Renegades
by Rage Against the Machine
  • Record Label: Epic
  • Release Date: Dec 5, 2000
Metascore
78

Generally favorable reviews - based on 15 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 12 out of 15
  2. Mixed: 3 out of 15
  3. Negative: 0 out of 15
  1. Entertainment Weekly
    91
    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.
  2. Village Voice
    90
    The most penetrating and engaging album of their career...
  3. Wall of Sound
    88
    An outrageously accomplished and daring album-
  5. AllMusic
    80
    As could be expected, the set works best when the group focuses on material from its most recent forebears: rappers and hardcore bands.
  6. Billboard
    80
    A feisty set of primarily thrash-hop covers of socially and politically charged hip-hop, pop, rock, and punk jams.
  7. Mojo
    80
    This crisp, Rick Rubin-produced outing packs away a machine that was well-oiled to the last. [Jan. 2001, p.107]
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  8. Rolling Stone
    80
    Not only do Rage understand the sweep of rock and rap history, but they had bold and unusual ways of tearing that history up.
  9. Alternative Press
    80
    A tour through three decades of sonic recalcitrance, Renegades is the genome map of seditious sound. [#151, p.90]
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  10. CDNow
    70
    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.
  11. Dot Music
    70
    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.
  12. Spin
    70
    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]
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  13. The A.V. Club
    70
    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").

Awards & Rankings

43
#43 Best Album of 2000
18
#18 Most Discussed Album of 2000
8
#8 Most Shared Album of 2000

User Reviews

All reviews »
User Score
8.4

Universal acclaim- based on 55 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 47 out of 55
  2. Mixed: 6 out of 55
  3. Negative: 2 out of 55
  1. GdzillaKid
    Aug 8, 2022
    10
    This is literally my favorite Rage album. The entirety of this album mixes metal and hip-hop and funk so fluently while still staying true toThis is literally my favorite Rage album. The entirety of this album mixes metal and hip-hop and funk so fluently while still staying true to the RATM sound and still sharing their MO. Solid listen if your a Rage fan.… Full Review »
  2. nmarat
    Dec 23, 2021
    10
    Rage Against the Machine's self-titled album is a record that pretty much everyone was waiting for, so it's only right that its follow-up,Rage Against the Machine's self-titled album is a record that pretty much everyone was waiting for, so it's only right that its follow-up, Renegades, is one that no one expected. Certainly, the album has a strong RATM foundation -- Tom Morello's trademark staccato riffing, Zach de la Rocha's howling lyrics, and Tim Commerford and Brad Wilk's powerful drumming -- but it also has a guest list as long as your arm, including Chuck D, B-Real, and Tim Armstrong. The result is a record that sounds like a blend of the rap-metal RATM, the Cypress Hill-meets-Metallica genre-busting Antrax, and the general alternative rock of the post-Y2K world. There are even traces of de la Rocha's 1996 side project, One Day as a Lion, a collaboration with Wilk and Commerford, in a handful of the songs. That's why it's frustrating that so much of Renegades sounds like generic alt-rock, since there are enough left turns and left-field collaborations to make the record pretty exciting. The two standout collaborations are "How I Could Just Kill a Man," a collaboration with Chuck D that is not only the most original song on the record, but one of the best of the band's career; and "Maggie's Farm," a harrowingly raw and intense jam session with John Doe and Exene Cervenka. Of course, if Renegades had been the Rage Against the Machine follow-up that the world expected, it probably would have been a more consistent effort, but it's still an album that's more than worth hearing.… Full Review »
  3. Alcohheartburn
    Mar 30, 2021
    6
    Meh it took me almost 17 years to actually enjoy this album it was mostly covers of other band or rap music covers but it aged well
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