Rage Against the Machine - Evil Empire Review

Rage Against the Machine Evil Empire

dig it

full review

Tracklist:
1. People of the Sun
2. Bulls on Parade
3. Vietnow
4. Revolver
5. Snakecharmer
6. Tire Me
7. Down Rodeo
8. Without a Face
9. Wind Below
10. Roll Right
11. Year of tha Boomerang

Ranking: #52 for 1996

user rating

3.8
excellent

Chart.

other reviews

irishmanshibby (5)
Rage Against the Machine return with this rocker full of signature RATM songs and doesn't fail to di...

Mambuto_O'Mally (4.5)
...

hitman02011 (4.5)
Rage Against the Machine's most overlooked album which contains some of their best material....

robnathanson (4)
...

Andrew Kotick EMERITUS (3.5)
...

bicepman4000 (3)
...

related

Live at the Grand Olympic

Renegades

The Battle Of Los Angeles

recommended by reviewer

Rage Against The Machine Rage Against The Machine

members also liked

Pink Floyd Dark Side of the Moon
Led Zeppelin Led Zeppelin IV
The Mars Volta De-Loused in the Comatorium
Pearl Jam Ten
Pink Floyd Wish You Were Here
Pink Floyd The Wall
The Mars Volta Frances the Mute
Queens Of The Stone Age Songs For The Deaf

On 31 Lists

4.5
superb

Neoteric EMERITUS (104 Reviews)

2005-12-29 | 44 comments | 5,122 views

Rage Against The Machine are a popular 90s rap metal band. Evil Empire is considered a different offering than the rest. Relying on effects, the album is extraordinary, most songs on this are excellent. It is a strong album recommended by RATM fans and general metal fans!!

The opener “People Of The Sun" clocks in at just 2:30, it is the perfect opener and is a fine example of Tom’s creative guitar work where in this song he used an Allan wrench to pluck the strings. The rest of the band are excellent as well. Tim is an original bassist. Instead of playing the same lines as the guitarist, he thinks up his own lines. Zack’s vocals are aggressive, his rap style is clever. Zack can’t sing at all so he tries to rap the choruses. Brad gives a jazzy touch when he’s behind his drum kit. His beats and his rhythm technique is unique.

This combination of the band sums up the sound basically. Think Beastie Boys combined with Led Zeppelin (Zeppelin-like guitar riffs, Beastie Boy vocals) It’s groovy yet aggressive, it flows well and shows great musicianship. The songs are sometimes fast and other times they are slow but they have a funky upbeat approach.

Some of the songs are RATM’s strongest. “Down Rodeo" has one of my favourite guitar parts in it. The effects during the verse are worth a mention as well. It is catchy yet still keeps a certain musicianship standard. “Without A Face" is one of the most funkiness RATM songs ever. The bass line sticks in your head and can’t get out. It’s like the dark streets where stuff happens (can’t think of how to describe it though it reminds me of dark streets) The chorus reminds me of “Sleep Now In The Fire" My personal favourite is “Year Of Tha Boomerang" where the guitar sounds like a violin and has this awesome interlude which sounds like a sped-up version of System Of A Down’s Ego-brain. “Tire Me" could be considered annoying but I really dig it. The bass line sounds so ‘chunky’ and the song drives on, it doesn’t slow down, it just flows on.

My verdict is that the album can be enjoyed by all. You don’t need to like a certain genre to enjoy it. It seems like it’s music for everyone. It’s sometimes catchy, sometimes funky, sometimes heavy. It’s lots of things rolled into one. The album is really near-perfect, I honestly can’t think of any flaws except that Zack sings in a ‘rappa’ style. I trying not to give this a five though the final rating will have to be 4.5

Share: Facebook Stumble Digg Twitter Del.icio.us