4 years after the release of the debut "Rage Against the Machine", Rage surprised eager fans with another album of much different quality. Breaking from the label of "rap meets rock", "Evil Empire" has set a new standard in music. Although this album leans more towards the "hip-hop" spectrum, the influences of hardcore, post-Van Halen rock, and other styles like jazz and funk are still easily heard. Song styles vary differently, with VERY hip-hop oriented songs like "People of the Sun", "Vietnow", "Without a Face", and "Roll Right", to just plain "Rage" songs like "Wind Below", "Bulls on Parade", and "Year of tha Boomerang", it's hard to predict anything on this album. "Tire Me" is a relentless, fast paced song reminicsent of old school "punk" styles, and "Snakecharmer" is Zack at his emotional best. The first thing I noticed when I heard this record, was that Zack's voice seemed generally "raspier", Tom's guitar was more tweaked, Tim's bass was fatter, and Brad's drums snapped and thumped harder than on the first release. This is a much more mature record, as it took 4 years of struggle to create.

The Name...."Evil Empire":

The Kid on the Cover:

Song evaluations:

People of the Sun:
This song was first written about the original California Chicano natives. But as the song developed more, the lyrics changed to focus on the Zapatista Movement in southern Mexico. The "Zapatistas", or Mexican Indians in Chiapas started an armed uprising on January 1, 1994. Zack's been interested in the movement since that time, and has visited the region numerous times. The song is of very simple song structure, basically Tom Morello using an allen wrench to flow up and down between a note and it's sharp. A hip-hop drum beat and simple bass line complete this song.

Bulls on Parade:
Bulls on Parade is about the United States army. It is known especially for it's brutality, and it's ignorance to the causes that it "fights" for. The song starts of with a powerful pendulum of octaves, then moves into Tom's bizarre guitar technique. This use of the wah-wah pedal and distortion has become a household reference to Rage, as I hear people go "wah-wah, chicka, wah-wah, chicka-chicka, chicka" when talking about Rage. The song flows nicely, with Zack rapping about the army, then the chorous snaps harshly with Zack urging, "Rally round tha family, wit a pocket full of shells!". Tom "solos" in this one, confusing many people by making the guitar sound like turn-tables being scratched. The song ends up back to the intro, with the powerful pendulum of octaves booming, and Zack screaming, "Bulls on Parade!"

Vietnow:
This song slams right wing AM radio shows such as "The G. Gordon Liddy Show", "Rush Limbaugh" and "The Laura Schleschinger Show". These programs spew right-wing propaganda to many empty minded Americans every day. Rage continues their thoughtful use of sloganeering with the phrase "Turn on tha radio, nah, fuck it...turn it off. Fear is your only god on the radio, nah, fuck it...turn it off." to start this song off. It's mainly classic Rage, Zack rapping in front of Tom's classic riffs, and then slows down during the bridge with a descending drum beat, and Zack asking, "Is all the world jails and churches?", then back to Zack chanting, "Fear is your, fear is your, fear is your only god!". The song ends on a very suspended note, just Tom alone plucking a string repeatly, very quickly, then going up a half step, and just dropping it, leaving the listener apprehensive.

Revolver:
A scary exploration of domestic violence...Zack shows his sympathetic views towards oppressed women in this song. It starts off simply with Tom tweeting around on the guitar, then slams into a hard knocking F# riff. The song is very slow paced, and almost creepy altogether, making you try and edge the song along, fearing that the energy will simply cease to exist. But the pre-chorus gives a hint of hope, and the chorus follows right on cue with energetic, hard hitting riffs, and Zack's powerful vocals. This is along the lines of "Settle for Nothing" off the first album. Tom makes use of a pencil for the solo in this song, with high pitched notes making up the rest. It finishes with excitement, and energy.

SnakeCharmer:
This song is supposedly about "greed", but I get the feeling this is a more personal song. Zack's lyrics, and vocal demeanor are much more...emotional, and intense. The drum beat is fairly complex, and almost undecipherable. The guitar leaves a feeling of waiting, and suspension, while the bass counteracts it with an almost..."childlike" bounce to it. This song is nicely laid out, with an explosive descending guitar riff to which Zack howls, "Your friendship is a fog, that disappears when the wind redirects! You, yes you!". I think Zack is at his poetic best in this song. Phrases like "a father's expectations, soul soaked in spit in urine" and so forth get to me. The song ends on a rather disharmonic note, with the band just "quitting", leaving the instruments buzzing around on their own, while [I picture him on the floor, out of breath, trying to make the words escape his mouth] Zack says "you.... interested in you...interested in you..."

