Drag queens, Michael Jordan and Rage Against the Machine all share a common distinction -- they are masters of the crossover.
With "The Battle of Los Angeles," Rage reclaims its place atop the rap-rock food chain, demonstrating what hardcore and hip-hop should sound like when jettisoned from the same speaker.
Tom Morello, whose bluesy guitar assault sounds like Jimi Hendrix live from the Garbage Disposal, and Zack De La Rocha, the lead vocalist who could rejuvenate the Wu-Tang Clan if he didn't scream so damn well, propel the passionate quartet to its latest aural treasure.
The album is a virtual clone of the band's first two efforts, "Rage Against the Machine" and "Evil Empire," just as the second record was a mirror of the first. But, at no point since their 1992 debut has Rage's recipe needed any adjustments. Nor have they ever been in the vicinity of sounding repetitive or trite; the themes are too rich with reason, the music too sodden with energy.
The musicality of "The Battle of Los Angeles" showcases a subtle increase in hip-hop flavor, especially on "Mic Check." De La Rocha's 1998 appearance on "The Lyricist Lounge," a highly-touted hip-hop project celebrating New York's underground rap scene, asserted him as a legitimate rapper as he shared a track with KRS-ONE and Last Emperor. It also delivered one of the double-disc's top verses.
On "The Battle," though, Rage does its share of rock and roll punishment to compliment De La Rocha's verbal wizardry. "Testify" storms out of the gate with one of Morello's textbook, four-bar riffs that re-emerges to shape the chorus in conjunction with a semi-automatic verse and De La Rocha's demanding vocals.
"Calm Like a Bomb" -- arguably the song most representative of Rage's ability to transcend genre -- contains Morello's and bassist Y.tim.K.'s trickery during the verse, while De La Rocha spits the most gripping combinations of the album: "Stroll through tha shanties / And tha cities remains / Same bodies buried hungry / But with different last names." At the end, Rage withdraws the guitars and De La Rocha takes a place on his soapbox to address the nation: "There's a mass without roofs / A prison to fill / A country's soul that reads post no bills / A strike and a line of cops outside of the mill / There's a right to obey / And a right to kill."
Rock's blues origins are displayed on "Sleep Now in the Fire" as the intro/chorus embodies the Mississippi Delta before "Born of a Broken Man" enters with an alternative, briefly un-Rage-like sound. Slightly muted and quite melodic, the verse progression accompanies De La Rocha's whispering before it's hacked to pieces by the intense chorus. The result is the best song of the album. The Mahatma Gandhi/Jeffrey Dahmer alternation between verse and chorus tug at the song's epicenter before it culminates in chaotic splendor, sweaty with excitement.
The guitar and bass on "Born as Ghosts" moan in near, human-like fashion as it becomes increasingly clear that Morello and Y.tim.K. have complete control over their instruments.
"Voice of the Voiceless" is De La Rocha's most overtly political contribution. "My panther my brother / We are at war until you're free," he says, in reference to Mumia Abu-Jamal, one of De La Rocha's central political causes. Abu-Jamal is a death row prisoner who was convicted - unfairly, some say -- of shooting a police officer.
"Ashes in the Fall" begins with Morello again abusing the powers of the 6-string, plucking a staccato phrase that reappears with extra grunge midway through the song -- but only after an unpleasing chorus and De La Rocha's least impressive lyrics.
The final track is "War Within a Breath," a fitting conclusion to "The Battle of Los Angeles" and to Rage's bolstering of the music of the 1990s.
Varied vocal panning and volume, Morello's mix of screeching guitar lines, somber arpeggios and masticated chord sequences, and a tense, climactic drum build-up ally to set the band's destructively enthralling table.
Grade: A
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