The Process of Belief is the twelfth studio album by the Americanpunk rock bandBad Religion. It was produced by its leaders Greg Graffin and Brett Gurewitz, and was released on January 22, 2002 through Epitaph Records. After touring in support of its previous full-length studio album, The New America, Gurewitz rejoined Bad Religion in 2001 after a seven-year hiatus. The band re-signed with Epitaph, and then began work on its first album for the label in over eight years. The album also marked the first album to feature Brooks Wackerman, who replaced former drummer Bobby Schayer. The Process of Belief was another huge success and it was well received by both critics and fans. The album has sold more than 220,000 units worldwide. The Process of Belief features one of Bad Religion's well-known songs "Sorrow", the band's first to chart in the US in six years, since "A Walk". "Broken", "The Defense" and "Supersonic" also received radio airplay, but all failed to make any national chart. The album marked the return to the faster and more energetic songwriting style of Bad Religion's earlier albums, and many have compared it favorably to their past releases. Multiple songs of the album have become live staples of the band's shows, most notably "Sorrow". "Broken" and "Kyoto Now!" are also commonly played live, as well as the album's first three tracks, which are usually performed in one go.
Background and recording
After a five-year hiatus, Brett Gurewitz reunited with Greg Graffin in 1999 to write and record the song "Believe It" for the next Bad Religion album, The New America. After embarking on multiple worldwide tours in support of The New America during 2000 and 2001, Gurewitz decided to rejoin Bad Religion permanently, and after fulfilling their contract with Atlantic Records, the band decided to re-sign with Epitaph. In June 2001, it was announced that former drummer Bobby Schayer had "experienced a most unfortunate career-ending injury" and could no longer drum, which forced him to leave the band. Without a new drummer, Bad Religion had booked a few weeks of rehearsal studio time in Los Angeles to record their next album, with an October 2001 release planned. However, instead of booking studio time for rehearsals, it became an audition session. Five people tried out for auditions including Brooks Wackerman, formerly of Suicidal Tendencies and The Vandals. Graffin said that Wackerman was a good drummer, they only had to hear him play one or two songs before they knew that he was "the best drummer we had ever heard". Graffin informed Wackerman that Bad Religion was without a drummer and asked him if he wanted to be in the band for touring and for recording, and Wackerman's answer was "a big YES".
Release
In June 2001, Punkbands.com reported that Bad Religion's twelfth studio album would be titled The Process of Belief and was scheduled for an October 23 release. However, bassist Jay Bentley told fan site The Bad Religion Page's chat room that the album would not be released until January 2002, as the band was running behind schedule. In August, it was reported that The Process of Belief would be released on February 5, 2002, but then the Epitaph newsletter reported that the release date for the album had been pushed back to January 22. The Process of Belief was released on January 22, 2002 and is the first Bad Religion album distributed via Epitaph Records since 1993's Recipe for Hate. Between late June and mid-August, the group went on the 2002 edition of Warped Tour.
Reception
It peaked at number 49 on the Billboard 200 album chart, and also number 1 on Top Independent Albums, making it Bad Religion's highest U.S. chart position to date. The album sold very well, due to success of its radio hit "Sorrow", and yielded many concert favorites like "Kyoto Now!", "Epiphany" and "Supersonic." The Process of Belief also became the first Bad Religion album to chart on the Irish Charts, spawning two top twenty singles. The AllMusic review by Jack Rabid awards the album 3 out of 5 stars and states: "It's like a batch of outtakes from their 1988 comeback LP, Suffer, or the amazing juggernauts that followed, No Control and Against the Grain. But successive immersions into the new LP's brute, lashing power and wild honey melodies disarms such critical impulses as efficiently as a martial arts master."
