11. "Dutchcharts.nl – Bad Religion – The Empire Strikes First" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved May 4, 2020.
  12. "Lescharts.com – Bad Religion – The Empire Strikes First". Hung Medien. Retrieved May 4, 2020.
  13. "Offiziellecharts.de – Bad Religion – The Empire Strikes First" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved May 4, 2020.
  14. "Swedishcharts.com – Bad Religion – The Empire Strikes First". Hung Medien. Retrieved May 4, 2020.
  15. "Swisscharts.com – Bad Religion – The Empire Strikes First". Hung Medien. Retrieved May 4, 2020.
  16. "Bad Religion Chart History (Independent Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved May 4, 2020.
  17. "Bad Religion Chart History (Top Album Sales)". Billboard. Retrieved May 4, 2020.
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