The 500 - #365 - Self-Titled Debut - Rage Against The Machine

I was inspired by a podcast called The 500 hosted by Los Angeles-based comedian Josh Adam Meyers. His goal, and mine, is to explore Rolling Stone Magazine's 2012 edition of The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. 

Album # 365

Album Title: Self Titled Debut

Artist: Rage Against The Machine

Genre: Rap-Metal, Funk-Metal

Recorded: Sound City Studios (California)

Released: November, 1992

My age at release: 27

How familiar was I with it before this week: Very Familiar

Song I am putting on my Spotify Playlist: Wake Up

The cover art for the 1992 debut album from Rage Against The Machine (RATM) captures, in a single, powerful image, everything you need to know about the record.

This is a cropped image of a Pulitzer Prize winning photograph by American journalist Malcolm Browne. Taken on June 11, 1963, it  captures the self-immolation of Buddhist Monk Thích Quảng Đức (Tick-gWow-duck) on a busy Saigon street, outside the Cambodian Embassy.

Uncropped photo by Malcolm Browne

Đức intended to shine a global spotlight on the persecution of the Buddhist people by the South Vietnamese government, led by Ngô Đình Diệm (No-Din-Dee-Em), a fervent Catholic. A month earlier, Diệm used his military might to stop 500 people from celebrating Phat Dan, the birthday of Gautama Buddah. Nine Buddhist were killed during the military assault on a peaceful gathering. 

Ngô Đình Diệm

The act of martyrdom by Đức brought international attention to the Buddhist Crisis of 1963, and Diệm was overthrown and assassinated during a U.S.-backed military coup in November of the same year.

Rage Against The Machine's decision to package their first record inside this provocative and distressing record sleeve should serve as a caution to anyone who chooses to buy it and play it. This album is a dynamic, aggressive fusion of funk-metal and hard-core hip-hop combined with incendiary, revolutionary, profanity-laced and politically charged lyrics -- often screamed repeatedly by lead singer Zack de La Rocha. 

(l-r) Tom Morello, Zach de la Rocha, Tim Commerford, Brad Wilk

The band was formed when Harvard graduate and struggling rock guitarist Tom Morello (26) met 21-year-old de La Rocha, the son of Robert 'Beto' de la Rocha, an influential muralist and member of the Chicano art collective, Los Four. (Chicanos are US born citizens of Mexican heritage.)

Untitled mural by Beto de La Rocha in the Chicano style

Drummer Brad Wilk and bassist Tim Commerford, both 22, joined the duo shortly after and a 12 song, self-produced cassette was released in December, 1991.

Rage Against The Machine - Self Released Cassette (1991)

The cassette's impact on the Los Angeles music scene was immediate and the group was courted by several record labels. The band, as one might expect, flexed their ideological disposition from the start and the deal negotiated with Epic records gave the foursome complete creative control -- uncommon in the industry. The self-titled debut that appears on The 500 was recorded and released that November to critical praise, with record sales that earned triple-platinum status by the year 2000. 

A Personal Connection

The first time I heard Rage Against The Machine was late in the evening on Saturday, October 16, 1993. If you are a Canadian old enough to remember the 1993 World Series, you'll likely understand how I could be so precise.

That fall, I was 28 and working as a bartender at Kelsey's Restaurant in London, Ontario. In retrospect, I suppose I was in a place similar to RATM guitarist Morello -- a university graduate in a time of transition, trying to find my way to a meaningful career without compromising my own ideological nature. I would attend Teachers' College two years later.

On that particular Saturday night, I was cleaning up the restaurant near closing time. Earlier, a packed house had filled the bar, celebrating an 8-5 Toronto Blue Jays victory in Game One of the World Series against the Philadelphia Phillies.

I was carrying a bus bin full of plates and cutlery to our dish pit when the sound from the kitchen boombox stopped me in my tracks. Love them or hate them, Rage has a sound that is impossible to ignore. I was hooked!

"Who is this?" I asked Jeff Nisbet, one of the cooks closing the kitchen that night.

"Rage Against The Machine", he replied. "It's really good. I'll lend it to you."

Me, working at Kelseys, mid-90s I loved that job, great money
and I got to wear a baseball cap.

The following Monday, I was driving from London to North of Toronto to pick up my girlfriend (now wife) from her live-in job at a horse farm. I had played Jeff's cassette several times on the two-hour journey and was excited to play it for her on the way back.

Tralee Horse Estate - where my wife worked and lived in 1993/94
(Now a popular wedding venue)

Strangely, I felt compelled to justify this choice. At the age of 28, I felt I was "too old" for this hip, revolutionary metal-rap-hybrid. I wasn't. In retrospect, everything about that concern seems ridiculous now. Good music is good music. My journey through The 500 reminds me that good music is timeless.

A week later, I had bought a Compact Disc of the album and I am not exaggerating when I say that I listened to it twice-a-day for about a year. My daily routine at the time was about as 90s cliche as you could get:

I would roller-blade to the Fitness Forum most afternoons, workout for an hour on the Step Master, and roller-blade back to my apartment while cranking Rage Against The Machine through my headphones connected to the discman in my fanny pack. 

Re-listening to the 20th Anniversary Edition this week brought back so many memories...I might even dig up my roller-blades, put my phone in my fanny pack and give it a listen with my bluetooth headphones.

POST SCRIPT

After that car ride 28 years ago, my wife became a fan too. We are looking forward to seeing Rage Against The Machine with Run The Jewels at Madison Square Gardens in August, 2022 on the Public Service Announcement Tour!