Reviews (page 8 of 15)
Some great songs, and great lyrics. However, I want a little more depth in the presentation that their later albums have.
powerful and raw
Cool riffs, cool production, cool vibe. Performances all around solid
First time listening to metal rock, kinda scared.
Loved this, the sound was exactly what I needed while I was baking
I probably would not like this rap-metal everyday, but today I did!
Muy energético, me gustan las guitarras con tanto punch todo el tiempo se siente como si estuviera preparándome para la batalla jaja
4*
8/10 - it's Rage Against the Machine
Це все ще супер класика, жодної слабкої пісні. Як би я не відносився до їхньої позиції, музично це геніально. (але за позицію півбала зніму)
i still somehow haven’t heard this album, or any rage against the machine album, in full. i think i’ll fuck with it, but i’m worried i may have missed the boat with them. it’s pretty late, finally getting into this. INSANE FUCKING BASS TONE. WOW. hooooly shit that’s a great fucking bass line on take the power back. this works in all the ways that linkin park doesn’t, for me. i say that mostly bc they’ve got a similar style. settle for nothing is incredibly depressing now in 2026. holy shit maynard. what the fuck is morello doing to this song 😭😭. he’s pretty good on this album. that solo was weird as fuck. i cannot believe that this all finger playing. also fuck your tim, pick playing sounds cool too 😭 as a whole, good message. a lot of these bars are pretty clunky though, all things considered.
Wist wel dat dit een goed album was, maar heb er nog nooit volledig naar geluisterd. Ook eens goed naar de tekst geluisterd. Heel goede tekst
This not my genre at all, but there are so many classic songs on here it has to score highly.
I've heard of RATM a lot before, but never gave them a chance. This was a nice opportunity. The lyrics are incredible. Very politically charged. I love a few tunes also, but too much screaming for my liking. I guess I'm not that much of a heavy metal person.
7.7/10
YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS
So powerful. Socially impactful. Rage are influencers for many great bands after them.
Will not be a regular listen but nonetheless a great album for the right moment. 'Wake Up' stood out
verry gut
The fact that we’re still using “Killing In The Name” as the soundtrack to protests today says a lot. It says a lot about the state of the world, and it says a lot of the long-lasting impact of Rage Against the Machine. The song never actually went away, but recently it resurfaced in an interesting way: blasting full volume at 1am during noise protests outside the hotels where ICE agents were trying to sleep. The song wasn't just picked because it was loud and aggressive. The message is (unfortunately) still so relevant. “Some of those who work forces are the same that burn crosses“. The song itself is incredible. Zack de la Rocha’s vocals are amazing. You can hear the absolutely genuine rage in his voice. Tom Morello’s guitar riffs work so well with the vocal performance to build a serious amount of energy. His use of the Whammy pedal is incredibly inventive, almost sounding like record scratching or sirens at times. The solo in “Killing In The Name” is so simple, but so damn effective. The breakdown of “Fuck you, I won't do what you tell me” is amazing. When everything builds back up to that seriously intense ending, it's just epic. Even the most mild-mannered person couldn’t resist jumping around the mosh pit to that moment. Every song on the album has that same energy and rawness. Different aspects of socio-political and economic injustices at the hands of those in power (be that government, media or even schools) are tackled unapologetically with the same intensity throughout the album. “Wake Up” is the other standout in a tracklist of standouts. The instrumental intro is phenomenal. The switch between heavy rock to percussive hip-hop and then back to heavy rock works so well. It's a dynamic that doesn't rely on loud-quiet-loud, so the energy levels never dip, but the genre switch at the chorus still kicks off. Then there's de la Rocha's incredible vocals towards the end of the song. Rage love to break a song apart and build it back up slowly to insane levels. The intensity goes through the roof when Zack starts screaming “WAKE UP!” over and over. Epic. Rage Against the Machine’s music is still so relevant in the shit storm of a world that we're living in. Recently, Tom Morello appeared as “an outside agitator” at the ICE protests. While it's depressing that their lyrics about oppressive forces of power are still just as relevant today as they were back in 1992, it's also optimistic that their message of protest and resilience still resonates. And so ICE agents are deprived sleep, as a crowd of people come together outside their hotel shouting "Fuck you, I won't do what you tell me". 4.5 stars
While it's not my favorite RATM album, it was such an awesome debut. It's got such good grooves and the lyrics are so angry and delivered so well.
I enjoyed this way more than I expected. It rocks! Again, I didn’t get many of the lyrics, but it sounds like they’d be right up my alley too. 8/10 Most Excellent
I liked almost every song. Overall I like the message of the album that is saying be rebellious and take back what you used to have. Actually I didn't get to listen last 3 song of the album, because I slept at 7 Few songs were not quite my style. So 4/5
Pasé muchos años odiando a esta gente hasta que ya de mayor los entendí y les vi el punto. Habré escuchado el disco entero alguna vez, pero no lo recuerdo. Las estructuras son muy repetitivas, pero me han resultado más agradables ahora que hace años y también valoro mucho su postura política.
Good
RATM is another band that I had known about for years, and was even familiar with a lot of their singles. I admit that as a teenager I was just delighted by the rap-rock song where the guy repeatedly says Fuck You, but becoming older and more politically aware, I see why they wrote the music they did. I think this album gets a little long in the tooth with how much the tracks sound like each other, but the passion of the message is there the whole time.
I never really listened to Rage Against the Machine because I never felt that music could really be the catalyst that changes the world. The music and lyrics are good. I appreciate them. I went to school at a service academy and they were popular there. It seems like the wrong place for them to be popular. But it makes sense when people don’t listen to the lyrics and want just a little bit of rebellion while they are following orders or being part of said machine. Can’t blame good music.
Rage against the Machine was the band everyone else told me way amazing. I once played in a band where I was told to write songs in that style. Without listening to/learning no more than the one song everyone knew (which appears on this album!), my songs were a disaster and the band stunk. Anyway, I knew enough of the songs already. It's not a bad album, and it certainly had attitude. I'm not sure if it's a sin to call them numetal. I will say I wasn't overtly impressed with Tom Morello's work. People talked about him like a god when I was growing up. He did redeem himself further down the tracklist. 4 stars.
This album was insane. Obviously killing in the name makes you want to storm the capital. But bombtrack the opener definitely sets the tone for a ride of rebellion against this corrupt system. The lyrics are a1
Not my favorite of theirs. Still strong. Too many songs feel a little experimental / incomplete.
listened to again how did i give this 3.5 before??
I’m mad at my husband right now, this is the energy I need.
The album is quite interesting, in my opinion, it mixes a couple of genres. It would be quite interesting to see if rap had a different atmosphere.
Killing in the name tem o comecinho muito parecido com esporrei na manivela dos raimundos, to chapando? nss, mas essa é boa dms slk. escutando take the power back - isso é numetal? - bom to com preguiça de ver a tradução terminei, gostei bastante n teve uma musica q nao gostei
theyre spitting
No fueron los primeros en sacar un disco a guitarrazo limpio pero lo que sí hicieron es diseñar un producto en apariencia poco sofisticado pero sí bien pulido. Están muy orgullosos de la “pureza” de no haber usado ni teclados, ni sintetizadores, ni samples en este y sucesivos discos. Precisamente eso es lo que define su estilo, con elementos del funk, rap, y heavy metal y unas letras políticamente comprometidas. Te pueden gustar más o menos, pero no cabe duda de que bandas de este tipo son más que necesarias.
