Evil Empire

Evil Empire, released on 16 April 1996, is the second album, on which Rage Against the Machine bound funk-derived rhythm, the cut of rap and Tom Morello's uncanny guitar sounds still more tightly together. It came four years after the debut, out of a difficult birth that had even produced breakup rumours, and it entered the US album chart at No. 1. The parts pile up flamboyantly, yet the core of the rhythm is astonishingly tight. The opening “People of the Sun” takes on the Zapatista uprising in Mexico; “Bulls on Parade” that follows hurls its anger at military spending. “Tire Me” won a Grammy. The closer, “Year of tha Boomerang,” recollects a song already given to the film Higher Learning in 1995. Tim Commerford's bass and Brad Wilk's drums lay a foundation that keeps funk's bounce without slackening once. Morello, with only a wah, a kill switch and pickup selector, produces sounds that can only be heard as a turntable. Words and sound charge at the same speed — a formidable summit of 1990s alternative rock.