Reviews list for Rage Against the Machine - Rage Against the Machine (1992)

Another one of those “did it first” albums that in my opinion doesn’t live up to the hype its legacy implies. Aside from Anthrax’s “I’m the Man” and a couple Faith No More songs (if we’re being generous), there really wasn’t much Rap Metal prior to RATM, and certainly not a full album of it. The band certainly took a unique approach and recreated Hip-Hop using entirely real Rock instrumentation and original music, even using some guitar effects to mimic sound effects you might hear in traditional Hip Hop. It’s innovative, but a lot of those “guitar sound effects” end up sounding really annoying, like the siren whine on “Fistful of Steel” or the bass drops on “Township Rebellion.”

Zack sounds angry, and his delivery is good, but man some of the lyrics are weak. Oftentimes he’ll repeat a phrase over and over, and the chorus to the first song gives you a sense of that, where he just says “burn, burn, yes you’re gonna burn” a whopping 8 times. The guitars and the drums suffer the same problem. Sometimes Tom comes up with a decent riff, but after hearing it repeated 16 times over a very boring, monotonous drumbeat, I’m sick of it. The riffs don’t match Zack’s mood, either; they’re far more groovy than angry, and the slow, simple drumming gives no sense of urgency or energy to what /should/ be an angry, energetic album. The music sounds like something to chill out to, not exactly what you want for a revolution. The songs are also way longer than necessary, none under 4 minutes and repeating the same simple ideas over and over again. They’d be much better in short chunks, but they wear themselves out before they’re over.

One huge plus to this album is the bass. Timmy does a phenomenal job with his rhythmic groove, doing way more than backing the band and adding super spicy melodies to the mix. This is the one instrument I didn’t find repetitive at all; he’s definitely got a “lead bassist” thing going on.

Overall, not a bad album at all, but one of the most overrated in my opinion. Rap Metal is a genre that might not have too much room to succeed, but I’d love to see later bands take it in a different direction.

A Uniquely Aggressive Campaign

28 years after Rage Against the Machine's debut album it's safe to say that this release has somewhat stood the test of time and will remain unique for a long time to come. Certain genres of Metal have always been politically charged, but RATM tailored and molded the anger and frustration into something entirely new instead of just injecting political rantings into a Thrash or Heavy Metal album. The raw and unhinged nature of this debut has so much emotional weight to it that a lot of other bands aspire to have but can never quite nail it. 

Every riff or solo is amazingly tight and accented, with Tom Morello's signature guitar effects able to add so much to otherwise simple riffs. RATM show that intelligent and poignant riffs can rock and hit harder than anything more complicated if done correctly, with "Killing In the Name", "Bullet In the Head", and "Fistful of Steel" being incredible examples of their riff style. They are off-beat masters as a lot of their riffs dig into the 8th note before the start of each measure, creating simple but amazing riffs with the help of hefty bass lines and well placed bass drum kicks. Even sections that are played in unison by the guitar, bass, and kick drum are interesting and exciting because there is a lot of movement as they climb up and down scales behind Zack de la Rocha's incessant shouting. 

As interesting and cool as Morello's guitar scratching and screeching are, there's no ignoring RATM's front man as he drills the same phrase into the listener's head for each and every chorus. De la Rocha is the cornerstone of this band and is probably the envy of all modern Rap-Metal or Nu-Metal as it seems like even after 28 years no one has been able to capture the same energy and frustration that he was able to during the 90's. For as monotonous as some of the choruses on this album can be, de la Rocha's performance is extremely varied and controlled, like on "Killing In the Name", "Bullet In the Head", and "Settle For Nothing". The softer, more brooding parts of Rage Against the Machine really help to sell the heavier parts, as their buildups are some of the best they've ever done. Obviously the buildup in "Killing In the Name" is legendary, but "Fistful Of Steel" as well as "Freedom" use similar ideas as de la Rocha slowly increases the pressure until he pops at the end of each track. The vocals can be hit or miss as some of the lines he repeats are a bit cheesy and overblown as well as straining his voice a bit too much here and there, but the unadulterated passion that de la Rocha brings to the table is what made RATM a phenomenon. I never really thought of the vocals as rapping, but instead more of a punky-spoken-word since many of the vocal rhythms are overused and don't necessarily have a "flow", which is a massive part of the Rap genre.

After spending so much time listening to The Battle of Los Angeles and somehow never checking out where it all began, I can safely say that this is the best material RATM has written. It's brimming with energy, passion, and a uniqueness that still holds up to this day. Sadly some songs don't exactly cut it for repeated listens ("Settle For Nothing" and "Wake Up") and the formula does start to wear thin eventually, but the album remains a one-of-a-kind political tirade against America that is extremely creative and filled with some hidden gems like "Fistful of Steel". 

