Rage Against the Machine: Live at the Grand Olympic Auditorium

By REBECCA BARRY

(Herald rating: * * * *)



The excitement of a gig rarely transcends to plastic but Rage Against the Machine's last performance in LA in September 2000 is a bellowing exception.

These guys sound bigger and meaner than they ever will with Chris Cornell in Audioslave and it's doubtful vocalist Zach de la Rocha's inevitable solo album will live up to the fierce thrash-funk they have immortalised here.

Playing their most polemic anthems — Bulls on Parade, Bullet in the Head, Killing in the Name, People of the Sun and 12 other examples of their anti-corporate hell-raising — it's an intense goodbye that ends with a sometimes breathy but brutish rendition of Freedom.

The band play from the gut throughout, and given it's "produced" by legendary Rick Rubin, the sound quality is faultless, right down to the crowd's hearty contribution. The send-off is also released as a DVD, which is possibly an even better way to go if you're after the whole live experience.

Label: Epic