Metal Reviews

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I just can't enjoy Morello. Other than that this album is a step up from the self titled.

Excellent review. I don't like it quite as much as the s/t, but still a very good album.

He's definitely an acquired taste but I'd say he's one of the most creative guitarists in rock/metal.

Agreed. I mean, I think his best stuff was on their first album when he mixed his weird stuff with actual riffs and technical parts, but I can still appreciate him. This album is good but their first is easily their best IMO.

He can definately do a lot with three notes.

The original Rage Against The Machine:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JNwiVG1uPqc

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H6IQxhkVIEw *

* Around the 2:08 mark, those lyrics are about Zach from RATM. The lyrics on the original demo and 7" versions of that song go, "What does Rage know about motherfucking South Central? Zack, what you know about a set or a sign? Fake motherfucker never even seen a nine."

Without Morello adding that rather unique playing style to the mix, Rage Against The Machine was a direct rip-off of Downset. All the way down to Zack's vocal mannerisms, like "yay-ya."

Umm how exactly did they rip them off? If you want to say they were influenced by them I'll give you that, MAYBE even heavily influenced. But blatantly ripped them off? Where do you get that?

I don't believe it we managed to get over 24 hours on a RATM-related thread without Satan's Anus mentioning Downset. They really are Metallica to your Dave Mustaine aren't they. ( , obviously)

Your point is entirely fair enough, but there is as much (probably more) difference between RATM and Downset as there is between, I dunno, Mayhem/Darkthrone/Whoever and all the black metal albums we review, for example. RATM took a template and added bits to it that work really well (IMO). Not really such a problem, is it?

Not to mention that Downset never released anything till 94...

EDIT: looked it up on wikipedia and I guess they had a name change in 92. Ah well, I still have a hard time believing that RATM just copied them. Rage did it way better, anyways.

Rage did it better, huh? I'm sure you've heard a lot of Downset, huh?

The point is, Rage did rip off their style. From lyrical content to the way the lyrics were sung, to the quirky little vocal mannerisms, and so on. Downset was doing that--in the same area, mind--when Zack was still singing for Inside Out.

Yeah, Rage were one of those bands that got signed immediately when others doing the same or similar--and arguably better--style were overlooked. It's happened a million times before. But the similarities were far too blatant.

That said, each band did evolve farther away from each other on their second albums.

I've never got round to listening to this one based on how little I thought of Evil Empire. That album emphasised all the stuff on the self-titled I didn't like and I never really bothered looking any further.

Sleep Now in the Fire is a good single though.

morello is not an acquired taste at alll....

he's an idiot trying to be an intellectual in this thread with his downset spewings.

I only speak wise words my friend.

You speak nonsense. But that's expected.

Well, I went and checked out a few of their songs...from what I can tell, I prefer Rage. Also, I would say that unless you've heard their release under the original name you can't really say that Rage copied them...and you probably have, so whatever, haha. RATM isn't that important to me.

I was a Social Justice fan before they changed their name to Downset. Funny thing is, Social Justice covered "Burning Fight," an Inside Out song.

It's completely missing the point to say the type of lyrics both Downset and RATM have are the kind of things that can be "ripped off". Both bands seem to see themselves as activists almost as much as they see themselves as musicians, and activists don't (shouldn't) give a shit about who said what first. What matters is that as many people as possible are saying it.

I mean, you could easily say that both of them are ripping off Karl Marx, or Noam Chomsky, but that would just be stupid.