The Battle of Los Angeles (album)

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The Battle of Los Angeles
RAtM-BattleofLosAngeles.jpeg
Studio album by
Rage Against the Machine
ReleasedNovember 2, 1999 (1999-11-02)
Recorded1998
Genre
Length45:16
LabelEpic
ProducerBrendan O'Brien
Rage Against the Machine chronology
Live & Rare
(1998) 		The Battle of Los Angeles
(1999) 		Renegades
(2000)
Singles from The Battle of Los Angeles
  1. "Guerrilla Radio"
    Released: October 12, 1999
  2. "Sleep Now in the Fire"
    Released: November 4, 1999
  3. "Testify"
    Released: June 7, 2000

The Battle of Los Angeles is the third studio album by American rock band Rage Against the Machine, released on November 2, 1999, by Epic Records. The album was nominated at the 43rd Annual Grammy Awards for Best Rock Album, and was recognized by both Time and Rolling Stone magazines as the best album of 1999. The Battle of Los Angeles would be the last full-length studio album of original material by Rage Against the Machine before their first breakup in 2000, although they did release a covers album that same year, which was released after the band's breakup.

Concept[]

"Voice of the Voiceless", a song referring to Mumia Abu Jamal, references a letter written by Mao Zedong, called "A Single Spark Can Start a Prairie Fire".[3][4] 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."[5]

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, who appears in both videos.[6][7] 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 number 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, Rainbow, to take the number 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 number 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.[8]

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
SourceRating
AllMusic4/5 stars[1]
Entertainment WeeklyA[9]
Houston Chronicle4/5 stars[10]
Los Angeles Times4/4 stars[11]
NME7/10[2]
Pitchfork8.7/10[12]
Rolling Stone4/5 stars[13]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide5/5 stars[14]
Spin9/10[15]
USA Today4/4 stars[16]

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.[17] In 2021, it was named one of the 20 best metal albums of 1999 by Metal Hammer magazine.[18]

Awards[]

Track listing[]

All lyrics are written by Zack de la Rocha; all music is composed by Rage Against the Machine.

No.TitleLength
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 edition bonus track
No.TitleLength
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[]

Charts[]

Certifications[]

Region Certification Certified units/sales
Australia (ARIA)[48] Platinum 70,000^
Canada (Music Canada)[49] 3× Platinum 300,000double-dagger
Japan (RIAJ)[50] Gold 100,000^
New Zealand (RMNZ)[51] Gold 7,500^
United Kingdom (BPI)[52] Gold 100,000^
United States (RIAA)[53] 2× Platinum 2,000,000^

^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.
double-dagger Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

References[]

