Rage Against The Machine

No Shelter [7-inch] (1998)

Ricky Frankel

When ever the topic of Rage Against The Machine’s discography is brought up obviously it’s the three main studio albums that get the most focus. Their covers album, Renegades and their live recordings such as Live At The Grand Olympic Auditorium usually get set to the side. One release that usually gets overlooked as well is their now quarter century old single No Shelter.

Originally released on the 1998 Godzilla movie soundtrack, “No Shelter” was also what bridged the gap between 1996’s Evil Empire and 1999’s The Battle Of Los Angeles. Of course the irony was not lost on the band, their fans, and critics for having their song on the soundtrack for a major motion picture. With lines like “The main attraction, distraction/Got ya number than number than numb” and “And Rambo too, he’s got a dope pair of Nikes on/Godzilla, pure mothafuckin’ filler/To keep ya eyes off the real killer,” it’s pretty obvious that RATM used this opportunity to rage against the Hollywood machine.

Had the band not taken advantage of the opportunity, chances are they probably wouldn’t have released what is arguably one of their best tunes in their catalogue. Lyrically, it is clearly on point for a Rage song. Musically though, it is really impressive. Rage Against The Machine has always been the best at mixing hardcore, metal, funk, and hip-hop. Guitarist Tom Morello provides the funk with his scratchy, wah-infused riffs and he touches on the more metal-esque parts of the song with the slide-heavy main riff as well. Bassist Tim Commerford really shines with a swift bass line that accompanies Zach De La Rocha’s whispering during the bridge. Brad Wilk’s drumming is of course stellar throughout the track. “No Shelter” yet another example of how amazing of a vocalist Zach De La Rocha is as well. His aggression throughout the verses is palpable. His flow is smooth where it needs to be and jagged to really emphasize his points in other parts. And of course his screaming in the outro is totally explosive.

If you listen to the Godzilla soundtrack, you’ll find “No Shelter” among other songs by notable artists such as “Brain Stew (The Godzilla Remix)” by Green Day, “Come With Me” by Puff Daddy featuring Jimmy Page, and “A320” by the Foo Fighters. It’s quite the time capsule to say the least.

As for the No Shelter 7-inch itself, the only real downside is that the track is on both the A-side and the B-side. When it comes to Rage Against The Machine’s other 7-inches, they usually include other studio tracks or live versions of older songs on them as B-sides. It’s a shame that they didn’t include some sort of bonus track on this one. Otherwise the No Shelter 7-inch is a really great artifact of Rage Against The Machine’s ongoing rise into the mainstream music arena at the time. Regardless of how cringeworthy one might find that and the whole context of how “No Shelter” was used at the time of its release, the song indisputably rocks.