I'm a rage head till the end. Chris Cornel can't dream about pumping out the poetic (although controversial) lyrics that Zack De La Rocha put out. Is it just me or does Cornel's voice not fit with the heavy style of Tom Morello at all? I like some songs like "I am the highway" and "like a stone" but for the other heavy songs, it just doesn't work for me. I guess I'm one of those people who dream about a day when Rage gets back together or a day when Zack forms a new band.
I'd give the slight edge to Rage. As great a band as Audioslave is, they don't have quite the adrenaline-rush, 'rock out' kind of feel that I got from Rage.
Not a big fan of their 'politics', but if there's a better record than The Battle of Los Angeles to put on and turn up to 11 to blow off some steam, I'd sure like to know. And it ain't Audioslave.
without question its rage, their lyrics actually meant something and couple that with the genius of tom morello it was just plain beautiful. there arent many better songs than Freedom by rage. of course all three bands, rage, audioslave and soundgarden are great groups
For the record, there is a band named Rage that is NOT Rage Against the Machine...and I like them considerably more than RATM. But as for this poll, I would go with Audioslave. I just recently bought their CD and I was pleasantly surprised by how much I liked it. Cornell writes some powerfull lyrics.
Audioslave is good, but they haven't done enough yet to match RATM. However RATM's music does get a bit repetitive after a while.
Rage over Audioslave, but Soundgarden waaaaay above Rage. I agree that Battle of LA is a great aggressive album.
i like audioslave, but they don't even hold a candle to Rage. just check out Rage's DVD, and the massive amount of people all jumping in unison(?).... it's freaking nuts. Rage's slef-titled album is one of the greatest hard-rock albums of all time. i can't beleive i turned down the opportunity to go to their last show in houston (with gangstarr!) before they broke up. that'll haunt me til my dying day.
Try Bad Brains' ROIR album. RIGHT BRIGADE!!!!!!! Soundgarden was a way better band that either RATM or Audioslave. While Tom Morello does a good Jimmy Page impersonation with his riffs and adds some neat noises, he is really quite a limited guitarist. Listen to him on "Like a Stone" and it's pretty obvious he has no idea what do on a pretty song. I can only imagine all the cool guitar orchestration that Soundgarden would have added to it. Furthermore, Matt Cameron and Kim Thayil (yeah, he's the guitarist, but you never can hear the bass on a Soundgarden record) are a better rhythm section (at least on record) than Tim Bob and Brad Wilks. I did like RATM when I was in college, but they just never grew beyond the one-dimensional cave-stomping rock. Soundgarden started out the same way, but added a psychedelic dimension later on that kept them from sounding stagnant.
RATM is the birth of a band. Audioslave is the maturation. Both offerings have different sound/lyrical aspects that I cherish. It's difficult for me to choose one over the other especially since RATM has been around longer. They bring the funk, while Audioslave brings the entire spectrum. As much as I love RATM and would love to have been able to see them live, Audioslave is much more listenable. I can relax and enjoy their music where with RATM, I have to be in a hyped up mood.