I get why this an important album to listen to. It speaks a lot to politics, but also to everyone's ability to stand up for what's right.
kyllä tässä levyssä se viha ja uhma huokuu ja tullut kuunneltua satoja kertoja läpi. Ei kuitenkaan vitoseen yllä
No on helvetin kovaa ajoa! Mulla oli kakarana Evil Empire ihan CD-formaatissa, ja sitä tuli kuunneltua paljonkin. Tähän tutustuin vasta Spotifyn myötä, mutta sanoisin että tämä on kyllä reilusti parempi kokonaisuus kun Evil Empire. Ehkä semmoinen pieni itseään toistava ote pudottaa viiden tähden korista pois, mutta hyvin lähellä sitä ollaan kyllä nyt. Tom Morello on yksi kaikkien aikojen suosikkimuusikkojani, jota on tullut kuunneltua niin RATMin, Audioslaven ja Nightwatchmanin inkarnaatioissa.
How clever i was
FUCK THE MAN
Huge
Raging in all of the right ways! ★★★★
I’m a Millenial, I am genetically wired to enjoy this album, I literally have no choice. I’m not made of stone! You can really close your eyes and let the Woodstock 99 vibes soak in, it's good ol' grunge, they had something to say!! You know!! It was the go-go 90s and they were feeling things strongly, hell, we were all chanting. And it felt good! It still feels good. I'll say it, it's a real shame that they ended up being a little bit wet on the political front these days seeing as that was their literal whole thing. Low key, what is the point of Rage Against the Machine if they're not political, then it's just sounds and words, meaningless chanting for no reason. Hey ho, such is 2026. Seeing as we're talking about album covers, not sure about this one!
It's mad how fresh this felt as a teenager even though it was a good 15 years old, and how much I loved the message. Fuck you, private school, I won't do what you tell me! Fuck you semi-detached house in the home counties!! Yeahhh!!! Listening today it feels a bit like a relic - like, you're raging against the machine but politically this is like, as friendly as the machine's gonna be for a while, sorry guys. It's the 90s, might as well enjoy it, it's only gonna get way way worse!! The music seems pretty straightforward in its composition and energy, surprisingly dated really. But then there's this earnestness and power to it that I still think is really appealing today.
I used to own this album on CD and would play it frequently. I’m still a pretty large fan of RATM but I don’t listen to their music as much anymore. So it was fun playing this in car with Callie on the way to daycare and see her rocking out in the backseat to bombtrack. Seeing RATM live is on my bucket list and I was convinced it would never happen. Then in the magical year of 2020 they announced a tour with Run the Jewels and I was stoked. I bought two tickets not knowing who was joining me yet. So did my friends who wanted to see RATM haha. So as we’re waiting for the tour to start we were trying to find other people to join our spare seats. Then this like global pandemic thing happened. RATM postponed their tour for a whole year and we thought they were crazy. This will be over in a couple weeks…. So June of 2021 it is. Then you know how that story played out. The tour gets postponed again. They finally kick off the tour in 2022 again. My hopes and dreams were about to come true. Then Zack de La Rocha had a severe Achilles tendon tear during a show. He played a few shows seated until a doctor told him he required surgery and a lengthy recovery. So RATM canceled the remainder of the tour and refunded everyone’s tickets. I’m still patiently waiting to hear when/if they will tour again. Also if you don’t already know Tom Morello misses the smaller days of RATM where they would talk to fans in the parking lot about politics. He has a Harvard education and many bigots get mad when they realize the music is very political.
Instrumentals zijn prettiger dan ik me had voorgesteld. De gitaar is best wel funky. De manier van zingen en de inhoud past vast in de tijdsgeest maar doet me niet veel. In wake up vond ik het wel grappig. Favoriete nummer: Wake Up Minst favoriete nummer: Settle for Nothing Rating: 7/10
They raged against the machine until middle-age at which point they (profitably) became part of it Having said that, their sound came out of nowhere in the 90's and was nothing like anything else around at the time. This music was "a stretch" for me when released and definitely something I had to acclimatise to 1 song at a time rather than attack (or be attacked by) the whole album.
Dynamite! Watching some of the pre-album live material and listening to the demo included in the 20th anniversary package, I'm struck by what a keen sense they had out of the gate of who they were and the cliches they wanted to avoid, which ended up making this album the timeless classic that it is and the band so peerless in their lane.
Love the album, but already knew it very well. Was hoping for something that was new to me
Enjoyed this. Angsty!
This has all the guttural, cathartic viscerality that you go to Rage Against the Machine for, but it's also pretty shaggy. That this is my least favorite of their three albums is not really a knock; I just prefer that tigthened songwriting of the next two efforts. There's a reason punk songs are typically short. Most songs exceed five minutes, and the formula of Zach De La Rocha raging over a Tom Morello riff can't sustain the momentum for that long. The best tracks justify the length with memorable codas or tempo shifts ("Wake Up", "Freedom", "Killing in the Name"). The rest coast to the extended length on guitar solos or an extra dollop or two of the same riff. The idea that a RATM song could be boring is a real failure of imagination on the part of the producer. Subsequent albums feature a barrage of 2-3-minute songs, with a couple longer ones peppered in for flavor and a change of pace (and almost all of them justify their length). Still, when the guitar, drums, and bass explode 30 seconds into "Bombtrack" and Zach lets out his first grunt, I can feel it in my whole body, and their lyrics have never felt more poignant. This isn't the most sophisticated music; it's The Stooges with something to say, or Black Sabbath meets Public Enemy by way of Pixies. But Tom Morello's ability to write a riff is s-tier, and they perfected a formula that feels essential to modern living.
This is the sort of angry music I can get behind.
you american mfs need to rage against the machine harder tbh. mad relevant rn
RATM goes so fuckin' hard. Killin' in the Name is one of the greatest songs of the decade, it does carry the album a bit. But I enjoy the album all the way, it makes me feel anti-establishment despite my undeniable role as a cog in the machine.
bit noisy
bombtrack--driving beat. the name suits them. in the name of--wow. incredible. acab. take the power back--loving the bass settle for nothing--d.a.m.n. musically interesting and balanced. each song provides variety & contrast. a range of vocal and instrumental techniques. hard hitting lyrics on social issues. this is gonna score high. bullet in the head--imperialism ok not noting every song, but refer to notes for settle for nothing for overall impression. 4/5. miles better than slayer reign in blood. oh hmm i gave that album a 2/5, but this is more than 2 stars better than that. consider either promoting this to 5/5 or demoting slayer to 1/5.
Solid angry album. Lyrics still on point 30 years later.
Really spectacular, one of a kind record. Sad to know that’s it’s still deeply relevant today, but empowering that it’s around at all. Very much enjoyed this one. -Ruby Ditto. This was a very important album for me growing up and continues to be. It was the catalyst for me beginning to think critically regarding the powers that be and radically about change. Musically, the band takes no prisoners. Tom Morello produced sounds from his guitar that are just mind boggling. Lyrically, there are so many quotables on this record. Zack de la Rocha had a way of crafting his lyrics so creatively, steering clear of the trite themes so often characterizing protest music of the contemporary era.
