"New Maps of Hell," which hit stores last summer, is the 14th studio album in a career that stretches back to Bad Religion's eponymous 1981 debut EP and the full-length debut from the following year, "How Could Hell Be Any Worse?" The new album marks the band's third since the return of founding guitarist/co-songwriter Brett Gurewitz, who originally departed the group on less-than-amicable terms in 1994.
A deluxe edition of the album featuring seven additional acoustic tracks--including three new originals--was released last month. The deluxe version of "Maps" also comes with a bonus DVD featuring a mix of live performances, interviews and music videos.
Gurewitz recently talked to Rolling Stone magazine about selling CDs to a generation that has grown accustomed to downloading its music.
"I'm not worried in the slightest," he said. "I think the music industry is about to enter into a golden age. It's wonderful. I don’t think record companies need to sell CDs. Major labels need something cheap that they can sell bulk of, or they're going to go under. Small companies like myself, that kind of evolved to be the cockroaches in the music industry, to survive on meager sustenance? We're going to be fine. We're the ones who will be left when the whole thing craters. Music consumption is up. It's CD sales that are down. My kid doesn’t have a single CD, not one."
At the recent Pinkpop Festival in the Netherlands, bassist Jay Bentley and drummer Brooks Wackerman told a Dutch interviewer that the band plans to enter a studio next spring to produce a follow-up to "Maps," with a possible release date next summer.