Rage Against The Machine

Album: Rage Against The Machine

I’m not a fan of eponymous album names. Having to write “Rage Against the Machine” twice in a row—and needing to clarify that it wasn’t a mistake with the “Album:” prefix—only adds to my dislike. The fact that they technically have two eponymous albums doesn’t change my opinion. I’ll always be a hater at heart. But this might not be such a big issue for this album because Rage Against the Machine is a justifiably angry album.

Rage Against The Machine’s Rage Against the Machine should be an extremely contemporary album that points a finger at the issues the band identified at the time. However, as time has shown repeatedly, we’re all stuck on this hellride, and some of us are actively trying to get off. As a result, the album isn’t just contemporary to 1992; it’s relevant today as well.

“Landlords and power whores, on my people, they took turns. Dispute the suits, I ignite and then watch ‘em burn.”

These lyrics feel as relevant today as they did back then—at least, I assume so, since I wasn’t born when the album came out. ~Hi Bert, feel old?~

Even Killing In The Name is as pertinent as ever, especially in light of yet another black person being murdered by the police for merely existing.

The album is filled with lyrics that hit as hard today as they did back then. The music itself also hits just as hard, with riffs that get stuck in your head and what I assume is very experimental sounds. Proving that good music stays good.

Liked

• Unique soundscape, with lots of electric guitar played by someone who is an absolute master of their craft. I genuinely didn’t know someone could be that skilled at an instrument.
• They obviously had fun writing the music, and you can hear that in every aspect.

Disliked

• Some songs don’t carve out their own unique musical identities and can blend together.

Conclusion

I don’t like giving scores, so I won’t. A great album that, unfortunately, remains as relevant today as it was back then.
This album should be mandatory listening in 2024.

Disclaimer: This article was originally published on my GitHub Pages blog. Minor edits may have been made for clarity and formatting.