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Rage Against the Machine (1992):
The first album to successfully merge the amazingly diseparate sounds of rap and heavy metal, Rage Against the Machine's
self-titled debut was groundbreaking enough.And many would argue that its importance and influence remains unchallenged and
unsurpassed to this day.
This album includes songs like "Bombtrack," "Take the Power Back," and "Know Your Enemy"
are immediately memorable, surprisingly straightforward slabs of hard rock. And one need not look further than the main riff
of the venomous "Wake Up".Even more impressive is the group's talent for injecting slowly mounting tension into
such highlights as "Settle for Nothing" and "Bullet in the Head," both of which finally explode with awesome
power and rage. In contrast, the band manages to convey their message with even more urgency through stubborn repetition,
as seen on "Freedom" and their signature track, "Killing in the Name." With its relentlessly rebellious
mantra of, "F*ck you, I won't do what you tell me," the song is a rallying cry of frightening proportions and the
unequivocal climax of their vision. A stunning debut that remains absolutely essential.
Evil Empire (1996)
Rage Against the Machine spent four years making its second album, Evil Empire. As the title suggests, their rage
and contempt for the "fascist" capitalist system in America hadn't declined in the nearly half-decade they were
away. Lead vocalist Zack de la Rocha is caught halfway between the militant raps of Chuck D and the fanatical ravings of a
street preacher, shouting out his libertarian slogans over the sonically dense assault of the band. Guitarist Tom Morello
demonstrates an impressive palette of sound, creating new textures in heavy metal, which is quite difficult.
The two best tracks are Bulls on Parade and Down Rodeo, but People of the Sun, Vietnow, Revolver, and Roll Right
are also excellent. The rest of the tracks are at least very good, and the whole album has a perfect pace, from slow to fast
or, in many cases, from fast to faster.
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The Battle of Los Angeles (1999)
Recorded in less than a month, The Battle of Los Angeles is the most focused album of the band's career, exploding
from the gate and rarely letting go the whole way through.
Any potential problems created here by Zack de la Rocha's one-note delivery and extremist polemics are smoothed
over by songs and grooves that make it sound like the revolution really is here, from the single "Guerrilla Radio"
to album highlights like "Mic Check," "Calm Like a Bomb," and "Born of a Broken Man." As on
the previous two Rage Against the Machine albums, Tom Morello's roster of guitar effects and vicious riffs are nigh overpowering,
and are as contagious as the band has ever been since their debut. De la Rocha is best when he has specific targets, but when
he attempts to cover more general societal problems, he falters.
Renegades (2000):
Rush released after the late-2000 split between Zack de la Rocha and the rest of Rage Against the Machine, the covers
album Renegades salutes the band's musical and philosophical roots, ranging from the old-school Bronx to the hard-rockin'
Motor City to protest-central Greenwich Village to gangsta-ridden L.A.
Renegades begins with a pair of powerful hip-hop covers -- Eric B & Rakim's "Microphone Fiend" and
Volume 10's "Pistol Grip Pump" -- that spotlight Rage's immense strengths.Another hip-hop blast (and the one closest
to home), Cypress Hill's "How I Could Just Kill a Man," is even more devastating, an easy pick for the highlight
of the album.Rage does the cover of EPMD's "I'm Housin'," the Stones' "Street Fighting Man," and Dylan's
"Maggie's Farm," a trio of original versions whose anger and emotion were conveyed more in the lyrics than the performances.
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