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Rage Against the Machine - S/T
(Epic; 1992)
When Rage Against the Machine burst onto the scene with their self-titled debut, the only people who had tried to mix rock and rap were Blondie, Faith No More and the Beastie Boys.
Their sound was new, innovative and original, drawing as much from hiphop and funk as from punk and ‘70s hard rock. But Rage wasn’t just about the music, it was also about the politics.
While singer Zach de la Rocha’s lyrics were explicitly political and unabashedly leftist but they were smart and well-written, never cliché.
It wasn’t just about de la Rocha, the ex-hardcore punk singer who discovered hip hop. There was also Tom Morello, the Harvard-educated guitarist who could make his instrument sound like anything – they used no samples, just guitar, bass, drums and vocals. And while the rhythm section of Tim Commerford and Brad Wilk are often overlooked, it’s impossible to write them off.
For a generation growing up on angry but misanthropic rock music, Rage gave them something to believe in. Now anger was a tool.
Trial track: “Killing In The Name”
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