Customer Reviews

Live at the Grand Olympic Auditorium

5 star:		(43)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

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.

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

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".

I loved Rage Against the Machine before this album, but this album made them my favorite band ever. It blew me away right from the start with "bulls on parade". The intro to that song works perfectly with the bass that would later start it off. This album might have been the worst thing that has happened to Rage. Because after listening to all those songs live, it made their studio versions sound quieter and not as energetic and fun. Especially songs like "born of a broken man" and "know your enemy". Most of the songs were nailed perfectly like "killing in the name", "calm like a bomb", and "testify". I think that is just a tribute to the band and shows how talented they are. Zack is very explosive and i love how he changes his singing styles. I could just feel all of his emotion in "FREEDOM!"
The one song that I did not think was too good was "kick out the jams" i thought his singing was way faster than the music and sounded sloppy.
I also recommend the DVD, so you can see their performance at the 2000 Democratic National Convention.

A couple of years ago, I was beginning to wonder if Rage Against the Machine were ever going to release a Greatest Hits album. After all, they were a very popular and influential and innovative group, and I'm sure Zach de la Rocha misses the income (no matter how much he is against money/greed/wealth).

Well, only a short while before these political rap-rockers disbanded (because Zach left), Rage were busy touring in support of their latest album, 2000's covers disc, "Renegades." While touring, they made a stop over in their hometown (Los Angeles) and played a show which was actually recorded and was to be released as a live album which wouldn't see the light of day for three years.

Unless the record label decides to cash in and releases a Greatest Hits album for Rage's anniversary, "Live At The Grand Olympic Auditorium" is as close to being a greatest hits album that you're going to get. But, at the same time, this live C.D. is much better than a Greatest Hits release. Why? Well, RATM's live shows were quite powerful, energizing, and inspirational. Thus, some of the songs on here are so intense, they actually make the studio versions sound calm and restrained (for proof, see "Bulls on Parade" and "Testify")!

The rhythm section (composed of Tom Morello, Tim Cummerford, and Brad Wilk), coupled with Zach's angry vocals and inspired lyrics, makes every one of these songs detonate like a grenade. Tom, not surprisingly, pulls off a flawless performance. As "Testify," and the aforementioned "Bulls On Parade" show, he makes noises on the guitar that I couldn't even make with my mouth! His guitar swoops, beeps, punches, crunches, chugs, creaks, wails, and about everything in between. Also, Tim's bass (which hums, grumbles, and makes a wah-wah sound) is a lot more audible, here, than originally. Finally, drummer Brad Wilk fills in the remaining gaps and anchors the songs, making them as solid and impenetrable as a brick wall.

Even though the whole set is great, my personal favorite songs are "Bulls on Parade," "Bullet In The Head" (where Zach switches off vocal parts with the crowd), "Sleep Now In The Fire" (which also features some great bass riffs), the exciting, adrenaline-pumped and very catchy renditions of "Guerilla Radio" and "Kick Out The Jams," and the perfect album/concert closer, "Freedom" (which has a few impromptu, added lyrics).

Ultimately, it's just a hair away from being perfect. Zach can't complete the whole rendition of "Killing In The Name" without pausing to take a breath, and he forgets part of the ending to "Know Your Enemy." And, I, overall, prefer Rage's "Live and Rare" album to this. But, even still, "Live At The Grand Olympic Auditorium" is more than a welcome inclusion in your collection and a great snack if you're tired of listening to the same four Rage C.D.'s again and again.

This album conjures forth one very important question...WHY THE HELL DID RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE BREAK UP?!!!! This was a tight band that had all the elements in place- heavy drums (Brad Wilk), and insane bassist with great tattoos (Tim Commerford), a phenomonal guitarist (Tom Morello), and an intelligent,angry political activist on vocals using words as weapons ( Zack de la Rocha). Rage is also the only band who combined the worlds of hard rock and rap successfully ( the beastie boys being excluded because they're more punk than hard rock). They CREATED the genre that todays Linkin Parks and Limp Bizkit's are desperately- and embarassingly-trying to hang on to.

