Rating: NN
So greased is — was — the Rage Against the Machine machine that even as the four took on the widely divergent songbooks of Devo, Bruce Springsteen, Bob Dylan, the Stooges, the Stones and Afrika Bambaataa — as they do here — they still produced what sounds exactly like a Rage Against the Machine record, with yelps, grinding guitars and ear-splitting percussion intact. From a purely commercial point of view, maybe that’s for the best, since it’s hard to imagine Rage fans quaintly humming along to Maggie’s Farm. But if the intention was to recast these songs in a new light that reveals heretofore unseen sides of both band and title, then it’s a bust. Zack de la Rocha’s departure is starting to make sense.KH