Earth shattering for it's time, both instrumentally and lyrically. Messages so jarring to radio listeners that Zack de la Rocha could get away with having a subpar voice with zero vocal effects whatsoever. So hard to judge this one because it's a statement as much as it is an album. I'm thankful for these guys being a bastion for change in the world of music. I occasionally get tired of how masculine this whole sound is, but can get past that knowing that fighting for justice is aggressive in nature. "Wake Up" clears every other song on here, including "Killing In The Name". Light 4/5
If the bottled rage on this album was directed toward things I cared about, I would probably think this album was too much. However, "the machine" is a thing I can get behind hating, and sometimes ruminating in your hatred toward a thing can actually be a bit therapeutic. Its fun to imagine the impact this would have had when it came out in 1992. At face value it almost feels like it's going for shock value but I actually think it is entirely calculated and true in its intent to make this a statement on politics and society. I don't doubt this turned on a whole generation of young people to question the world in new ways. Musically, I appreciate the unique guitar sounds and different breakdowns this album uses. I think the angry rap singing style is really effective but by the end of the album I do get a bit tired of it. Definitely agree that this deserves a place in the conversation around important albums of the modern era!
I haven’t listened to Rage Against the Machine in decades, but as soon as I saw this album generated, I immediately had Killing in the Name stuck in my head. I don’t think there’s ever been a better time for a new Rage Against the Machine album. We need more of this angry, revolutionary energy today.
Only ever heard Killing in the Name before this, the funk, rap, and metal blend was an extremely pleasant surprise. The lyrics go without saying. Favourite track: Take the Power Back
8/10
Muuuuu solidas 4 estrellas. Me llevo a mi adolescencia.
Freaking lovely
This is a great album. Aggressive from beginning to end, it knows what it wants. There was really only one song ("Township Rebellion") where I thought "this is probably a skip." Solid 4/5.
🔥🔥🔥
8/10
Album #1029 Almost done with this challenge and I thought they may have forgotten this band. I don't give a toss about their politics -- and I only know a couple of their songs. Let's see if a full album is any good. I really like the instrumental part of the music. It’s got a good groove to it, and there is some inventive stuff that you don’t hear other bands doing. The singer doesn’t bother me either. My only complaint really is the far-left angry lyrics. That stuff just doesn’t connect with me, a fairly content 51 year old dude. I will listen to the album again. Best track: Know Your Enemy
Yeah it bangs. One star taken away because Tom Morello can belt out an insane riff but has no clue what the hell a gutar solo is supposed to sound like
I love this album and I'm happy to see it's on this list. 🖕🧊🖕🍊
Best paired with a new outfit and a sassy attitude!
I think Mr. Donald Trump would love to listen to this album
🖕🧊
Good. Just not my cup of tea
Raged Out, first timer, not bad. Something cheesy about tom morello's playing even though it's incredibly talented.
I have never listened to RATM before. They are a band I've avoided, as I just assumed they were too noisy and too...everything for my tastes. I knew I totally agreed with them politically, and I became a fan of Tom Morello's guitar work through his stint with the E Street Band. But yet I still never really listened to them. I approached today's album with a lot of apprehension. I felt I'd appreciate the lyrics (if I could understand them) and the guitar work, but I thought I'd just feel bludgeoned by it all. I'm happy to say I was pleasantly surprised by the listenability of the album as a whole. Was it loud? Absolutely. But not to the point of it being impossible to enjoy. I get why people have them on work out playlists. Back in my running days this would have been a perfect addition. I do think it's a bit longer than needed, but there are so many good songs. And yes, Morello's guitar playing is excellent throughout. As well as the rest of the band. I thought I'd tire of Zack De La Rocha's "singing" but I never did. Standout songs were Killing In the Name, Take the Power Back, Bullet in the Head, and Township Rebellion. The only song I didn't really like was Settle for Nothing.
Already listened to this album for the first time a few months ago due to a famous VGM composer's fandom for the band, and I see why this is such a revered album of the 90s. A great in-your-face, left-wing metal record that draws from other genres like funk and hip-hop as well.
Great album, I do love rock/metal after all, but the guy's voice got a little too annoying after some time and in general I just could've done without all the edgelord nonsense they kept trying to cram in. The messages they were trying to convey were powerful, but other artists have managed the same untainted by some of these more questionable/jarring themes
Teenager of the 90s that I am, this is a classic. I went to see them live. I had 2 t-shirts. We played Killing in the Name at school dances until a swarm of sweaty teenage boys screaming "F U I won't do what you tell me" scared the assembled chaperoning teachers and parents a little too much and it was banned. I think we played in once more before switching to "Know Your Enemy", which is actually the better song. So it's definitely nostalgic to listen to this almost 30 yrs later. And I think, if I'm being honest, this is going to get one star for nostalgia. This album always had 2-3 skippers, songs I never listened too--and I think it's got a few more than that now.
Pure aggression. Opening track smacks you in the face and it doesn't really slow down from there. Bombtrack, KITN, Take The Power Back and Bullet In The Head are all rammers. Lyrically and musically on point, a fantastic record.
One of my consistently favorite albums, but this is not a 5. Some songs (mainly bullet to the head) hold it back.
Let’s start a revolution
Perpetually timely.
Anything less than five stars for this album would be a travesty. The sound; the lyrics; the message is timeless and is the perfect snapshot of the feelings of America at the time of release, and even more so right now. Perhaps even more telling that some of RATM is now part of the machine. Time grinds us all down… 5⭐️
Es ist großartig, es war damals die Innovation schlechthin und es ist bis heute extrem prägend. Dennoch kann ich die volle Punktzahl aus einem Grund nicht geben: Das Album an sich zu hören, gibt mir nicht viel, das war bei der Musik von Ratm schon immer so. Meine Freude an der Band kam erst - und nur - beim Liveauftritt. Ich finde live ist das einfach ein dermaßen anderes Level, dass ich das irgendwie zum Ausdruck bringen muss.
Sure, maybe this is an acquired taste. Special thanks to the TV show Skins and the 2009 Facebook protest campaign to knock Joe McElderry off Christmas number 1, for helping me acquire it. And oh boy does it still slap today.
Good album.
Metal but with a hip hop style of lyrics. Musically very good but the album feels a bit long and it can grate on you with the screaming.
Killing in the name of...?
It's a classic. It's a lot of fun. Punchy and ace.
I've never been a massive RATM fan, but I've always respected them, not least because of their political messages and activism. This is my first time listening to a whole RATM album, though I've listened to a reasonable number of individual tracks in the past. The vocals have never been my favourite style, too shouty, and generally too rap-like, but they do fit the music and the general angry tone of the album as a whole. The fact that I can actually relate to the lyrics and the angry message makes it a lot more tolerable than the kind of rap you get in hip-hop. Musically it's actually more my thing, I like the slap-bass that appears in several tracks, I like the heavy sound, I like the powerful riffs, I like the fact that no individual theme or motif outstays its welcome. It's well done. Tom Morello is very talented, but his style of guitar solo isn't my favourite thing ever. Appreciate the skill though. Highlights: - Bombtrack - Killing In The Name - Take The Power Back - Wake Up - Freedom It's not entirely my thing, but I enjoyed the listen more than I thought I would, and a fair amount of it slapped. Can't really knock it.
