Tested

Tested
Tested
Live album by Bad Religion
Released	January 1997
Recorded	April 17 – October 14, 1996
Genre	Punk rock
Length	65:49
Label	Dragnet; Epic;
Producer	Bad Religion; Ronnie Kimball;
Bad Religion chronology

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	^[2]
The Great Rock Discography	5/10^[3]
Punknews.org	^[4]

Tested is the first official^[2] live album by punk rock band Bad Religion.^[5]^[6] It was recorded in the USA, Canada, Germany, Estonia, Denmark, Italy and Austria, in 1996, and released in 1997. It is Bad Religion's second live album.^{[citation needed]} Instead of using crowd microphones and mobile studios like most live albums, the band tapped the inputs, for a result that portrays Bad Religion's live sound without crowd noise.^[5] It also includes three new songs; "Dream of Unity," "It's Reciprocal," and the title track.

Background

Bad Religion's US label, Atlantic, turned down releasing Tested; however, the band's German label, Sony, agreed to release the album in Europe and the rest of the world through its imprints Dragnet and Epic.^[7] The album was released in January 1997 in Australia, followed by a European release in February.^[8] In March, it was available as import-only in the US.^[5]^[8]

"Dream of Unity" was released as a single in Germany in 1997.^[9]

In 2008, Tested was reissued in Europe by Epitaph.

Critical reception

Dave Thompson, in Alternative Rock, wrote: "Disconcerting the first listen, energizing thereafter, few live albums have been this brave."^[10]

In his review for AllMusic, Jack Rabid called the album "a bit of a letdown." He felt that the album lacks a "you are there" feel and that the overall sound is "merely average." He concluded, "Nonetheless, with a band this top-notch, even such a merely passable, perfectly clear recording demonstrates their awesome punk prowess enough (especially that of singer Graffin, whose phenomenal pipes soar all over this) to make Tested a large pleasure just the same." Rabid said of the three new studio tracks: "Dream of Unity" is uncharacteristically half-baked and slightly dull, but both "Tested" and "It's Reciprocal" burn the laser off the player."^[2]

Track listing

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Recording date and place	Length
1.	"Operation Rescue"	Greg Graffin	June 26, 1996; The Arena, Berlin, Germany	2:11
2.	"Punk Rock Song"	Graffin	July 10, 1996; Olympic Stadium, Rome, Italy	2:24
3.	"Tomorrow"	Graffin	July 10, 1996; Olympic Stadium, Rome, Italy	1:54
4.	"A Walk"	Graffin	June 27, 1996; Roskilde Festival, Roskilde, Denmark	2:27
5.	"God Song"	Graffin	September 19, 1996; Metropol, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States	1:48
6.	"Pity the Dead"	Graffin	June 22, 1996; The Amphitheater, Loreley, Germany	2:59
7.	"1000 More Fools"	Brett Gurewitz	September 7, 1996; Holidome, Melbourne, Florida, United States	1:39
8.	"Drunk Sincerity"	Graffin	April 24, 1996; RPM Warehouse, Toronto, Ontario, Canada	2:17
9.	"Generator"	Gurewitz	June 30, 1996; Westfalenhallen, Dortmund, Germany	3:23
10.	"Change of Ideas"	Graffin	April 25, 1996; State Theatre, Detroit, Michigan, United States	0:59
11.	"Portrait of Authority"	Graffin	June 26, 1996; The Arena, Berlin, Germany	2:52
12.	"What It Is"	Graffin	April 17, 1996; Roseland Ballroom, New York City, New York, United States	2:20
13.	"Dream of Unity" (studio track)	Graffin	September 4, 1996; Polypterus Studio, Ithaca, New York, United States	2:50
14.	"Sanity"	Gurewitz	September 11, 1996; Button South, Raleigh, North Carolina, United States	2:43
15.	"American Jesus"	Gurewitz, Graffin	June 22, 1996; The Amphitheater, Loreley, Germany	3:15
16.	"Do What You Want"	Gurewitz	September 19, 1996; Metropol, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States	1:15
17.	"Part III"	Jay Bentley	June 19, 1996; Circus Krone, Munich, Germany	2:54
18.	"Ten In 2010"	Graffin	July 7, 1996; Tallinna Lauluväljak, Tallinn, Estonia	2:24
19.	"No Direction"	Graffin	September 12, 1996; Hammerjack's, Baltimore, Maryland, United States	3:07
20.	"Along the Way"	Graffin	May 3, 1996; PNE Forum, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada	1:38
21.	"Recipe for Hate"	Graffin	April 28, 1996; Riviera Theatre, Chicago, Illinois, United States	2:15
22.	"Fuck Armageddon... This Is Hell"	Graffin	May 8, 1996; Warfield Theatre, San Francisco, California, United States	3:00
23.	"It's Reciprocal" (studio track)	Graffin, Brian Baker, Bobby Schayer	October 14, 1996; Polypterus Studio, Ithaca, New York, United States	2:04
24.	"Struck a Nerve"	Graffin	September 8, 1996; Shades, Jacksonville, Florida, United States	3:36
25.	"Leave Mine to Me"	Graffin	April 22, 1996; Verdun Auditorium, Montreal, Quebec, Canada	2:13
26.	"Tested" (studio track)	Graffin	September 2, 1996; Polypterus Studio, Ithaca, New York, United States	3:05
27.	"No Control"	Graffin	September 8, 1996; Shades, Jacksonville, Florida, United States	2:03
Total length:				65:49

