10 Classic Music Albums That Will Make You Love Nu Metal
1. The Battle of Los Angeles - Rage Against the Machine
There's always a bit of a contentious point when you put Rage Against the Machine into the nu metal conversation. As much as some fans like to hype them up as one of the godfathers of the genre, the band would much rather be disassociated from the style altogether, not willing to go along with some of the alpha male attitudes that came with it. When the nu metal craze started to reach its peak, The Battle of Los Angeles gave us something we needed: nu metal without any of the hangups.
As you delve through this entire album, every line on here is full of intent, as Zack de la Rocha rallies the troops behind him against the government leaders looking to keep him down. Around the time that people like Korn were opening up about the scars on their hearts, Rage was looking to right the wrongs of what they had been dealing with for years, whether that be showing us what the dystopian future might look like on a song like Testify or trying to give us a reason to fight on Guerrilla Radio.
These weren't just a few cheap shots either, from the videos they made depicting big wig propaganda or Tom Morello giving us warning shots with his guitar, which seemed to work just as well for making otherworldly sounds as it did killer riffs. While this would be one of the last albums that we would get from Rage, this is the kind of benchmark that most nu metal bands could only hope to equal. It might be easy to tear yourself to shreds, but this is what happens when you start looking at the world around you.