Rage Against The Machine - Rage Against The Machine > Reviews > FCK YOU

Author's product rating:   

Originality	Groundbreaking
Lyrics	Sublime
Quality and consistency of tracks	Flawless
How does it compare to the artist's other releases	Outstanding
Value for Money

Advantages:	Good music and all that .
Disadvantages:	nay

Recommend to potential buyers:

yes

Full review

The best band of the 1990s was -without any debate in my view- Rage Against The Machine. And the best album was probably their very first back in 1992 titled simply 'Rage Against The Machine' -it's genius.

From the outset this is an utterly divine and classic album. Here we see a new act, one fresh and pumped with energy. Perhaps one of the most attractive features of the music for me though is that it actually has a social conscience and more than that, it's almost as if they are setting out to change the world. Of course nobody ever changes the world, only money rules the world.. but it's a exciting trip to go on. And it's good to dream.

The album is beefy. The bass is always prominent and heavy and the guitar fills every little nook and cranny it can find. And the flow of this album is also really very good. Sometimes a first album can end up merely a collection of good songs from before the band made it, but here we have an album that flows so well that you'll just want to play it over and over again. Musically Rage are on blistering form, and Rage on form you just can not beat. They were one mean band and you certainly hear that on this record.

The Music
Bombtrack - the only way one can describe the Bombtrack is by repeatedly saying the word "fat." For fat it is, it's a perfect album opener and a great song.
[5/5]

Killing In The Name Of - quite possibly one of the best songs of modern music. It has everything musically and lyrically. It's a very popular club track and is great to dance to. And of course sing to, especially the last minute with the repeating screamed lyric "fu*k you, I won't do what you tell me."
[5/5]

Take The Power Back - full on social commentary backed by a brilliant fusion of funk and raw rock with a slice of groove in there for measure. There are some surprisingly delicate parts to the song, it's actually beautiful in parts then smashes it up with sharp teeth. It's a fantastic fight against the lyric: "ignorance has taken over"
[5/5]

Settle For Nothing - after a gentle and atmospheric start with spoken words the song pumps up and turns into something that actually has a bit of a Black Sabbath feeling to it. That's of course quite a good thing to have. It's a powerful capture of anger, with some rather lovely guitar work in there which perhaps takes a little of the brute nature away from the song. But it's fantastic all the same.
[4/5]

Bullet In The Head - this here is a major classic that I'm sure you've all heard at some point (well.. maybe). It's played a lot in the rock clubs and a lot of fun it is too. The tune is driving and powerful and you really get to hear the brute power that made Rage rather special in a decade of Britpop and other such lightweight disposable music. The musical break is the best thing in the history of ever-ness, it makes my nipples erect. Feel the energy, live it.
[5/5]

Know Your Enemy - yet another classic that gets played a lot. Funk-a-delic one may suggest. Rock-tastic one also may suggest. Whatever silly words you make up to describe it, it is really merely just brilliant and fantastic and... lots of great things.
[5/5]

Wake Up - this is a brutal song, musically and lyrically. It's a scream to all those sleepers to wake up, to see what's going down in this world of ours and to do something about it. The words are rapped, but make sure you pay full attention to them as they are a big feature of the greatness of this song. It's quite long and ends with Zack literally screaming at us "wake up".. it's a glorious thing. "what you reap is what you sow" comes the last line, indeed, indeed.
[5/5]

Fistful Of Steel - the music actually moves like it is a fistful of steel, casually punching you in the face. It grooves back and forth and of course has the now inevitable yet always refreshing Rage trademark sudden bursts of energy. The guitar scratching effects towards the end are titillating.
[4/5]

Township Rebellion - yet more of the heavy driving power attack that made Rage from this first album forever more. "why stand on a silent platform, fight the war, fu*k the norm" comes the chorus line, brilliant, brilliant. Sounds like Zack gives birth in the middle of the song, that's nice. Giving birth to rebellion, that's what it's all about. "When ignorance reigns, life is lost" - comes the fantastic sentiment.
[4/5]

Freedom - sadly the final track of the album is upon us. It trundles along for awhile and then -of course- the Rage have a burst of energy and go soaring off. It's a very well crafted piece of music with some rather splendid lead guitar too. The outro of screaming "freedom" and soaring music says everything about the album and Rage, it's just outstanding and stirring.
[4/5]

Conclusions
Score: 46/50 - 92% - 5 stars.

Rage Against The Machine by Rage Against The Machine is literally one of the best albums ever made. That's no exaggeration I mean it. It is of course a fantastic album to dance, jump or naturally mosh along to, just don't mosh on me thank you very much. I honestly can't think of anyone I'd rather dance to from the past couple of decades than Rage, and that says a lot about their music. It's moving in a very physical way, it drives you. It is the fuel of revolution. So forget your apathy and buy this album.