When you think of rap rock, I'm sure most of us probably think of nu-metal and the horrible stench left by bands such as Limp Bizkit, Slipknot, Linkin Park among others. But those roots are actually entrenched in metal long before nu-metal became big in the late 90s/early 2000s. Faith No More started, and then there was Rage Against the Machine (RATM). They were clearly influenced by punk rock, but that didn't stop them from getting pretty damn heavy.

Starting off with "Killing In The Name", these riffs are filthy. Tom Morello takes the instrument and does things with it that you might have expected to hear on a Joe Satriani or Steve Vai album. And because of this, the bass lines are plentiful and give this album some incredible rhythm. If I may use a term that we use a lot in funk, these grooves are fat. Zach de la Rocha genuinely sounds pissed on this track as he howls the lyrics (and that's before the final chorus). 

And this carries on throughout the album. "Take The Power Back", "Bullet In The Head", "Know Your Enemy" and "Wake Up" are awesome standouts. They are anthemic and ballsy as well. So why does it work? Well, compared to many other rap-rock bands that came later, the lyricism is not littered with men in their twenties/thirties who still act like children. The drama is petty and very immature. RATM meanwhile, are political revolutionaries, perhaps even more so than the heaviest hardcore punk bands: Dead Kennedys, Descendants, hell even Discharge and Husker Du. And rap is the only way in which they can make their message. And they have to; there is no subtlety on display here. This might be one of the most blunt and in your face politically charged albums ever made.

For the reasons mentioned above, this album can be a tough sell to a lot of people. It also does make for a very challenging listening experience, even if you are prepared for it. It isn't a brutal record, but it is poignant, anthemic, and it can start one hell of a pit. It's too bad what rap-metal would become later on, but this album still slaps and a stark reminder of what this genre could sound like.

I first encountered Rage Against The Machine in much the same fashion that most of us did i.e. via commercial radio shortly after the release of the “Killing In The Name” single in 1993. They seemed to be the latest commercial rock sensation & I steered well clear of anything that came too close to being commercially acceptable back in those days. This is a shame because RATM have quite a bit to offer a fan of aggressive cutting edge rock & metal like myself. It wasn’t until a few years ago that I actually gave their debut album a proper listen & I liked what I heard. Terms like “rap metal” can be scary tags at times & in this case I fell into the trap of basing my musical perceptions purely on the genre the band was labelled.  

The first half of the album was like visiting an old friend really. I was clearly very familiar with the songs even though I wasn’t necessarily conscious of it. The various singles had been played repeatedly on TV & radio during my late high school years so it was inevitable that I would pick up a lot of the details. The production is nice & heavy so the mosh sections really deliver. Zack de la Rocha’s vocal delivery is very aggressive too. I particularly enjoy the big climaxes where he really gives it everything. His delivery has enough venom to suitably match the spiteful lyrical content. Musically I’m very impressed as well though. Guitarist Tom Morello’s performance has always been highly celebrated but that’s not the element that really drives Rage Against The Machine in my opinion. It’s the super-tight rhythm section. Those guys are right in sync with each other & they're the ones that are primarily responsible for a lot of the heaviness of this record.   

“Bombtrack”, “Killing In The Name” & “Bullet In The Head” may be extremely popular radio hits but they’re also very solid rock/metal tunes in their own right. There’s really very little to fault about them. The same can be said for lesser known single “Freedom” with its huge crescendo to close out the album. They’re fine examples of a very well defined, produced & executed plan. Strangely though it’s a lesser known song that pushes things to their ultimate extreme. “Settle For Nothing” is not only the heaviest track on the album but it’s also the most effective in my opinion. Its doomy Black Sabbath-style riff & Zack’s emotion-charged & in-your-face performance really get under my skin & I’m not sure this style of music gets much better than this track. There are a couple of flat moments here too though & they come in the form of “Take The Power Back” & “Know Your Enemy”. They aren’t shockers by any stretch of the imagination but they fail to grab my attention much. It’s not surprising that the heavier songs tend to appeal to my tastes a bit more than the groovier ones though.  

“Rage Against The Machine” really surprised me when I first heard it. I wasn’t initially comfortable with the fact that I was enjoying a rap metal outfit but those feelings quickly faded as I realized that the band was not typical of the generic rubbish that the genre is known for. Forget the tags. If you like your music heavy, groove-laden & aggressive with some solid song-writing & very professional performances then “Rage Against The Machine” might just appeal to you.