1999 studio album by Rage Against the Machine
The Battle of Los Angeles rock bandRage Against the Machine , released byEpic Records on November 2, 1999. At the43rd Annual Grammy Awards , it was nominated forBest Rock Album , and the song "Guerrilla Radio " won the award forBest Hard Rock Performance . In their year-end lists,Time Rolling Stone the best of 1999 .[citation needed
The album has been certified double platinum by theRecording Industry Association of America , indicating sales of at least two million units. It would be the last full-length studio album of original material released by the band before their first breakup in 2000 (theirnext album consisted entirely of covers and was released after the breakup).
Musically,The Battle of Los Angeles has been described asrap metal ,[ 2] funk metal ,[ 3] rap rock .[ 4] Mumia Abu-Jamal , references a letter written byMao Zedong , called "A Single Spark Can Start a Prairie Fire".[ 5]
The album's cover art was an original piece spraypainted by Joey Krebs (also known as "The Street Phantom", "The Phantom Street Artist", or Joel Jaramillo), a well-known Los Angeles graffiti artist who has exhibited at numerous galleries in Los Angeles, New York City, and throughout the United States.[ 6] [ 7]
Release and promotion [ edit ] The Battle of Los Angeles debuted at No. 1 on theBillboard 200Mariah Carey 's highly anticipated new albumRainbow [ 8] Best Rock Album at the43rd Annual Grammy Awards .
The music videos made for "Sleep Now in the Fire " and "Testify " were directed by documentarianMichael Moore , who appears in both videos.
In their year-end lists,Time Rolling Stone The Battle of Los Angeles the best album of 1999.[citation needed Retrospectively, it was ranked No. 426 onRolling Stone 'the 500 greatest albums of all time .[citation needed In 2005, the album was listed at No. 53 onSpin ' s list of the 100 greatest albums from 1985–2005,[citation needed as well as No. 369 onRock Hard The 500 Greatest Rock & Metal Albums of All Time .[ 17] Metal Hammer [ 18]
1999: No. 1Time Magazine Critic Pick (The Best Music of 1999)[citation needed 1999: No. 1Rolling Stone Critic Pick (Best Album of 1999)[citation needed Australian and Japanese edition bonus track No. Title Length 13. "No Shelter " 4:06 Total length: 49:16
[ edit ] In the US, some retail stores gave a free promo CD to those who pre-ordered the album that contained the songs "Clear the Lane" (from the "Killing in the Name " single) and "Hadda Be Playing on the Jukebox " (Live) (from the "Bulls on Parade " single). In Australia, certain chains gave a promo tape titledNew... Live... Rare to those who pre-ordered the album that featured "Calm Like a Bomb " and the aforementioned two songs repeated on both sides. The versions of all three songs were the same as those that had been previously released.
Rage Against the Machine
Production
Brendan O'Brien – producer, mixingRage Against the Machine – co-production Nick DiDia – engineer, recording Russ Fowler – additional engineering Sugar D (David Russo) – additional engineering German Villacorta – assistant engineering(at A&M Studios) Roger Sommers – assistant engineering(at Royaltone Studios) Kevin Lively – assistant engineering(at Silent Sound Studios) Ryan Williams – engineering(at Southern Tracks) Karl Egsieker – assistant engineering(at Southern Tracks) Monique Mitzrahl – assistant engineering(at Sunset Sound) Kevin Dean – assistant engineering(at Sunset Sound) Michael Parnin – assistant engineering(at Westlake Audio) "Atom" – assistant engineering(at Westlake Audio) Stephen Marcussen – mastering Andrew Garver – digital editing Cheryl Mondello – production coordination Erin Haley – production coordination Artwork and design
Rage Against the Machine – art direction Aimee Macauley – art direction Joey Krebs, The Phantom Street Artist – original spraypainted artwork Danny Clinch – photography Matt DeMello (as "eye cue") – photography Steven Tirona – additional photography Studios
A&M Studios,Los Angeles, CA – recording, mixing Royaltone Studios, Los Angeles, CA – recording, mixing Silent Sound Studios,Atlanta, GA – recording, mixing Southern Tracks, Atlanta, GA – recording, mixing Sunset Sound, Los Angeles, CA – recording, mixing Westlake Audio, Los Angeles, CA – recording, mixing A&M Mastering Studios, Los Angeles, CA – mastering
Chart (1999) Position Australian Albums (ARIA)[ 41] 35 USBillboard 200[ 42] 139 Chart (2000) Position Canadian Albums (Nielsen SoundScan)[ 43] 169 USBillboard 200[ 44] 53
Region Certification Certified units /salesAustralia (ARIA )[ 45] Platinum 70,000^ Canada (Music Canada )[ 46] 3× Platinum 300,000‡ Japan (RIAJ )[ 47] Gold 100,000^ New Zealand (RMNZ )[ 48] Gold 7,500^ United Kingdom (BPI )[ 49] Gold 100,000* United States (RIAA )[ 50] 2× Platinum 2,000,000^ * Sales figures based on certification alone.^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.