BOEMBA LEUK
They say “Rate!” You say “How high?” A four a solid four. Raging against the music quality more like it. Know Your Enemy was better than sickman in my opinion, and I really liked Township Rebellion.
this is what comes to mind when you think about a rage against the machine
Grande album tra il rap, metal e funk, fatto di energia e testi impegnati. Se ti piace il genere è un capolavoro
Good album but all the great songs are near the start and it tapers off at the end
Never listened to them before and really really liked this record. The social polical commentary was really telling of the times, and still continue to this day. Heard this the week of the fatal ICE shootings… and yeah… killing in the name
This shit is awesome. Second half of the album especially I enjoyed a lot. Good job RATM.
It's everything you expect from a Rage Against the Machine album. Some great hits. Some deep cuts.
I've never been a huge metal head and always thought Rage was a ~little~ corny. But I listened to this in the gym and it was great for my workout
Righteous anger that's still relevant 34 years later.
Ok jeg skjønner hvorfor folk synes dette er et bra album. Bra sinne, men for det meste ikke for irriterende eller bråkete. Tenk at jeg er nesten 26 første gangen jeg hører ordentlig på rage against the machine, det er litt flaut… spesielt når jeg liker det… det er vanskelig å alltid skulle være så kontrær
2nd listen
certainly out of my comfort zone
Hell yeah!
Subtle as a brick, but bricks work just great
While it’s not my favorite Rage album.. what a banger
who up raging against they machine
Still a long time for such a hard album, but every track slaps
4.5/5 - A favorite in early high school. Still sounds strong and powerful. The lyrics seem more pertinent than ever with fascist ICE picking people up off the street. More young men should probably be listening to this instead of whichever alt right podcast is currently trending. Had a lot of fun listening to this one again.
The Beastie Boys featuring Tom Morello. 😂 I guess I never knew they sounded like that! Yet I did enjoy the listen.
Makes me want to tear down the establishment.
8/10 Top track: Know Your Enemy Perfect fusion on rock, hip hop and 90s rebellion.
4.
Kyllähän se jytäs
Iconic and brash. Still holds the same power.
pretty fire and political
Rap Metal/Nu Metal is my least favorite genre other than doo wop. I hate it and I hate the bands that inflicted it on the world. But there are always exceptions! RATM is the only palatable rap metal and some of their best work is here on this record. Killing In The Name has both one of the all time great protest lines (some of those who work forces are the same who burn crosses) AND the motto of my generation (fuck you I won’t do what you tell me). And that last one makes me a bit sad because we were always raging against the machine but never doing anything about it. Just fu. Sigh. Anyway, I love this record while also recognizing that ZDR is a bit cartoonish at times and Morello’s beeps and bloops are sometimes irritating. But both really bring it most of the time here.
ROTM is the AC/DC of the 90s, in that they are a band with huge popularity but every song sounds the same. Except where one band sings about bazoongas, the other sings about racism. They do one song and they do it well. Luckily that song is awesome and it'll pump you up to make a difference before remembering you forgot to send your OoO - after which point all you'll want to do is have a wee sit down and doom scroll. Anyway, you all know the song.
Has held up really well and still hits hard. Very formative for me, musically
me gustaaa, ya tenia en mis likes killing in the name of, por ahora en mi primera vez escuchandolo está bueno killing in the name of, temazo, no me acordaba que era tan bueno 4/5 para escucharlo cuando quieres algo "mas fuerte" muy cargado con guitarra, no sé como explicarlo bien
nais
fugazi
Great, butUrban Dance Squad did it first
This rocks pretty hard. I love the energy and the short respites where it feels like everyone is just catching their breath before they start rocking even harder.
Heavy when it needs to be, quiet when it needs to be. Grooving all the way through, every song felt unique but they all belonged in the same album. No standouts but every song was great. It even had a few noise sections. Easy 4
This is simply one of the most badass albums ever. The sounds are just so fire - crushing riffs, aggressive guitar tones and vocal performances that just drip wuth anger and frustration. The songs have aged so beautifully, somehow a lot of them are even more impressive and relatable now. The highlights are the noisiest moments, but the slower ones also have a lot of merit to them. It's so punky in spirit, can't help but love it. Listening to this while walking in the streets made me wanna burn cars and destroy buildings.
Having only heard the higher profile singles from this album, I enjoyed getting to listen to every track all the way through. Certainly captures my mood given the way 2025 keeps 2025ing in newly creative and horrible ways.
Amo este disco! De lo mejor de los 90!
Golden!
Expected to dislike it, because I'm not a fan of funk or alternative, but some Tom's riffs are cool
More like a 3.5, they have a good sound here, but Evil Empire and Battle for Los Angeles are much more cohesive
Loved this album, makes me want to run through walls and join anarchist movements but in a groovy way.
i rated this and had my notes and everything and now its just gone but whatevs. anyway love love love this album, im in awe of the sheer power in their sound and im not even sure how they were able to produce such noises anyway. shout out
Let me set the scene on this one. Lazy Sunday morning, it’s snowing outside, Christmas tree is lit up, I’m wrapping Christmas presents, and what do I have on for music? Delightful Christmas carols? Nope, Rage Against the Machine and Zack de la Rocha (yes, I had to look that up) screaming fuck you, I won’t do what you told me and how he’s gonna put a bullet in ya head. Santa would be very displeased. Coal for Rage Against the Machine this year, which is probably what they were hoping for anyway. This is not my kind of music, especially when Zack starts screaming, but I actually did like more of it than I thought I would and I can understand why people love this album if it is their jam. It’s got great rhythms, driving guitar, and solid bass and drums. And you always have to love anti-establishment lyrics even if you’re just trying to enjoy the holiday season. If I was grading purely on my own enjoyment I would give it a 3. Giving it a 4 for recognition of the talent and impact of this album.
The music alone demands that you get up and move and I don’t necessarily mean in a good way. Any one of these songs could be an anarchists anthem and the vocals almost dare you to throw the first punch without even asking you to. The aggressive upbeat tempo of the album breathes life into each song and the lead singer’s ability to build to a crescendo on each track is powerful. Great album that had me ready to run through a wall by the end of it.
Well, I can’t quite put my finger on it, but I think the lead singer might be upset about something. What do you think Zack de la Rocha does to unwind? Yoga, gardening, sudoku? May I suggest that Rage Against the Machine and Florence and the Machine switch lead singers for an album - I would certainly buy that shit and I bet you would, too. This is a pretty f’ing solid debut effort but their downfall is that, by virtue of their incredibly unique sound, they have horribly pigeonholed themselves - you immediately know a Rage song because they are so iconic … and they never shake off that style so it all starts to sound like the same magic trick. It’s a great trick, but you’ve heard it so many times before that it wears thin before too long.
Rage Against The Machine, a monster band that gave us an amazing album. Zack's screaming delivery demands your attention. His message is personal and he will not be ignored. Guitar legend Tom Morello's iconic riffs, creative sounds, and ecletic solos absolutely shred. Brad's drumming paired with Timmy's bass groove so hard it actually reigns in all the chaos and has us bobbing our heads as we prepare to jump into the mosh pit. These songs have a powerful message, but the music shines most, as it must, for without great music the message is not heard. Not a bad track on the album, an absolute gem
7/10
One of the albums I had on repeat growing up. It was a perfect mix of rap, rock, rebellion, and just sounds that you couldn't help but want to hear over and over again. I still remember hearing Killing In the Name on the radio and trying to catch it every time I could until I got the CD. Its weird listening to it now. I do feel that sense of rebellion anymore, but I do understand more what they were raging against. Im sure I'll bust out my Rage mix CDs now to hear my little collection I made. Hit - Killing In The Name Miss (if I had to choose one) - Settle For Nothing Underrated - Know Your Enemy
Bombtrack // Killing In The Name // Settle For Nothing // Know Your Enemy // Township Rebellion //
4/5 if killing in the name of doesn't make u want to go and tell your boss to fuck off, i dont think we would get along with this album is so good
Remember when people campaigned to have "Killing in the Name" beat the X Factor winner for that years Christmas number one single and then it did? Good times.
