So why is Rage Against the Machine’s The Battle of Los Angeles on this best 1,000 albums ever thing?
The Battle of Los Angeles landed at the height of the “rap-metal craze” – the era when Limp Bizkit, Korn, and Kid Rock vied for MTV’s Total Request Live airtime.
Rage Against the Machine often gets lumped into that pile, but they clearly transcend it.
Zack de la Rocha’s lyrics are laser-guided political manifestos, not frat-party or mopey metal dude buffoonery. And meanwhile Tom Morello’s intense and incendiary guitar work is just as noteworthy as the band’s deadly serious political mission.
When it comes to The Battle of Los Angeles, I hear it in three parts. The first two parts consist of one song each, and the third comprises the rest of the album.
I’ll explain.
Part I: “Guerrilla Radio”
“Guerrilla Radio” is classic Rage Against the Machine, and by classic I mean it’s incredible. It’s roughly in the #6-#8 range of best RATM songs of all time, though that’s a topic for another project (though I’d note that a bunch of songs from the band’s self-titled debut obviously eat up a bunch of Top 10 slots). Incredible hook, Morello guitar wizardry, and the perfect interaction between Zach de la Rocha’s aggressive, politicized hip hop and the band’s masterful heavy metal grooves.
The music video’s engaging, but I wish they’d just focus on the band’s performance.
Part II: “Calm Like a Bomb”
I have a weird relationship with “Calm Like a Bomb.” It’s good. It’s really good. But it scares me. It does. It’s just so. damned. crushing. It’s one of the heaviest crushing-est songs of all time. I have to be in the right mood to experience it, me being a Mere Mortal of This Planet. But as I say: man, it’s good.
Part III: the rest of The Battle of Los Angeles
Most of the rest of the album is in the solid range but not quite as transcendent as the first two parts. It’s Rage, and for me there’s no really bad Rage, but there’s a reason that this album is a still super respectable #724 out of best 1,000 albums ever and not much higher. Spoiler: there’s more Rage coming on the list.
I’m listening to “Testify” while writing these words and I’m here to testify that it’s very good.
And so it is.
Some stats & info about Rage Against the Machine – The Battle of Los Angeles
- What kind of musical stylings does this album represent? SoCal Bands, Rock Music, Metal, Alternative Metal, Rap, Rap Metal, Rap-Rock
- Rolling Stone’s greatest 500 albums ranking – not ranked!
- All Music’s rating – 4 out of 5 stars
- When was The Battle of Los Angeles released? 1999
- My ranking, the one you’re reading right now – #724 out of 1,000
Rage Against the Machine’s The Battle of Los Angeles on Spotify
A lyrical snippet from Rage Against the Machine’s The Battle of Los Angeles that’s evocative of the album in some way, maybe
Calm like a bomb.
What does the “best 1,000 albums ever” mean and why are you doing this?
Yeah, I know it’s audacious, a little crazy (okay, maybe a lot cray cray), bordering on criminal nerdery.
But here’s what it’s NOT: a definitive list of the Greatest Albums of All-Time. This is 100% my own personal super biased, incredibly subjective review of what my top 1,000 albums are, ranked in painstaking order over the course of doing research for nearly a year, Rob from High Fidelity style. Find out more about why I embarked on a best 1,000 albums ever project.