(FORTUNE Magazine) – Rage Against the Machine The Battle of Los Angeles (Epic)

Other than a novocain-free dental procedure, there's usually nothing more painful than rock stars getting topical. Does anyone really care how U2 weighs in on NAFTA, or how R.E.M. feels about global warming? For the revolutionaries in Rage Against the Machine, though, blasting militant agitpop isn't some fashionable extracurricular activity, it's their m.o. ...well, that, and rocking like a pack of thrash-happy Nation subscribers. Pioneers of the adrenalized rap/metal crunch adopted by Limp Bizkit, Rage's songs are manifestos hailing the warrior spirit of Mexico's Zapatista rebels and tearing down "the man." On Rage's third CD, The Battle of Los Angeles, soapbox singer Zack de la Rocha hurls lyrics like Molotov cocktails, condemning the Gulf war ("Testify") and the imprisonment of black journalist Mumia Abu-Jamal ("Guerrilla Radio"). The formula could get tiresome if the band backing him up weren't so tight--especially guitarist Tom Morello, who transforms his buzz-saw guitar into a scratching beat-box. Agree or disagree with its politics, Rage Against the Machine can't--and doesn't deserve to be--ignored. It's proof that if the revolution comes, it won't be televised--it'll be on the radio.

--Chris Nashawaty

JEFF GORDINIER and CHRIS NASHAWATY are senior writers at Entertainment Weekly.