Rage Against The Machine

NME - 7 - Very Good - "...What makes RATM more than just another bunch of prodigiously capable genre-benders is their total lack of pretension or contrivance....the results burn with an undeniable conviction..." Musician - "...Rage Against The Machine offers pointed politics and articulate anger....doesn't just draw from hip-hop and heavy metal, but integrates the two so completely that crossover is no longer an issue..." Q - 3 Stars - Good - "...they're every bit as angry as their name implies....this is a record of real attitude and energy..." Rolling Stone - Included in Rolling Stone's "Essential Recordings of the 90's." Melody Maker - Ranked #39 in Melody Maker's list of the `Albums Of The Year' for 1993 - "...white hot metal and molten funk with industrial sonic disruptions...formidable..." NME - Ranked #31 in New Musical Express' list of `The Top 50 LPs Of 1993' - "...RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE put screaming funk-bone hardcore and agit-rock sensibilities on top of the pops...." Q - Included in Q's "50 Heaviest Albums of All Time". Spin - Ranked #26 in Spin Magazine's "90 Greatest Albums of the '90s." Alternative Press - Included in AP's "10 Essential Political-Revolution Albums" - "...A debut that channels the aggression of the streets into a guitar-driven polemic. The targets are typical...but [their] integration of hip hop and heavy metal isn't." Spin - "...some of the fiercest, most impassioned musical polemics ever....fuses metal-tinged punk rock with hardcore rap....relentlessly inventive..." Kerrang - "[The album] spectacularly fused disparate genres..." Pitchfork - "[A] radical fistful of funk, rap, and rock. Through its power, it remains an essential call to activism and a necessary lesson on how to withstand the opposition."

The first album to successfully merge the seemingly disparate sounds of rap and heavy metal, Rage Against the Machine's self-titled debut was groundbreaking enough when released in 1992, but many would argue that it has yet to be surpassed in terms of influence and sheer brilliance. This is probably because the uniquely combustible creative relationship between guitar wizard Tom Morello and literate, rebel vocalist Zack de la Rocha could only burn this bright, this once. While the former's roots in '80s heavy metal shredding gave rise to an inimitable array of six-string acrobatics and rhythmic special effects, the latter delivered meaningful rhymes with an emotionally charged conviction that suburban white boys of the ensuing nu-metal generation could never hope to touch. ~ Eduardo Rivadavia|