Product Description

Before vocalist Chris Cornell (ex-Soundgarden) joined forces with the displaced instrumentalists of Rage Against the Machine to form Audioslave, RATM were among the most revered acts in heavy rock. The band has since faded into the annals of rock history, having left an indelible mark, and their unmistakable sound has often been copied but never duplicated.This live album (originally planned as a two-disc set with the cover album RENEGADES), harnesses the energy and raw emotion that was an RATM concert, centred around Zach de la Rocha's unabashed social commentary, via stylish and often poetic rhyming.
On these 2000 performances, classic tracks were imbued with Zach's timely worldview, as "Killing in the Name" has its famous mantra morphed to "some of those that burn crosses/are the same that hold office", while the band precisely pummels its instruments. On "Freedom" (originally written to champion the cause of Leonard Peltier), de la Rochachants "Free Mumia", in reference to his support of Mumia Abu-Jamal. LIVE is a final testament to the greatness of thisgroundbreaking group, having special significance as the final performances of RATM, recorded in the band's hometown ofLos Angeles.

Track Listing

1. Bulls On Parade
2. Bullet In The Head
3. Born Of A Broken Man
4. Killing In The Name
5. Calm Like A Bomb
6. Testify
7. Bombtrack
8. War Within A Breath
9. I'm Housin'
10. Sleep Now In The Fire
11. People Of The Sun
12. Guerrilla Radio
13. Kick Out The Jams
14. Know Your Enemy
15. Freedom

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #5248 in Music
• Released on: 2003-11-24
• Number of discs: 1
• Formats: Explicit Lyrics, Live

Customer Reviews

Live
This is an outstanding example of the power of RATM in a live setting. The playing is tight and the audience are obviously loving every minute. You get a good cross section of songs from their albums and all played with vigour and passion. 'Killing in the name' is especially good live. Highly recommended, you shouldn't be disappointed.

this will change your life
when i origonally found out about this album I thought, well ive already got most of the tracks so i'll just put them together in a playlist, i then bought 'No Shelter' bercause it isn't on any of the albums, listened to it and now the album is in my hands, this album is completely different to the studio recordings as it has the most powerful sound you can think of put into a CD.
amazing, if you could buy only one CD, it would have to be this one

A fitting document.
Rage Against The Machine could have - and probably should have -imploded as soon as they finished touring their debut album. Their second album shamed them, and their third, while decent enough, wasn't much of a credibility-booster. Covers album Renegades, meanwhile, was their equivalent to Guns 'n' Roses' Spaghetti Incident; a covers album (and one much better than it had a right to be) that was the equivalent of spitting on their hardcore left-wing fans from above.

A live album seems like a cash-in, a disappointing idea, especially for such a politically-charged band. But with RATM, every show came damn near a riot, and a live album is just as essential to your collection as the band's incendiary debut. This album - recorded across the band's last couple of shows, and so even more fiery than normal - is extraordinary. Songs from Evil Empire are thankfully absent except the two best, 'People Of The Sun' and a thunderous 'Bulls On Parade' (which opens the set). Throw in 'No Shelter' from the Godzilla soundtrack, two cuts from their covers album and the rest taken from their debut or The Battle Of Los Angeles, and you have what is essentially The Best Of Rage Against The Machine.

And that's what it could easily be. The band are on perfect, tight, grandstanding form here, storming through their 'classics' with the vigour of a band who knows that its time is up. Bemusingly for some, the 'hits' like 'Bullet In The Head' and 'Killing In The Name Of' are out of the way fairly soon, with the band ending the show, their friendship with vocalist Zak de la Rocha and RATM itself with an epic rendition of 'Freedom.' As it collapses to an end after seven minutes, all four of the band disappear, never to be seen together again.

And that, to this day, is that. Zak is still working on a three-years-mooted solo album, the three musicians of the band have formed Audioslave, and this live album is the final release of one of the finest bands of the 1990s. It's a worthy addition to anyone's collection.