The punk legends in Bad Religion released a new, symphonic take on one of their classic tracks. Rather than the traditional combination of two guitars, a bass, and drums backing Greg Graffin’s vocals, the iconic singer is alone with a piano for the beginning of “Faith Alone” (originally on 1990’s Against the Grain) before being joined by strings.
Considering the track’s chorus of “faith alone won’t sustain us anymore,” the 30-year-old tune is prophetically appropriate to revamp for the chaos that 2020 has brought — and it even makes use of appropriate social distancing as Graffin, Bad Religion co-mastermind Brett Gurewitz, drummer Jamie Miller, one-man orchestra Stevie Blacke (Beck, Lady Gaga, Garbage), and producer Carlos de la Garza recorded the entire thing remotely.
“I have always written songs on piano,” Graffin said in a statement. “Some of our earliest songs were written on my mom’s piano. I’ve been home a lot and so I started recording a bunch of our songs that way. Brett (Gurewitz) thought ‘Faith Alone’ was particularly relevant for this moment. For me, it exemplifies what’s special about the band, which is that we write songs that go to the spiritual and intellectual aspects of human existence.”
He continued, ““I think the message of ‘Faith Alone’ really resonates with everything that’s happening right now. Racial injustice, Trump, the COVID pandemic, the rejection of science, none of these things can be solved by burying our heads in the sand. We’ve always believed problems can be solved through reason and action, not faith and prayer. It’s what we’ve been writing about since the band started.”
We caught up with the band earlier this year to discuss their 40th anniversary and their plans for this year, but we know how that turned out. Graffin and Brian Baker recently gave us their predictions for the MLB season, which may or not be in trouble this year.
Check out the new version of “Faith Alone” below.
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