Ever relevant. Stunning debut. Would be a 5 if it wasn't for Tom Morello's ugly solos
Great album. I noticed the settle for nothing song sounds a lot like Tools bottom, mostly the Henry Rollins spoken word poetry part. They sound very similar and thought it was one group mocking the other until later on the album when fools Maynard James Keenan sang vocals on a track.
Wow these guys really are raging against the machine. I’m not huge fan of this style of rock where it’s a bit more hip hop vocally. Everything sounded great but the vocal style didn’t hit. Obviously Killing in the Name is the huge song off this and it’s a great song. A really solid album even if the vocal stylings didn’t really hit for me.
Invented their own genre. brings the funk hard.
I hate how much more relevant this album is today than it was when I first heard it.
My sincerest hope is that I someday can live in a world where Rage Against the Machine is no longer timely and relevant.
Class album. Frustrating how relevant the themes remain decades on. Wake up is a stand out with the led zeppelin Kashmir-esque chords. Album gives me more than enough energy to run through a wall. Probably would cop a 4.5 if I could do halves, 6 albums in. I can’t give out a 5 yet… can I?
PEAK PEAK PEAK
Of the heavier albums I've gotten, this is definitely the most enjoyable. Good political message, voice, guitars. That, or the Paul Ryan review at the top gave me a huge chuckle.
HELL YEAHHHHH the greatest rebel f* you I won't do what ya tell me album ever - I have seen 1st hand how people react when the dj puts Killing in the Name on in many different countries (not exaggerating, lots of travel w buddhist community) it is INSAAAANE - it's global - the power in their sound and their sound period is just GRAHHHHH how can you not jump up and down pumping your fist in the air. AWESOME. giving a 4 so I can be correct when I give a 5
ACAB. Fuck ICE. Fuck the System. I've seen De la Rocha twice, first was RtJ final night of tour and El-Ps birthday and Zack came out for Close Your Eyes. it was absolutely epic. Second was Rage at MSG right before cancelling the tour. So awesome, and RTJ opened.
I feel obliged to give this 4.
Really cool and good! It's very apparent why they became so popular and influential, this is a lot of really solid stuff. The only reason for not being a 4 really is that I wouldn't listen to it much on its own, but it's damn close.
Powerful, powerful album. It's music to ram through a concrete wall to, and the chanting vocals succeed in articulating pressing issues that are still very relevant today. That's the key that makes bands like Rage and SOAD stand out for me -- 'anger is a gift', and they manage to meaningfully channel it towards subjects that deserve every bit of that energy. That's on top, of course, of the incredible instrumentation on all fronts (I'm particularly a sucker for the aggressive bass). High 4 for me, though it's very much a 5 in the right listening context (such as a concrete wall standing before me) Standouts: Killing In The Name • Know Your Enemy • Freedom
One of the greatest, angriest albums of all time. The guitar is immaculate also. RATM is such a cultural institution and Wake Up kills it at the end of The Matrix. It's only not a 5 because I almost never find myself listening to it on my own, but every time someone reminds me I enjoy it again and again.
Love RATM, but maybe not a whole album at a time. The music is utterly fantastic, and while I think singer Zack de la Rosa is great in smaller doses, a whole album of him tends to wear on me. Compositionally, this album is really impressive, with a lot of variety in their framework and I don't think there's a bad song in here.
Powerful!
Absolute classic filled with bangers, that's still as politically relevant today as it was when it released. Morello's inventive guitar is fantastic, Commorford's basslines perfect, Brad Wilk an incredibly underrated drummer, and on top of it Zack de la Rocha's punchy, immediate vocals bring the energy. Standouts for me are Bombtrack, Killing in the Name, Know Your Enemy, and Fistful of Steel.
I love the grooves on this album, and the lyrics are still relevant today. Tom Morello is a fantastic and innovative guitar player, but sometimes his weird noises tend to irritate me.
Fierce
to think when I was younger I would confuse rage against the machine and Florence and the machine
Funk and rock/metal is a combination I'll never get bored of. These basslines are fucking phenomenal, my favourite bits of this album. The angry, shout form of rapping that De La Rocha uses fit all this perfectly. Long-lasting stank face when listening to this. But the less energetic, "quieter" parts of the album I'm not a fan of. It's supposed to be hardcore, energetic, angry, so when you take away that edge it's just a bit meh. Doesn't really do this often though which is good. Bombtrack and Township Rebellion were my favourites
Really good, radical stuff, even if it can get a tad bit repetitive
In this crazy world, listening to this album tonight gave me a solid dose of hope that we can all finally rise up and... oh wait... this music is 33 years old. Rats.
Instructions were unclear; raged too hard against the wrong machine. Now I need a new toaster.
Counterpoint: unfortunately it isn't the beats and lyrics that they fear. This is Red Hot Chilli Peppers if they rocked and were filled with the impotent rage of youth at an unfair world. It's not their fault that every band who copied them sucked. And it really rocks. I remember listening to BBC Radio 5 at breakfast time in 2009 and they had invited RATM on to perform live because someone decided Killing In The Name should be number one as a protest against Simon Cowell 🤷♂️. I still remember Sheila Fogerty shouting "get rid of it" as at 9 in the morning, they not unexpectedly didn't do what they'd been told and sang the full lyrics. Almost spilt my tea.
richtig hässig - i like - muass sicher no kli in anderi alba dri losa
Surprisingly good!
Now this is political activism. Create heavily politicized anthems of rage to incite and inspire the left to take action against the injustice and hypocrisy of America. This rings true now more than ever and I’m grateful for Rage’s contribution to the issue.
Aggressively articulate, this stunning debut combines contemporary explosiveness to old fashioned soul. The riffs are simple, the grooves are huge and the lyrics are unambiguous - this album is a vital and uncompromising statement, only slightly let down by a few songs repeating themselves too much. Favourite tracks: Bombtrack, Bullet In The Head (one of my most played bass songs), Township Rebellion
Appropriate album for the political times. What a great listen. Couldn’t help but headbang to a few of these in my olden age.
Tom Morello sempre fa coses diferents i noves amb la guitarra,el disc esta ple de himnes de batalla,rabia i innovacio,te mes de 30 anys i sona fresc igual que el primer dia!!O millor!!Un clàssic!!Li dono un 8'5.
It goes hard as fuck, but it suffers from being an influence on a whole lot of terrible terrible bands that didn't have the redeeming political content.
Melodic anger
A pretty good album, I liked Bombtrack, Killing In The Name and Bullet In The Head the most
If you’re in the right mood for it (pissed off), nothing hits like a little Rage. Tom gets all the press, but this is a fantastic band. That bass tone! Together they sound like no one else on the planet, ‘cept Audioslave. Zack can make even simplistic verses sound prophetic. I think Battle of LA has more consistent quality, but this is a banger of a debut.