  1. ^ Jump up to: a b Bush, John. "The Battle of Los Angeles – Rage Against the Machine". AllMusic. Retrieved February 15, 2012.
  2. ^ Jump up to: a b Wells, Steven (November 6, 1999). "Rage Against The Machine – The Battle Of Los Angeles". NME. Archived from the original on June 16, 2000. Retrieved February 15, 2012.
  3. ^ A Single Spark Can Start a Prairie Fire, 1930
  4. ^ Voice of the Voiceless, Genius.com
  5. ^ "From Death Row, Mumia Abu-Jamal".
  6. ^ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q3dvbM6Pias at 2:30
  7. ^ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w211KOQ5BMI at 2m:23
  8. ^ "The Street Phantom - Artist's Statement at Graffiti Verite.com". Graffitiverite.com. Retrieved November 15, 2010.
  9. ^ Hermes, Will (November 1, 1999). "The Battle of Los Angeles". Entertainment Weekly. Archived from the original on October 3, 2019. Retrieved February 15, 2012.
  10. ^ Sullivan, James (October 31, 1999). "Rage Still at Forefront Of Rock's Revolution". Houston Chronicle. Retrieved April 24, 2017.
  11. ^ "Listen Up, Elves!". Los Angeles Times. December 2, 1999. Archived from the original on November 11, 2012. Retrieved January 16, 2017.
  12. ^ Larson, Jeremy D. (August 9, 2020). "Rage Against the Machine: The Battle of Los Angeles". Pitchfork. Retrieved August 9, 2020.
  13. ^ Strauss, Neil (November 11, 1999). "The Battle of Los Angeles". Rolling Stone. Retrieved February 15, 2012.
  14. ^ Tate, Greg (2004). "Rage Against the Machine". In Brackett, Nathan; Hoard, Christian (eds.). The New Rolling Stone Album Guide (4th ed.). Simon & Schuster. pp. 672–73. ISBN 978-0-7432-0169-8.
  15. ^ Smith, RJ (December 1999). "The New Machine Age". Spin. Vol. 15 no. 12. pp. 213–14. Retrieved January 16, 2017.
  16. ^ Gundersen, Edna (November 2, 1999). "Rap-metal quartet rages rhythmically for justice". USA Today.
  17. ^ Best of Rock & Metal - Die 500 stärksten Scheiben aller Zeiten (in German). Rock Hard. 2005. p. 61. ISBN 978-3-89880-517-9.
  18. ^ "The Top 20 best metal albums of 1999". Metal Hammer. Future plc. January 21, 2021. Retrieved March 6, 2021.
  19. ^ "Australiancharts.com – Rage Against the Machine – The Battle of Los Angeles". Hung Medien.
  20. ^ "Austriancharts.at – Rage Against the Machine – The Battle of Los Angeles" (in German). Hung Medien.
  21. ^ "Ultratop.be – Rage Against the Machine – The Battle of Los Angeles" (in Dutch). Hung Medien.
  22. ^ "Ultratop.be – Rage Against the Machine – The Battle of Los Angeles" (in French). Hung Medien.
  23. ^ "Rage Against the Machine Chart History (Canadian Albums)". Billboard.
  24. ^ "Listen - Danmarks Officielle Hitliste - Udarbejdet af AIM Nielsen for IFPI Danmark - Uge 45". Ekstra Bladet (in Danish). Copenhagen. November 14, 1999.
  25. ^ "Dutchcharts.nl – Rage Against the Machine – The Battle of Los Angeles" (in Dutch). Hung Medien.
  26. ^ "Rage Against the Machine: The Battle of Los Angeles" (in Finnish). Musiikkituottajat – IFPI Finland.
  27. ^ "Lescharts.com – Rage Against the Machine – The Battle of Los Angeles". Hung Medien.
  28. ^ "Longplay-Chartverfolgung at Musicline" (in German). Musicline.de. Phononet GmbH.
  29. ^ "Charts.nz – Rage Against the Machine – The Battle of Los Angeles". Hung Medien.
  30. ^ "Norwegiancharts.com – Rage Against the Machine – The Battle of Los Angeles". Hung Medien.
  31. ^ Salaverri, Fernando (September 2005). Sólo éxitos: año a año, 1959–2002 (1st ed.). Spain: Fundación Autor-SGAE. ISBN 84-8048-639-2.
  32. ^ "Swedishcharts.com – Rage Against the Machine – The Battle of Los Angeles". Hung Medien.
  33. ^ "Swisscharts.com – Rage Against the Machine – The Battle of Los Angeles". Hung Medien.
  34. ^ "Rage Against the Machine | Artist | Official Charts". UK Albums Chart. Retrieved May 28, 2016.
  35. ^ "Official Rock & Metal Albums Chart Top 40". Official Charts Company.
  36. ^ "Rage Against the Machine Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard.
  37. ^ "Rage Against the Machine Chart History (Top Catalog Albums)". Billboard.
  38. ^ "ARIA End of Year Albums Chart 1999". Australian Recording Industry Association. Retrieved September 17, 2020.
  39. ^ "Top Billboard 200 Albums – Year-End 1999". Billboard. Retrieved September 17, 2020.
  40. ^ "Top Billboard 200 Albums – Year-End 2000". Billboard. Retrieved September 17, 2020.
  41. ^ "Norwegiancharts.com – Rage Against the Machine – Guerrilla Radio". VG-lista.
  42. ^ "Swedishcharts.com – Rage Against the Machine – Guerrilla Radio". Singles Top 100.
  43. ^ "Official Singles Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company.
  44. ^ Jump up to: a b c "Rage Against the Machine Chart History (Alternative Airplay)". Billboard.
  45. ^ "Rage Against the Machine Chart History (Hot 100)". Billboard.
  46. ^ Jump up to: a b c "Rage Against the Machine Chart History (Mainstream Rock)". Billboard.
  47. ^ "Official Singles Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company.
  48. ^ "ARIA Charts – Accreditations – 1999 Albums" (PDF). Australian Recording Industry Association.
  49. ^ "Canadian album certifications – Rage Against the Machine – The Battle of Los Angeles". Music Canada. Retrieved January 23, 2021.
  50. ^ "Japanese album certifications – Rage Against the Machine – The Battle of Los Angeles" (in Japanese). Recording Industry Association of Japan. Select 1999年11月 on the drop-down menu
  51. ^ "New Zealand album certifications – Rage Against the Machine – The Battle of Los Angeles". Recorded Music NZ.
  52. ^ "British album certifications – Rage Against the Machine – The Battle of Los Angeles". British Phonographic Industry.Select albums in the Format field. Select Gold in the Certification field. Type The Battle of Los Angeles in the "Search BPI Awards" field and then press Enter.
  53. ^ "American album certifications – Rage Against the Machine – The Battle of Los Angeles". Recording Industry Association of America.

External links[]

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