So what do they do? They break up. After 3 records of original material, and a posthumous album of covers, they break up. And for what? For Audioslave? Rage minus Zack plus Chris Cornell, though some good music, does not equal the force and/or the importance of Rage Against the Machine!

...but alas, for the fans, we are giving one more morsel of goodness from the past in the form of this cd. Recorded over the course of 2 days at the Grand Olympic Auditorium in LA, we are giving front row seats to the final 2 shows the band ever played. Whether or not the band knew that these shows were the end or not, I am unsure of, but you'd think that they did by looking at the setlist, for it's got virtually all of the songs you'd hope to hear: "Testify," "Bombtrack," "People of the Sun," "Know Your Enemy," "Kick Out the Jams" ( a MC5 cover- one of the original political radical hardcore bands) and "Freedom" just to name a few of my favorites...

This album is so good it pisses me off!!!

I'm gonna have to qualify this review as best as I can. I am a Rage fan, have been since "No Shelter" was on the Godzilla Soundtrack, sadly, but a fan nonetheless was I since 1998, two years before this was recorded and five before its release. I'm also a huge Portishead, Woodstock, and classic rock fan but as much as I like Live At Roseland, Kick Out The Jams, and all the great moments that occurred during the three days of peace, love, and music in 1969, among the hundreds of other well made live recordings, I have a new favourite.

My moment of realization occurred as soon as the bass kicked in on 'Born Of A Broken Man' where a noise erupts that could tear a fly in half, in the same vein as Michael Ivins' bass-tardization in the Flaming Lips' "A Spoonful Weighs A Ton" but way nastier. The whole album is superbly produced by Rick Rubin who creates a rich, full sound that mushrooms between your headphones. Also, each track sounds just a little more urgent than their already screaming studio work, more pressing and still quite relevant. There's also an excellent reworking of EPMD's "I'm Housin'" and a cover of MC5 which works to further reinforce this disk's place rightly in the live album cannon. Absorbing this disk one truly realizes what a loss Rage was in a world with a desperate need for a social conscience.

In a time where the average teenager is bombarded with inane and worhtless products such as MTV's The Newlyweds, and horrible excuses for movies like "Love Don't Co$t a Thing," Rage Against the Machine proved that the average young adult understands and even cares about deep political and social issues. Every song is rooted with something that the entire band, most of all Zach De La Rocha, feels very passionately about. It's almost impossible to find this kind of passion and intenisty in music. RATM goes beyond the normal musical spectrum to fuel the activist and protestor inside all of us. There's no way you can listen to Bombtrack, Killing in the Name, Bull's on Parade, or No Shelter without being inspired to take action. The standout songs are Bull's On Parade, Bombtrack, Killing in the Name, Guerilla Radio, and People of the Sun. To fully appreciate the aspect of Rage Against The Machien you would've had to experience them live. That is why of all their albums I like this one the best. Even if you're not a Rage fan, you have to recognize the sheer intensity and raw power of their concerts. No band since MC5 has embodied the spirit of the socially conscious youth like Rage Against the Machine.

The lyrics, although being a live album can be hard to understand at times, are where the real power lies. "Coca-Cola was back in the veins of Saigon, Rambo troops with a dope pair of Nike's on." But even if you're not a fan of lyrics, and enjoy the roaring of electric guitar, then this too is also the album for you. Tom Morello is the modern god of the guitar and a legend all in his own.

I give this CD 5 stars and I really think you should go out to get it. I also would reccomend the DVD that goes along with this, but if you buy any Rage Against the Machine DVD's make sure they're official ones from the band, not boot-legged knock offs.

Great concert, poor sound. Check out the DVD stereo mix as it seems to be light years better than this CD mix which is thin and barely even stereo.

OK, this is a fantastic set. Buy the DVD instead. The sound mix is 100 times better.