One Day As A Lion [Vinyl]

One Day as a Lion | Format: Vinyl

Product Details

• Vinyl (November 4, 2008)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Anti
• ASIN: B001H9JB8A
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (31 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #229,570 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. Wild International

2. Ocean View

3. Last Letter

4. If You Fear Dying

5. One Day As a Lion

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

After almost a decade of speculative anticipation on the part of his fans, Rage Against the Machine’s Zach de la Rocha finally returns to the studio, with former Mars Volta drummer Jon Theodore. It’s been a long wait, but if anything, the machine’s sway has only grown more insidious, and de la Rocha rises to meet it as if he hadn’t missed a beat. RATM fans will find all the familiar sonic and lyrical calling cards here, but One Day as a Lion is a mimeograph of neither contributor’s flagship band. "If You Fear Dying" and opener "Wild International" highlight this five-song, 20-minute set. Sharing nearly synchronized leading riffs, the two songs also take similar liberties with religious taboo: "I target more heads than a priest on Ash Wednesday" ("If You Fear Dying"); "I’m like a nail stuck in the wrist of their Christmas" ("Wild International"). In "Ocean View"--a heart-breaking, impressionist portrayal of the PATRIOT Act’s capacity for enabling new twists on the old story of racial profiling--de la Rocha’s wailing chorus glides atop a merciless cascade of thunderous drums. For those who follow either of these guys, everything here merits sustained attention. More generally, for those who like their protest music hard, loud, and in small doses, One Day as a Lion is king for a day, at least. --Jason Kirk

Product Description

One Day As A Lion is the creation of musical comrades Zack De La Rocha and Jon Theodore. This is music about space the space between friends and collaborators where ideas form; the space in a song where the tension builds waiting for the next wave of sound; the space in the corners of the recording studio (Sinatra s old room at Ocean Way) where the sound gathers to fade and die. One Day As A Lion worked hard to capture that space on tape, unadulterated, unmolested, from heart to hand to skins to mics to tape to speaker to ear. The result, someone said, sounds like Led Zep meets Dr. Dre. Here then are the facts: Jon Theodore (Mars Volta) played drums while Zach de la Rocha (RATM) played a beat up Fender Rhodes piano. The melodies change quickly from hard and minimal to soaring and emotional. Then Zack hit the mic and brought the hard heat to the mix the lyrics are fierce and they transform the music so it takes on its own identity and stands for itself without the need to be introduced, explained, or justified, says Theodore. The music is majestic, apocalyptic, and celestial. The music will stand for itself. Millions have been waiting for this.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Pleased, July 23, 2008

By 

A. Putnam - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: One Day As A Lion (Audio CD)

I have to agree with one of the other reviewers that the tracks on this album all sound pretty similar but the more I listened I was able to pick up on the differences. It gets better with repeated listens. Anyone that was a RATM fan will probably like this. Wild International and One Day As A Lion are definitely worth the price of the album. My only complaints are that I want to hear more and Zach's lyrics are more difficult to make out than on RATM albums.

7 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Go ahead and add to your cart, July 22, 2008

By 

Mikey Trunk "Mikey" (WV, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: One Day As A Lion (Audio CD)

If i HAD to compare this EP to a Rage album, it's most like Evil Empire... and that's a good thing. However, it's not exactly typical RATM... i'd say it's less commercial for sure, and has a very different tone to it. Imagine Evil Empire without all the pretentiousness of Tom Morello's "National Anthem" riffs. Wild International (the most Rage-sounding song on the disc), If You Fear Dying, and One Day as a Lion are the stand out songs. I don't know anything about John or the Mars Volta, but his drumming is EXCELLENT on the entire recording. If you were ever a fan of Zack, you gotta buy this... it's cheap, if you need further incentive.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars One Day As a Lion - One Day As a Lion (EP), September 5, 2008

By 

S. D. Mason "www.PoliticianRock.blogspot.com" (Greenville, NC) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: One Day As A Lion (Audio CD)

One Day As a Lion (2008, Anti) One Day As a Lion's first studio EP. ****

For a long time there was talk of Zack de la Rocha releasing solo material (apparently material he had been working on even before Rage Against the Machine split), and even more talk when he worked with Trent Reznor. But now we get some sort of taste of what de la Rocha is like on his own, but he equally shares the stage with Jon Theodore, former Mars Volta drummer. As expected, One Day As a Lion is explosive, with de la Rocha spitting hateful messages at the powers-that-be while taking a minimalist effect. The idea is fantastic; Theodore's drumming is superb, playing a central role in not only developing an effective beat, but also being fairly responsible for filling the sound, as de la Rocha's vocals and keyboards are either sparse or start-and-stop. Sure, it sounds like lost Rage material, but it's fairly intimate for what it is, and what it is is righteous. A full-length LP would be outstanding. On it, boys! (Wild International)