Alright, so these guys from LA basically took hip-hop and metal, threw them in a blender with some serious political rage, and somehow made it work way better than it had any right to. Formed in 1991, RATM was Zack de la Rocha doing his rap-yell thing over Tom Morello’s absolutely mental guitar work, with Tim Commerford and Brad Wilk holding down the rhythm section like their lives depended on it.
This debut from ’92 is one of those albums that just hits different, you know? It opens with “Bombtrack” which basically serves as a warning shot, heavy bass, build-up, then boom, everything comes crashing in. But the real kicker is “Killing in the Name,” which became their calling card and probably the angriest song about police brutality to ever get radio play. That riff is just stupidly catchy, and when Zack starts going off with those “f*** you I won’t do what you tell me” lines, it’s like the perfect storm of rebellion and groove. “Bullet in the Head” is another standout that shows off Morello’s weird guitar tricks, dude makes his six-string sound like a DJ turntable or something.
The whole thing is produced so clean it’s almost scary, no samples, no keyboards, just four dudes making an ungodly amount of noise. What makes this album special is how it somehow manages to be both completely accessible and totally uncompromising. These weren’t your typical metal dudes or your typical rappers, but something entirely new that opened the door for all that nu-metal stuff that came later. Sure, it gets a bit samey toward the end with tracks like “Fistful of Steel,” but when the highs are this high, who cares.
If you’ve never checked this out, do yourself a favor, it’s basically the blueprint for politically charged music that doesn’t suck. Plus, it’ll make you want to tear down something, which is always a good time.