Review Summary: Just the same as the rest of the Rage side projects, not good at all.
Let’s face it; no one was happy when Rage Against The Machine broke up. They were one of the most groundbreaking musical collaborations of the 1990’s. Their music was catchy, it was political and no one would argue that it just wasn’t really god damn good. After Rage and Audioslave perished, Tom decided he needed to work on his solo project, The Nightwatchman. When Rage got back together during the 2008 election season to play shows at the Republican and Democratic National Conventions, they may have turned a few heads. Although Rage got back together for this cause Tom has been quoted saying there will be no new Rage albums but just a bunch of shows.
Tom Morello from Rage and Boots Riley from The Coup, who wouldn’t be excited at such a supergroup? Don’t jump out of your chair too soon; this is no better than anything any member of Rage has done since their original demise. Dragged down by some of the same riffs we’ve already heard from Tom and its obvious faceplate of arena rock, this album is nothing more than a mediocre collaboration between 2 soon to be washed up musicians. The riffs are nothing new and nothing is interesting about this album. Songs like “Fight! Smash! Win!” have listeners wonder why they are relying on such generic lyrics and musical styles.
It’s far less political than either of its member’s previous works. “Clap For The Killers” is probably the most interesting song off the entire record. The constant boring notes from Morello bring it down. Boots rapping does some justice to the downfalls of the song though. It is also probably the most political or activist draw point that they take on the album. The whole record is based around such a similar guitar line that sounds too similar to everything Tom has ever played in his entire life. It’s based more on his funk influenced work than his work with Rage. Seeing as the song titles are directly linked to the lyrics makes one believe that they sold out for sing along capability rather than making some great music.
If you’re looking for some watered down Rage Against The Machine, this is where to look for it. It’s nothing new, exciting or even groundbreaking since it’s been done before. “Good Morning, Mrs. Smith” is one song that is actually decent though. It still sounds like arena rock, trying to get everyone to sing along but it’s interesting for some unknown reason. Either way you look at it this is a boring record. They could have worked harder and made something much better given their backgrounds. They just decided to get this out in time to be ready for the second half of their tour supporting Nine Inch Nails and Jane’s Addiction and that was just too soon.
