{"id":12821,"date":"2026-04-14T08:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-04-14T15:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.runwayritz.com\/index.php\/2026\/04\/14\/this-album-by-rage-against-the-machine-has-a-special-place-in-my-vinyl-collection\/"},"modified":"2026-04-14T17:34:33","modified_gmt":"2026-04-15T00:34:33","slug":"this-album-by-rage-against-the-machine-has-a-special-place-in-my-vinyl-collection","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.runwayritz.com\/index.php\/2026\/04\/14\/this-album-by-rage-against-the-machine-has-a-special-place-in-my-vinyl-collection\/","title":{"rendered":"This album by Rage Against The Machine has a special place in my vinyl collection"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div id=\"article-body\">\n<p id=\"elk-b2bb80ee-8d40-4677-a34f-970f718bd8ce\">The price of groceries, the threat of World War III, my wife&#8217;s insistence that &#8220;the meaning&#8221; of Emerald Fennell <em>Accommodations in Wuthering Heights<\/em> &#8220;not so bad&#8221;: there&#8217;s a lot to be angry about now.<\/p>\n<p>Which is why, middle-aged, reformed mosher that I am, I&#8217;ve found myself revisiting several bands I used to use for cathartic turns in my youth lately.<\/p>\n<aside data-block-type=\"embed\" data-render-type=\"fte\" data-skip=\"dealsy\" data-widget-type=\"seasonal\" class=\"hawk-root\"\/>\n<p id=\"elk-b2bb80ee-8d40-4677-a34f-970f718bd8ce-2\">From the crooning, humming of AFI&#8217;s Davey Havok, to the political cries of Zack de la Rocha, a steady stream of late &#8217;90s and classic hits have been spinning around my turntable for the past few months.<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"article-continues-below block py-2 text-sm\">The article continues below <svg xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"inline-block w-2.5 h-2.5 ml-2\" fill=\"currentColor\" preserveaspectratio=\"xMidYMid meet\" viewbox=\"0 0 1000 1000\"><path d=\"M1000 100L500 900 0 100h1000z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/p>\n<aside data-component-name=\"Recirculation:ArticleRiver\" data-recirculation-type=\"inline\" data-mrf-recirculation=\"Trending Bar\" data-nosnippet=\"\" class=\"clear-both pb-0 pt-2 mb-4\">\n        <span class=\"&#10;            flex&#10;            after:content-[''] after:flex-1 after:ml-4 after:my-[0.7rem] after:border-t after:border-solid after:border-t-[#ccc]&#10;            before:content-[''] before:flex-1 before:mr-4 before:my-[0.7rem] before:border-t before:border-solid before:border-t-[#ccc]&#10;            font-article-heading pb-0 !text-base uppercase sm:text-sm font-bold&#10;        \"><\/p>\n<p>            You might like it<br \/>\n        <\/span><\/p>\n<\/aside>\n<p class=\"paywall\" aria-hidden=\"true\">But one in particular has been on repeat lately, Rage Against the Machine&#8217;s second album, <em>The Evil Empire<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p>Why this album, in addition to Rage&#8217;s extensive work? However, there are several reasons.<\/p>\n<p>First, we are about to celebrate a very big milestone, which will be 30 years on April 16th. Second, I can&#8217;t help but feel it&#8217;s an underappreciated, forgotten gem, even among Rage Against The Machine fans.<\/p>\n<p>Even among the fans I know, while everyone misses the singles, especially <em>Bulls On Parade<\/em> (which we celebrated at the end <em>It&#8217;s Playing Now<\/em> column), these days, most of the attention goes to the band&#8217;s self-titled debut album. And in some ways, I get why.<\/p>\n<div id=\"slice-container-newsletterForm-articleInbodyContent-PoHKR3ea7ySqdRqKHvySc3\" class=\"slice-container newsletter-inbodyContent-slice newsletterForm-articleInbodyContent-PoHKR3ea7ySqdRqKHvySc3 slice-container-newsletterForm\">\n<div data-hydrate=\"true\" class=\"newsletter-form__wrapper newsletter-form__wrapper--inbodyContent\">\n<div class=\"newsletter-form__container\">\n<section class=\"newsletter-form__top-bar\"\/>\n<section class=\"newsletter-form__main-section\">\n<p class=\"newsletter-form__strapline\">The latest hi-fi, home cinema and tech news, reviews, shopping advice and deals, delivered straight to your inbox.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>In 1992 <em>Rage Against The Machine<\/em> is 100 percent one for the history books, with the band&#8217;s fun bass and drums combining with Tom Morello&#8217;s unique guitar style and Zach de la Rocha&#8217;s furious hip-hop vocals to create something truly unique.<\/p>\n<p>In fact, at the time, there was nothing like it, except Faith No More&#8217;s <em>Epic<\/em>. Like a sprog, it blew my mind.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paywall\" aria-hidden=\"true\">And as a cohesive piece of work, it&#8217;s better. Each song stands on its own, but the album flows easily from banger to banger, making it easy to listen to from start to finish.<\/p>\n<aside data-component-name=\"Recirculation:ArticleRiver\" data-recirculation-type=\"inline\" data-mrf-recirculation=\"Trending Bar\" data-nosnippet=\"\" class=\"clear-both pb-0 pt-2 mb-4\">\n        <span class=\"&#10;            flex&#10;            after:content-[''] after:flex-1 after:ml-4 after:my-[0.7rem] after:border-t after:border-solid after:border-t-[#ccc]&#10;            before:content-[''] before:flex-1 before:mr-4 before:my-[0.7rem] before:border-t before:border-solid before:border-t-[#ccc]&#10;            font-article-heading pb-0 !text-base uppercase sm:text-sm font-bold&#10;        \"><\/p>\n<p>            What you can read next<br \/>\n        <\/span><\/p>\n<\/aside>\n<figure class=\"van-image-figure inline-layout\" data-bordeaux-image-check=\"\" id=\"elk-6daa0f7c-b26d-47d4-acfc-9da4f7737605\">\n<div class=\"image-full-width-wrapper\">\n<div class=\"image-widthsetter\" style=\"max-width:3024px;\">\n<p class=\"vanilla-image-block\" style=\"padding-top:133.33%;\"> <picture