''Tested'' is the first official

live album An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track or cassette), or digital. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early 20th centur ...

punk rock Punk rock (also known as simply punk) is a rock music genre that emerged in the mid-1970s. Rooted in 1950s rock and roll and 1960s garage rock, punk bands rejected the corporate nature of mainstream 1970s rock music. They typically produced sh ...

band Bad Religion. It was recorded in the USA,

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

Estonia Estonia, officially the Republic of Estonia, is a country in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, and to the east by Ru ...

Denmark Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

and

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

, in 1996, and released in 1997. It is Bad Religion's second live album. Instead of using crowd

microphone A microphone, colloquially called a mic (), or mike, is a transducer that converts sound into an electrical signal. Microphones are used in many applications such as telephones, hearing aids, public address systems for concert halls and publi ...

s 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. 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 is a Japanese multinational conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered at Sony City in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. The Sony Group encompasses various businesses, including Sony Corporation (electronics), Sony Semiconductor Solutions (i ...

, agreed to release the album in Europe and the rest of the world through its imprints Dragnet and Epic. The album was released in January 1997 in Australia, followed by a European release in February. In March, it was available as import-only in the US. "Dream of Unity" was released as a single in Germany in 1997. 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." In his review for

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

, 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."

Track listing

Personnel

Adapted from the album liner notes. ;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 Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

(

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

(

Roskilde Roskilde ( , ) is a city west of Copenhagen on the Danish island of Zealand. With a population of 53,354 (), the city is a business and educational centre for the region and the 10th largest city in Denmark. It is governed by the administrative ...

(

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, second-most populous city in Pennsylvania (after Philadelphia) and the List of Un ...

( PA, USA), Loreley (Germany),

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

( FL, USA),

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

(

Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

), Dortmund (Germany),

Detroit Detroit ( , ) is the List of municipalities in Michigan, most populous city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is situated on the bank of the Detroit River across from Windsor, Ontario. It had a population of 639,111 at the 2020 United State ...

( MI, USA), Berlin (Germany), New York ( NY, USA), Ithaca (NY, USA), Raleigh ( NC, USA),

Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...

(Germany),

Tallinn Tallinn is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Estonia, most populous city of Estonia. Situated on a Tallinn Bay, bay in north Estonia, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland of the Baltic Sea, it has a population of (as of 2025) and ...

(

Baltimore Baltimore is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland. With a population of 585,708 at the 2020 census and estimated at 568,271 in 2024, it is the 30th-most populous U.S. city. The Baltimore metropolitan area is the 20th-large ...

( MD, USA),

Vancouver Vancouver is a major city in Western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the cit ...

(

British Columbia British Columbia is the westernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Situated in the Pacific Northwest between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains, the province has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that ...

, Canada),

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

( IL, USA),

San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

( CA, USA), Jacksonville (FL, USA) and

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

(

Quebec Quebec is Canada's List of Canadian provinces and territories by area, largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, ...

, 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

References

External links

''Tested''
at

YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...

(streamed copy where licensed) {{Authority control Bad Religion live albums 1997 live albums Epic Records live albums