Rage Against The Machine – Rage Against The Machine

Rage Against the Machine is the eponymous debut studio album by American rock band Rage Against the Machine, released on November 3, 1992 by Epic Records. The album peaked at number 1 on the US Billboard Heatseekers chart and number 45 on the US Billboard 200.

Reviews

Rage Against the Machine received high critical acclaim. In a contemporary review, NME wrote that "what makes RATM more than just another bunch of prodigiously capable genre-benders is their total lack of pretension or contrivance ... the results burn with an undeniable conviction." Q magazine deemed it "a record of real attitude and energy", while Los Angeles Times critic Robert Hilburn hailed it as "a striking, politically conscious debut" and de la Rocha "a bona fide star who combines on stage a Bob Marley-like charisma and a Chuck D.-style rap command -- and the music itself is as tough and relentless as his raps." Robert Christgau was somewhat less impressed in The Village Voice, summing it up as "metal for rap-lovers—and opera-haters" while naming "Know Your Enemy" and "Wake Up" as highlights. AllMusic reviewer Eduardo Rivadavia wrote in a retrospective review, "it was the first album to successfully merge the seemingly disparate sounds of rap and heavy metal", he also praised the album's "meaningful rhymes and emotionally charged conviction" calling it "essential".

In 2001, Q named Rage Against the Machine as one of the 50 Heaviest Albums Of All Time. The album is included in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die. In 2012, the album was ranked number 365 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time[20] and number 24 on the magazine's list of "100 Greatest Metal Albums of All Time".

BBC Radio 1 DJ Zane Lowe named Rage Against the Machine as one of four 'Masterpieces', and his favorite, on December 2, 2008. In October 2011, Rage Against the Machine was ranked number five on Guitar World magazine's top ten list of guitar albums of 1992.