Personnel

Adapted from the album liner notes.^[11]

Bad Religion

Greg Graffin – vocals
Brian Baker – guitar, backing vocals
Greg Hetson – guitar
Jay Bentley – bass guitar, backing vocals
Bobby Schayer – drums

Technical

Bad Religion – production, recording, mixing, concept
Ronnie Kimball – production, mixing
George Marino – mastering
Steve Raskin – art direction, design
ION Design – art direction, design, photography
Peter Hayes – cover stamp, flag stamp
Jerry Mahoney – backdrop
John Allan – photography
Thorsten Martin-Edingshaus – photography
Olaf Heine – photography
Rob Myers – photography

Notes and trivia

The songs "Tested", "Dream of Unity" and "It's Reciprocal" are previously unreleased studio tracks.
The live songs were recorded in Berlin (Germany), Rome (Italy), Roskilde (Denmark), Pittsburgh (PA, USA), Loreley (Germany), Melbourne (FL, USA), Toronto (Ontario, Canada), Dortmund (Germany), Detroit (MI, USA), Berlin (Germany), New York (NY, USA), Ithaca (NY, USA), Raleigh (NC, USA), Munich (Germany), Tallinn (Estonia), Baltimore (MD, USA), Vancouver (British Columbia, Canada), Chicago (IL, USA), San Francisco (CA, USA), Jacksonville (FL, USA) and Montreal (Quebec, Canada)
The disc has the phrase "No Bad Religion song can make your live complete" printed on it – a slightly modified quote from the song No Direction, in which the lyric is “life” instead of “live”.

Charts

Chart performance for *Tested*
Chart (1997)	Peak position
Australian Albums (ARIA)^[12]	67
Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)^[13]	49
Finnish Albums (Suomen virallinen lista)^[14]	25
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)^[15]	74

