Just over 30 years ago, amidst the height of grunge and a renewed rock era in popular music, a band rose up in defiance of all things mainstream. Rage Against The Machine, propelled by their explosive self-titled debut, would establish themselves as the eminent, political, rebellious band of a generation.
Thirty years later, Rage still have that reputation, but their time as an active band, at least in terms of studio time, ended in 2000. In all this time since, three of the group have gone on to form various other groups together, namely Audioslave which saw guitarist Tom Morello, drummer Brad Wilk and bassist Tim Commerford join with Chris Cornell. But since 2007 and through various guises, Morello has striven to carry the torch solo.
Until now, Morello's projects have not fully sat within a similar soundscape as the raucous noise of Rage, but Everyone Gets Everything They Want sees Morello nudge into that space again and serve up a full fledge call to arms in response to the political scene of the last few years.
Although without the same backing of Wilk and Commerford, there are plenty of times where Everyone Gets Everything They Want fully let's rip and Morello riffs away in his characteristic style. The opening instrumental, "Beth from Electronics" builds impactfully into the titular track; the chorus there erupting into an early standout moment: roaring into an expansive, wall of sound chord progression.
Elsewhere, "Adjourn It" swaggers with its heavy, aggressive riff, displaying Morello's textural approach with dj-like slides. It also features the first guest appearances on the album, with Serj Tankian providing vocals, and Morello's son Roman contributing on guitar.
In truth, Everyone Gets Everything They Want doesn't quite exceed itself from here. "I Am Not Yours To Command" and "Soldier in the Army of Love" err on the wrong side of melodramatic, while "Unconquered" featuring Kneecap feels like a pale reminder of how Rage pioneered that blend of hip hop and hard rock. Ultimately, while Morello's heart and morals are clearly in the right place, served underbaked, this doesn't impact anywhere in the same way as Morello and his previous groups did.
