DESCRIPTION
The Empire Strikes First is the thirteenth studio album by American punk rock band 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 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.
Track listing
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Overture" | Gurewitz | 1:09 |
| 2. | "Sinister Rouge" | Graffin | 1:53 |
| 3. | "Social Suicide" | Graffin | 1:35 |
| 4. | "Atheist Peace" | Graffin | 1:57 |
| 5. | "All There Is" | Gurewitz | 2:57 |
| 6. | "Los Angeles Is Burning" | Gurewitz | 3:23 |
| 7. | "Let Them Eat War" | Gurewitz, Francis, Wackerman, Baker, Bentley | 2:57 |
| 8. | "God's Love" | Graffin | 2:32 |
| 9. | "To Another Abyss" | Graffin | 4:07 |
| 10. | "The Quickening" | Gurewitz, Wackerman, Chris Wollard | 2:19 |
| 11. | "The Empire Strikes First" | Gurewitz, Baker | 3:23 |
| 12. | "Beyond Electric Dreams" | Gurewitz, Wackerman, Wollard | 4:02 |
| 13. | "Boot Stamping on a Human Face Forever" | Gurewitz | 3:49 |
| 14. | "Live Again (The Fall of Man)" | Graffin | 3:35 |
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 15. | "The Surface of Me" | Graffin | 3:01 |