Album A Day: Rage Against the Machine – The Battle of Los Angeles

Artist: Rage Against the Machine
Album: The Battle of Los Angeles
Release Date: November 2, 1999

Man, did Rage Against the Machine go out with a bang. Sure, they had that covers album Renegades, but The Battle of Los Angeles was the last collection of original music by RATM, and damn it if it wasn’t a work of mild genius. The band’s third album took all the energy, all the fire, all the fist-pumping ferocity of the band’s first two records and balls it up to unleash it in a furious burst of sound and message. The Battle of Los Angeles doesn’t focus its message  on any one target, but instead just spreads paranoia and frustration across all bounds. “Testify” is quite simply explosive, with Morello’s guitars and Zack de la Rocha’s rapid, relentless delivery pushing the envelope from start to finish. Meanwhile “Voice of the Voiceless” is a textbook anthem from Rage, with the balls-out chorus calling the masses to arms like few can. But the true gem and quite possibly the highlight of RATM’s career is “Sleep Now In The Fire” a 3 and a half-minute perfect storm of fury and intensity. I’ve never been in a band, but if I was, and I knew I only had one more album left in me, I’d hope to God I could reach the purity of passion that The Battle of Los Angeles has in it.

Rage Against the Machine – Sleep Now In The Fire [iTunes] (YSI)

==TJ==