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Album of the Day

ALBUM OF THE DAY: RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE, EVIL EMPIRE

 Thursday, October 13th, 2011 at 10:30am by

Evil Empire might not’ve had the non-stop song-to-song momentum that its self-titled predecessor did but it still packed one hell of a motherfucking punch. “People of the Sun,” “Bulls on Parade,” “Down Rodeo” and “Without a Face” are all classics in the Rage canon, and the comparatively raw production of Evil Empire gets right up in your face and serves to up the impact. The rhythm section of Brad Wilk and Tim Commerford absolutely pulsates on this one; it’s like you’re standing in the room with them and Zach de la Rocha, who’s as fired up and angry as ever. These songs sound just as important now as they did in 1996.

Funny story: I bought Evil Empire when it came out in ’96 but decided to trade it to a friend a couple of years later for Beastie Boys’ License To Ill because I didn’t like it as much as Rage’s first record. That was silly! I should’ve just bought both. But thanks to the modern wonders of Spotify, I now have it back again: stream it here.

God bless Tom Morello and the rest of the Ragers for never compromising their ideals. Morello has flown to New York City on his own dime to seranade the Occupy Wall Street protestors TODAY at 12 noon. Be there, and RAGE IT UP.

-VN

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  • DarkDragon

    1996 was the last good year for mainstream rock. This album, Tiny Music (STP), AIC Unplugged, Load, Aenema, Antichrist Superstar, Down on the Upside, the 2nd Sponge album, it was a good year.

    • http://www.facebook.com/ken.wilhelm Ken Wilhelm

      Did you really just mention LOAD?!?!?

      • DarkDragon

        Yes because the only people who hated Load were the “troo” metalheads and back in ’96 I was just a naive young kid who only listened to the radio and MTV and wasnt into metal yet. To me I didnt notice a huge difference between Load and the Black album perhaps because I was too young to care about that kind of crap so to me Load was awesome.

        • Rufus McGovney

          Incorrect. The people who hated “Load” were metal fans who knew a pile of shit when they heard one. It’s a terrible album by a dying band. “Load” was proof that Metallica was out of ideas. 

          • DarkDragon

            Yeah I said metal fans were the ones who didnt like Load while rock fans who were listening to the radio such as myself were more apt to like it.

          • Stu1

            At that point in my life, I wasn’t listening to a lot of metal, but more rock, etc and thought it was horrific. I still think it’s utter garbage.

    • Andrew

      System of a Down would like a word with you.

  • Anonymous

    Old balls.

  • RobInjection

    I disagree, I think this definitely has non-stop song-to-song momentum, plus it has my favorite Rage song of all time: Tire Me, such a great jam.

    • http://voltronfutura.tumblr.com Voltron Futura

      I wanna be Jackie O Oh oh oh oh please don’t die!

  • Carlos McSpicyWeiner

    This is the album when the Rhythm section became incredible.  On the ST they followed guitars a lot, from here forward they were their own entity.  Great album.

  • Anonymous

    Classic rage. great album

  • colbow

    This is totally the weakest record RATM ever made…

    • Jexus

      Evil Empire >>> Battle of LA

  • Dylsmack

    best rage record by far. unhinged and relevant. anyone who ever dismissed rap and rock swimming in the same pool failed to see that they are by and large kindred spirits.
    I wanna be jackie o o please don’t die!

  • WhoreFuck

    Hate hate hate this band…..

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Matt-Braddick/183403055 Matt Braddick

    Evil Empire was the best Rage record because of how unique and dynamic it was. Its sound and production is so far away from their other recordings. When you listen to any other similar acts that blend rap & rock in any sort of way, you can hear similarities with that stuff and Rage’s s/t or Battle of LA, but no one has been able to mimic the sound on Evil Empire. Incredible, Hall of Fame-worthy record. 

    And, as is well documented, they were all at each others’ throats when recording this album. Everyone knows internal band strife often generates incredible music, and Evil Empire is no exception.

    • ferris

      That’s a GREAT note, dude. I remember before Battle of LA, in interviews, the band were all like, “We’re getting along so well this time!” And it was totally limp. Then they recorded that covers LP as they were splitting up, and the spark was back in ‘em. Rage is always my prime example of why bands should stay together, even if they think they hate each other.

  • The Shivering Sands

    Yes yes, Tom Morello is going down there just like the dude from Anti – Flag. They both know their target audience …

    Lets not forget that they are a buisness, they sell music, merch, and make profit off it.

    Oh yeah sure fuck capitalism … until it starts working for you.

    Occupy Hypocrisy.

  • Thenorrisband

    an evil sounding album. dark and raw and ugly. i love it.

  • Sebastian Szczachor

    Evil Empire used to be my least favourite of RATM’s albums, but now it’s my favourite. Love that raw sound. 

  • The_I

    Rage Against the Machine are really talented, but their vaguely communist edgy teen schtick hasn’t aged well, especially in the era of irritating but ineffective protests like Occupy Wall Street.

    I actually prefer Battle of Los Angeles, but this is definitely a good album.

  • Nochance

    this post feels like a joke. is it a joke? feels like a joke…

    fuck it, though, i love this album.

  • ferris

    This a frickin’ awesome album, their pinnacle. No, it doesn’t have as many big anthems as the first one. But it rocks like f**k. Rage inspired a million [poopy] bands, but nobody ever came close to sounding like them. Not for a minute. Listen to “Snakecharmer” — it sounds like the band are about to blow up