References

^ Ruland, Jim (2020). Do What You Want: The Story of Bad Religion. New York City: Hachette Books. p. 199. ISBN 978-0306922220.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d "Tested - Bad Religion | Songs, Reviews, Credits | AllMusic" – via www.allmusic.com.
^ Strong, Martin C. (2002). The Great Rock Discography. Edinburgh: Canongate Books. p. 53. ISBN 9781841953120.
^ "Bad Religion - Tested". www.punknews.org.
^ ^a ^b ^c "TrouserPress.com :: Bad Religion". www.trouserpress.com.
^ Buckley, Peter (May 24, 2003). The Rough Guide to Rock. Rough Guides. ISBN 9781843531050 – via Google Books.
^ "Bad Religion - Tested". The Bad Religion Page. Retrieved April 11, 2024.
^ ^a ^b Kaufman, Gil (February 3, 1997). "Bad Religion Live Album Out Now". MTV. Retrieved April 11, 2024.^{[dead link]}
^ "Dream of Unity". The Bad Religion Page. Retrieved April 11, 2024.
^ Thompson, Dave (May 24, 2000). Alternative Rock. Hal Leonard Corporation. ISBN 9780879306076 – via Google Books.
^ Tested (Media notes). Bad Religion. Dragnet/Epic. 1997.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
^ "Bad Religion chart history, received from ARIA on June 21, 2024". ARIA. Retrieved June 25, 2024 – via Imgur.com. N.B. The High Point number indicates the release's peak on the national chart.
^ "Austriancharts.at – Bad Religion – Tested" (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved April 11, 2024.
^ "Finnishcharts.com – Bad Religion – Tested". Hung Medien. Retrieved April 11, 2024.
^ "Offiziellecharts.de – Bad Religion – Tested" (in German). GfK Entertainment charts. Retrieved April 11, 2024.

External links

Tested at YouTube (streamed copy where licensed)

[1] Ruland, Jim (2020). Do What You Want: The Story of Bad Religion. New York City: Hachette Books. p. 199. ISBN 978-0306922220.

[amg-2] "Tested - Bad Religion | Songs, Reviews, Credits | AllMusic" – via www.allmusic.com.

[3] Strong, Martin C. (2002). The Great Rock Discography. Edinburgh: Canongate Books. p. 53. ISBN 9781841953120.

[4] "Bad Religion - Tested". www.punknews.org.

[auto-5] "TrouserPress.com :: Bad Religion". www.trouserpress.com.

[6] Buckley, Peter (May 24, 2003). The Rough Guide to Rock. Rough Guides. ISBN 9781843531050 – via Google Books.

[brpage-7] "Bad Religion - Tested". The Bad Religion Page. Retrieved April 11, 2024.

[mtv-8] Kaufman, Gil (February 3, 1997). "Bad Religion Live Album Out Now". MTV. Retrieved April 11, 2024.^{[dead link]}

[9] "Dream of Unity". The Bad Religion Page. Retrieved April 11, 2024.

[10] Thompson, Dave (May 24, 2000). Alternative Rock. Hal Leonard Corporation. ISBN 9780879306076 – via Google Books.

[11] Tested (Media notes). Bad Religion. Dragnet/Epic. 1997.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)

[12] "Bad Religion chart history, received from ARIA on June 21, 2024". ARIA. Retrieved June 25, 2024 – via Imgur.com. N.B. The High Point number indicates the release's peak on the national chart.

[ac_Austria_Bad_Religion-13] "Austriancharts.at – Bad Religion – Tested" (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved April 11, 2024.

[14] "Finnishcharts.com – Bad Religion – Tested". Hung Medien. Retrieved April 11, 2024.

[15] "Offiziellecharts.de – Bad Religion – Tested" (in German). GfK Entertainment charts. Retrieved April 11, 2024.

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v t e Bad Religion
Greg Graffin Brett Gurewitz Jay Bentley Brian Baker Mike Dimkich Jamie Miller Jay Ziskrout Pete Finestone Paul Dedona Davy Goldman Greg Hetson Tim Gallegos John Albert Lucky Lehrer Bobby Schayer Brooks Wackerman
Studio albums	How Could Hell Be Any Worse? Into the Unknown Suffer No Control Against the Grain Generator Recipe for Hate Stranger Than Fiction The Gray Race No Substance The New America The Process of Belief The Empire Strikes First New Maps of Hell The Dissent of Man True North Age of Unreason
EPs	Bad Religion Back to the Known Christmas Songs
Other releases	80–85 All Ages Tested Punk Rock Songs 30 Years Live
Videos and DVDs	Along the Way Live at the Palladium
Singles	"American Jesus" "21st Century (Digital Boy)" "Infected" "Stranger than Fiction" "A Walk" "Punk Rock Song" "Sorrow" "Los Angeles Is Burning" "The Devil in Stitches"
Related articles	Discography Members Epitaph Records Punk rock in California Hardcore punk Warped Tour
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