Rage to release Renegades

BY RICHARD PITHOUSE

Rage Against The Machine has recorded an album of classic socially and politically charged hip-hop, rock and punk songs. Rage attacks these songs in its typical hard-edged, unconventional fashion.

Renegades (Epic) is a collection of songs originally written and recorded by artists such as MC5, the Stooges, EPMD, Bob Dylan, Minor Threat, the Rolling Stones, Afrika Bambaataa, Devo, Volume 10, Erik B and Rakim, and Cypress Hill. A new remixed, version of Bruce Springsteen's "The Ghost of Tom Joad" (previously only available as a single and on Rage's 1997 home video) was also included. All songs were produced by Rick Rubin (Red Hot Chilli Peppers, Beastie Boys and founder of Def Jam records). The first single and video will be "Renegades of Funk" originally written and recorded by Afrika Bambaataa.

The initial shipment of the album will contain two bonus tracks — "Kick Out the Jams" and "How I Could Just Kill a Man" — recorded live in 1999 at the Grand Olympic Auditorium in Los Angeles.

A DVD/video of a 1999 Rage performance in Mexico will also be released this year. Originally aired on MTV, it features some political pieces created by lead singer Zack de la Rocha.

"What began as a couple of bonus tracks has blossomed into one of the most powerful records of our career", Tom Morello said of Renegades. "There has never been another album like this where a band like Rage Against The Machine has recorded an entire CD of classic revolutionary hip-hop and rock songs. We attack these songs with the same irreverence for convention with which they were written."

From GLW issue 431