I’ve heard this álbum before but I came in expecting not to like it. Time hasn’t been kind to RATM or the nu metal they helped spawn, but the album still sounds good production wise and the content sadly hasn’t aged a day. There are still plenty of good reasons to start a heavy band and scream (or rap) your head off. Maybe ¨Killing in the Name¨ has been tainted by hearing it bellowed by drunken sweathogs a thousand times, but does that really take away from its power? Just because the mid and late 90s had guys with soul patches and dreads rapping over metal riffs doesn’t take away that RATM did it first and did it better. Forget the breakups and makeups, forget their last 25 years as a legacy band, forget the nu metal lameness: this album is amazing. Best songs: ¨Bombtrack,¨ ¨Killing in the Name¨
Fav : bullet in my head
Some angry, funky music...when it hits its belting.. the type of music you need sometimes. Great guitar lines and musicianship throughout. Gets a bit indulgent in places but I can live with it. Won't be an every day album but is something I will come back to.
IM NOT A BIG FAN OF THE GOVERNMENT wreeeoweoworwowwowoawoaaow
This rocks!
Great album! Classic
Couldn’t help but think ‘if you thought things were bad back in 1992, just you wait’. Anyway, it’s difficult to be objective with this one, as there’s an almost emotional attachment to some of the tracks here, and Tim Commerford was a massive formative influence on me as a fledgling bass player.
We get it Zach, you’re not happy. I had probably written Rage off a while ago as being a bit noisy and sanctimonious but listening with fresh ears was something worth doing. A tight band with the ability to draw out a good hook either musically or lyrically. Particularly like some of the weird sounds Morello gets from his guitar to accentuate the drums and bass rather than just drown them out.
A classic one. Its reputation certainly antecedes him, a master class on hard rock riffs, strange-sounding guitar solos, tight-as-a-machine drums, and a musicalization on Noah Chomsky's lectures. Great album, though not a perfect one for me on a subjective note.
Lotta people need to take this to heart
It’s music that I left in my teenage angst years but that whenever I happen upon I remember how much I loved it and realise how much I still do love it. Nostalgia in its best and purest form. Lots of riffs lots of FUN and tbf a lot of lyrics that stayed relevant. Best Song: Wake Up
Wahhahhhahhahh
Kunnon funkkihevii. Onhan tässä voimaa! 4/5
Onhan siinä vähän sellaista nuorten miesten kiihkoa, mutta hyvää sellaista! 4/5
Geiles Album, banger after banger
swinging, driving, and furious
Knallsterk, spesielt de tre første!
Nice
Angry but awesome
very interesting style, pretty unique
Fantastic rock album. I don't love the screaming instead of singing, but I liked everything else. Great to listen to when I'm having a frustrating day.
Rage Against The Machine is a debut that still hits like a hammer. From the opening of “Bombtrack,” the band set out their mission with explosive energy, blending metal riffs, funk grooves, and politically charged fury into something completely their own. “Killing in the Name” remains one of the most confrontational songs to ever break into the mainstream, its mix of repetition and raw anger still capable of shaking walls decades later. Tom Morello’s guitar work is full of inventive sounds that feel like turntables one moment and sirens the next, while Zack de la Rocha’s delivery is sharp and unrelenting. What makes the album so gripping is its consistency. Every track feels locked in, from the propulsive “Take the Power Back” to the simmering tension of “Know Your Enemy.” The rhythm section holds everything together with precision and swagger, giving the album both weight and movement. There’s no filler here, just a band absolutely clear on their sound and message from the start. Even after years of imitators, Rage Against The Machine still sounds fresh and dangerous. It’s a record that channels fury into something laser-focused, and while its politics are upfront and confrontational, the music itself is so tight and innovative that it demands attention regardless. Few debuts arrive this fully formed, and it remains a landmark in rock and rap crossover.
Absolute classic
This is an awesome album, maybe held back just a tad by some repetitive lyrics. But everything is full adrenaline and testosterone.
Gritty album that still resonates today over 30 years since its release.
Is good, I have no idea how the average is so high though
I liked the way they raged against the machine
Great all the way through
Imagine being surprised that RATM is political. The people who don't get it are probably the people that need to hear it the most. Anyway. Politically, RATM is right on. I'm glad this music exists, that it is unapologetic in its messaging, and that it is something young men will be drawn to. Now more than ever RATM's messaging is relevant and needed. All that said, this is not for me. I'm not the target audience. I don't really like Zack's vocals and it's a bit repetitive. I'm going with a 4 because it's important; docking a star because of the repetitive nature of it all.
An album I haven't listened to in 25 years! Still mostly good, tracks might be slightly too long. 3.5 rounded up Heard before? Yes - used to have Owned: No 14/1001, 14/56 (25%) Will I get? No
First time for a full listen of this record - wow. Stellar debut album. Particularly Morello’s playing is just top shelf.
Listened in the truck via YouTube music. It’s been a while since I’ve listened all the way through. There were several surprise tracks that stood out and also that the music was not nearly as “heavy” as I once thought it to be. The guitar work from Morello was much more nuanced than I’d remembered and the bass was funky if not verging on the Nu-metal sound.
Now we’re dundalkin
Pure class, I wanted to crash the car and shoot a fascist (RIP CK)
Fuck yes, so good, enormous amount of clinkers on this. Fills my body with the fury of a million suns.
I was surprised by how much I enjoyed this album. The gritty, heavy tones & lyrics work perfectly together, and I quite like this slower, funk influenced genre of metal.
Started to blend.
Brilliant album to listen to if you want to get really pumped up, lots of angry energy mixed with some catchy riffs
This is a good one.
great
Schon geil. Vor allem für den Rage
It’s all one song, but that song is really good.
Since always
Not exactly my thing, but lots of admiration for this politically fearless, smart, head-on album.
I’ve never been a fan of Rage Against the Machine, but I promised myself I’d give their self-titled debut a fair shot. To my surprise, I enjoyed this album far more than I expected. It’s not just mindless head-banging — it’s a sharp mix of genres with real purpose behind the noise. The record is full of raw power, anguish, and unfiltered anger, driven by anarchic lyrics that still feel relevant to America today, more than 30 years on. I have to admit, I probably liked this album more than I’d ever admit publicly. Consider my opening statement withdrawn. Favourite track: Killing in the Name is iconic for a reason, and Take the Power Back really hit me. I also loved the Zeppelin-esque guitar intro to Wake Up. Least favourite track: Honestly, I enjoyed every track. Album artwork: Simple, bold, and instantly recognisable.
de mi top ten de albums favoritos del mundo mundial
Only criticism is that the record was mixed/produced too “clean”… really needed to be recorded live to get the full force of sound.