Tire Me:
Zack has said that this song was written to "celebrate the death of Richard Nixon". This is the most punk-oriented of Rage songs, starting off with a very rushed, quick bassline, making you feel like you're running. Which is what (I think...) Zack is singing about. Somebody apparently chasing him. Tom's guitar just screeches the whole time, with a crumbling, riot-sounding choros. The bridge of this song has become classic, with just the high-hat snapping, and Zack whispering almost insanely: "I wanna be Jackie Onassis. I wanna wear a pair of dark sunglasses. I wanna be, Jackie O, Oh, Oh, Oh, please don't die!". Snap, back to the song. Ends just as anxious as it starts.

Down Rodeo:
This song is described in it's chorus: "So now I'm rollin' down Rodeo wit a shotgun, these people ain't seen a brownskinned man since they're grandparents bought one!". This is the philosophy of "what's the point in rioting in the ghetto, when you can riot against what causes the ghetto to exist? The upper class." This is the most precisely orchestrated song on the album, I believe. Moods fade from the typical Rage verse of rapping and buzzing guitar, to a peaceful, slow ending. Tom makes good use of the wah-wah pedal during the solo, adding to the classic Rage sound.

Without a Face:
A sympathetic approach towards the Mexican immigrants in that issue. The people that Californian representatives would rather see chained behind a "Berlin Wall", than to have real freedom. One of the most "hip hop" oriented songs on the album, Tom simply plucks a note repeatedly at a very fast rate during most of the song, while the rhythm section leads with a very rap-esque bassline/drumline. Powerful riffs during the chorus, an excellent solo, and dramatic, climatic end make up the rest of this song.

Wind Below:
This was based on the essay, "The Southeast in Two Winds" by Subcomandante Marcos. Marcos describes the Zapatistas, and the Chiapas as "the wind below"...as it is rising up, and a storm is brewing. This song is about the movement, and the EZLN's search for justice. An absolutely roaring riff start this song off, but things go harsh during the chorus while Zack raps about the indigenous struggle. The solo on this song is haunting, and very high pitched. It slows down while Brad lays down an excellent drum beat, and Zack whispers about the corporate hold on political America. Things explode at the end.

Roll Right:
I think the songs is about people trying to fight the system and improve their world only it to be stopped by "the hands on the leashes". Leashes around the populations' throat and them be forced by their owners to "Roll right" and sarcastically say "we're alright, we're all calm!" even though they aren't.  Similar idea was in Settle for Nothing when Zack shouts "If ignorance is bless, then knock the smile of my face!"  At the end of the song, he is calling for people to act and send the owners "to tha Seventh level".  This song is probably my favorite on the album. The guitar work is Tom using the toggle switch to the fullest potential. Feedback reverbs during every break of guitar, adding a disharmonic tone. The solo is dark...almost "evil", just a crockling of guitar, followed by almost random, atonal note successions. The bassline has a distinct "jazz" feel to it, complimenting the weird guitar noises.

Year of the Boomerang:
"Tha five centuries of penitentiary" is the five hundred years since the "New World" was discovered and the pillaging begun.  "Tha guilty" are the oppressors and their evilness will boomerang back upon them in "tha Year of the Boomerang".  Hanging could be a symbolic metaphor for hanging of Nazis war criminals and others close to home.  "If the Nuremberg laws were applied today, then every Post-War American president would have to be hanged." - Noam Chomsky. This is a straight up "Rage" song. Tom starts it off with very high pitched (a couple octaves above the normal 'high notes' with the whammy pedal), then slams into a grooving guitar/bass part. Zack's voice overdums in the chorus claiming, "I got no property but yo', I'm a piece of it!" while the other channel shouts, "So let the guilty hang!". Very straight forward song writing. A classic.

Copyright © 2000 Rage Burns
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