The Battle of Los Angeles (album)

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, 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 breakup in 2000, although they did release a covers album that same year.

The Battle of Los Angeles
Studio album by
Rage Against the Machine
ReleasedNovember 2, 1999 (1999-11-02)
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
  4. "Calm Like a Bomb"
    Released: November 13, 2000

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 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
AllMusic[1]
The Austin Chronicle[9]
Entertainment WeeklyA[10]
Houston Chronicle[11]
Los Angeles Times[12]
NME7/10[2]
Rolling Stone[13]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide[14]
Spin9/10[15]
USA Today[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]

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 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 CertificationCertified units/sales
Australia (ARIA)[44] Platinum 70,000^
Canada (Music Canada)[45] 2× Platinum 200,000^
New Zealand (RMNZ)[46] Gold 7,500^
United Kingdom (BPI)[47] Gold 100,000^
United States (RIAA)[48] 2× Platinum 2,000,000^

*sales figures based on certification alone
^shipments figures based on certification alone

References
  1. Bush, John. "The Battle of Los Angeles – Rage Against the Machine". AllMusic. Retrieved February 15, 2012.
  2. 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 2010-11-15.
  9. Lynch, David (November 12, 1999). "Rage Against the Machine: The Battle of Los Angeles (Epic/Sony)". The Austin Chronicle. Retrieved April 11, 2019.
  10. Hermes, Will (November 1, 1999). "The Battle of Los Angeles". Entertainment Weekly. Archived from the original on October 3, 2019. Retrieved February 15, 2012.
  11. Sullivan, James (October 31, 1999). "Rage Still at Forefront Of Rock's Revolution". Houston Chronicle. Retrieved April 24, 2017.
  12. "Listen Up, Elves!". Los Angeles Times. December 2, 1999. Retrieved January 16, 2017.
  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. 15 (12): 213–14. Retrieved January 16, 2017.
  16. Gundersen, Edna (November 2, 1999). "Rap-metal quartet rages rhythmically for justice". USA Today.
  17. [...], Rock Hard (Hrsg.). [Red.: Michael Rensen. Mitarb.: Götz Kühnemund] (2005). Best of Rock & Metal die 500 stärksten Scheiben aller Zeiten. Königswinter: Heel. p. 61. ISBN 978-3-89880-517-9.CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  18. "Australiancharts.com – Rage Against the Machine – The Battle of Los Angeles". Hung Medien.
  19. "Austriancharts.at – Rage Against the Machine – The Battle of Los Angeles" (in German). Hung Medien.
  20. "Ultratop.be – Rage Against the Machine – The Battle of Los Angeles" (in Dutch). Hung Medien.
  21. "Ultratop.be – Rage Against the Machine – The Battle of Los Angeles" (in French). Hung Medien.
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  23. "Listen - Danmarks Officielle Hitliste - Udarbejdet af AIM Nielsen for IFPI Danmark - Uge 45". Ekstra Bladet (in Danish). Copenhagen. 1999-11-14.
  24. "Dutchcharts.nl – Rage Against the Machine – The Battle of Los Angeles" (in Dutch). Hung Medien.
  25. "Rage Against the Machine: The Battle of Los Angeles" (in Finnish). Musiikkituottajat – IFPI Finland.
  26. "Lescharts.com – Rage Against the Machine – The Battle of Los Angeles". Hung Medien.
  27. "Longplay-Chartverfolgung at Musicline" (in German). Musicline.de. Phononet GmbH.
  28. "Charts.nz – Rage Against the Machine – The Battle of Los Angeles". Hung Medien.
  29. "Norwegiancharts.com – Rage Against the Machine – The Battle of Los Angeles". Hung Medien.
  30. Salaverri, Fernando (September 2005). Sólo éxitos: año a año, 1959–2002 (1st ed.). Spain: Fundación Autor-SGAE. ISBN 84-8048-639-2.
  31. "Swedishcharts.com – Rage Against the Machine – The Battle of Los Angeles". Hung Medien.
  32. "Swisscharts.com – Rage Against the Machine – The Battle of Los Angeles". Hung Medien.
  33. "Rage Against the Machine | Artist | Official Charts". UK Albums Chart. Retrieved 28 May 2016.
  34. "Official Rock & Metal Albums Chart Top 40". Official Charts Company.
  35. "Rage Against the Machine Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard.
  36. "Rage Against the Machine Chart History (Top Catalog Albums)". Billboard.
  37. "Norwegiancharts.com – Rage Against the Machine – Guerrilla Radio". VG-lista.
  38. "Swedishcharts.com – Rage Against the Machine – Guerrilla Radio". Singles Top 100.
  39. "Official Singles Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company.
  40. "Rage Against the Machine Chart History (Alternative Songs)". Billboard.
  41. "Rage Against the Machine Chart History (Hot 100)". Billboard.
  42. "Rage Against the Machine Chart History (Mainstream Rock)". Billboard.
  43. "Official Singles Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company.
  44. "ARIA Charts – Accreditations – 1999 Albums". Australian Recording Industry Association.
  45. "Canadian album certifications – Rage Against the Machine – The Battle of Los Angeles". Music Canada.
  46. "New Zealand album certifications – Rage Against the Machine – The Battle of Los Angeles". Recorded Music NZ.
  47. "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.
  48. "American album certifications – Rage Against the Machine – The Battle of Los Angeles". Recording Industry Association of America. If necessary, click Advanced, then click Format, then select Album, then click SEARCH. 
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