OK påminner mig om Red hot chilli pepper
Just a fantastic debut even if they did kind of join the machine they were raging against
Track 1: Bombtrack - references to political struggle of Peruvian revolutionaries against US backed government in music video. 'I warm my hands upon the flames of the flag'. Track2: Killing in the name - protests police brutality and systemic oppression. Written six months following the Rodney King beating in 1991 which resulted in LA riots. Lyrics reference the system being complicit in the upholding of white supremacy in the US ('some of those that work forces are the same that burn crosses'). Track 3: Take the power back - serves as a message to reclaim power from the government and return it to the people. Power comes from self-education, not what is being taught in education system 'in the right light, study becomes insight, but the system that dissed us, teaches us to read and write'. Track 4: Settle for nothing - written in the point of view of a frustrated youth in poverty 'a jail cell is freedom from the pain in my home'. Track 5: Bullet in the head - refers to band's belief the government uses media to control the population, drawing comparisons between typical residences and Alcatraz. Lyrics draw comparisons that symbols in support of the US military to that of the nazis 'a yellow ribbon instead of a swastika'. comments that news cycles and images people are being shown are used as weapons to control peoples perceptions and maintain control of them. Track 6: Know your enemy - contains anti-war and anti-authoritarian lyrics, contrasting notions of the American dream against the reality. Uses literary references (A room with a view, which discusses repression of women in England). Speaks of police brutality. 'The finger to the land of the chains. What? The 'land of the free'? Whoever told you that is your enemy'. 'I've got no patience now, so sick of complacence'. Lyrics reference that the oppression of thought begins in the classroom, the government aims to indoctrinate people into the 'American dream' by educating them against their own will to believe differently. Track 7: Wake up - critique of racism within the US government, FBI memo is sampled in the song (J. Edgar Hoover suggests a need to suppress black national movement) and references Hoover in the lyrics. Closing lines reference Martin Luther King Jr. speech. Reference to 1966 and the founding of the Black Panthers. 'fist in the air in the land of hypocrisy'. Lyrics liken words being as powerful as fighting and liken to an Ali fight. Track 8: Fistful of steel - about how being silent and complicit is bad ('silence can be violent'), references to Orwell's animal farm, sheeps and conformity. Track 9: Township rebellion - speaks to global white supremacy, references apartheid in South Africa ('Townships' were the designated areas non-white people were forced to live in) and compares it to police brutality against minority populations in South Central. Track 10: Freedom - references native American activist Leonard Peltier who was condemned to two life sentences for the deaths of two FBI agents (questions have been raised since his trial about prosecution's misconduct and fabricated evidence and falsified testimonies). Lyrics reference the genocide of native American people and consequent tactics to assimilate native people into the culture of European settlers. Album was released same day as the 1992 presidential election. Favourite Track: Wake up, Know your enemy Album cover: 1963 photo of a monk burning himself to death protesting the persecution of Buddhists by the South Vietnamese government
One of a kind sound and lyrics. Always good for head bobbing. Niceness out of the way, it's a shame that Morello is a known communist and they, in fact, endorse to "do what they tell ya." The last bastion of anti-authority (main stream) has fallen (hard). 4.25*
Yep, that's how I feel all the time.
Definitely an album that is of its time. The style isn't really my thing but the playing and production are top notch. Great guitar/bass interplay and a locked in drum beat are hard to resist. The themes they're singing about are still way too relevant today. The level of cognitive dissonance of right wingers listening to this and interpreting it as a paean to corporate bootlicking is off the charts. This band had something righteous to say and those tools took that message 180° in the opposite direction.
Always a good listen. Pivotal and energetic to STAND UP as the little guy to speak truth to power!
Amazing album with good lyrics and heavy guitars 8/10
I enjoyed this. I liked it when i was young hanging out at the Y
Take the power back good good
The guy from Guitar Hero III has a band?
Love the album, some unforgettable tracks. Then there are tracks that kind of blend with others and can't keep them apart, but I'd still return and listen to the entire thing on repeat for the energy alone
A record I did not like when i was 15 and very like now.
Really good. Not on my high rotation but i enjoyed it. 4/5
KILLING IN THE NAME OF!!!!!!! Favourite Songs: Killing In the Name, Take the Power Back, Know Your Enemy, Wake Up. Least Favourite Songs: Fistful of Steel, Township Rebellion.
This album rocks. It's anger distilled into musical form. But over time the tracks start to blend together. So while it's still a great album, I can't elevate it to a favorite. 4/5
I liked it. It reminded me of some Brazilian rock bands from my adolescence, which were probably inspired by this band. 4
It’s not an 8AM album, or maybe it is, I don’t know. It’s great but I associate it with people I don’t associate with anymore and so it’s hard to be objective about it.
Absolute banger of an album. Hits hard and fast continuously. While I think that a handful of the songs (Fist of steel, Township rebellion, settle for nothing) are just ok when compared to the whole piece, the album as a whole keeps up its anger a power harder than I thought it could.
Awesome
A refreshing blast of energy and a good, tight sound.
antidisestablishmentarianism
Powerful and still relevant.
One of the best debut albums of all time. Often imitated, never duplicated. Truly a game changer that inspired so many (good and bad) bands
9/10
You can feel the angst from the moment you hit play. Every song feels like an indictment on injustice around the world. Tense from the word go.
A great time all around. Power walking into the office really hit with this as the soundtrack. A few songs weren’t as successful as others but overall really enjoyed it.
✊🏼
Besides the powerful inclination to punch a stranger, that went really well. (Was playing Downward Spiral by Nine Inch Nails and paused it halfway through to Rage. Straight back to Downward Spiral now and I am all kinds of fucked up.)
Some of these tracks are pretty awesome. I need to listen to the full album.
I love how this band lives up to its name so completely. Musically not five stars for me, but I admire their passion and their message.
Though I’m not the biggest fan of Zac and his lyrics I can’t deny this is a fantastic album. Musically brilliant and a very worthy entry to the 1001
Great rebellion soundtrack. Bass guitar forward
quite intense, nothing to listen to every day, but I get it.
Beasty Boys on metal steroids. Reminds me of Linkin Park. Interesting energy infused riffs and flow. At the end of the day, not completely my jam, but definitely up there.
If you've heard Rage Against The Machine, well... You've heard 'em. To their credit, RATM is explosive as a unit. Zach De La Rocha's dedication to the lyricism is apparent in his intense vocal delivery. Tom Morell, Tim Commorford, Brad Wilk hold things down between heavy riffing and grooves for De La Rocha to scream or rap over. This is easily Rage's most raw album, and you have to appreciate how rough around the edges they are. Although the need for rap/rock isn't as dire now as is may have been in the 90's, RATM built on the blueprint laid by Public Enemy to make arguably one of the more successful attempts at rap-rock. There's a cool Maynard James Keenan feature I had forgotten about!
There is always a place to rage against the machine in my heart
Perhaps a little too stale, but the messages make up for it. It's scary how timeless they are... Pure explosive rage is an appropriate reaction, truly.
Favorites: Killing In the Name, Bullet In the Head, Know Your Enemy, Wake Up, Fisftul of Steel
I love this record, but it is too irregular in energy. Too quickly they shift from raging metal to funky bass, too often.
Hasn’t really been my jam before. But for some reason it hits differently after November 5, 2024 can’t imagine why….
This is a very good album, albeit not one that I go back to a lot. I'm not the biggest Rage guy, despite Newman's assertions I should join their commune. Despite all this, this album rocks and is worthy of four stars. Whereas other conformists would want me to give this five stars... FUCK YOU I WON'T DO WHAT YOU TELL ME FUCK YOU I WON'T DO WHAT YOU TELL ME FUCK YOU I WON'T DO WHAT YOU TELL ME FUCK YOU I WON'T DO WHAT YOU TELL ME Top Tracks: "Killing In the Name," "Wake Up," "Bullet In the Head"
Prime listening hours for that good shit. Rage rules, and the early stuff has an edge that cooks so hard some 30 years later. ZDLR might be one of the best screamer-singers there is. Even the politics still matters in the year of our lord 2025. Fascist Pig Cops do burn crosses! Etc. god, this fucking rocks so hard. Even just on vibes, it sounds incredible. Even if you just wanna be like, okay, ZDLR, we get it with the politics, it's still amazing music.
