No one would make the argument that Rage Against the Machine in their original state was not one of the most influential bands that has risen to popularity in the last decade. However, that popularity has been stagnated by the fact that they have refused to follow any real new musical ground, instead becoming a "one trick pony," so to speak. Granted, Rage is a talented band, but they have not lived up to the promise of their first two albums.

With Renegades, the band's fourth album, and most likely their last with departed lead singer Zach de la Rocha (barring a live disc or a rarities disc), they begin to live up to that promise, at least for a good 2/3 or so of this disc, completely made up of covers of bands that obviously inspired Rage.

Rage is also an easy target for criticism, what with their very left politics and their cries of how bad America is. At the very least, you have to at least respect the fact they are passionate about the way this country is run, something that probably can't be said for half of the people who criticize them.

While Renegades is a good album, there are a few songs here that just miss badly. Microphone Fiend is disjointed and boring, recalling much too much of Rage's previous material, and falling into the same abyss that a good 3/4 of the songs on their previous record, 1999's The Battle of Los Angeles fell into.

And then there is the positively cringe-inducing cover of the Rolling Stones Street Fighting Man, a song that never should have made it onto this album. I'm sorry, rap/rock just doesn't work for this song, which is at it's best when the Stones play it like it should be played.

Despite those (and one or two other) misses, this album is, for the most part, a success. For one, as mentioned earlier, the band successfully creates something "new," out of these songs, drawing an urgent energy on some of them that just wasn't there before. Their cover of MC5's Kick Out the Jams has even more life than the original, which is possibly the greatest compliment I can bestow on any one song on this record.

The 5 year old cover of Bruce Springsteen's The Ghost of Tom Joad is finally released commercially (before it was only available on a dual CD single/video pack), and this song still resonates. Rage did a deft job making this acoustic ballad into a roaring rocker.

The two live tracks, originally recorded for a live album that eventually turned into this album, are somewhat disappointing, only because the studio versions are already on this disc. But to hear Rage jamming with Cypress Hill's Sen Dog and B-Real (heavily rumored to be joining Rage as their next singer) on Hill's How I Could Just Kill A Man is positively a wonderful experience.

While I have grown very much tired of Rage and their act, I have to admit this was a very pleasant surprise. Hopefully, Rage will continue to grow and evolve, rather than falling again into the pit that captured them on The Battle of LA. Pick this one up, you won't be sorry you did.



Recommended: Yes