Review of Rage Against the Machine
By Bill Gienapp
One of my most vivid memories of high school is from the fall of 1994, my sophomore year, in which the pre-game ritual of the soccer team was to put Rage Against the Machine's self-titled debut album on the locker room stereo and absolutely BLAST nothing but “Killing in the Name” and “Bullet in the Head.” I didn't know who the hell they were at the time, but the first time I heard lead singer Zack De La Rocha bellowing “F**K YOU, I WON'T DO WHAT YOU TELL ME!” over and over again, I knew it was a piece of music I absolutely had to have. My mom refused to buy it for me as a Christmas gift because of the cover (in which a Buddhist monk sets himself on fire), but once I managed to get a hold of it, I was so blown away that I almost ruptured my eardrums listening to it.
The members of Rage Against the Machine have become rather infamous for their politically-charged music and while I won't delve into the ironies of a privileged, upper middle-class white kid embracing a symphony of angry rebellion, I will say that Rage's radicalism is clearly what drives their music to greatness. I don't pray before a poster of Che Guevara or anything, but I can certainly appreciate how their left-wing political beliefs create an energy and focus rarely matched by other groups. As one of the industry's pioneers of the rap/metal genre, Rage is best known for De La Rocha's furious vocals and the wizard-like guitars of Harvard man Tom Morello. Unfortunately, De La Rocha recently announced that he plans to leave the group and I don't see how his distinct, raw-throated voice can possibly be replaced.
But what of the actual music on Rage Against the Machine? Okay, so “Settle For Nothing” kind of sucks. Nothing's perfect – even the masterwork Metallica had “Don't Tread on Me.” But I can honestly say, without exaggeration, that every other effort on this album is at least a varying degree of kickass. The opener, “Bombtrack,” starts soft and wistful until it explodes into an orgiastic metal triumph, buttressed by the awesome refrain “BURN, BURN, YES YA GONNA BURN!” Morello wields his guitar like a magician in the often-underrated “Know Your Enemy,” while the group pierces deep with the knife-edged “Wake Up,” the blistering metal opus that plays over the end credits of The Matrix.
De La Rocha's vocals, meanwhile, mesh perfectly with the speed jams of “Take the Power Back,” while the album culminates brilliantly with the raging epic “Freedom.” And what of “Killing in the Name?” All I can say is that whenever I had the house to myself, I'd crank my CD player full volume and start bouncing off the walls, screaming along with the lyrics (don't try it when your mom's around, kids). Bottom line: this album kicks so much ass it's not even funny. It's one of my all-time personal favorites and easily one of the top five musical efforts of the last decade. If you don't have this disc in your collection, well then you better be Mormon, Republican, or on your way to the store right now.
Mood:
Bad Break-up
Hear it?:
Buy two copies
