As I’ve written about it many times before, the soundtrack for The Crow is one the best soundtracks of all time. There isn’t one song on it that doesn’t fit or make you want to watch the film. I’ll never forget way back when, the first time I heard the Rage Against The Machine song “Darkness.” I was completely floored by it. I had been a fan of the band for a while at that time and didn’t hear it on their debut. The song was originally written in 1991 and titled “Darkness Of Greed.” They re-recorded the song specifically for the soundtrack. “Darkness” never appeared on an album until the anniversary edition of their debut album. It did appear however as a b-side on the “Killin In The Name” single. Either way the only way to get this song for a long time was via The Crow soundtrack.
I’m going to keep this short and sweet. Zach De La Rocha, get back in front of the microphone with Tom Morello, Brad Wilk, and Tim Commerford. Knock off this Prophets of Rage junk, and do the right thing.
The world really needs Rage Against The Machine now more than ever.
Rage Against The Machine- Live at Woodstock 99:
Rage Against The Machine- Live at Grand Olympic Auditorium:
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:
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.
A few years back Tom Morello put together a new band called sTreet Sweeper Social Club. They were pretty decent. I saw them open for Nine Inch Nails twice. During one of their tour stops in San Diego Trent joined them on stage for a rendition of the MC5’s classic “Kick Out The Jams.” Check it out!
I have a deep affinity for Layne Staley. He can make anything sound amazing. When this song was released in 1999 on The Faculty soundtrack I was blown away. Class of 99 was a short term supergroup consisting of Layne Staley (vocals), Tom Morello (guitar), Stephen Perkins (drums), Martyn LeNoble (bass) and Matt Serletic (keyboards). One can only imagine what an entire album would’ve sounded like had they made one.
AUDIOECLECTICA 