The Battle of Los Angeles (album)
<templatestyles src="Module:Hatnote/styles.css"></templatestyles>
The Battle of Los Angeles | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
File:RAtM-BattleofLosAngeles.jpeg | ||||
Studio album by Rage Against the Machine | ||||
Released | November 2, 1999 | |||
Recorded | September - October, 1998 | |||
Studio | (see Studios) | |||
Genre | ||||
Length | 45:10 | |||
Label | Epic | |||
Producer | Brendan O'Brien | |||
Rage Against the Machine chronology | ||||
|
||||
Singles from The Battle of Los Angeles | ||||
|
The Battle of Los Angeles is the third studio album by American rap metal band Rage Against the Machine. It was released on November 2, 1999, over three years after their second studio album, Evil Empire. Between Evil Empire and Los Angeles, the band released a live album, titled Live & Rare. This album is Rage Against the Machine's most recent album consisting of original material. The Battle of Los Angeles was nominated for the 2001 Grammy Award for Best Rock Album.
Contents
Concept
The album was named for the Battle of Los Angeles which took place on February 25, 1942. The Battle of Los Angeles was heavily influenced by the novel Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell. "Testify", "Sleep Now in the Fire", "Voice of the Voiceless", among other songs, include direct quotes from the novel, and mention key Orwellian terms in the lyrics.[citation needed] "Voice of the Voiceless", a song referring to Mumia Abu Jamal, contains a quotation from the writings of Mao Zedong[where?]. Another Rage-Mumia-Mao connection can be seen in Mumia's paraphrased words from Mao's "power grows out of the barrel of a gun" when Mumia gave his court testimony: "It is America who has seized political power from the Indian [Native American] race, not by God, not by Christianity, not by goodness, but by the barrel of a gun."[1]
Release and promotion
The song "Calm Like a Bomb" is featured in the credits of The Matrix Reloaded. The videos to "Sleep Now in the Fire" and "Testify" were directed by documentarian Michael Moore. Both "Testify" and "Guerrilla Radio" are also featured in the video game Rock Band 2, being on-disc and downloadable, respectively.
The album debuted at #1 on Billboard's Top 200 selling 420,000 copies its first week during a busy CD release schedule, forcing Mariah Carey's highly anticipated album to take the #2 spot. "Guerrilla Radio" was featured in Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2, albeit heavily edited on the Nintendo 64 version, and it is also heavily edited on Madden NFL 10. Both Time and Rolling Stone named it the Best Album of 1999. It was listed as #53 in SPIN Magazine's 100 Greatest Albums, 1985-2005.
The album cover art was an original artwork by the LA Street Phantom aka Joey Krebs aka Joel Jaramillo, a well-known Los Angeles artist who has exhibited at numerous galleries in Los Angeles, New York City and throughout the United States.[2] Despite claims to the contrary, the image was not inspired by images from the 1992 street riots of LA or from images of Munich, but by the band's own music and words, and represents one in a series of images of the artist's work, which can also be seen on various street murals in Los Angeles.[citation needed]
Saul Williams sampled "Born of a Broken Man" for his song "Om Nia Merican", which appeared on his 2001 album Amethyst Rock Star.
Critical reception
Professional ratings | |
---|---|
Review scores | |
Source | Rating |
Allmusic | [3] |
Entertainment Weekly | A [4] |
NME | 7/10 [5] |
Rolling Stone | [6] |
Spin | 9/10 [7] |
Vibe | favorable [8] |
Yahoo! Music | favorable [9] |
Rock Hard (de) | 8.5/10[10] |
In 2003, The Battle of Los Angeles was ranked number 426 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time. In 2005, the album was ranked number 369 in Rock Hard magazine's book of The 500 Greatest Rock & Metal Albums of All Time.[11]
Awards
- 1999: #1 Time Magazine Critic Pick (The Best Music of 1999)
- 1999: #1 Rolling Stone Critic Pick (Best Album of 1999)
- 2000: "Guerrilla Radio" – Grammy Award for Best Hard Rock Performance
Track listing
All lyrics written by Zack de la Rocha, all music composed by Rage Against the Machine.
