MAKING OF THE ALBUM: Rage Against the Machine – The Battle of Los Angeles

Despite its commercial success, Rage Against the Machine were somewhat disappointed with the end result of their second album, Evil Empire. Critics were still convinced, however, with Rolling Stone stating; “In an era in which political candidates are weaker than Styrofoam and the American public grows more ambivalent by the minute, perhaps De La Rocha’s radical rhetoric can make a difference.” Following tours with Green Day and U2, as well as an appearance on the soundtrack to the big budget disaster Godzilla, the band began to consider returning to the studio to record their third album. The task of producing would once again fall to Brendan O’Brien, who had preceded his work with RATM by recording albums for such artists as Wolfsbane, Stone Temple Pilots and Pearl Jam.

Once again, the band would enter the studio with just a guitar, bass, drum kit and microphone with a view to recording the album as close to ‘live’ as possible. Yet they would still attempt to experiment where the songs permitted, by incorporating various effects and techniques into the guitar playing. RATM would also attempt to articulate their influences more, with various different styles creeping into certain songs. Although refusing to use samples, audio from a Korean radio station would accidentally find its way onto the tape during the recording of the track Sleep Now in the Fire, with guitarist Tom Morello somehow picking up the talking in his amp.

Recording for what would become The Battle of Los Angeles would aptly take place in various locations around Hollywood. Morello would utilise a whammy pedal throughout much of the recording of the album, allowing him to create unusual sounds from his guitar. This would be evident on such tracks as Testify and Calm Like a Bomb, both of which would be released as singles. The band would continue to explore various political themes through their music, which would result on RATM becoming one of the most acclaimed-yet-controversial acts of the 1990s. The band themselves would feel far more confident about the material on The Battle of Los Angeles than its predecessor and felt that they had produced their strongest work to date.

The first single released from the album was Guerrilla Radio, which made its debut on October 12th 1999 via Epic Records. The song would later win a Grammy Award for Best Hard Rock Performance and would become one of the band’s most known tracks. The Battle of Los Angeles surfaced a month after the single and made its way to the top of the Billboard 200. When reviewing the album Spin commented that, “The Battle of Los Angeles is a great record that perfectly articulates the rap-rock youth rally they themselves spearheaded. It’s also a much better record than anything Korn, Limp Bizkit, Kid Rock, or even Rage themselves have ever made.” It would also be their last album of original material before splitting the following year (after recording Renegades, which features fourteen cover versions).