Tom Morello’s five favourite albums
It’s an unfortunate curse for Tom Morello that when the world gets worse, he becomes more relevant.
Like the Batman of rap-rock, he puts the world to rights in dire times. Over the past few decades, the innovative guitarist best known for his tenure with Rage Against the Machine, has branched out into a variety of musical styles and genres. But along the way, he has always retained the same steady intent.
Having formed collaborative friendships with the likes of Bruce Springsteen, Eddie Vedder, Ben Harper, and Ollie Sykes, Morello’s understanding of rock history has grown from strength to strength. Along the way, he has also become further assured of its importance. As he put it himself, “A song is a way of creating a little bit of a world you’d like to one day see.”
So, he has often been one of the first to celebrate the art form. Morello was introduced to rock music mainly through classic hard rock groups like Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath, Iron Maiden, Kiss and Alice Cooper. In the early 1980s, he formed his first serious band, the Electric Sheep, in which future Tool guitarist Adam Jones joined him on bass. And he hungered to be a proud member of the community from then on.
Throughout the 1980s, towards his proud moment under the Rage banner, Morello adhered to a distinctively heavy guitar style with metallic headbanging riffs aplenty. This aggressive sound perfectly framed the politically oriented subject matter by which he and his early bandmates and collaborators became identified.
Keeping heavy rock at heart, Morello has broadened his horizons over the past few decades to welcome a host of influences, old and new. This eclecticism can be seen across Morello’s five favourite album selections below, initially submitted for a 2021 feature with Spin. Each of these records reflects the powerful mix of sounds and philosophies that he looks to reflect in his own work.
Like a good reviewer, the magic of Morello’s music and its core tenets is that he can hold two opposing ideas in mind at all times. That makes his list a riveting assortment and a fascinating insight into the inspirations that have swirled in the welter of his own fierce output.
Tom Morello’s five favourite albums:
‘3’ – Peter Gabriel
“Peter Gabriel’s 3 is a spectacular album of ennui and desperation,” Morello said of the classic art-rock record. “‘Games Without Frontiers’ is the track that draws you in with its brilliant, disjointed poetry and equally disjointed, brilliant Robert Fripp guitars. ‘Family Snapshot’ is a quiet and terrifying assassin’s novella, and ‘Intruder’ is even scarier than that. Phil Collins plays drums on this record, and Gabriel forbade him from using any hi-hats or cymbals on the entire record, adding to the suffocating tone. And then there’s ‘Biko,’ one of the greatest human-rights anthems of all time about the martyred South African dissident Stephen Biko. It is a song that galvanised the global anti-apartheid movement and stirred in me the realisation that music really could change the world.”
Gabriel’s 3 arrived in 1980 as the former Genesis musician’s third solo studio album. The sound built upon that of his previous self-titled album of 1978 to bring a notably accessible side to avant-garde rock music. The album is often considered Gabriel’s artistic masterpiece. Adding to the allure was the iconic cover image created by Hipgnosis, which has led to the album being widely nicknamed Melt.
‘Blizzard of Ozz’ – Ozzy Osbourne
“This is the album that launched guitar virtuoso Randy Rhoads to superstardom,” Morello beamed. “It was a Randy Rhoads poster that I had on my wall when I was practising eight hours a day, and he remains my favourite guitarist of all time. His genius is splattered all over this metal masterpiece, and this album revived Ozzy Osbourne’s career. Every song, every riff, and every solo drips of a guitar genius emerging to kick the world’s ass.”
Blizzard of Ozz was not only a fantastic play on words but a crucial submission to the 20th-century metal canon. The album, released in September 1980, was Osbourne’s first release following his dismissal from Black Sabbath in 1979. With hits like ‘Crazy Train’ and ‘Mr. Cowley’, the Prince of Darkness assured fans he would never fade into obscurity.
‘Nothing’s Shocking’ – Jane’s Addiction
“Jane’s Addiction saved and redeemed hard rock music with this tour de force,” Morello said. “The band unapologetically embraced bold metal riffs, fused them with an underground artistry and brilliant street poetry that created an unprecedented alloy of rock and roll greatness. The Santeria magic, the gorgeous acoustic ‘Jane Says,’ the Jim Morrison-like ruminations on the bulldozer track ‘Pigs in Zen,’ and the bone-crushing ‘Mountain Song’ launched the Lollapalooza Nation. This album has romance, mysticism, deep insight, and in my humble view, remains the greatest ‘alternative rock’ album to date.”
Jane’s Addiction hit their fans hard with their groundbreaking debut album, Nothing’s Shocking, in 1988. Despite its progressive, hard-rock sound, the album was favoured by critics and peaked at number 103 on the Billboard Hot 200. ‘Jane Says’ was the album’s most successful single, reaching number six on the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart.
‘Ruminations’ – Conor Oberst
“Conor Oberst, in and out of Bright Eyes, is a singularly brilliant and emotionally evocative lyricist,” Morello said. “Ruminations is a torn tapestry of a soul falling apart, and it’s absolutely gorgeous. Each razor-sharp turn of phrase is astounding and gives Dylan a run for his money. Also, I’m pretty sure ‘Till St. Dymphna Kicks Us Out’ is about a night out in the East Village with Conor, myself, and Michael Moore.”
Ruminations arrived in 2016 as the seventh solo album of Bright Eyes frontman Conor Oberst. The stripped-back release features just Oberst singing and playing acoustic guitar, piano, and harmonica. The ten main tracks and five bonus songs were re-recorded with a live band and released in 2017 as Oberst’s eighth album, Salutations.
‘Rage Valley’ – Knife Party
“I hated EDM music. Really hated it,” Morello recalled. “My impression of the genre was that shit they played in Italian taxi cabs. Unbearable. Then a friend turned me on to Knife Party, and they blew my fucking mind. Rage Valley has all of the power, tension, explosiveness, and attitude of my favourite heavy metal music. It was this album that inspired my ‘The Atlas Underground’ project and the desire to create an alloy of Marshall stack madness and Rage Valley bass drops.”
Not strictly an album, Rage Valley was released in 2011 as the dubstep duo’s second EP and the follow-up to their debut EP of 2011, 100% No Modern Talking. It’s easy to see how the album struck a chord with Morello, despite his disaffection with EDM. The EP arrived at the height of the dubstep wave and brought a hard-rock sound to electro with heavy beat drops. ‘Bonfire’ remains the duo’s most popular hit to date.