Incredible bass and instrumentals. Lyrics very topical for nowadays. Goes incredibly hard. Favourite Song: Take The Power Back Honourable Mention: Bomb Track PS: The name of the band and the album cover goes so hard.
There anger and sound is intoxicating. I’d fight the system to this.
🔥🔥🔥🔥
4 The moment where the Day-Glo color sheen of the Eighties becomes stark Nineties grainy black and white. Boiled down to its simplest attack, Rage is not blunt but wields their rage like a sword - ready to slice you open and then explain why you should have seen it coming.
Just really liked it. Great lyrics, unique sound, really just felt like I let Rage down listening to this at my desk in a corporate office job.
When I was a kid, Evil Empire was my first Rage album and I loved it. I think because of that, I never spent a lot of time with the S/T album. The singles, of course, but not the rest. Really enjoyed it. Probably 2nd best for me after Evil Empire. 4.33/5
As someone who had only in recent memory listened to Killing In the Name, this is, infact, definitely an albumful of Rage Against The Machine music. If you're familiar with one of the songs and you like it then the rest of the album isn't going to throw you for a loop. That being said they're pretty sick and it's a good album to the end, they keep enough interest for the near-hour that the album lasts Unfortunately, due to the nature of this timeline, there is no specific day where rolling this album is particularly apt, it's more just whenever you get this, "yeah that checks out"
"Hey Tom, that guitar riff is awesome, can you play a solo as good on this track?" "No"
To co-opt a phrase that was used to sell dish detergent and blenders during the COVID-19 pandemic, we need this type of statement “now, more than ever.” At least I think. All the guys who listened to this album in high school are now terminally online transphobes with hypocritical browser histories, so I don’t know. I remember enjoying this as an angsty teen, and as a weird terminally online bleeding heart lefty, I wonder if the angry poems about the injustices levied upon the working class will resonate even harder today. To battle! Bombtrack - Pure funk metal. I mean this is such a familiar song, and whilst I don’t really care about any of the “this song is better than other songs” shit, but I love a good shot at landlords and every suit wearing sycophant draining the planet of life. Solid start. Killing in the Name - I probably talk too much about autocorrect and what it attempts to do during these meandering tirades, but this time it believed I just forgot to finish that common phrase “Killing in the Name of Jesus.” Do people say that? I know all religions are barbaric control devices responsible for more death over the eons than anything else ever, but still. Anyway. This song has again, been ruined by adult teenagers who are just grumpy about having to have showers, but this song has so much energy. Pure vitriol. Some of those that work forces, are the same that burn crosses. Take the Power Back - More drive, more hatred. “Jump the fuck up” riffs done tastefully almost a decade before they’d encourage broken gypsum boards across the nation. Settle for Nothing - The lyrical repetition doesn’t work as well for me here, but this song almost has a Dystopia vibe. The band, not the concept. Add some broken glass and some increased hopelessness to the lyrics, you’re pretty damn close. Bullet in the Head - Probably the funkiest one going. Another comment on the news here and the propaganda machine in the US. The bass really leads this track. God that tone is incredible. Know Your Enemy - I remember this one being one of my favourites when I was 13 or so. The metal riff off the start is fantastic and the song moves with a swaggering aggression I still really enjoy. Undeniable. The shouted, repeated outro is still bone-chilling. Wake Up - Wake up, sheeple. I don’t love the funk sweeps (?). How do I say that? The funk guitar can be a little grating. Lyrics are strong here. Possibly the strongest lyrics but also perhaps the weakest song. Fistful of Steel - That guitar whine reminds me of some WWF theme song from later. More violent riffing, and a brief foray into Tom Morello guitar hero stuff. That main riff is just too good. Township Rebellion - More funk proto nu-metal. Solid riffing. You know what to expect at this point of the album. Freedom - The vocal breaks at the end of this are perfect. When you can hear a vocalist going beyond performance, it’s a special moment. One of my favourite spots on the entire record. These days, every moron with an internet connection (me) has some extreme political take. Half the discourse is about not thinking poor people should have water or houses or food; and the other half is about murdering the CEOs whose greed is ripping the planet in half. However, in 1992? I feel like this wasn’t trendy. This wasn’t a commonplace thing to hear, especially on the radio. America trained its citizens to be petrified and angry at any socialist thought, so to release this coherent and miserable blast aimed at the base of that military-industrial fire this early? It’s a true departure from the mainstream that somehow wove its way into it. Obviously, Rage Against the Machine didn’t invent the ideas held within their self-titled album, but to get these thoughts into the consciousness of your garden variety teenager in the early 90’s was a massive accomplishment. To do it with such an uncompromising vitriol? That is a triumph. A little bit of sameness keeps this from perfection, but this group cashes every cheque that their name writes and donates it to the various guerrilla forces forming outside of Fortune 500 company HQs. See? Sometimes I write serious things. Better save it. Uhhh Excuse me Mr. monk, you’re blocking traffic. There’s this sale at Lee Valley and if I don’t have my miniature trainyard done by Christmas, I can kiss my “Prince of Rails” blue ribbon certification goodbye. Oh great, now he’s self-immolating in protest. I better call Jim over at Lee Valley. I might be here awhile. 4 HIGHLIGHTS: Bombtrack, Killing in the Name Of, Know Your Enemy, Fistful of Steel
used to listen to this album in one earbud underneath my turtle beach headset while I played call of duty, and I would only pause it if I was last alive in search and destroy or something intense like that. It was fun to relisten as a way less angry and older person, especially while on a walk in beautiful weather 😍😩 who else is up raging against they machine
There were no pictures of the band on the band. They were a mystery. They played hard. It was very influential for a teen in the 90’s. Every single one of us has sung along to, “Fuck you, I won’t do what you tell me” Too bad most of us didn’t take that to heart.
Great album
All ratings/reviews are really just a 'point in time' opinion. This album is a 5 on artistic merit and innovation alone, but as of today, I'm going with a 4 (really, 4.5). Whether that is from over-listening or just all of the nu-metal that came from the popularity of this, it just doesn't seem quite as revolutionary as it was. But it does want me to get my 311 CDs back out, haha! RATM still rocks hard, and 4.5 is still classic status. Tomorrow, it might be a 5.
Pretty solid album. The screams remind me of the tie fighter sound in star wars. I didn't realize how much I had heard this album when I was younger.
While I enjoyed this, it has very angsty lyrics and singing which I think high school me would have appreciated this more than adult me. I especially enjoyed the instrumental and the rhythmic rapping. Found myself tapping my foot or bobbing my head along quite often. Note quite a 5 for me, but close.
Great album!
Great album, so much…rage
Excellent Album
so true
BEST SONGS: - Take the Power Back - Fistful of Steel
classic
This Rocked.
It’s still pretty great at pumping you up
1. shite politics. but anyway, fuck MAGA. but anyway, shite politics. 2. good song. 4/5
It’s been awhile. Still fun.
Perfect for the times!
Enjoyably political. A little repetitive, but headbangy. Me likey
Ah I know this one very well indeed! This takes me back to my college days mostly.
Rage Against The Machine was System Of A Down before System Of A Down; '90s metal wrapped under a left-wing blanked. It's unironically hilarious that here in the United States Of America, Former Speaker Of The House Paul Ryan is a fan of the band. Favorite Track: "Killing In The Name"