Rage Against the Machine (album)

This article is about the band's debut studio album. For their demo album of the same name, see Rage Against the Machine (demo album). For other albums by Rage Against the Machine, see Rage Against the Machine discography.

Rage Against the Machine
A black-and-white image of a man being burned alive. The album title/band name is shown at the bottom in lowercase letters with a black background.
Studio album by
Rage Against the Machine
ReleasedNovember 6, 1992[1]
RecordedApril–May 1992
StudioSound City (Van Nuys, California)
Genre
Length52:55
LabelEpic
Producer
Rage Against the Machine chronology
Rage Against the Machine
(1991) 		Rage Against the Machine
(1992) 		Evil Empire
(1996)
Singles from Rage Against the Machine
  1. "Killing in the Name"
    Released: November 2, 1992
  2. "Bullet in the Head"
    Released: December 29, 1992
  3. "Bombtrack"
    Released: June 20, 1993
  4. "Freedom"
    Released: August 23, 1994

Rage Against the Machine is the debut studio album by American rock band Rage Against the Machine.[6] It was released on November 6, 1992, by Epic Records, four days after the first single came out: "Killing in the Name". The album was based largely on the band's first commercial demo tape of the same name, completed 11 months prior to the album's release. The tape contained earlier recordings of seven of the ten songs.

With politically themed, revolutionary lyrical content, the album artwork was notable for its graphic photograph of Vietnamese monk Thích Quảng Đức performing self-immolation in June 1963.

The album was a critical success upon release, with several critics noting the album's politically motivated agenda and praising frontman Zack de la Rocha's strong vocal delivery. Ranked number 24 on Rolling Stone's list of the "100 Greatest Metal Albums of All Time", the album peaked at number 1 on the US Billboard Heatseekers chart and number 45 on the US Billboard 200 and has gone on to achieve a triple platinum sales certification from the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) in the US. Multiple publications have ranked it as one of the best albums of the 1990s.[citation needed] In 2020, It was ranked 221 in Rolling Stone's updated list of the "500 Greatest Albums of All Time".

  1. ^ Stenning, Paul (2008). Rage Against The Machine – Stage Fighters. Bonnier Zaffre. pp. 90–91. ISBN 9781784189679.
  2. ^ Lawson, Dom (October 26, 2016). "The 10 essential rap metal albums". Metal Hammer. Retrieved September 23, 2019.
  3. ^ Catucci, Nick (November 27, 2012). "Rage Against the Machine – XX". Rolling Stone. Retrieved November 30, 2012.
  4. ^ "The 25 Best Alternative Metal Albums — Metal Descent". metaldescent.com. Archived from the original on February 4, 2017. Retrieved May 15, 2022.
  5. ^ Cooley, Joshua (December 13, 2021). "10 Perfect Rap Rock Albums With No Bad Songs". WhatCulture. Retrieved May 2, 2022.
  6. ^ The RMF Loves Rage Against The Machine - Rage Against The Machine (1992) Archived September 13, 2010, at the Wayback Machine Real Music Forum Archived April 29, 2009, at the Wayback Machine