Appearances in other media [ edit ] "Maria" was covered by Canadian-American singerGrandson in 2019.[ 51]
^ "Bio" .Rage Against The Machine Official Site . RetrievedJanuary 29, 2023 .^a b Strauss, Neil (November 11, 1999)."The Battle of Los Angeles" .Rolling Stone Archived from the original on June 24, 2017. RetrievedApril 2, 2025 .^a b Wells, Steven (November 6, 1999)."The Battle of Los Angeles" .NME Archived from the original on June 16, 2000. RetrievedFebruary 20, 2025 . ^ Bassett, Jordan (October 12, 2018)."Tom Morello – 'The Atlas Underground' .NME . RetrievedSeptember 3, 2025 ....Morello and the gang released four essential, politicised rap-rock albums between 1992 and 2000. ^ A Single Spark Can Start a Prairie Fire ,Marxists.org ^ "The Street Phantom - Artist's Statement at Graffiti Verite.com" . Graffitiverite.com. RetrievedNovember 15, 2010 .^ Dianne Frisbee."5 Street Artists Pioneering the Future of Design" . Elevation. RetrievedMarch 12, 2024 . ^ Sharp, Tyler (June 19, 2018)."Watch Rage Against the Machine Play First Show 26 Years Ago" .Loudwire . 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"Rap-metal quartet rages rhythmically for justice".USA Today ^ Best of Rock & Metal - Die 500 stärksten Scheiben aller Zeiten (in German).Rock Hard . 2005. p. 61.ISBN 978-3-89880-517-9 ^ "The Top 20 best metal albums of 1999" .Metal Hammer Future plc . January 21, 2021. RetrievedMarch 6, 2021 .^ "Australiancharts.com – Rage Against the Machine – The Battle of Los Angeles ". Hung Medien. Retrieved February 11, 2026. ^ "Austriancharts.at – Rage Against the Machine – The Battle of Los Angeles " (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved February 11, 2026. ^ "Ultratop.be – Rage Against the Machine – The Battle of Los Angeles " (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved February 11, 2026. ^ "Ultratop.be – Rage Against the Machine – The Battle of Los Angeles " (in French). Hung Medien. Retrieved February 11, 2026. ^ "Rage Against the Machine Chart History (Canadian Albums) ".Billboard ^ "Listen - Danmarks Officielle Hitliste - Udarbejdet af AIM Nielsen for IFPI Danmark - Uge 44".Ekstra Bladet Copenhagen . November 14, 1999. ^ "Dutchcharts.nl – Rage Against the Machine – The Battle of Los Angeles " (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved February 11, 2026. ^ "Eurochart Top 100 Albums - November 20, 1999" (PDF) .Music & Media . RetrievedDecember 8, 2021 .^ "Rage Against the Machine: The Battle of Los Angeles " (in Finnish).Musiikkituottajat – IFPI Finland . Retrieved February 11, 2026. ^ "Lescharts.com – Rage Against the Machine – The Battle of Los Angeles ". Hung Medien. Retrieved February 11, 2026. ^ "Offiziellecharts.de – Rage Against the Machine – The Battle of Los Angeles " (in German).GfK Entertainment charts . Retrieved February 11, 2026. ^ "Hits of the World - Italy" .Billboard ISSN 0006-2510 – via Google Books.^ "Charts.nz – Rage Against the Machine – The Battle of Los Angeles ". Hung Medien. Retrieved February 11, 2026. ^ "Norwegiancharts.com – Rage Against the Machine – The Battle of Los Angeles ". Hung Medien. Retrieved February 11, 2026. ^ "Official Scottish Albums Chart on 7/11/1999 – Top 100 ".Official Charts Company . Retrieved November 18, 2021. ^ Salaverri, Fernando (September 2005).Sólo éxitos: año a año, 1959–2002 (1st ed.). Spain: Fundación Autor-SGAE.ISBN 84-8048-639-2 ^ "Swedishcharts.com – Rage Against the Machine – The Battle of Los Angeles ". Hung Medien. Retrieved February 11, 2026. ^ "Swisscharts.com – Rage Against the Machine – The Battle of Los Angeles ". Hung Medien. Retrieved February 11, 2026. ^ "Official Albums Chart on 7/11/1999 – Top 100 ".Official Charts Company . Retrieved November 18, 2021. ^ "Official Rock & Metal Albums Chart on 7/11/1999 – Top 40 ".Official Charts Company . Retrieved February 11, 2026. ^ "Rage Against the Machine Chart History (Billboard 200) ".Billboard ^ "Rage Against the Machine Chart History (Top Catalog Albums) ".Billboard ^ "ARIA End of Year Albums Chart 1999" . Australian Recording Industry Association. 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RetrievedNovember 20, 2024 .^ "British album certifications – Rage Against the Machine – The Battle of Los Angeles" .British Phonographic Industry .^ "American album certifications – Rage Against the Machine – The Battle of Los Angeles" .Recording Industry Association of America .^ Childers, Chad (May 31, 2019)."Grandson Unleashes Cover of Rage Against the Machine's 'Maria' .Loudwire . RetrievedMay 6, 2023 .
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