The Battle of Los Angeles [EXPLICIT LYRICS]

Rage Against The Machine

Product Details

• Audio CD (November 2, 1999)
• Original Release Date: November 2, 1999
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Explicit Lyrics
• Label: Sony
• ASIN: B00002MZ2C
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Audio Cassette  |  Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (595 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #15,109 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

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Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Having successfully fused music and politics from their start, inspiring both moshing and young minds in the process, Rage Against the Machine emerges in peak form with merely their third album in seven years. Guitarist Tom Morello is one of the most distinctive and innovative players of his era, and his foil, vocalist/lyricist Zack De La Rocha, is as unrelenting and inspiring as ever on The Battle of Los Angeles. Rage, whose past antics include performing naked with duct tape over their mouths to protest censorship, released Battle on Election Day, but the politics of the group can be separated from the sounds. Indeed, the 45 minutes of mayhem heard here can be enjoyed solely as rousing aggro hip-hop rock. There's more variety found on Battle than on its predecessors, however. "Sleep Now in the Fire" is one of their most straight-ahead rock tunes. The trippy guitar on "Calm Like a Bomb" is out there even for the adventurous Morello. And "Born a Broken Man" serves up lovely musical interludes. Overall, the more finely honed Rage heard on Battle may not inspire a generation of young revolutionaries, but they still stir up more mutinous spirit than the rest of the current rock pack. --Katherine Turman

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

39 of 43 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Their Best Yet, March 25, 2000

By	Lee Reamsnyder (Westerville, OH USA) - See all my reviews

Rage Against The Machine, in only three albums, has achieved the balance they've needed. Previously, their heavy messages and their particularly heavy music have clashed, with one drowning out the other in about half of their songs.

But "Battle" changes that. The music has much more variety than previous albums. "Calm Like a Bomb" has some ridiculous guitar work, as does "Voice of the Voiceless," a call of the release of Mumia Abu-Jamal. "Sleep Now In The Fire," the current single, is an almost straight-ahead rock tune, and pretty darn catchy.

Tom Morello is in peak form on "Battle," creating some insane sounds out of his guitars, such as the 'guitarmonica' solo on "Guerilla Radio" or some Tom-knows-what feedback on "Mic Check." Lyricist Zach De La Rocha screams along with his music with feeling not found too often. Their bassist, under the mocking psuedonym "Y.tim.K" shows off his talent quite often, as does drummer Brad Wilk.

Once again, RATM can make the claim that "All sounds [are] made by guitar, bass, drums, and vocals" only. Listen through this album and gasp at that achievement; it doesn't sound like it came easily. Overall this album is a worthy addition to any Rage fan's collection, and hopefully the thought-provoking messages and powerful music will draw in many new fans for such a deserving band.

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Puts nearly every other rap/rock band to shame, April 11, 2000

By	Forest Law (the Jersey Shore) - See all my reviews

Rage Against The Machine may not be the most prolific band on the planet (three albums over the course of a decade) but the finished product always makes it worth the wait. On "The Battle Of Los Angeles", RATM's sound becomes refined and more eclectic - some songs like "Mic Check" and "Ashes Of The Fall" cover new territory for the band. It's true that they have lost some of the aggression of their other two albums, but they compensate with sonic variety and more insightful lyrics, and songs like "Born As Ghosts" and "Testify" wouldn't sound out of place on their first album. What puts RATM way ahead of many of their peers is that actually have a message and aren't merely "doing it for the nookie". Zack is very passionate about the Zapatista rebels and Mumia Abu-Jamal getting a fair trial (and freedom) and the lyrics on BOLA are the best he's written to date. My favorite songs on the album would have to be "Guerrilla Radio", "Calm Like A Bomb", "Born Of A Broken Man", and "Testify", though all of them are awesome. Highly recommended to fans of the rap/rock sound that are looking for something more lyric-intensive.

16 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Rage's finest hour, October 4, 2005

By	A. Stutheit "Teyad" (Denver, CO USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)

This album, the third from Rage Against the Machine, has long been one of my favorite C.D.'s, and it used to be THE favorite. Every band member--especially guitarist Tom Morello and vocalist Zach de la Rocha-- are at the top of their game, here, and this C.D. just sounds awesome! "The Battle of Los Angeles" is possibly Rage's heaviest and angriest effort, and almost every song is a hit. It's hard to pick best songs, but the radio hit "Guerilla Radio" (which has great riffs, angry rapping, and lots of yelling), "Testify," "Calm Like a Bomb," "Ashes in the Fall" (which is a song where Zach builds from a whisper to a yell), "War Within a Breath," and my personal favorite, "Sleep Now In the Fire" stand out the most. Most of the song structures are the same (with Tom Morello making hip-hop sound effects for Zach de la Rocha to rap over in the verses, and Tom plays bigger, chunkier riffs in the choruses), but when the album sounds this great, how can you complain? This album, which Spin Magazine listed as one of the best C.D.'s of the last 20 years, is also (of course) lyrically very powerful. Zach was always a great vocalist, and an even better lyricist; he could rap in a way that would force you to hang on to every word. "Guerilla Radio" battles Al Gore, whereas "Sleep Now In the Fire" is about government greed, "Testify" is about a whitness testifying in court, "Born As Ghosts" rhymes about children becoming soldiers and fighting in war, and "Ashes In the Fall" takes on religious hypocrisy. This is, in my opinion, this group's finest hour. Tom Morello's crazy guitar noise makes every song sound awesome, and Zach's lyrical strength and bold political statements makes this album relevant and timeless, even several years after its release. Sadly, however, "Battle of Los Angeles" would be Rage Against the Machine's last album of new material (2000's "Renegades" was a covers album.) Well, at least they went out on top!