American Lesion is a solo album by Greg Graffin

Greg Graffin

Gregory Walter Graffin, Ph.D. is an American punk rock musician, college professor, and author. He is most recognized as the lead vocalist and songwriter of the noted Los Angeles band Bad Religion, which he co-founded in 1979 and is the band's only constant member, even though it now features two...

, the lead singer of the punk band, Bad Religion

Bad Religion

Bad Religion is a punk rock band that formed in Los Angeles in 1979. Their current line-up consists of Greg Graffin , Brett Gurewitz , Jay Bentley , Greg Hetson , Brian Baker and Brooks Wackerman . Gurewitz is also the founder of the label Epitaph Records, which has released almost all of the...

. Like the album Into the Unknown, this album is a massive departure for Graffin, whose songs generally revolve around loud guitars and harmonies. American Lesion for the most part features Graffin's voice alone, and each song is based around an acoustic guitar or piano rather than electric guitars. The song "Cease" (track 6 on this album) is a slow piano ballad that is also featured on Bad Religion's album The Gray Race

The Gray Race

The Gray Race is the ninth full-length album of the punk rock band Bad Religion, which was released in 1996. It was the follow-up to the band's highly successful 1994 album Stranger Than Fiction...

as a fast-paced punk rock

Punk rock

Punk rock is a rock music genre that developed between 1974 and 1976 in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia. Rooted in garage rock and other forms of what is now known as protopunk music, punk rock bands eschewed perceived excesses of mainstream 1970s rock...

 song. The album was re-released by Epitaph Records

Epitaph Records

Epitaph Records is a Hollywood, California based independent record label owned by Bad Religion guitarist Brett Gurewitz. The label was originally "just a logo and a P.O. box" created in the 1980s for the purpose of selling Bad Religion records, but has evolved into a large independent record...

 on September 15, 2008.

The lyrical content can also be seen as a departure for Graffin. In most Bad Religion songs, he deals with subjects such as mass globalisation

Globalization

Globalization refers to the increasingly global relationships of culture, people and economic activity. Most often, it refers to economics: the global distribution of the production of goods and services, through reduction of barriers to international trade such as tariffs, export fees, and import...

 or world pollution

Pollution

Pollution is the introduction of contaminants into a natural environment that causes instability, disorder, harm or discomfort to the ecosystem i.e. physical systems or living organisms. Pollution can take the form of chemical substances or energy, such as noise, heat or light...

. The songs on American Lesion are much more personal; the songs were apparently written during the breakup of his marriage, making the album very sentimental.

Track listing

• All songs written and composed by Greg Graffin.

1. "Opinion" – 3:12
2. "Fate's Cruel Hand" – 4:43
3. "Predicament" – 3:11
4. "The Fault Line" – 3:03
5. "When I Fail" – 3:36
6. "Cease" – 4:32
7. "Maybe She Will" – 4:27
8. "The Elements" – 3:47
9. "In the Mirror" – 2:41
10. "Back to Earth" – 4:08