Track Listing

1. Microphone fiend
2. Pistol grip pump
3. Kick out the jam
4. Renegades of funk
5. Beautiful world
6. I'm housin'
7. In my eyes
8. How could I just kill a man
9. The ghost of Tom Joad
10. Down on the street
11. Street fighting man
12. Maggies farm

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #2184 in Music
• Released on: 2002-12-09
• Number of discs: 1
• Format: Explicit Lyrics

Amazon.co.uk Review
Produced by rock-rap supremo Rick Rubin, Rage Against The Machine's Renegades contains a series of cover versions whose selection seems as considered as the band's politics. And there, in part, lies the problem. Among the downright obvious there are moments of pure inspiration. They are on safest ground when rehashing hip-hop for the mosh pit: Eric B and Rakim's "Microphone Fiend", EPMD's "Housin'" and Cypress Hill's "How I Could Just Kill A Man" all rock with a furious energy. Best of all, though, is the revision of the relatively obscure "Pistol Grip Pump" by Volume 10. The bass rises and crashes like a tsunami, while Morello morphs his guitar into cheesy funk synth licks--it's as close as they'll ever get to raging against the funk, although their cover of Afrika Bambattaa's "Renegades Of Funk" comes in a close second. Elsewhere, the band's limited powers of reinvention are stripped bare when they tackle a holy grail of confrontational rock--the Rolling Stones' "Street Fighting Man", the Stooges' "Down On The Street" and MC5's "Kick Out The Jams". On the latter, Zack makes a valiant attempt to sing (later sounding as fragile as a butterfly on a wheel on the acoustic version of Devo's "Beautiful Farm") and makes it plain that screaming like a member of the Socialist Workers Party is clearly what he excels at. Renegades is like a lesson in "how can be I down?" historical revisionism, one that sees RATM attempting to secure their legacy up among their musical heroes. They get five out of 10 for effort. --Chris Campion

Customer Reviews

Fitting Departure Album From RAGE
In 2000 in the midst of a break up Rage decided to treat their fans to one last record,a record made also in tribute to some of the bands who inspired them. And so it was that Renegades came about. The Album opens with a couple of Hip-Hop covers, the Eric B and Rakim classic "Mic Fiend" and a more obscure but L.A favourite, Volume 10's "Pistol Grip Pump". Both of these are an exellent example of rage making songs their own, with Tom Morello serving up a tasty riff, Brad and Tim keeping a tight rythym and Zachs smooth rapping becoming the icing on the desert. And the fun doesn't stop there, The MC5 becoming an obvious choice for a political cover song, Rage serve up a stomping version of "Kick out the Jams" that perfectly suits there radical musings.

While there are many other exellent covers, particularly where rage go punk on "In My Eyes" with some astonishing drumming from Brad Wilk, a blazing live cover of The Boss's "Ghost of Tom Joad" and a touching version of Devo's "Beautiful World" where zach actually sings, the band do hit a couple of false notes here and there. E.P.M.D's "Im Housin'" for example isnt a very enjoyable listen, and they do soften up The Stooges "Down On The Street" a little too much for my liking. However Dylans "Maggies Farms" isnt half bad and an ambitious cover song for a Rap/Rock band! so overall Kudos to rage for providing a fitting cover album, that im sure most Rage fans will enjoy and perhaps the bands can have a giggle too! Good Times.

A fine curtain call.
By 1999, RATM felt like a spent force. Having spent aeons producing their second and third albums (four years between their debut and Evil Empire; three years between that and The Battle of Los Angeles) the cracks were starting to show. But the band confounded all expectation, releasing a covers album in tribute to the artists that influenced them growing up, produced by - who else, for a record of this nature? - Rick Rubin.

All told, this is a patchy album, but the better tracks more than make up for it, and a good way for the band to bow out. Springsteen's 'The Ghost of Tom Joad' is a gloriously echoing epic that made it justifiably into their latter-day setlists. 'How I Could Just Kill A Man' is a faithful, if slightly rocked up, Cypress hill song that feels like it was written for RATM. 'Kick Out The Jams' is one of the weaker moments due to Tom Morello's outlandish solo; always an inventive player, just this once the song would have been more suited to a normal solo.

There are less enjoyable covers here as well - 'Pistol Grip Pump,' 'Street Fighting Man' - but all the songs here, good or bad, are blown away by the closer, 'Maggie's Farm.' Previously one the standouts of Dylan's wondrous Bringing It All Back Home album, it's the song the band rework to the best effect. The song is almost completely unrecognisable except for the fantastic lyrics, with Morello's multi-textured, explosive solo replacing Dylan's wheezy harmonica with ease. It's six and a half minutes in length, and - just like 'Freedom' on their first album - is a fitting closer to the album and the band's career.

This album is not perfect; it may not even have been necessary. But if you want to complete all the pieces of the Rage Against The Machine picture, you need to buy this album, to see where the ideas came from for the most incendiary band of the 1990s.

The Original Artists
1. Microphone fiend - Eric B and Rakim
2. Pistol grip pump - Volume 10
3. Kick out the jam - MC5
4. Renegades of funk - Afrika Bambattaa
5. Beautiful world - Devo
6. I'm housin' - EPMD
7. In my eyes - Minor Threat
8. How could I just kill a man - Cypress Hill
9. The ghost of Tom Joad - Bruce Springsteen
10. Down on the street - The Stooges
11. Street fighting man - The Rolling Stones
12. Maggies farm - Bob Dylan