Evil Empire (album)


Evil Empire is the second studio album by American rock band Rage Against the Machine, released on April 16, 1996 by Epic Records. Its title refers to a term used in the early 1980s by President Ronald Reagan and many American conservatives to describe the former Soviet Union.
Evil Empire debuted at number 1 on the US Billboard 200, and their song "Tire Me" won a 1996 Grammy Award for Best Metal Performance; "Bulls on Parade" and "People of the Sun" were also nominated for Grammys for Best Hard Rock Performance. The album was certified 3x platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America on May 24, 2000.

Background

De la Rocha expands further on the UK CD single release of "Bulls on Parade" explaining how America, is building a wall between itself and Mexico.
The cover features an altered version by Mel Ramos of the 1940s–1950s comicbook hero Crimebuster, with his emblem changed to a lowercase "e". Additional themes for the album were created by Barbara Kruger, and some of her artwork appears in the video clip for "Bulls on Parade", which became the second single for the album. As with their debut, five singles were released in total.
The inside of the CD booklet shows a picture of a pile of various political and philosophical books, which include:
In 1995, the band sent a free 7″ record to everyone who signed up for the fan club promoted in the liner notes of their debut. Doubling as an apology to those who had received nothing and a promotion for the upcoming album, it came in a plain cardboard colored fold-out with a black-and-white American flag on the cover and the title "Evil Empire" and the band's name all in capitals. On the back was a UPC with marker scribble on the barcode. The A-side was a reissue of the "Evening Session" version of "Bombtrack", listed as "Bombtrack ". The B-side was a then unreleased cover of N.W.A's "Fuck tha Police", recorded live on August 13, 1995 at a benefit concert for Mumia Abu-Jamal at the Capitol Ballroom in Washington, D.C.

Reception

"This music isn't supposed to be fun," noted Rolling Stone. "Rage Against the Machine have jacked up the sociopolitical siege mentality in their metallic hip-hop to such a dogmatic degree – and honed their sound to such maniacally shrill perfection – that the band and the roaring joys of its harangue 'n' roll seem virtually sexless."

Track listing

Personnel

Rage Against the Machine
Technical
Artwork and design

Album

Year-end charts

Chart Position
German Albums Chart41

Singles

Certifications

Awards