16KILLING IN THE NAME RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE

(1991)

The most iconic drop-d riff of them all?

It’s still astonishing, even after all these years, just how little gain Tom Morello was using on RATM’S debut. His tones, though slightly overdriven, were clear and punchy – relying more on the melodic and rhythmic content within the music itself to define the overall heaviness. Still to this day, their debut single is among the first anyone will learn in drop-d, typifying how the third and fifth frets on the A-string can be used for minor seventh and octave notes against the low string root. A walking chromatic blues run is thrown in halfway through the second verse, embellishing the idea further. It was Morello’s 1982 ‘Sendero Luminoso’ Telecaster handling the bulk of the work and a hot sauce-coloured Gibson Les Paul for overdubs, going through his faithful Marshall JCM 800 and Peavey cab, plus modulation on the opening chords from an Ibanez DFL Flanger.