Do What You Want: The Story of Bad Religion
Do What You Want: The Story of Bad Religion by Bad Religion and Jim Ruland
Back in January, I was cruising through my Libby app, not sure what I was looking for or what kind of book I wanted to listen to. Since I’ve been going to a lot of live music, I decided to see what sort of music biographies the library has in audiobook format. I don’t read music biographies on the regular, but sometimes they do hit the spot. I felt like I scored big time when I noticed the Bad Religion book, and it was available to listen to right away. I hit that Borrow button so fast!
And I’m glad I did. This book was so easy to listen to! The narrative and the narrator were engaging and I loved the trip down memory lane hearing other bands referenced. It felt like a trip through time with it all starting back in the 80s. I found the formation and growth of Epitaph Records to be fascinating and had no idea how The Offspring were so closely connected to Bad Religion.
This book is niche and perfect for those that live in that niche – I loved it and it actually made the experience of seeing Bad Religion and Offspring even better for me. I’m super glad I listened to it before the show. The singer, Greg Graffin, is 61, and he still rocks hard and sounds so good!
It’s been a week since I saw Bad Religion and The Offspring at the Saddledome here in Calgary, and I’m honestly still riding the high. Seeing Bad Religion was a bucket list show, as I’ve been listening to Bad Religion for a very long time. Since I didn’t have a Bad Religion shirt, I felt good about wearing my fave Social Distortion shirt to the show because they are of the same era. I did buy a Bad Religion shirt after the concert and I love it! There is no such thing as too many band tees just like there can never be too many books.
If your jam is Bad Religion or Offspring, I highly recommend this book. It’s available in audiobook form on Libro.fm for purchase and Libby, and in print in hardcover and paperback.
And if you want to listen to some of their music, I highly recommend checking them out on whatever streaming service you prefer, but to really support your fave music talent, please consider purchasing an actual CD or Vinyl LP or some of their merch directly from their websites: Bad Religion and The Offspring
Happy Listening!
– Stacey