One Day As A Lion Review

One Day As A Lion is the latest project from Rage Against the Machine lead Zack De La Rocha. Jon Theodore (The Mars Volta) completes the two man band with aggressive percussion. I was really excited about this release since I hadn't heard Zack De La Rocha on an album in a long time.

Their myspace page states, “The name (One Day As A Lion) taken from the infamous 1970 black and white, captured by legendary Chicano photographer George Rodriguez featuring a center framed tag on a white wall in an unspecified section of Boyle Heights. It reads: ‘It’s better to live one day as a lion, than a thousand years as a lamb.’ This record is a stripped down attempt to realize this sentiment in sound.”

Better one day as a lion than a thousand as a lamb is just bad theology to me. My savior teaches me to lay my life and body down as a lamb for the sacrifice if need be. Peaceful action to prove love to your enemy is far better than the continuation of hate and violence. What I think I'll do is translate this statement as, "Better to get up and act than to sit on the couch."

The record has the angry revolutionist feel that you would expect from Zack. I really do like the indie sound that they've achieved with Zack's messy keys and Jon's heavy drums. As far as lyrics go, I'm a big stickler for substance, and while Zack's delivery is exciting and flawless, I have to say I don't appreciate the blasphemous comments sprinkled throughout the album. I share some of his views of war and poverty. In the past his words would move me to action, but with this album I just hear anger for anger's sake.

Like I said before, I really like the sound and delivery style of this record, but I can't justify the content. It's really hard to let this one go, but I have to give it a thumbs down.

Verdict: 1 star out of 5