Rage Against The Machine-Rage Against The Machine.

 So this morning (Happy New Year by the way) I am reviewing pretty much the only type of rap I will listen to. And that is rap metal. And who is better at rap metal than Rage Against The Machine. This is a spectacular album perfectly blending the two genres of rap and heavy metal. There are metal standards on here, notably Killing in the Name Of one of the worlds best metal songs. The guitar work is excellent and establishes Morello as one of the greatest 90s guitarists (Also I like his guitar, which bears the slogan Arm The Homeless). There are decent bass lines and high powered drumming parts. The lyrics are so ferocious its amazing, it blows me away. The vocals are very good setting Zack de la Rocha as one of the few white men in the world who can rap.

The guitar is awesome with some of the best riffs that I have ever heard. They drive the music just as much as the drums, similar in vein to Iommi's killer riffs. The solos are intense and have a huge amount of energy (mostly anger) behind them. The guitar is a combination of Tony Iommi type riffs and thrash metal. It is pretty good as alternative rock guitar. Tony Morello is one of the angriest and skilled soloing guitarists that I have heard in a while. His guitar perfectly compliments the lyrics. He is a dark guitarist dedicated to taking away the machine that he rages against. The bass comes through a little but it could have more. The rhythm section is pretty tight though so I'm not complaining. The drums have really good parts and help to drive the music on to every angrier and more powerful heights.

The lyrics are very rap influenced but they keep their anarchic feel. Rather, the lyrics are rap in rhyme structure and sound but in content they are all about raging against the machine. In fact they are to some degree punk like. The perfectly epitomize what the band is about, rebelling against the system which they feel limits them and hurts them. This is perfectly seen in the song We Gotta Take The Power Back (which has a self explanatory title). Zack de la Rocha's voice keeps a very good rap feel while still maintaining some alt rock feel as well. He exudes anger from his every poor and wants to destroy the system because he is so filled with hatred. He is one of the biggest figures in the anarchic movement simply because of his raw and powerful energy.

Overall this is a really hard and rebellious album that showcases one of the most rebellious bands of the 90s, whose guitarists motto was Arm the Homeless. Anger is exuded from this album as an almost discernible odor. An anger so filled with energy that you can not resist it. I think this album blends rap and metal really well and it is simply awesome rap metal. There is great guitar on this album setting Morello as one of the greatest 90s guitarists, then there are good bass and drum parts. The lyrics are angry and protest the system. De la Rocha is one of the few white men who can rap and his words excrete anger (oh yeah). This is a rocking anarchic album that anybody who hates the system (or is feeling just prickly towards it) would like, and any metal fan would like.

Overall 8.5/10

Rage Against the Machine