By the time of their self-titled major debut, rap rock gods Rage Against the Machine had already established several tenets of their musical sound. For one, the band’s standard song structure is evident on this CD. An intro bar establishes the basic riff, you have your two verses and choruses, then an interminably long, segmented bridge with seemingly unending tension, and finally the thing wraps with an altered chorus at ten times the volume of the rest of the song. The standardized description may sound cynical, but it is not meant to be: the formula works in spades. After all, I did refer to the band as “rap rock gods.”
Rage is at their best when they manage to create seminal, simple riffs or guitar effects with a great line or two of lyrics. They are a very hook-dependent band that does not really focus on flow, mood, or intricacy. Though their musicianship is rarely virtuosic, their best work still attains a masterful quality and is incisive, gritty, and meaningful, like their major influence Public Enemy and the best hip hop of the eighties. It speaks to the members’ skills as songwriters that out of such simplicity they can create something sublime. That is, after all, the basic point of artistic pursuit, and it serves particularly well the political themes that Rage Against the Machine is trying to convey.
The first two songs on the CD, Bombtrack and Killing in the Name, fit the mold I just described and of course became huge hits remembered by millions and played by cover bands everywhere. Know Your Enemy and Township Rebellion also follow the rubric, and are rousing tracks. Township Rebellion is especially interesting, containing idiosyncratic, dissonant eccentricities that no doubt inspired later California bands like Korn, and managing to insert a video game solo from guitarist Tom Morello that doesn‘t seem completely out of place.
However, the standard and successful formula we know and love Rage Against the Machine for is not present on all parts of the album. In fact, it could be said that this debut is the most eponymous and eclectic album by the band. That could be a positive. But for me, the deviation from the norm, whether it be a slower tempo, a virtuosic solo, or other structural change, represents a distinct downturn, and this occurs mostly in the middle of the album.
The first deviation occurs at the third track, Take the Power Back. The first half of the song is excellent. Exciting and vivid funky bass dominates the fare, and the solo is infinitely more showy and virtuosic than those in the first two tracks. However, the song becomes unfocused in its second half, delving into a dragging, episodic bridge that seems to be searching for a memorable gimmick. In fact, on this record, it seems whenever guitarist Tom Morello truly shows off, the song falls apart. Perhaps that is why on later Rage Against the Machine records, his guitar playing is more subdued.
Track four, Settle for Nothing, is the low point of the record. Seemingly gauging that the song was an interminably dull piece instrumentally (save for a ripping but completely incongruous guitar solo), vocalist Zack de la Rocha delivers the hook, which is quite a snappy lyric actually, over and over and over again, more and more passionately as he goes, trying futilely to save the track. “We’ll settle for nothing now, and we’ll settle for nothing later,” he yells, ironically mirroring my opinion of the song. But while it is obvious from the beginning that de la Rocha is a compelling and precise lyricist, when all of your lyrics deal with very similar topics as his do, no amount of clever phrasing will save a song that completely fails to capture the interest of the listener from an instrumental standpoint. Again, the seminal riff is key to the success of a Rage Against the Machine song.
The boredom continues for much of the fifth track, Bullet in the Head, until the song is redeemed somewhat by its forceful, grooving ending. I found myself thinking that the song would have been benefited by simply cutting the first two thirds of the song and working from the end. Finally, the disc recovers with the driving Know Your Enemy. From then on, the record is basically acceptable. Wake Up and Fistful of Steel are middling, but the closer, Freedom, like many enders, goes for the jugular. Freedom has many great moments, but to me the track is an episodic series of hooks (including the one from Township Rebellion) rather than a single cohesive song, and as such the record fails to end with a standout.
Though some of its tracks are choppy hodgepodges of incongruous hooks, solos, and breakdowns, Rage Against the Machine’s debut record is, in general, an exciting mix of rap rock that does both the rap and the rock genre justice. The record was able to provide three bonafide hits, all of which are rightfully revered for setting the gold standard of the burgeoning musical niche the band was inhabiting. The CD conveys a passionate performance, the exuberance of which filters through the production, and it displays for us the prodigious talents of each band member. So while the record isn’t perfect, it is still recommended for anyone who enjoys driving, heavy grooves and thought provoking beats.
RATING: 3.5 STARS OUT OF 5
No comments:
Post a Comment