No. | Title | Length |
---|---|---|
1. | "Testify" | 3:30 |
2. | "Guerrilla Radio" | 3:26 |
3. | "Calm Like a Bomb" | 4:58 |
4. | "Mic Check" | 3:33 |
5. | "Sleep Now in the Fire" | 3:25 |
6. | "Born of a Broken Man" | 4:40 |
7. | "Born as Ghosts" | 3:22 |
8. | "Maria" | 3:48 |
9. | "Voice of the Voiceless" | 2:31 |
10. | "New Millennium Homes" | 3:44 |
11. | "Ashes in the Fall" | 4:37 |
12. | "War Within a Breath" | 3:36 |
Total length:
|
45:10 |
Australian and Japanese bonus track | ||
---|---|---|
No. | Title | Length |
13. | "No Shelter" | 4:06 |
- Bonus promo CD/tape
In the US, some retail stores gave a free promo CD to those who pre-ordered the CD. It contained 2 tracks: "Clear the Lane" and "Hadda Be Playing on the Juke Box". In Australia certain chains gave a promo tape to those who pre-ordered titled "New... Live... Rare" which featured "Calm Like a Bomb" and the aforementioned all on one side and repeating on side B. All versions are the same as on their proper CD releases.
Personnel
- Band
- Zack de la Rocha – vocals
- Tom Morello – guitars
- Tim Commerford (credited as "YTimK") – bass
- Brad Wilk – drums
- Technical
- Brendan O'Brien – production, mixing
- Rage Against the Machine – co-production
- Nick DiDia – engineering, recording
- Russ Fowler – additional engineering
- Sugar D – additional engineering
- German Villacorta – assistant engineering (at A&M Studios)
- Roger Sommers – assistant engineering (at Royaltone Studios)
- Kevin Lively – assistant engineering (at Silent Sound Studios)
- Ryan Williams – engineering (at Southern Tracks)
- Karl Egsieker – assistant engineering (at Southern Tracks)
- Monique Mitzrahl – assistant engineering (at Sunset Sound)
- Kevin Dean – assistant engineering (at Sunset Sound)
- Michael Parnin – assistant engineering (at Westlake Audio)
- "Atom" – assistant engineering (at Westlake Audio)
- Stephen Marcussen – mastering
- Andrew Garver – digital editing
- Cheryl Mondello – production coordination
- Erin Haley – production coordination
- Artwork and design
- Rage Against the Machine – art direction
- Aimee Macauley – art direction
- Joey Krebs – artwork
- Danny Clinch – photography
- Matt DeMello (eye cue); photography
- Steven Tirona – additional photography
- Studios
- A&M Studios, Los Angeles, CA – recording, mixing
- Royaltone Studios, Los Angeles, CA – recording, mixing
- Silent Sound Studios, Atlanta, GA – recording, mixing
- Southern Tracks, Atlanta, GA – recording, mixing
- Sunset Sound, Los Angeles, CA – recording, mixing
- Westlake Audio, Los Angeles, CA – recording, mixing
- A&M Mastering Studios, Los Angeles, CA – mastering
Charts
Certifications
Region | Certification | Sales/shipments |
---|---|---|
Australia (ARIA)[36] | Platinum | 70,000 |
Canada (Music Canada)[37] | 2× Platinum | 200,000 |
New Zealand (RMNZ)[38] | Gold | 7,500 |
United Kingdom (BPI)[39] | Gold | 100,000 |
United States (RIAA)[40] | 2× Platinum | 2,000,000 |
*sales figures based on certification alone |
References
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Bush, John. The Battle of Los Angeles at AllMusic
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ NME Album Reviews - The Battle Of Los Angeles - NME.COM
- ↑ The Battle Of Los Angeles | Album Reviews | Rolling Stone
- ↑ SPIN - Google Boeken
- ↑ Vibe - Google Boeken
- ↑ http://ca.music.yahoo.com/read/review/12035715
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ "Australiancharts.com – Rage Against the Machine – The Battle of Los Angeles". Hung Medien.
