Albums by this artist

The Battle Of Los Angeles (1999)

Evil Empire (1996)

Rage Against The Machine (1992)

Rage Against The Machine

The Battle Of Los Angeles

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» JONATHAN COHEN | SENIOR EDITOR

Rage Against The Machine The Battle Of Los Angeles Epic, 1999 RiYL: Helmet, System Of A Down, Deftones

To the surprise of absolutely nobody, the third Rage Against The Machine album rocks. It rocks hard. The Battle Of Los Angeles was released amid a fall 1999 schedule that seemed fresh out of '93, with new albums from Live, Stone Temple Pilots, Foo Fighters, and even an Alice In Chains box set. But seeing as how the Foo Fighters have turned into a modern-day Cheap Trick by way of Foghat, and how Stone Temple Pilots now sound like a Stone Temple Pilots cover band, The Battle Of Los Angeles thrashes its competition without really breaking a sweat.

Amid such sorry musical surroundings, Rage remind us of a time when alternative music was actually an alternative to something, when rock had the power to change minds. When is the last time anyone quaked in their boots while listening to Limp Bizkit? To be sure, The Battle Of Los Angeles does not appreciably broaden the L.A. band's musical repertoire. There are enough cool new twists, particularly guitarist Tom Morello's newfound appreciation for classic rock riffs, or frontman Zack de la Rocha's strongly hip-hop flavored vocal delivery. But overall, the 12 tracks here follow the same formula of sonic beatdowns and militant political ideology that has powered Rage's past two records.

Yet for the first time, de la Rocha seems able to bring his directives to within spitting distance of the ferocious music behind him. "Born Of A Broken Man" deftly aligns hushed vocals and wispy guitar haze (think Pearl Jam's "Oceans") against a mammoth-grooving chorus, and in doing so epitomizes the powder keg upon which Rage's message rests precariously. On the first three songs, all of which are excellent, de la Rocha comes out smoking, making up for over three years of musical downtime with a bevy of finger-pointing. "Testify" narrates urban decay from the other side of the fence, while first single "Guerrilla Radio" bitch-slaps a gift horse in the mouth by condeming the very medium that will bring this track to the masses.

"Voice Of The Voiceless" returns Rage to the vortex of the Mumia Abu-Jamal controversy with nothing short of a battle cry: "my panther / my brother / we're at war until you're free." Abu-Jamal, a black journalist, is scheduled to be executed in Philadelphia in January for a 1980 murder he insists he did not commit, both Rage and the Beastie Boys played a benefit concert in his behalf last fall, raising the ire of many.

Elsewhere, Morello does some mind-bending of his own. He wrenches his guitar strings into incomprehensible putty, approximating turntable spins on "Born As Ghosts" and the ominously chiming "Mic Check (Once Hunting, Now Hunted)." On the A-list metal/funk of "Maria," a torrent of pure tone moshes against a rapid-fire bass line, later rumbling into one discordant squall of a solo. Sirens howl from his axe on "New Millennium Homes," a pure rocker that hearkens back to head-nodding Rage classics such as "Bulls On Parade."

The The Battle Of Los Angeles is humorless, preachy and confrontational -- just the wake-up call for the ears that modern rock desperately needs.

JONATHAN COHEN | Jonathan Cohen co-created Nude As The News with his Indiana University mates Troy Carpenter and Ben French. When not traversing the globe for business and pleasure, he holds down the fort as a senior editor for Billboard in New York. Stop him and he just may ask, "what for lunch?"