Fantastique. (Evil Empire - Rage Against The Machine)

Member Name: dan85

Product:	Evil Empire - Rage Against The Machine
Date:	09/08/00 (209 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Ace

Disadvantages: Dunno.

Rage Against the Machine - Evil Empire - 1996
Guilty Parties:
Vocals - Zach De La Rocha
Guitars - Tom Morello
Bass - Tim Bob
Drums - Brad Wilk
1. People of the Sun - Morello lets you know he still has the creativity from the start, he pulls out an Alan's wrench and plays this horizontally. De La Rocha already showing he has improved lyrically since the self-titled debut, "Since 1516 minds attacked and overseen/Now crawl amidst the ruins of this empty dream/Wit their borders and boots on top of us/Pullin' knobs on the floor of their toxic metropolis/But how you gonna get what you need ta get?/Tha gut eaters, blood drenched get offensive like Tet/Tha fifth sun sets get back reclaim/Tha spirit of Cuahtemoc alive an untamed/Now face tha funk now blastin' out ya speaker/On tha one Maya, Mexica/That vulture came ta try and steal ya name but now you got a gun/Yeah this is for the people of the sun". - 5
2. Bulls on Parade - From Wilk's opening smack on the drum to Morello's "scratching" solo this is pure intensity. "Rally 'round the family/With a pocket full of shells" - 5
3. Vietnow - "Merge on tha networks/Slangin' nerve gas/Up jump tha boogie then bang, let 'em hang/While tha paraniod try ta stuff tha void/Let's capture this AM mayhem/Undressed/And blessed by tha Lord/Tha power pendulum swings by tha umbilical cord/Shock around tha clock, from noon 'til noon/Men grabbin' they mics, and stuff 'em into tha womb". The finish is awesome stuff, great when they play it live. - 5
4. Revolver - Zach's track dedicated to women's rights. De La Rocha's whispering vocals match well with Morello's guitar during the verses. When the hook hits it's a surge of energy, another great ending is on this track as well. 4.5
5. Snakechamer - Wilk's drums set the tempo for this upbeat track with De La Rocha laying down some nice verses, &
quot;To a sanctuary that's a fragile American hell/An empty dream/A selfish/Horrific vision/Passed on like the deadliest of viruses/Crushing you and your naive profession/Have no illusions boy/Vomit all ideals and serve". - 5
6. Tire Me - My favorite track on the album, Timmy's bass work is really good here and De La Rocha puts forth a ton of energy. "And those colorful words for tha Laos frontiers/Who passed away with the truth/Amidst the eulogies of bliss/Who will know now what I know about you?/Now that history's a flowery cancerous mess". With De La Rocha's hollering and Timmy and Tom's chemistry we have another dope ass finish. - 5
7. Down Rodeo - Ah yes, quite a few memorable lines here "So now I'm rolling down rodeo with a shotgun/These people ain't seen a brown skinned man since they grandparents bought one", "Can't waste a day when the night brings a hearse/So make a move and plead the fifth 'cause ya can't plead the first", and "F**k tha G-ride I want the machines that are makin' em". - 5
8. Without A Face - As a result of thousands of bodies found on the border De La Rocha wrote this in response. "Got no card so I got not soul/Life is prison, no parole, no control/Tha juror got my number on a wire tap/Cause I jack for similac/F**k a cadillac/Survive one motive no hope/Cause every sidewalk I walk is like a tightrope/Yes I know my deadline sire/When my life expires I'm sendin' paper south under tha barbed wire/Tha mother of my child will lose her mind at my grave/It's my life for their life so call it a free trade/'Por vida' and our name up on tha stall/I took a death trip when I tried ta cross tha white wall" and "Yeah, I tried ta look back ta my past long lost/A blood donor ta tha land owner holocaust/Pops heart stopped/In came tha air drop/Flooded tha trench he couldn't shake tha toxic shock/Maize was all we neede
d ta sustain/Now her golden skin burns/Insecticide rain/Ya down wit DDT yeah you know me/Raped for tha grapes/Profit for tha bourgeois/War tape boomin/Path is Luminoso/I'm headed north like my name was kid Cisco/To survive one motive no hope/It's hard ta breathe wit Wilson's head around my throat/Strangled and mangled another SS curtain call/When I tried ta cross tha white wall" The ending is another adrenaline rush. - 5

9. Wind Below - "Flip this capital eclipse/Tha vocal tone has got 'em sweatin' their own apocalypse/Yes, rebel of tha grains stand masterless
Tha masked ones cap one/NAFTA comin' with tha new disaster/And yes we in wit tha wind an tha plan de Ayala kin/Are comin' back around again/Tha slave driver saliva/One night power turns/Them devils mouths dry/Now Mexico burns/So here they come one by one/Them killers of the new frontier/Occupy, causin' fear". The music during the hook does get repetitive but Morello's solo definetely makes up for it while Wilk and Commerford hold down the rhythm section. - 4.5
10. Roll Right - Timmy's bass line on this track is classic, still gets me everytime. "This hits like fists bomb with the left and don't miss/With the sickest stilo I spark fear like pigs in the park/Head crack/I hijack the papers/The vapors caught fire up in your mind/Come back rewind one time/Here comes the hands on the leashes/The cross/The capital/The pale families/The fear and the mouthpieces". When Wilk switches it up on the drums it still puts a smile on my face. And De La Rocha adds a nice finish "Send 'em to tha seventh level/For their lives and my lives were never settled". - 5
11. Year Of Tha Boomerang - "Tha sistas are in so check the front line/Seems I spent the '80s in the Haiti state of mind/Cast me into classes for electro shock/Straight incarcerated/The curriculum's a cell block/I'm swimmin' in half truths and i
t makes me wanna spit/Instructor come separate the healthy from tha sick/Ya weigh me on a scale, smellin' burnt skin/It's dark now in Dachau and I'm screamin' from within/Cause I'm cell locked in tha doctrines of tha right/Enslaved by dogma/Talk about my birthrights/Yet at every turn I'm runnin' into hell's gates". The ending is PHENOMENAL with Wilk's rolling drums, so much energy to finish off probably my favorite album of all time. - 5
Overall - 5 - CLASSIC
After failing to attempt to record this album in Atlanta they went back to Cali and captured a raw and rugged sound from where they used to rehearse. Morello's guitar work was truly revolutionary, on this album he didn't depend on the solo as much as he did on the self-titled debut, rather choosing to dazzle us all throughout the whole song. The rhythm section of Wilk and Commerford was perfect, Timmy laid down some amazing and catchy bass lines while Wilk always was the main catalyst of the climatic finishes. Then there's Zach De La Rocha, while he was lyrically better on BOLA he packed a TON of energy here. De La Rocha's screaming got his point across and got you hyped all at once, a feat rock bands try today and fail miserably at.

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