Rage Against the Machine - Killing in the Name

     It's a Thursday night, which means only one more go at the grind before the weekend is upon us. What better place than here (what better time than now) to give a big "fuck you" to the week gone by than to do some raging against the machine?

     When I was in high school and my buddies and I used to jam together on a pretty regular basis, we used to play a lot of Rage Against the Machine. The reason for this was likely twofold: Rage had a rebellious energy that teenagers can't help but relate to, and the songs aren't super hard to play to boot.  Actually, make that a three-fold reason: those relatively simple songs with their rebellious energy are also pretty goddamn kick-ass.

     Sometimes the music of your youth doesn't hold up over time, or only holds up because of the nostalgia value. Not Rage Against the Machine. I still put Rage on every once in a while and genuinely rock out to the combination of rap, rock, metal, funk, politics, and the kitchen sink -- like I did driving home from work today.

     Evil Empire might be the band's finest moment (although I have some friends who argue strenuously, and somewhat convincingly, for The Battle of Los Angeles) but their 1992 self-titled debut has an intensity all its own. Zack and company come out swinging like they have something prove, and prove it they do. Crank "Killing in the Name" if you don't believe me, but consider yourself warned.