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Politics and rock - always a touchy subject. How to convey an agenda while courting big record company rewards? How to say what you really want without risk of censorship? And if you make the music too good will the message be lost? Rage Against The Machine is probably the last gasp of commercially successful agit-prop rock released under the corprorate umbrella: musically adventurous, funky to a tee and mad as hell.
Fusing the polemical style of Public Enemy with some pretty avant garde metal shapes RATM remain a model of how to make white rap rock that cuts across boundaries. Firstly, the sheer ..well, rage and conviction with which vocalist Zach de la Rocha spits his rhymes. Secondly the use of a guitar by Tom Morello to counterpoint outrage at a 'free' world that harbours hypocrisy and injustice. It's a heady brew that was never better than on this debut album.
Tracklist
A1 Bombtrack 4:04
A2 Killing In The Name 5:13
A3 Take The Power Back 5:36
A4 Settle For Nothing 4:47
A5 Bullet In The Head 4:46
B1 Know Your Enemy 4:54
B2 Wake Up 6:04
B3 Fistful Of Steel 5:30
B4 Township Rebellion 5:24
B5 Freedom 6:06