Back in *checks notes* early 2020, Pat and I bought tickets to see Rage Against The Machine. It was delayed two or three times but it finally arrived. We saw them on Sunday. It was a blast. That Tom Morello guy is pretty good huh? (Patrick: the other guys were great too, please don’t be rude in the intro)
Rage Against The Machine - Rage Against The Machine
Patrick: A top whatever album ever for me. Do you like the electric guitar? Why are you reading this if you don’t? This album is for you. Who possibly is reading this and hasn’t heard this record? They sounded just like the album does and I was bummed I spent $$$ on seated tickets instead of $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ on General Admission tickets, so I could get my back broken in by my fellow man during “Freedom.”
Andy: Yes a 10/10 album thanks. A GOAT debut by a GOAT band. Does music get much better than this?
Rage Against The Machine - Evil Empire
Andy: I feel like when people/the internet/whoever talk about RATM it usually seems focused on Rage Against the Machine or The Battle of Los Angeles. But Evil Empire might actually be the best one?
Patrick: I do not agree with Andy’s take. My thought on this album is that it has incredibly high highs (“Down Rodeo,” “Tire Me” and “Roll Right”) but maybe their worst major single in “Bulls on Parade,” and Tom Morello kinda doing the guitar stuff that is a bit of a meme by now in more of the turntable emulation than actual riffs. Still a very good album but maybe not a 10/10 like the debut.
Rage Against The Machine - The Battle Of Los Angeles
Patrick: The first album by the band I heard. I remember seeing the music video somewhere and seeing the band get arrested for performing in front of the New York Stock Exchange and thinking “these dudes are so cool” as a 10-year-old and I’m now 33 and think the same thing. This is the album by the band that, while not my #1, feels like the band at its most cohesive, which is odd considering they broke up almost immediately after. I would like them to drop another heater on us before I die. The riff in “Sleep Now in the Fire,” forever. I think I ripped Andy’s arm off his body when Tom busted into it in the arena.
Andy: MARIA (Patrick: I know you said you wanted to keep these short since we’re doing four albums this week but what the fuck?).
Rage Against The Machine - Renegades
Andy: Simply put, all covers are good. Thank you.
. . .
Oh I have to write more? Okay. Did you know about the “All Covers Are Good” theory? It is simple. Basically, all covers are good. That is it. “Renegades of Funk,” “Beautiful World” and “How I Could Just Kill A Man” are all great covers. RATM puts their own spin on them, enough to where a novice listener wouldn’t even know they’re covers. Say it with me. All Covers Are Good.
Patrick: I think that all covers are good like Andy does but that doesn’t mean this album is particularly good. If you look up anything about the band, you’ll see this is essentially a common thing where they dropped this to get out of their record label contract, so they could break up. It … sounds a little phoned-in, in a way this band does not on any other release. That being said, the “Maggie’s Farm” cover absolutely rocks. It’s one of Dylan’s best and they put a spin on it that fucking rules, while not straying too far from the blueprint, as all great covers do. They also ripped through their cover of “The Ghost of Tom Joad,” not necessarily Bruce Springsteen’s most well-known song, and make it a completely vital Rage Against the Machine song. That rocks.