data-new-v2-image=\"true\"><source type=\"image\/webp\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net\/z4NkuANKwN8E2h4fVo9wqR-1200-80.jpg.webp 1200w, https:\/\/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net\/z4NkuANKwN8E2h4fVo9wqR-1024-80.jpg.webp 1024w, https:\/\/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net\/z4NkuANKwN8E2h4fVo9wqR-970-80.jpg.webp 970w, https:\/\/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net\/z4NkuANKwN8E2h4fVo9wqR-650-80.jpg.webp 650w, https:\/\/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net\/z4NkuANKwN8E2h4fVo9wqR-480-80.jpg.webp 480w, https:\/\/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net\/z4NkuANKwN8E2h4fVo9wqR-320-80.jpg.webp 320w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 1000px) 970px, calc(100vw - 40px)\"><\/source><\/picture><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><figcaption itemprop=\"caption description\" class=\" inline-layout\"><span class=\"credit\" itemprop=\"copyrightHolder\">(Image credit: What is Hi-Fi?)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p id=\"elk-adf5c7c2-19b4-42d9-a6e7-4b904344c337\">Maybe that&#8217;s why, until recently, I only owned the first album on vinyl and relied on streaming and my old CD copies <em>The Evil Empire<\/em> again <em>I<\/em> <em>Battle of Los Angeles<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p>It wasn&#8217;t until recently, after a quick trip to the record store last month, that I finally got myself a copy (sadly, not the first pressing; instead, a copy of the 2012 European 180g reissue I found while digging through a crate).<\/p>\n<p>And after revisiting it in format, I feel that I finally gave it the right time of day, listening to it from beginning to end, in my comfortable chair &#8211; not rock&#8217;n&#8217;roll, I know, but my knees can no longer be beaten or punctured&#8230;<\/p>\n<p>First, the compression made me realize how compressed most broadcasts are, especially when listening to Bluetooth headphones, which is how I usually listen.<em> The Evil Empire<\/em> as an adult. Rage Against The Machine may be famous for being loud, aggressive and rowdy, but there is actually a lot of beauty in the band&#8217;s playing.<\/p>\n<p>Much of it is lost in an awkward flow that pushes the sound too far, but it cuts through the subtle details &#8211; the specific phrasing of Morello&#8217;s lead guitar, the slight vibrato in de la Rocha&#8217;s voice, the rising volume in Tim Commerford&#8217;s thundering bass, the attacking rhythm of drummer Brado Wilk&#8217;s precision<\/p>\n<p>You hear a lot more, especially with dynamics, listening to the album properly, rather than listening to a cheap stream.<\/p>\n<p>This is especially true <em>The Evil Empire<\/em>with hidden gems. <em>Turn Right<\/em>its introduction evokes the feeling of UFOs flying overhead<em>,<\/em> with Morello&#8217;s guitar jumping rapidly in volume and from left to right, it&#8217;s one of the highlights.<\/p>\n<p>Or what I like, <em>A revolver<\/em>its experimental intro sounds like a complete mess when listened to on a low-quality stream, but on vinyl it&#8217;s really solid, laying the foundation for the thundering groove-metal riff it explodes from.<\/p>\n<p>Then there&#8217;s the added extra depth you get, and the extra energy that makes the usual breakdowns and explosive riffs just hit harder and have the impact the band wants.<\/p>\n<p>There&#8217;s a lot to enjoy on the album. That&#8217;s why, I can&#8217;t help but recommend any Rage Against The Machine fan to take the time to revisit it <em>The Evil Empire<\/em>30 years on, I&#8217;ll ask them again to do it with a decent source and hi-fi setup. Trust me, you won&#8217;t regret it.<\/p>\n<p><strong>MORE:<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>&#8220;It&#8217;s not just a transaction, it&#8217;s a conversation&#8221; &#8211; how vinyl record stores are thriving in the digital age<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>We pick 8 of the best releases for Store Day 2026 &#8211; The Cure, Nas, Miles Davis, Pavement and more.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Our guide to <\/strong><strong>great turntables<\/strong><strong>    money can be bought<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The price of groceries, the threat of World War III, my wife&#8217;s insistence that &#8220;the meaning&#8221; of Emerald Fennell Accommodations in Wuthering Heights &#8220;not so bad&#8221;: there&#8217;s a lot to be angry about now. Which is why, middle-aged, reformed mosher that I am, I&#8217;ve found myself revisiting several bands I used to use for cathartic [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":12822,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-12821","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-audio-sound"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.runwayritz.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12821","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.runwayritz.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.runwayritz.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.runwayritz.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.runwayritz.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12821"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.runwayritz.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12821\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.runwayritz.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12822"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.runwayritz.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12821"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.runwayritz.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12821"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.runwayritz.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12821"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}