“Renegades”Rage Against

Four and a half starsIn talking about Rage Against the Machine’s latest album, a collection of covers called “Renegades,” guitarist Tom Morello told MTV online that he hates to call them covers. Instead, he says they take the lyrics from other songs and write brand new Rage tracks underneath. That is exactly what “Renegades” is. Each song has its own slight difference in lyrical style and musical arrangement, but each and every track oozes with Rage. It’s the kind of Rage that will make any fan of the band even more pissed that the band has dismantled.

Mostly hip-hop influenced, “Renegades” finds former centerpiece Zack de la Rocha at his best. Unlike past Rage albums that seemed to follow the mellow funk into heavy screams formula, “Renegades” flows from beginning to end with phat beats and rhymes, with the exception of a ballad-style version of Devo’s “Beautiful World.”The first single from the record, Afrika Bambaataa’s “Renegades of Funk,” is a perfect example of the free-flowing pulses this album has to offer. But the opening track, Eric B & Rakim’s “Microphone Fiend,” has a mixture of that distinct Morello creativity and thumping rhythm behind some of the coolest lyrics on the album. De la Rocha raps, “E-F-F-E-C-T/ a smooth operator/ operating correctly.”In addition to such hip-hop covers as Cypress Hill’s “How I Could Just Kill a Man” and EPMD’s “I’m Housin’,” “Renegades” also features songs from Bruce Springsteen, the Rolling Stones and Bob Dylan.The now bass-driven Dylan tune, “Maggie’s Farm,” takes the amazing songwriting of Dylan and mixes in the intense emotion and smooth delivery of de la Rocha, making it a true masterpiece.”Renegades” is the perfect example of how and why hip-hop and rock can be mixed. It is reason enough for every Rage fan across the world to beg de la Rocha to rejoin the band. It is the type of album that should be put in a CD player on neverending repeat.

It is funk, it is rock, it is rap. But most importantly, it is Rage Against the Machine at its best.— Kyle Moss

“The Dynasty Roc La Familia [2000- ]”Jay-ZCompare to: Scarface, Memphis Bleek, Beenie SigelThree and a half starsFollowing in the footsteps of his three previous albums, Jay-Z’s fourth effort, “The Dynasty Roc La Familia [2000- ],” combines upbeat hip-hop with slow-tempo testimonials to create a unique sound that only Jay-Z and his Roc-A-Fella Records mates could produce.

“I Just Wanna Love U [Give It 2 Me]” is the first single released off the album, and it was instantly a smash hit. The track combines a catchy beat and chorus, a verse derived from The Notorious B.I.G.’s “The World Is Filled” and all the Jay-Z vocals one can handle in a single song.Teaming with Jay-Z on “Get Your Mind Right Mami” are Memphis Bleek and Snoop Dogg. Snoop delivers a classic verse, and coupled with Bleek and Jay, this tune definitely is worth listening to. Other guest appearances include R. Kelly on “Guilty Until Proven Innocent” and DJ Clue mixing on “Stick 2 The Script.”Scarface and Beanie Sigel appear with Jay-Z on possibly the album’s best track, “This Can’t Be Life.” Jay-Z returns to a style reminiscent of his first two albums. Scarface does his thing, and Beanie Sigel adds a touch of diversity to this heartfelt anthem.

Speaking of anthems, Jay-Z’s solo effort, “Soon You’ll Understand,” may be the best slow hip-hop track since Eminem’s “Stan.” The song contains lyrics about the love of his life and the agony of not being able to be with her. By far the hardest track on the record, “1-900-Hustler” features Beanie Sigel, Memphis Bleek and Freeway. Freeway comes especially hard, as does Bleek, in laying out their rules to the drug game, and Bleek and Jay supply their obligatory sounds to the song.”The Dynasty Roc La Familia [2000- ]” is easily one of the better hip-hop releases of the year, due to Jay-Z’s skills as a producer, writer and of course, an MC.— Jordan Gizzarel

“Stoned Immaculate: The Music of the Doors”Various ArtistsCompare to: “Encomium: A Tribute to Lez Zeppelin”

Four stars

So a bunch of bands did some Doors covers. Since the songs are obviously good, one can only hope that the bands don’t suck.”Stoned Immaculate” contains current pop-rock acts like Creed and Days of the New, but their versions of songs like “L.A. Woman” and “The End,” clearly pay a great tribute to the Doors.But it’s the bands such as Train, Smash Mouth and Bo Diddley that can make or break this record.Train’s version of “Light My Fire” is excellent. Singer Patrick Monahan’s high voice adds a cool touch to such a great song.Smash Mouth is surprisingly impressive as Steve Harwell’s voice deviates from its usual annoyance. He mellows a bit and sings from the heart and not the nose.Highlights of “Stoned Immaculate” include Stone Temple Pilots’ “Break on Through,” Oleander’s “Hello I Love You,” The Cult’s Ian Astbury’s “Touch Me” and John Lee Hooker and Jim Morrison doing “Roadhouse Blues.”

Perry Farrell and Exene’s “Children of the Night” and Bo Diddley’s “Love Her Madly” don’t quite fit into the sound of this album. There is a fine line between covering a song and butchering a song — these tracks cross that line.

Other acts heard on “Stoned Immaculate” include Aerosmith, the Cult, William S. Burroughs, Jim Morrison (solo) and the Doors doing unreleased material.

It’s always interesting to hear bands of today interpret music from bands of yesterday, and this record is a good reminder of how influential and amazing the Doors were.— Kyle Moss

“Can’t Breathe”Boiler RoomCompare to: Disturbed, Anthrax

Two stars

Boiler Room isn’t a new band by any means. They’ve been around since 1996 but just recently jumped ship from Roadrunner Records to join the crew at Tommy Boy — not exactly a record label known for its vast amount of metal acts.

“Can’t Breathe” is the group’s first release on Tommy Boy.Boiler Room does some things right. However, they fail to do one major thing on this record. First, what they do right: Boiler Room plays some heavy music that has a sticky groove to it.

With record stores being flooded with releases by new metal acts every day, it is uncommon to hear a band that tries to incorporate some actual music on their record and not just a wall of guitar noise. Boiler Room is able to pull this off nicely.

The group’s first single “Do It Again” is a perfect example of this.

Sharp riffs matched with a bouncy bass line and Mike Meselohn’s combination of rock and hip-hop drumming make this the standout song on the record.

The group does a good job of mixing in some occasional hip-hop flavor without crossing the line and becoming one of those dreaded rap/metal bands. Strategically placed scratches echo throughout the record, and once in a while, the band will break into a mellow groove while singer Chris Lino spits some mediocre mic skills.Here’s what Boiler Room does wrong: They simply don’t bring anything new to metal. And that’s a must with all of the metal acts trying to survive today. Korn and Limp Bizkit brought something new to the table when they came out. And bands like Dope, Slipknot and Static-X are doing sick things to current metal music.

Boiler Room doesn’t bring a single fresh aspect to their music. Sure the riffs are heavy and tight, but everything sounds like other bands. There isn’t any clear-cut signature style to Boiler Room. Listen to “Patience” and see if you can tell the difference between this song and any song on the Disturbed record. “Insomnia” is a regurgitated trademark basic metal song.There are flashes on this record that could very well establish the name Boiler Room, but the band needs to stop being happy with sounding like Anthrax and keep trying to develop a more unique style.— Trevor Fisher