Pitchfork

...And so, with permboy Zach De La Rocha leading the way, Rage Against the Machine did rock the nation once again with a new record entitled Evil Empire. This record sounds so much like their debut, I can hardly tell the difference. That's both good and bad, depending on how you look at it. See, there are some artists who put out a debut album, and are never again capable of releasing an album as worthwhile. Evil Empire is no better or worse than these guys' 1993 self-titled debut. It's exactly the fucking same. Despite that no new ground is explored on Evil Empire, it still gets the old adrenaline rushing. It's just sad to see that the band hasn't evolved in three years.