Brad Wilk

Unsung Masterpiece: Rage Against The Machine- The Battle Of Los Angeles
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The year is 1999, people are starting to get hysterical over Y2K and Rage Against The Machine are about to release their final album, the very underrated unsung masterpiece, The Battle Of Los Angeles. Debuting at number one on the billboard charts, the twelve songs on the album are armed with heavy influence from George Orwell’s 1984, making for some very eerie foreshadowing statements on what the future will bring us. Songs like “Testify,” Guerrilla Radio,” “Sleep Now In The Fire,” “Voice of the Voiceless,” and a few others have direct quotes from the book, and go on to mention more Orwellian terms. The album kicks off with 3 songs of explosive rage (pun intended haha) with “Testify,” “Guerrilla Radio,” and “Calm Like A Bomb.” Then the album shifts for a song with “Mic Check.” “Sleep Now In The Fire” takes the album back up a few notches with anger and fury, leading us into one of the best songs on the album “Born Of A Broken Man.” The next couple songs musically, tend to lean towards showing off Tom Morello’s talents with a whammy bar and a fuzz pedal. Lyrically though “Born As Ghosts” and “Maria” are strong and angry, showing off Zach De La Rocha’s venomous lyrics. “Voice Of The Voiceless” has strong connections to a favorite of the band in Mumia Abu Jamal, as well as 1984, as I mentioned above and has a bit of a funk vibe to the music. “New Millennium Homes” is a solid song, with a cool groove, that perfectly sets up my favorite Rage Against The Machine song appears on The Battle Of L.A., “Ashes In The Fall.” Lyrically and musically, Ashes brings something different to the table. This is along the same lines as how epic some songs on the first album were. The song also brings a brilliance to how tight and good Brad Wilk and Tim Commerford are together. Tom Morello’s guitar work especially in the bridge section and the ending highlight his talents even more. Closing out the album is “War Within A Breath” which picks up where Ashes leaves off, then finishes with a fury of signature Rage.

The Battle of Los Angeles to me is the second best album the band put out. In terms of songwriting and passion, this album soars above Evil Empire. Tom Morello, Brad Wilk, Tim Commerford and Zach De La Rocha were magical together. They were able to create awareness and invoke the youth to open their eyes and stand up. Something that is missing from music today. Battle is an album that upped the game a bit more for the band. Their albums stand the test of time. Keeping in mind that the band hasn’t released anything new since 1999, not much has changed in the world, making their albums more relatable than ever.

 

Rage Against The Machine- The Battle Of Los Angeles:

Unsung Masterpieces: Audioslave- Revelations
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When Audioslave broke on to the music scene they were met with very high expectations. Their debut album was a really great album, full of great songs and a renewed sense of energy for each other the members. Their second album was hit and miss. There were some really good songs but as a whole it just didn’t come across as well. When Audioslave released their third album Revelations, they finally hit the mark and found their sound. This would be their final album sadly. Rather than working with Rick Rubin on this album the band chose Brendan O’Brien, with whom both Rage Against The Machine and Soundgarden have worked with in the past. Brendan was able to really capture the essence of what this band is and was. There are more influences on this album as well delving into funk and soul. This was also the first album which Chris Cornell was sober during the making of. Audioslave did not tour on this album, instead they broke up.

Revelations though as their swan song is brilliant. The first song “Revelations” really sets the tone for the album. It’s such a great song. The songs “Wide Awake” and “Shape of Things to Come” were prominently featured in Michael Mann’s horrible film adaption of Miami Vice. Both of these songs are tremendous. “Wide Awake,” evokes some political angst as well. The song is about Hurricane Katrina and the aftermath. “Until We Fall,” is another song that really shows the progression of Audioslave. The closing song “Moth” is a bit of foreshadowing for what was about to happen to the band. The song is powerful and one of the most inspiring songs on the album. Chris Cornell’s voice really shines on this song (along with “Wide Awake”).

The entire band was clicking on all cylinders one this album. It’s shame they couldn’t last longer. Thankfully there have been news reports as of late that both Tom Morello and Chris Cornell said they would be open to working together again. Let’s hope so. I would love to see Audioslave return.

Audioslave- Revelations:

Live Review: Royal Blood and The Last Internationale at the Roxy

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Rock N Roll was in full effect last night as two very talked about bands took the stage at the Roxy, England’s Royal Blood, and former Rage Against The Machine/Audioslave drummer Brad Wilk’s new band The Last Internationale.

Kicking the evening off was The Last Internationale. This female fronted three piece takes their love of 70’s rock and adds thought provoking lyrics that deal with more social issues. Singer/bassist Delilia Paz has a voice that is reminiscent of a cross between Janis Joplin and Jefferson Airplane singer Grace Slick. The dirty distorted bass lines that come from her side of the stage are commanding. Guitarist Edgey Pires plays with a more bluesy soulful approach that is lost amongst most guitarists today. Brad Wilk still has one of the tightest drum sounds around. His energy behind the kit is very noticeable. Their upcoming debut which was produced by Brendan O’Brien will be out in the next couple months.

Royal Blood is on the cusp of breaking out. This two piece band has more guts and gusto than other two pieces like The Black Keys and The White Stripes. Their music is loud, melodic and heavy. Vocally and lyrically they are steps ahead of those other bands mentioned. Starting their set with the song “Hole,” got the crowd into a frenzy of head bopping and dancing. “Come On Over” has a very Muse inspired riff all the while, a sort of sexy vibe to it. Newer songs from their upcoming full length sounded great, if not better than the songs already released. Closing out their set was their hit “Out Of The Black.” The crowd erupted when the drums for the song started. The more harder tinged songs really got the crowd worked up. My friend and I were left stunned by how good they were live. Having only released an EP so far, the people in the crowd knew all the words to those four songs.

The Last Internationale are a terrific band and put on a great live show as well. I’ve said it before and I stand by it Royal Blood is what The Black Keys would sound like if they had balls!

 

The Last Internationale: https://www.facebook.com/thelastinternationale

Album Sampler:

Live From Austin:

 

Royal Blood: https://www.facebook.com/RoyalBloodUK

Come On Over:

Figure It Out:

 

By: Brian Lacy