June 2020 Feature Release - The Gateway Edition
It's now June which of course means that we'll be nominating a brand new monthly feature release for each clan. This essentially means that we're asking you to rate, review & discuss our chosen features for no other reason than because we enjoy the process & banter. Ben & I will certainly be contributing & we look forward to hearing your thoughts too.
This month's feature release for The Gateway is 1999's highly regarded "The Battle Of Los Angeles" album from the world's most celebrated exponents of the rap metal sound in LA's Rage Against The Machine. RATM's legendary self-titled debut often overshadows the rest of the band's back catalogue however this album is its closest competition in a subgenre that doesn't generally offer a lot of competition. Let's hear what you think of it. Does it compare favourably?
https://metal.academy/releases/56
I didn't like 1996's "Evil Empire" album much but I found "The Battle Of Los Angeles" to be a welcome return to form. I don't think I'll ever really love a rap metal album but RATM are leagues ahead of the field in my opinion & this album sits only just slightly behind their self-titled debut for the premier release of the subgenre. It's a 3.5/5 from me. Here's my review:
I used to have this album on repeat on bus rides to and from school, definitely a childhood classic for me. I never listened to any other RATM albums until writing up my review for their self titled a few months ago, so I'll have to take some time to write another for this one. I'm really glad I listened to their debut though, since I think that'll help keep my nostalgia in check. Because I definitely know I prefer the debut over The Battle of Los Angeles nowadays.
I think that now, more than ever, we need bands like RATM and The Battle of Los Angeles. Given the turmoil and the civil unrest taking place just south of me, it amazes me to see how influential this band has become. These guys were supposed to be the outcasts, the radicals. Now it seems like their message has become more popular than ever.
Rage Against The Machine are one of the most unique groups that have ever existed and The Battle of Los Angeles is their magnum opus. It is the refinement of both the sound and the content. I relate this album back to Minutemen's Double Nickles on the Dime in taking a pre-existing genre known for being rough, cleaning it up, but still retaining its core identity. I can look over my personal quibbles with the record when the music is this anthemic and awesome! The war still rages on!
9/10
Saxy, can I just compliment you on the quality of the review you’ve submitted for this release? Whatever time you put into writing it was thoroughly worth it because I got a lot of enjoyment from reading it. It’s passionate , well informed & intelligent & it explains in no uncertain terms why the album means so much to you. In fact, it made me want to revisit the record with a greater context & renewed level of enthusiasm which is just what a great review should do. Keep ‘em coming!
Well, Daniel, you've really thrown the cat amongst the pigeons for me with this month's featured releases. I never thought I would prefer The Gateway's release to one from The Fallen in a month of Sundays, but after only a few attempts you've managed it! I won't go into my dislike of October Rust here, but Battle of Los Angeles is certainly one of only about four releases from The Gateway that I have amongst the 1300+ albums in my physical collection of LPs, CDs and tapes and, along with Toxicity, one of the few I would even bother listening to nowadays.
I first crossed paths with RATM after catching the Freedom video (from the S/T) on MTV and it's message against extra-judicial police killings as represented by the shooting of Leonard Peltier (shit, some things never change...) This hard-hitting video had such an effect on my subconscious that when I saw BoLA in my local CD store I grabbed it without thinking. I don't much like rap, apart from Straight Outta Compton and It Takes a Nation of Millions so I've never given it much ear time and rap rock like the Red Hot Chilli Peppers leaves me cold, so this was a bit outside my comfort zone.
But, hell, this is one great record - angry and intense, but not in a misdirected "hit out at everyone" kind of way, but in an invigorating, energetic and focussed tirade against those who deserve it. My only real reservation about my undying love of metal is that too often as a genre it is lyrically vacuous and I can't in all honesty say if I would dig this to the same degree without Zack de la Rocha's political messaging, but I think the music is strong enough in it's own right to command respect (Tom Morello was never better). Testify, Calm Like A Bomb, Sleep Now in the Fire and War Within A Breath are all stone-cold classics as far as I'm concerned and the lyrical content elevates them even higher. I don't know if this was a deliberate choice, Daniel, but this album is possibly even more relevant today than when it was released over twenty years ago and that is a hell of a testament to it's power.
I'm happy for you to assume that it was a deliberate choice Sonny. Although in truth I'm not even smart enough to have noticed the significance until just now. :)
Got around to writing a full review on this one. After revisiting it again, I think it is on par with their debut but both succeed in different ways. I'm surprised at how much their sound matured since their song structure remained the same for their entire time as a band.
4/5