A Guide to Tom Morello: 6 Top Albums Featuring Tom Morello

Tom Morello is a Grammy Award-winning musician and songwriter best known as the co-founder of Rage Against the Machine, Audioslave, and Prophets of Rage. The acclaimed musician was born in Harlem, New York City, to Kenyan diplomat Ngethe Njoroge and schoolteacher/political activist Mary Morello, and raised in Libertyville, Illinois. Tom started studying guitar seriously near the end of high school and formed his first rock band, the Electric Sheep, in 1982, with future Tool guitarist Adam Jones on bass. Tom then attended Harvard University, studying political science and social studies, before moving to Los Angeles and dedicating himself to music and his career as a guitarist.

He has collaborated with legendary musicians like Bruce Springsteen and Johnny Cash. He continually pushes the limits of guitar playing, developing a signature sound of feedback noise, tapping, innovative picking, and various effects pedals. In 2015, Tom was named one of the 100 greatest guitar players of all time by Rolling Stone magazine. His solo act, the Nightwatchman, has served as a platform for Tom’s political activism. He is also a co-founder (along with rocker Serj Tankian from System of a Down) of Axis of Justice, a political group that advocates for social justice.

Tom’s guitar style is built upon a few core elements:

• Heavy riffs: As the lead guitarist for Rage Against the Machine, Tom tends to favor the kind of heavy, mid-tempo rock that sounds best in the keys of E and F#. Those guitar riffs more often return to the “one,” meaning they always return to the root note at the beginning of each bar of music, giving them a repetitive, funky rhythm. Alternatively, some of Tom’s Audioslave riffs are chord progressions with a harmonic, melodic feel.
• Strong guitar effects: Tom uses a handful of pedals to achieve different effects in riffs or guitar solos. A few of his essentials include the DOD EQ (to boost sound volume on stage), the Boss delay (for a long delay during traditional soloing, or a shorter, slapback delay pedal for helicopter sounds and ping pong-style effects), the DigiTech Whammy (to pair a musical note he’s playing with that same note at different intervals), and the Wah-Wah or Crybaby pedal (to alter the guitar frequencies).
• Percussive experimentation: Tom says that once he realized he wasn’t limited to the sounds other musicians were making on guitar, his creative energy exploded. He realized that he could use all of the tools at his disposal to coax completely new sounds out of his instrument. One of his signature techniques for innovative sound is unconventional picking and tapping—like dragging an Allen wrench across the strings.

Tom Morello has performed with multiple Grammy Award-winning bands throughout his prolific music career and released his own music under a couple of different monikers. Here are some of the most notable albums featuring Tom Morello:

1. 1. Lock Up (1987–1990): Tom’s first major rock band was Lock Up. The group released one album while Tom served as lead guitarist, Something Bitchin’ This Way Comes, and his solos skewed toward a more traditional sound, including arpeggios and fast fretwork.
2. 2. Rage Against the Machine (1991–2000, 2007–2011, 2019–present): When Lock Up disbanded, Tom formed a new band with vocalist Zack de la Rocha, drummer Brad Wilk, and bass guitarist Tim Commerford called Rage Against the Machine (RATM). The rap-rock group released four studio albums and received two Grammy Awards for Best Metal Performance and Best Hard Rock Performance. On Rage albums, Tom’s electric guitar playing tends to favor the kind of heavy, mid-tempo rock that sounds best in the keys of E and F#.
3. 3. Audioslave (2001–2007, 2017): In 2001, during a split of Rage Against the Machine, Tom formed rock supergroup Audioslave with bandmates from Rage and Soundgarden’s Chris Cornell as frontman. The band released three studio albums and was nominated for three Grammys. Tom’s Audioslave riffs are chord progressions with a harmonic, melodic feel that complements Chris Cornell’s vocals.
4. 4. The Nightwatchman (2003–present): Tom’s solo act, the Nightwatchman, is a major departure from his hard rock and metal roots, featuring political acoustic folk music that advocates for social justice. As the Nightwatchman, Tom has released four studio albums and performed at many major venues around the world.
5. 5. Street Sweeper Social Club (2006–present): Street Sweeper Social Club is a rap-rock supergroup formed by Tom Morello and The Coup’s Boots Riley. The group plays a combination of rap, rock, and funk, and has released one self-titled studio album.
6. 6. Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band (2008–2015): Tom has recorded and performed many times with Bruce Springsteen and his E Street Band, including guest appearances during tours and late-night shows, and recording for Springsteen’s album High Hopes.
7. 7. Prophets of Rage (2016–2019): In 2016, Tom formed the rap-rock supergroup Prophets of Rage with two other Rage Against the Machine members, two members of the legendary hip-hop group Public Enemy (Chuck D and DJ Lord), and a member of hip-hop group Cypress Hill (rapper B-Real). They released one studio album before disbanding to allow the reunion of Rage Against the Machine.
   

Tom’s work is featured on several critically acclaimed and groundbreaking albums—here are some of the most well-known:

1. 1. Rage Against the Machine (1992): The debut album from Tom’s most notable band is rated number 24 on Rolling Stone’s top heavy metal albums of all time, and peaked at number one on Billboard’s Heatseekers chart, and is certified triple platinum. The album featured the lead single “Killing in the Name.”
2. 2. Renegades (2000): The last album that Rage released before their long hiatus, Renegades features cover songs of major hip-hop and rock “n” roll artists and became certified platinum just a month after its release.
3. 3. Out of Exile (2005): The second album from Audioslave, Out of Exile, topped the Billboard charts at number one and featured the hit singles, “Be Yourself, “Your Time Has Come,” and “Doesn’t Remind Me.”
4. 4. Union Town (2011): An EP from the Nightwatchman, Tom’s solo act and alter ego, Union Town is an activist folk-rock album that includes covers of famous union songs.
5. 5. Prophets of Rage (2017): The sole album from the eponymous supergroup, Prophets of Rage, debuted at number 16 on the Billboard charts and peaked on the international music charts in the United Kingdom, France, Germany, and New Zealand.
6. 6. The Atlas Underground (2018): The first solo album that Tom has released under his own name, The Atlas Underground includes collaborations with Marcus Mumford, Portugal. The Man, the Wu-Tang Clan’s RZA and GZA, Vic Mensa, K.Flay, Big Boi, Gary Clark Jr., Pretty Lights, Killer Mike, and Whethan, among others.

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