Rage Against The Machine Live At The Grand Olympic Auditorium CD

Rage Against The Machine: Zach de la Rocha (vocals); Tom Morello (guitar); Tim Commerford (bass); Brad Wilk (drums).
Recorded live at Grand Olympic Stadium, Los Angeles, Californnia, on November 12 & 13, 2000.
Personnel: Zack de la Rocha (vocals); Tom Morello (guitar); Brad Wilk (drums).
Audio Mixer: Rich Costey.
Recording information: 09/12/2000-09/13/2000.
Live at the Grand Olympic Auditorium documents the last two shows from Rage Against the Machine, recorded in September 2000 for a planned November release, but canceled when the band broke up, and postponed for the second time one year later after three-fourths of the band formed Audioslave with Chris Cornell. Featuring highlights from the two shows, recorded September 12th and 13th, this delayed version of Live at the Grand Olympic Auditorium also downplays the cover material that comprised the band's last studio album, Renegades, which is a good thing for the fans who agree that Rage performed better with originals than covers. Early on, the band storms through three of its career highlights -- "Killing in the Name," "Bulls on Parade," and "Bullet in the Head" -- with intense performances that capture its combination of heavy metal strut and punk rock disdain. ~ John Bush
Live at the Grand Olympic Auditorium documents the last two shows from Rage Against the Machine, recorded in September 2000 for a planned November release, but canceled when the band broke up, and postponed for the second time one year later after three-fourths of the band formed Audioslave with Chris Cornell. The finished product isn't a very good look at one of the finest metal bands of the '90s, not because the performance quality is lacking but because of mixing problems and the simple problems inherent in transferring the energy of a live concert to record. Featuring highlights from the two shows, recorded September 12th and 13th, this delayed version of Live at the Grand Olympic Auditorium also downplays the cover material that comprised the band's last studio album, Renegades, which is a good thing for the fans who agree that Rage performed better with originals than covers. Early on, the band storms through three of its career highlights -- "Killing in the Name," "Bulls on Parade," and "Bullet in the Head" -- with intense performances that capture its combination of heavy metal strut and punk rock disdain. Something is lacking here, though. Zack de la Rocha's vocals are too high in the mix, and the band sounds powerful but surprisingly muddy. Tom Morello's ragged guitar work and siren effects occasionally cut through the fog, but the songs here add little to what fans know of the studio albums. The two covers, cut down from five, add little to the concert; Rage's version of the EPMD classic "I'm Housin'" is a misguided attempt at injecting melodramatic tension into an original that was eerie precisely because the vocal was so nonchalant, and MC5's "Kick Out the Jams" is butchered by de la Rocha, whose attempts to sing the song are flubbed badly. ~ John Bush
Before vocalist Chris Cornell (ex-Soundgarden) joined forces with the displaced instrumentalists of Rage Against the Machine to form Audioslave, RATM were among the most revered acts in heavy rock. The band has since faded into the annals of rock history, having left an indelible mark, and their unmistakable sound has often been copied but never duplicated. This live album (originally planned as a two-disc set with the cover album RENEGADES), harnesses the energy and raw emotion that was an RATM concert, centered around Zach de la Rocha's unabashed social commentary, via stylish and often poetic rhyming.
On these 2000 performances, classic tracks were imbued with Zach's timely worldview, as "Killing in the Name" has its famous mantra morphed to "some of those that burn crosses/are the same that hold office," while the band precisely pummels its instruments. On "Freedom" (originally written to champion the cause of LeonSpin (2/04, p.97) - "LIVE reminds us just how much we could use Rage right now. To paraphrase 'Know Your Enemy': Their anger was a gift." - Grade: A-
Entertainment Weekly (11/28/03, p.125) - "...This live greatest-hits set makes the studio versions of these songs sound tame..." - Rating: A-