Live at the Grand Olympic Auditorium

Rage Against The Machine | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (November 21, 2003)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Sony
• ASIN: B0000DJEQZ
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (54 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #34,959 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

The band's first and only live album.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

20 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars What every Rage fan wants, December 25, 2003

By 

Evil Lincoln (Dayton, Ohio) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Live at the Grand Olympic Auditorium (Audio CD)

I am a big live album junkie, and a concert document of Rage Against The Machine has long been on my wish list. I've never had the pleasure of seeing the greatest band of the 90's in concert- in fact, I didn't even become a fan of theirs until after their breakup- so Live At The Grand Olympic Auditorium will have to do. And it doesn't disappoint.

I agree somewhat with the reviewers who said the mix is muddy- it is, on some tracks. Tim C's bass is noticeably high in the mix, but never ruins any of the songs. "Sleep Now In The Fire" comes to mind as a good example of a time where it almost does- the bass is just absolutely *exploding* through, sometimes overshadowing Tom Morello's guitar riff- but doesn't mar his solo (more forceful and passionate than the by-the-numbers studio version, I might add) at all.

The songs are mostly performed very raw and powerful. And while none of the songs' running times deviate drastically from their studio counterparts, they aren't just copies of the CD versions. The aforementioned "Sleep..." has a great vocal performance by Zach de la Rocha, coming across almost spoken-word. He also performs Maynard James Keenan's part on "Know Your Enemy," which absolutely ruined the studio version for me (otherwise it's a fantastic song).

The setlist is good, although it's pretty much a "greatest-hits in concert" collection (Rage did have awesome singles though, didn't they?). Opening a concert with your biggest hit ("Bulls On Parade" in this case) is only something that the best artists can do successfully.

I would have loved a live recording of my favorite song of theirs, "Township Rebellion," but oh well. And "Renegades Of Funk," one of their two or three best singles, is missed (although I don't even think they ever performed that song live, so you can't blame them).

Overall a must-have for any Rage fan, or really any other person who wants a greatest-hits collection for the best band of the 90's.

Oh, and Audioslave rocks.

18 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars RAGE'S BEST YET!!!!!!!!!, November 22, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: Live at the Grand Olympic Auditorium (Audio CD)

When i found out Rage Against The Machine broke up three years ago, i was pretty disappointed. I loved their music, but at least they ended on a good album, Renegades. Earlier this month i was on Rage's official site for the first time in about a year. As i scrolled down the screen i saw something new! "Live at the Grand Olympic Auditorium" I was very excited! This is a recording of Rage's last two nights together as a band. Once again they proved they were one of the most creative and politically active bands to ever hit the stage. They also porve they're the most powerful bands of the last decade. Not only is Rage a great band, but they're at their best live! So i decided to buy this CD the day it came out. I did and i was not disappointed! This CD is everything i expected and more. If you'd like to hear one of the greatest rock bands ever, then pick up this CD or one of their earlier ones. If you don't like rock much, i'd still recommend you check Rage out. Or if you like a much softer version of Rage then listen to Audioslave, Rage's sister band.
Track Listing
1 Bulls On Parade
2 Bullet In The Head
3 Born Of A Broken Man
4 Killing In The Name
5 Calm Like A Bomb
6 Testify
7 Bombtrack
8 War Within A Breath
9 I'm Housin'
10 Sleep Now In The Fire
11 People Of The Sun
12 Guerrilla Radio
13 Kick Out The Jams
14 Know Your Enemy
15 No Shelter
16 Freedom

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Rage lives on!!!!, November 22, 2003

By 

Wes McDonald (Kentucky) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Live at the Grand Olympic Auditorium (Audio CD)

This album is nothing short of amazing. It contains a mix of songs from their final 2 shows recorded live in Los Angeles on September 12th and 13th of 2000. If you're a fan of RATM you need to get it right now. Even if you're not get it anyway. Trust me it's worth it alone just to hear Tom Morello's insane guitar playing. I love how he has changed some of the guitar solos, especialy in the songs "Bullet in the Head" and "Freedom".