Rage Against the Machine

Listened to this a ton when it was new. Some great tracks, but not quite 5 stars for me.

Perfection from the first to the last, one of my favourite albums, and one of my favourite bands. Listening again was well worth it too - just to be reminded of the force of Zack's anger and how heavy the music gets.
Also, look out for a lovely bluesy solo thrown in at one point, just because Tom Morello likes to surprise!

I don’t know if there’s a single artist whose name more accurately sums them up than Rage Against The Machine. With every song, they reaffirm their moniker. The songs are deeply political and viscerally angry.

I appreciate the guitar writing—the album is full of heavy riffs and interesting effects. The solo on “Killing in the Name” is amazing.

Having said all that, I found the rap-metal a bit wearisome over the course of the album, just yearning for some sort of melody in the vocals. And it’s a bit more angry than I typically feel inclined to listen to. So while I cannot deny that it’s an excellent album, I also don’t want to listen to it again. As such, it earns a solid 4/5, taking into consideration my own preferences, although it would certainly be worthy of a 5/5 from reviewers more amenable to this style.

absolute banger debut album

Favourite songs: Bombtrack, Take the Power Back, Killing in the Name, Know Your Enemy, Bullet in the Head, Wake Up, Freedom, Fistful of Steel, Township Rebellion

Least favourite songs: Settle for Nothing

5/5

Settle for Nothing is a great Nirvana song
Love the snare sound on this album
Bullet in your head: so much sabbath!
Stylistically homogenous throughout which is the album’s greatest strength and weakness at the same time as it could get the point across with Bombtrack and Take the Power Back, then call it a day. Freedom is also cool. A good heavy rock album with a lot to say that kind of popularized the rap-metal hybrid genre that was outside the mainstream.

Of course I know Rage Against the Machine, but I've never really listened to any of their deep cuts, save for one or two, so listening to a whole albums of theirs is new for me. I do quite enjoy this, super bumping with each song, just probably a bit repetitive, with each song following the same general format. Still good, and goes hard.

The production value of this album alone is worth all of the stars you have to give. Seriously, production studios soundcheck their equipment with this album. Look it up.

Then the musical trio come in with the performances that are as precise as they are powerful, fronted by Tom Morello's boundary defying guitar tracks. The soundscapes that he creates honestly redefine what most thought was possible with a guitar. I mean honestly, how in the world did they come up with "Settle for Nothing"!?

And then Zack comes in with his punch-to-the-gut lyrical tour de force that harkens to Gil Scott-Heron's pleas to wake people up from their entranced complacency.

The mainstream honestly had no idea what was coming when these guys showed up on the musical scene in the grunge era. Their fight-the-system sensibility was simultaneously anachronistic and rife for rediscovery.

The song that sums it all up perfectly is "Wake Up". It is a plea to awareness. A song as evocative as a hymn, a ballad, screaming to be heard and to be headed.

This is not really my thing, 3 stars. But the gulf between this and the 2 I gave RHCP is quite large; this is way better.

Good songs: Take the Power Back, Know Your Enemy

This is one of those albums that formed me, musically and politically.
I was already quite used to the style when this came out, due to the music of the Urban Dance Squad, but this album blew me away.

And re-listening to it now, not much has changed.

After the frou frou rock of Black Sabath and ZZTop it feels awesome to hit some rock with some WEIGHT. Let's GO! It's fascinating to listen to this after Blood Sex Sugar Magic, because the rap against the rock background is similar, Rage just raps infinitely better. Yeah, that's the stuff.

Straight fire and more relevant than ever. Fuck any nazis that think they have a right to listen to this. Learn to read.

Respect this but honestly I found the album to be a bit exhausting. It felt long with nothing to relieve the constant intensity. Even Public Enemy had Flavor Flav to provide some levity... I think I prefer Evil Empire for its more varied and slightly hookier approach. Zach de la Rocha sounds like a human tie fighter, especially at 3:12-3:17 on "Township Rebellion."

Definitely the best Rage album, but still one that I find is ideally consumed in smaller batches. It does start to sound slightly samey the more I listen. But overall a lot of fun. 3.5/4

RAGE! Filled with heavy hitting singles and an overtly political sensibility, Rage synthesized a rap-rock sound that only has sparsly been replicated with success by others.

Never listened to these guys back when they were a going concern, so this one’s a fun time capsule and also cipher key for understanding like 50 different memes. Killing In The Name alone resolved so many fucking previously-incomprehensible jokes for me.

Powerful political album with very strong hooks and amazing guitar work. Strong from start to finish.

One of my favourite bands/albums as a teenager. This isn’t a album I come back to these days. Really enjoyed listening back, still sounds a brilliant album. Contemplated not giving full marks because it’s not an album I come back to, (Maybe because I prefer less aggressive music now I’m in my 30s), but to not disappoint a 14 year old me it gets the full 5.

🤘🤘🤘🤘🤘

Rage Against the Machine is my go-to when I'm frustrated. No joke, I wrote my dissertation listening to Rage Against the Machine and Nine Inch Nails. I angry-write, I guess. Listened to this album and Renegades over and over (NIN contributed mostly with Year Zero). The music rocks and the lyrics are thought-provoking. I always find it amusing to watch live videos and see all the angry white frat boys moshing to this - wonder if they realize they're part of the machine the band is raging against (like Paul Ryan being a fan). Pretty sure I'm part of that machine too, but I still like to rock out to some Rage.