Rage Against The Machine - Live at the Grand Olympic Auditorium

The best band I have seen

I am only doing the review for this dvd and not all three that I bought, which they were all three of Rage's dvd's. I dont think you should really take my review as a legitimate review. Rage is my favorite band of all time. Zach and Tom are two of my idols and inspiration, so of course I am going to have a really bias review for all three of their dvd's I bought. If I was getting paid to tell the truth, I would say this...All three of Rage Against The Machine's dvd's are the raw deal! They are pure rock on all three of the dvd's. Tom is slashing it up, as does Tim (who does his chiming in at times for backup vocs). Brad is completely emotional on the set. He plays like its the last time he is ever going to play again; but does this every time he plays! Blood, sweat, tears, are constantly dripping down all of them as they play their hearts out. Then there is Zach. If this band had somebody such as Maynard, Cornell, Serj, or any other vocalist; then Rage would SUCK! Zach makes completes this band in ever way possible. The pure, untamed, unrestrained, raw, and unconfined emotion that flows through his veins is the only reason you need, to buy any one of their three dvd's. Trust me on this you will not be let down if you buy one, plus they are all really quite inexpensive. Each one comes with bonus stuff that's awesome! One has a interview with Marcos! One has Mexico City trip with Tom and he visits Lenin's home there before he died. The list goes on and on. Just buy one, and honestly for the $40 bucks I spent on all three, it was far out better than pinchin or cinchin your junk in a zipper!! You should get one.

Excellent. It's hard to believe that this was recorded about 14 years ago.Morello could not play better and it does not stop being funny seeing him playing with the plug over the strings or any other magic that you may see him spreading over the stage.Zach is also amazing. His energy just infects everyone in the audience and for sure, anyone at the edge of his seat at home would be banging his head for the whole one hour and something that the concert takes.Definitely great, even if you are not that much into Rage Against the Machine.

In some of my other music DVD reviews, I take the tact of applying a set of standards to a release and establishing how the DVD in question measures up. Let me say in advance that when I take this tact, it usually means that I was disappointed in the release, but this would be only slightly true with Rage Against The Machine's Live at the Grand Olympic Auditorium.A memo should go out to all bands and music DVD producers that says at minimum: "1) Music DVD's should be produced to the highest standards. 2) The musical performances within should represent the talent that made the studio recorded CDs sell. 3) Theatrics are very cool too, as long as you can pull them off without deterioration in the quality of the music."Let's break it down then for Rage's Live at the Grand Olympic Auditorium:1 - "Music DVD's should be produced to the highest standards." - The picture quality in Rage's Live at the GOA is fair at best. I think this is due to a combo of two things: Old technology was used to film the performance, and there is a deliberate use of a technique that makes the picture a bit grainy. This grainy effect is hardly noticeable on a standard def TV, but it's very noticeable on a high def plasma TV. Seemingly, the band and the director chose to deliver what they felt was some kind of "atmospheric production" versus giving the viewer a front row seat to the performance. Hence, the relatively poor picture takes a bit away from the DVD.On the other hand, the visual doesn't jump all over the place every 2 seconds as is true with way too many music DVDs (for some reason the notion all too often is that changing the visual projects the energy of a song...and that's a stupid notion). The camera shots in Rage's Live at the GOA mostly give you a nice long look at each performer at the right time; if you were actually at the show, you'd probably be looking at the performer that the camera is on. This made for a viewing experience that enhanced the illusion of having a front row seat to the show.The sound is great in Dolby 5.1. You get your choice between Stereo and Dolby 5.1. Dolby 5.1 is far superior even when listening on a stereo system. My home theater Surround system in 5.1 made it feel like I was at the show. When I tried stereo on my portable DVD player the bass was mixed way too high and the sound was distorted; this was instantly remedied by switching to 5.1.2 - "The musical performances within should represent the talent that made the studio recorded CDs sell." - The guys prior to hitting the stage must have huddled and committed to each other to go out and play the music true to the studio versions of the songs. All of the tracks on Rage's Live at the GOA are performed precisely. Absolutely amazing.Tom Morello is incredible. Morello is ranked in the top half of Rolling Stone magazine's list of "100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time". And particularly his solo in Bulls on Parade is often noted by Guitar World and other music magazines; it was awesome to see him precisely pull off live the magic sounds he makes with a guitar that you might think he could only make in the studio.The band gives you all of the songs that you'd really want to hear:1. Bulls On Parade2. Bombtrack3. Calm Like A Bomb4. Bullet In The Head5. Sleep Now In The Fire6. War Within A Breath7. I'm Housin'8. Killing In The Name9. Born Of A Broken Man10. No Shelter11. Guerrilla Radio12. How I Could Just Kill A Man (w/guest Cypress Hill)13. Kick Out The Jams14. Testify15. FreedomBonus material includes:"People of the Sun" and "Know Your Enemy"The 2000 Democratic National Convention performance, featuring:"Bulls On Parade""Testify""Guerrilla Radio""Sleep Now In The Fire""Freedom""Killing In The Name"And video clips for "How I Could Just Kill a Man" and "Bombtrack"The Grand Olympic Auditorium main performance is fabulous. The bonus material, especially the performance at the 2000 DNC, is interesting to watch and much more politically oriented than performance oriented.3 - "Theatrics are very cool too, as long as you can pull them off without deterioration in the quality of the music." - There are no over-the-top theatrics...which is great. The guys just play the music, and as I said earlier, they perform the songs to perfection. There is a clear air on the stage that "this is our last show together". These guys all click and tonight they are clicking on all cylinders.Zack de la Rocha's (and the band's) political message is highly visible (and audible) throughout. During the show Rage and de la Rocha voice their extremist support for revolutionary socialism that includes a sweeping condemnation of the police and corporations. Um...yikes! I can't say that I'm a fan of Rage's message, but their music rocks! And the show recorded on Live at the Grand Olympic Auditorium also rocks.All in all...Live at the GOA is a shouldn't-miss DVD if you like or ever liked Rage Against the Machine. But so much for this recording being their last performance; a 2007 reunion has been announced. Perhaps we'll get an upgraded high def performance DVD to rally 'round the family with.

Felt like I was reliving my teen years. Used to have this on DVD. Great concert live for sure

My 15 year old was somewhat disappointed about this DVD. Somehow she expected it to be more "dynamic" and to give more a feel of being there at the concert (a tall order for sure). Since the DVD didn't do this, she's giving it an average rating.

Rage at its best

If you like "Rage Against the Machine" your gonna love this . Great concert footage and extra features. A must have for true "Rage" fans. I watch it again and again and, get all sorts of people wanting to borrow it. But, I never lend music , movies and books and, this will not bean exception.