Advanced Search >
Help Me Search

Music

All-Time High (And Low) Scores
Best of 2009
Best of 2008
Best of 2007
Best of 2006
Best of 2005
Best of 2004
Best of 2003
Best of 2002
Best of 2001
Best of 2000
Best of the Decade

Upcoming &
Recent Releases

sort by namesort by score

75 2562
54 30 Seconds to Mars
62 50 Cent
71 AC/DC
67 The Album Leaf
52 Kris Allen
68 Tori Amos
66 Animal Collective
84 Animal Collective
77 Annie
57 Apse
63 Asobi Seksu
59 Bad Lieutenant
83 Julianna Barwick
82 Beach House
72 Beak>
72 Bibio
65 Justin Bieber
76 Biffy Clyro
74 Blakroc
75 Mary J. Blige
78 Blockhead
52 Bon Jovi
54 Susan Boyle
57 The Bravery
39 Chris Brown
64 V.V. Brown
70 Basia Bulat
79 Chew Lips
74 Citay
65 Clipse
66 Cold War Kids
75 The Cribs
58 Dashboard Confessional
81 Dave Rawlings Machine
70 Delphic
78 The Doors
58 Echo & The Bunnymen
73 Edan
59 Editors
69 Eels
80 Felt
74 First Aid Kit
69 Flyleaf
83 Four Tet
82 Ben Frost
82 Fucked Up
83 Charlotte Gainsbourg
63 The Gilded Palace Of Sin
68 Githead
65 Joe Goddard
58 Good Shoes
72 Gucci Mane
75 Holopaw
82 Jesca Hoop
79 Hot Chip
72 The Hot Rats
88 Ray Wylie Hubbard
54 Hurricane Chris
66 Allison Iraheta
59 Jay Sean
82 Freedy Johnston
57 Nick Jonas And The Administration
73 Norah Jones
49 Juvenile
58 Ke$ha
62 R. Kelly
66 Alicia Keys
68 Kid Sister
81 King Midas Sound
63 Lady Antebellum
76 Lady GaGa
71 Adam Lambert
78 Lawrence Arabia
61 Leona Lewis
70 Lightspeed Champion
36 Lil Wayne
82 Lindstrom & Christabelle
77 Lissie
78 Los Campesinos!
70 Lostprophets
73 Magnetic Fields
73 Massive Attack
64 John Mayer
71 Paul McCartney
58 Katherine McPhee
86 Memory Tapes
74 Midlake
88 Motion City Soundtrack
63 Mr. Hudson
53 Mudvayne
75 Oh No Ono
70 OK Go
72 Ola Podrida
61 OneRepublic
80 Owen Pallett
90 Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers
60 Pit Er Pat
63 Priestess
70 Radian
79 Corinne Bailey Rae
54 Rakim
79 Real Estate
77 Retribution Gospel Choir
76 Rihanna
64 Rjd2
65 Omar Rodriguez-Lopez
80 Sade
77 Gil Scott-Heron
72 Shakira
82 Shining
61 Snoop Dogg
62 Snow Patrol
71 The Soft Pack
80 Spoon
64 Ringo Starr
59 Stereophonics
76 Angie Stone
79 Surfer Blood
74 Switchfoot
75 Them Crooked Vultures
74 Robin Thicke
50 Timbaland
79 tUnE-YaRDs
80 Vampire Weekend
79 Laura Veirs
79 Tom Waits
78 Wale
66 Kanye West
76 The Whitefield Brothers
64 Robbie Williams
80 Yeasayer
62 Young Money
75 Neil Young
61 Rob Zombie

Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed albums.

Renegades

EMAILPRINTby Rage Against The Machine

Rage Against The Machine reviews
78
9.1 User Score:

Generally favorable reviews

Based on 15 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?

Based on 29 votes
Read user comments
Rate this album >

Album Info

Label: Epic

Release Date: 05 December 2000

Discs: 1 disc

Genre(s): Alternative, Rock

Summary

What The Critics Said

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...

91

Entertainment Weekly

The group's relatively unheralded musicians (guitarist Tom Morello, bassist Tim Commerford, and drummer Brad Wilk) have developed into such a nimble and cohesive unit that they'd sound pretty exciting even without someone spewing rapid fire invective over their grooves.

Read Full Review >
90

Village Voice

The most penetrating and engaging album of their career...

Read Full Review >
88

Wall of Sound

An outrageously accomplished and daring album-

Read Full Review >
80

All Music Guide

As could be expected, the set works best when the group focuses on material from its most recent forebears: rappers and hardcore bands.

Read Full Review >
80

Billboard

A feisty set of primarily thrash-hop covers of socially and politically charged hip-hop, pop, rock, and punk jams.

