97. RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE / RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE - APPLE TOP 100 ALBUMS

This album is everything we were taught time capsules would be in school. Blaring this record over your speakers will immediately transport you back to 1992. It’s a hell of a debut. Its angry, raw, and gives zero fucks. It spoke to a lot of us kids back in the 90s, but the themes and messages still resonate in a 2024 world. 

This was the first heavy metal band that really spoke to me. Tom Morello schooled me to the rock ancestors that preceded him. But if you listen closely, his guitar didn’t just stay in one lane. There were elements of funk, acid rock, and riffs that made this record feel more alive than just about any hip hop record. And by the time you get to the Zack de la Rocha charisma, lyricism, and urgency, forget about it. 

Like all good time capsules: this will forever capture a moment in our culture that combined rock, hip hop, and politics in a remarkably organic way.

Growing up, I always hoped the band would stick around and give us the kind of relief we’ve sorely needed as our music and politics get frustratingly more corrupt. Though I’ve later come to realize, perhaps, this was the way it needed to be. 

I’m reminded of something that Morello said when he accepted the band’s LONG OVERDUE induction to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame: he said that although Rage Against the Machine might be done, if you want to see another Rage in this lifetime YOU need to be the ones to pick up the guitar and be that band. 

I certainly hope I get to live long enough to see the next iteration. For now, I’m stoked I got to live through this one.

Would it fit into my Top 100: Fuck you, I won’t do what you tell me. 

Just kidding.  Absolutely, although I am admittedly nostalgic for “Evil Empire” and fully admit that bias due to the way “Bulls on Parade” blew my mind as a teenager.

Sleeper Track: The whole fucking thing is great, but I will say, ending on “Freedom” is such a mic drop.