RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE | EVIL EMPIRE
On their second album, Rage Against The Machine refined their aggressive militant poetry delivering a burst of rock firepower that was political, accessible, and intelligent.
The band’s debut album established Rage as an angry-as-they-are-talented group of musicians who wanted to take down all aspects of authority with a swiftness. By the time Evil Empire was released they were already a MainStage act world wide and key outlet for fans who needed to release pent up aggression in their bedrooms air-guitaring along to hard grooves and tight riffs. Far from a sophomore slump, Empire delivered an even more refined karate punch having comfortably entered into black belt territory overnight.
“People Of The Sun” opens the album with Morellos familiar guitar scrape riffing, while Zack and Brad wait to pull the triggers on their entries. From the first taste of vocalist De La Rocha’s mic check it’s clear they have work to do. Evil Empire gave Zack the room to rap about deeper are harder to understand themes, trading in simpler stomping repetitive chants for research-worthy lyrics.
Hit single “Bulls On Parade” and “Down Rodeo” were radio singles that splintered through FM radio’s flimsy compression and incited massive head-nodding to anyone with a functional neck. “So now I’m rolling down rodeo with a shotgun, these people ain’t seen a brown-skinned man since their grandparents bought one” was an atypical chorus for the era, or any era for that matter. But it was always Zack’s gift to be able to slink a potent line about war like “they rally round the family with a pocket full of shells” into a party-friendly singalong.
“Vietnow”, “Revolver”, “Snakecharmer” and “Tire Me” fill out the albums girth with beefy sonic assaults that remain a highlight of the band’s entire catalogue. By the time De La Rocha sings “oh greed oh yes oh greed oh yes!” the album is in full unleashed swing like a mosh-pit goer swinging both arms in stubborn concentric windmills. The lyrics “we’re already dead” on Tire Me keeps the energy at a high point even while they bring the entire feel into a playful half time groove to close it out.
The albums last four tracks serve as much “rappier” than the rest of the album. “Roll Right” is a lesser celebrated track in the group’s canon but the distorted bass line proves again how important Tim’s steady fingers are in holding down the foundation for everyone else to f**k with. Drummer Brad Wilk’s snare crack is dry and deliberate the entire way through and his kit sounds combative without being over-processed. Throughout the albums march, guitarist Tom Morello never has a boring moment to offer. His ability to turn his guitar into a Swiss army knife of sounds never once borders on gimmicky or tired proving in the grunge era you don’t need power chords to take over the world.
This simple cocktail captures the clean effect of Rage’s precision. A tightly wound album that’s sonic warmth resonates in the whiskey notes and a citrus pucker that reflects the album’s confident attitude. Much like the band, the few ingredients use their power to create a perfect synergy.