Read Full Review >
80

Mojo

This crisp, Rick Rubin-produced outing packs away a machine that was well-oiled to the last. [Jan. 2001, p.107]

80

Alternative Press

A tour through three decades of sonic recalcitrance, Renegades is the genome map of seditious sound. [#151, p.90]

80

Rolling Stone

Not only do Rage understand the sweep of rock and rap history, but they had bold and unusual ways of tearing that history up.

Read Full Review >
70

Spin

It's a kick to hear them hoist the MC5's "Kick Out The Jams" as a sexy freak flag and drop an honest-to-God fresh conga break into Afrika Bambaataa's "Renegades of Funk." [2/2001, p.106]

70

The Onion (A.V. Club)

By definition, it's not essential: Many of the originals (Minor Threat's "In My Eyes," MC5's "Kick Out The Jams," Dylan's "Maggie's Farm," and so on) were for all intents and purposes perfect, making Rage-style covers seem like little more than curiosities. It's at its best during its more radical reworkings, from hip-hop songs (Eric B & Rakim's "Microphone Fiend," Cypress Hill's "How I Could Just Kill A Man") to an uncharacteristically soft-spoken Devo cover ("Beautiful World").

Read Full Review >
70

Dot Music

Renegades' is a formidable parting shot. A Rick Rubin-produced collection of 12 cover versions selected to show the breadth of Rage's influences, it's an object lesson in being both inspired by musical history and remoulding it in your own shape.

Read Full Review >
70

CDNow

De la Rocha's rabid diatribes occasionally go overboard, particularly on the tracks (Eric B & Rakim's "Microphone Fiend" and Minor Threat's "In My Eyes," for example) that feed into the band's sometimes one-dimensional rap-metal groove. But when the band steps out of character -- as it does during its rudimentary take on MC5's "Kick Out the Jams" or its pacific reading of "Beautiful World" -- the results can seem truly transcendent.

Read Full Review >
60

Select

Renegades is Rage's most satisfying record since their debut. [Jan 2001, p.104]

60

Sonicnet

From a pounding rendition of "Pistol Grip Pump" by West Coast hip-hoppers Volume 10, to a snarling, grunged-up assault on Bob Dylan's "Maggie's Farm", singer Zack de la Rocha and company deliver atomic thrills with revolutionary fervor. Still, anyone hungry for new insights into this uniquely righteous band, or looking for evidence of risk-taking, may feel shortchanged.

Read Full Review >
60

Q Magazine

Those lying closest to their own unsubtle ouevre, ie the Minor Threat and Cypress Hill tracks, are as crunching as die-hards could hope for. But the arch sneer of The Rolling Stones' Street Fighting Man and Bob Dylan's Maggie's Farm are predictably reduced to chalkboard lessons in "angry".

Read Full Review >

What Our Users Said

The average user rating for this album is 9.1 (out of 10) based on 29 User Votes

Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

David gave it a10:
Just a great album by a legendary band! What I love about this album is how Rage was able to cover songs that originally were not from the same genre which makes this album by far is the most experimental and unique record that they've ever released. Personally, I think this is their second best album next to their self-titled debut.

JayDee gave it a9:
Quality, i just cant get enough of the funky beats mixed with meaningful lyrics, Morello and Commerford is like a match made in heaven.

Adrian R gave it a9:
If there's one thing that comes out loud and clear in Rage's music, it's that they aren't politicaly driven by any clear ideology, and they aren't a capitalist device for brainwashing impessionable youth like I've heard some ppl say. Renegades proves they're just a massively talented group of core rockers who like to challenge the status quo. It's about not being satisfied with mediocrity and apathy. Somehow they don't quite come full circle or prove a definative statement, but they do provide some unreal headbangers to enjoy regardless of your social beliefs or situation.

Jim H gave it a9:
There are missteps here (covering the Stones' Streetfightin' Man, for example) but there are many remakes here that are superior reimaginings ("Tom Joad," "How I Could Just Kill A Man," the title track, a handful of others). Morello is at his peak here; he never was better nor has he been better since.

Rob J gave it a10:
Awesome album, the songs are done better than the originals!

Walla gave it a10:
The kick ass tribute album we have all been waiting for. The adapted music is amazing and Zack de La Rocha is better than ever.

Mike P gave it a10:
I honestly think that RAGe dida fantastic job with this album. Hearing the originals just wont cut it for me anymore. Every song that Rage covers is excellent. At first i was upset that they didn't write any new songs but then after listening to the album over and over again i became more and more aware of the fact that turn classic songs into something differant (and in my opion better) is much cooler. The only sad thing about Rage is that they no longer exist but they will always be my favorite band to play at any occasion.

Read more user comments >

Popular on CBS sites: College Signing Day | Olympics | Lost | iPhone | Cell Phones | Video Game Reviews | Free Music

About CBS Interactive | Jobs | Advertise

© 2010 CBS Interactive Inc. All rights reserved. | Privacy Policy (UPDATED) | Terms of Use