- ↑ "Austriancharts.at – Rage Against the Machine – The Battle of Los Angeles" (in German). Hung Medien.
- ↑ "Ultratop.be – Rage Against the Machine – The Battle of Los Angeles" (in Dutch). Hung Medien.
- ↑ "Ultratop.be – Rage Against the Machine – The Battle of Los Angeles" (in French). Hung Medien.
- ↑ "Rage Against the Machine – Chart history" Billboard Canadian Albums Chart for Rage Against the Machine.
- ↑ "Dutchcharts.nl – Rage Against the Machine – The Battle of Los Angeles" (in Dutch). Hung Medien.
- ↑ "Rage Against the Machine: The Battle of Los Angeles" (in Finnish). Musiikkituottajat – IFPI Finland.
- ↑ "Lescharts.com – Rage Against the Machine – The Battle of Los Angeles". Hung Medien.
- ↑ "Longplay-Chartverfolgung at Musicline" (in German). Musicline.de. Phononet GmbH.
- ↑ "Charts.org.nz – Rage Against the Machine – The Battle of Los Angeles". Hung Medien.
- ↑ "Norwegiancharts.com – Rage Against the Machine – The Battle of Los Angeles". Hung Medien.
- ↑ "Swedishcharts.com – Rage Against the Machine – The Battle of Los Angeles". Hung Medien.
- ↑ "Swisscharts.com – Rage Against the Machine – The Battle of Los Angeles". Hung Medien.
- ↑ "Rage Against the Machine | Artist | Official Charts". UK Albums Chart Retrieved 28 May 2016.
- ↑ "Official Rock & Metal Albums Chart Top 40". Official Charts Company.
- ↑ "Rage Against the Machine – Chart history" Billboard 200 for Rage Against the Machine.
- ↑ "Rage Against the Machine – Chart history" Billboard Top Catalog Albums for Rage Against the Machine.
- ↑ "Norwegiancharts.com – Rage Against the Machine – Guerrilla Radio". VG-lista.
- ↑ "Swedishcharts.com – Rage Against the Machine – Guerrilla Radio". Singles Top 60.
- ↑ "Archive Chart: 1999-11-06" UK Singles Chart.
- ↑ 32.0 32.1 32.2 "Rage Against the Machine – Chart history" Billboard Alternative Songs for Rage Against the Machine.
- ↑ "Rage Against the Machine – Chart history" Billboard Hot 100 for Rage Against the Machine.
- ↑ 34.0 34.1 34.2 "Rage Against the Machine – Chart history" Billboard Mainstream Rock Songs for Rage Against the Machine.
- ↑ "Archive Chart: 2000-04-15" UK Singles Chart.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. Enter The Battle of Los Angeles in the field Keywords. Select Title in the field Search by. Select album in the field By Format. Select Gold in the field By Award. Click Search
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. If necessary, click Advanced, then click Format, then select Album, then click SEARCH
External links
Preceded by | Billboard 200 number-one album November 20-26, 1999 |
Succeeded by Breathe by Faith Hill |
- Pages with broken file links
- Music infoboxes with Module:String errors
- Music infoboxes with deprecated parameters
- Articles with unsourced statements from October 2012
- Vague or ambiguous geographic scope from October 2012
- Articles with unsourced statements from February 2007
- Singlechart usages for UK
- Singlechart usages for Billboardalternativesongs
- Singlechart called without song
- Singlechart usages for Billboardmainstreamrock
- Singlechart called without artist
- Certification Table Entry usages for Australia
- Certification Table Entry usages for Canada
- Certification Table Entry usages for New Zealand
- Certification Table Entry usages for United Kingdom
- Certification Table Entry usages for United States
- 1999 albums
- Albums produced by Brendan O'Brien (record producer)
- Epic Records albums
- Rage Against the Machine albums