"Frogger," however, barely missed the cut.

In the interest of balance, I wanted to take a second to set aside the political disagreements and the issues I have with some of their themes, and talk about the good things about Bad Religion ... specifically, my favorite songs of theirs. These are in no particular order after numbers 1-4.

1. Against The Grain
2. No Control
3. Stranger Than Fiction
4. Generator

My four favorite Bad Religion songs are each the title tracks off their respective albums, and are also the strongest songs on those albums.

“Against the Grain” and “No Control” are both driving, raucous, songs that rocket across your soundscape. I could just as easily take one over the other; today, “Against” is my favorite BR song – it’s all about individualism in the face of the running-with-the-herd mentality prevalent in society. Tomorrow, "No Control" might be my favorite; its namesake album remains my favorite, with ATG and Stranger Than Fiction a close second and third.

“STF” was the first BR song I ever heard, catching its video on MTV late one night and immediately being swept away by the catchy vocal melody and the Texas-sized hook, “… and the obituary … oh yeah.” When Graffin sings “And the lampposts can’t stop crying” in the first verse, it still makes the hair on my arms stand up every now and again. I still don’t know what “caringosity” is, though, or how it killed the Kerouac cat.

The lyrics of “Generator,” meanwhile, evoke such grandiose imagery, which is a trademark of a lot of BR’s songs.

Honorable mentions:

Drunk Sincerity – This song from “The Gray Race” holds personal meaning for me; the album was essentially stuck in my car's CD player after a particularly meaningless trip to see a woman in Minnesota. The expectations of the visit and the ensuing happiness I was sure we would share deflated within the first three hours of our meeting face-to-face. Needless to say, the weekend ended poorly, despite the two months' worth of promises we made. "You heard love from the lips, you were rapt by the hips, and the promise was eternal but you couldn't see that far." This song, that lyric, that album, sustained me on my 12-hour drive home with my tail between my legs.

Cease – More of that trademark imagery. Also from The Gray Race, and also filled with personal meaning for me. "It evokes such pain and significance, what was once is reduced to rememberance."

A Streetkid Named Desire - The propulsive, powerful drums make this song; otherwise, it would just be another "Hooray For Me ..." (Which I do love, incidentally - it's just that I love it the one time.)

You’ve Got A Chance – The subject matter will look a little dated a few years from now – the absurdity of America’s obsession with reality TV – but the coda alone makes this opener from “The Process of Belief” a keeper.

Anesthesia - If I were ranking these songs after #4, this one would probably be #5. "I remember your face that August night when we lied about the beautiful times to come" is probably the saddest lyric they've ever written - and Graffin sings it at about 400 words per minute.

Too Much To Ask - If there were ever a Bad Religion theme song - other than the song "Bad Religion" itself - it would probably be this one. The first verse, Graffin sings about a lot of the simple things he desires - "A safe stroll in a middle-of-the-road community, a neighbor who in times of need will not turn away"; in the second verse, he sings about reality and how it runs counter to his desires: "Corruption at the expense of the simple majority, a violent clash, a plunder of the Third World, any wretched ploy that bolsters our economy."

Sanity – This song from No Control was so good that the band later made other songs that sounded almost exactly the same ("Faith Alone," "Infected" and "The Answer" have that same plodding midtempo 4/4 beat with four similar-sounding chords in each song), but fell short. This is another song in which Graffin paints such vivid imagery – “There’s a watch in my pocket, but its hands are broken – the face is blank, but the gears are turning.” This song would probably be #6 for me.

Sinister Rouge - More relevant lyrical content about the Catholic priest scandal. The song smokes.

Supersonic - Sometimes you just need to rock out mindlessly, faster and faster.

Boot Stamping On A Human Face Forever – I can imagine the discussion about this song while they were recording The Empire Strikes First:

"Let's do the bleakest song that we've ever done."

"Good idea!"

"And let's make it slow. And let's make it sound red."

"Awesome!"

"And let's give it a really bleak title."

"Yeah!"

And so they did. And it succeeded, on all counts. "You can't win," the chorus repeats. Did I say anything about it being bleak?

Incomplete - The first song on the first BR album I ever bought, Stranger Than Fiction. It's almost a song about futility - "I'm a prayer without faith, a temple with no god, a jack without an ace, the tip of your tongue, I'm a promise in an unmailed letter, an unbuilt motor, deck without a joker, a creeping gray memory ... I am incomplete ..." If the title track of the album hooked me, this one reeled me in.

Automatic Man - This one has another of my favorite lyrics: "A true creature of habit, he smokes three packs a day, when he has an original thought, he forgets it right away." Another one from No Control.

I Want To Conquer The World - This one attacks both hippie idealism and right-wing beliefs. "I want to conquer the world, give all the idiots a brand new religion ... do away with air pollution, and then I'll save the whales. We'll have peace on earth and global communion." Hee.

American Jesus – I can listen to and enjoy this one while completely ignoring the irony. “I don’t need to be a global citizen, cause I’m blessed by nationality.” USA! USA! USA!

New America – I thought this song from 2000's album of the same title was actually a little prescient, given the current political landscape. “You can live in such denial and mark me as your enemy, but I’m just a voice among the throng who want a brighter destiny.” After this part, the singalong chorus "We are the new America ... whoa-oh ... whoa-oh ..." is the centerpiece of this track, and then the drums kick back in, propelling the song to its end.

Along the Way - A classic from BR's first era (1980-85); this simple four-chorder goes down especially well live. "Don't forget to find love and happiness, unless you're willing to be strong when they are gone along the way."