Rage Against The Machine
Evil Empire

THE REVIEW

I know that ...caz... has already "reviewed" this album, and since I'm a huge fan of RATM, I also want to have my say by reviewing 'Evil Empire', my favorite.

I saw it for the first time in Rome (where I don't live), in a CD store. I was the tender age of nine and was already passionate about metal music. I was looking for 'Roots' by Sepultura, but unfortunately, I didn't find it (and I burned it four years later from my cousins' CD), so I consoled myself by browsing around. When I saw the cover of 'Evil Empire', I said to myself, "Damn, what an awful cover!" and I preferred not even to touch that CD. I bought "Bleach" by Nirvana and only liked it five years later, when my tastes matured a bit. I saw this album again at my cousins' house, who knows how much later. I wondered what the hell such an ugly album was doing in the home of fine metal connoisseurs like my cousins, without thinking that maybe only the cover was ugly.

After quite some time, I asked to borrow it, and I found it completely repulsive because back then I was looking for thrash metal that could make the ground shake. I returned the disgusted disc and, for consolation, borrowed Slipknot's first album. After a year, I recorded MTV's super rock, a program that started at one in the morning if I'm not mistaken. I watched it and saw a video I loved madly! But who were they? They were Rage with "Bullet in the Head"! And so I borrowed their first album, then 'Evil Empire', which started to thrill me, and then the others. This was how my great passion for RATM began, up to now, where I've been listening to them for three consecutive years (not just them, though!).

This album... is awesome. Morello acting as a DJ with his guitar. A great guitarist, too bad he messed up with Audioslave. Zack turns all the tracks into a great protest against the powerful and the perpetrators of history. The other two are ordinary musicians, Tim an average bassist, Brad a drummer who initially pounded aggressively on the drums, but not anymore. The album begins with "People of the Sun", a short song that talks about the natives who inhabited the current Chicago area. "Bulls on Parade", my favorite, is a song that has made history in the context of Rage's music. It generally talks about the armed forces. It continues with "Vietnow", "Revolver", and the heavy "Snakecharmer". "Tire me" and "Without a face" are very beautiful and fierce songs. The last one, "Year of the Boomerang", is about the return of episodes of violence.

Overall, this is a masterpiece of crossover characterized by powerful protest lyrics. In reality, I believe this protest characteristic is due solely and exclusively to the presence of Zack De La Rocha. Just think that the other three went on to make pop-like nonsense with Chris Cornell. Five stars for this album.