I listened to 'Evil Empire' for the first time in a very long while yesterday, and while it's definitely the weakest RATM studio album, it's still a strong work, and certainly not something that should be skipped over, as quite a few have suggested. The songwriting isn't quite up to snuff, as some tracks meander a bit too much, and some are a bit underwritten. It's far from bad, but it's nowhere near as uniformly excellent as on the albums directly before and after it. However, Brad and Tim give their best performance on this album, I think, and Morello shows some of his most intriguing guitarwork, although his riff writing isn't as solid as it has been. As a whole, I think this album is less than a sum of it's parts, as the excellent performances don't always add up to great songs, but most of it is good to excellent, and it's all at least interesting.
'People of the Sun' is a very fun little song, but it is a bit underwritten. A strong chorus, nice vox during the verses, but there ain't all that much more to it. 'Bulls on Parade' is probably my favorite RATM song. It just all comes together with that one. 'Vietnow' is the second-best track. Brad and Tim absolutely rip it up here, and Zack gives his best performance other than on the previous track. It's also written very smoothly and tightly, with each riff fitting into the next just right. 'Tire Me' is another slightly underwritten track, but it's still pretty intense, and the main bassriff is flatly awesome. Gotta love that bass tone. 'Without a Face' has the strongest rap flavor on the album, with another very good chorus. 'Roll Right' is a rather eerie track, with a very unusual and affecting main riff. 'Year of tha Boomerang' is a fine closing track, with some amazing guitarwork that no one is ever likely to forget. It's an older track, and has a bit more of a 'Rage Against the Machine' feel, aside from the crazy guitarwork. 'Wind Below', 'Revolver' and 'Snakecharmer', while all fairly effective tracks, are definitely not up to Rage standards. They work pretty well, but don't fully come together. 'Wind Below' however, has an absolutely brilliant and haunting guitar solo, however. Definitely one of Tom's best.
Subpar Rage, perhaps, but prime Rage is so great that this is still some very good stuff.
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