I remember the first time I heard Bad Religion. My old drummer (now a celebrity for a completely different reason) had been given a copy of 1991′s Generator. He was the guy I got new music from, you know? You probably have someone like that in your life, the person who’s always saying “hey, you should check out this band.”

Anyway, we were standing in his bedroom after practice when he put on this CD. I was probably 17 or 18, and had been spending most of the recent years listening to Rush and Metallica. But after a long run with metal and prog-rock I was starting to get a little tired of the complexity, the inaccessibility. Don’t get me wrong, I go through my prog-rock and metal moods still, but I was getting worn out. But I never really thought I’d get into punk rock; most of what I’d heard up to that point was just too damn simplistic for my tastes.

But then there came Generator, and those harmonies. My god, the harmonies. The second verse in the title track came on and I stopped dead. It was heavy, but also melodic. I had no idea such things were allowed. And then to find out it was also smart — lead singer Greg Graffin, Ph. D, teaches at UCLA fer chrissakes — well, it was sort of exactly the right music at exactly the right time, for me. And it didn’t hurt that it was all catchy as hell.

Thus began my long and sordid affair with pop-punk, but very few other releases ever matched that instant “click” I had with this one album — including many of Bad Religion’s own releases, before and since. The thing about Generator is this: It’s basically a traditional folk album, just played with electric guitars and drums, and played very, very quickly. Few of Bad Religion’s other albums showed as strong a folk influence, and I missed it.

For years I contented myself with digging just two or three songs off any given Bad Religion album. But then came 2002′s The Process of Belief, a new and damn-fast drummer, and a bit of a return to old-school form for the band, albeit with a bit more of an experimental attitude. More importantly, then came “Sorrow” (iTunes | Amazon).

As you’ll discover if you play this Rock Band DLC yourself, it’s more musically complex than it might sound at first, especially the drum track during that crazy off-time intro. But it is unquestionably and unabashedly a folk tune nevertheless, right down to the the structure which, like traditional Irish folk tunes, holds the third chord in the verse for an extra measure. Don’t believe me? Check out this video of Greg Graffin playing a solo acoustic version:

See what I mean?

Now, I don’t find the rest of The Process of Belief nearly as good; “Sorrow” is unquestionably the standout track for me. But this album seemed to revitalize the band, and their two albums since (The Empire Strikes First and New Maps of Hell) have shown a confident, cohesive sound, and more of that folk influence than did many of their albums of the ’90s — all while pounding out tracks at speeds not seen since the late ’80s.

If you like “Sorrow,” I would be positively astonished if you didn’t also really dig pretty much the entirety of Generator (iTunes | Amazon). You can also scratch that speed-folk itch with many of the tracks on 1994′s Stranger Than Fiction (iTunes | Amazon). But if smart, catchy punk is something you’re into, and by some cruel quirk of fate you have not yet discovered Bad Religion, I implore you to begin your education immediately, by any means necessary.