As is usual these days with anniversary reissues, there are various editions of this 20th anniversary reissue of Rage Against the Machine’s debut album. Newbies will be satisfied with the single disc edition, which has the remastered album and three bonus tracks. More serious fans can opt for the “Special Edition” (two CDs and a DVD), but the hardcore fans should seriously consider shelling out for the “Deluxe box set” edition, with two CDs and two DVDs, giving you the best of old and new.

Rap and heavy metal had been fused before Rage Against the Machine’s ascendency in the ‘90s — Run D.M.C.’s take on Areosmith’s “Walk This Way” being an obvious example — but Rage was arguably the first to make such a mash-up seem like a natural blending of the two genres instead of the novelty it tended to be portrayed as before. The music on this debut is still so powerful, it’s easy to see why it would resonate even with listeners who didn’t subscribe to the band’s leftist leanings — it’s a force that simply can’t be denied. And there are certainly bipartisan phrases; who can’t relate to the sentiment of “Fuck you, I won’t do what you tell me,” in the album’s signature song, “Killing in the Name”?

The first CD has the album and single B-sides as bonus tracks. The second CD has 12 original demos for the album, giving you an unvarnished look at the band’s music in its early stages (and all but two are previously unreleased). And they’ve found some great stuff for the DVDs. The DVD with the Special Edition has three videos and previously unreleased live clips. But in the Deluxe set you get the band’s very first public performance (previously unreleased), at California State University, Northridge, on October 23, 1991. It’s fascinating watching the band work through their set on an outside stage as students casually walk by, ignoring the hard-hitting rhythms of “Bullet in the Head” and “Darkness of Greed” as they make their way to their next class.

There’s a lot more previously unreleased material as well; various live performances from 1992 to 1994, and a terrific, more recent appearance, from June 6, 2010 at Finsbury Park in London. Plus 12 music videos, four of them getting their first official release on this set. The Deluxe set also throws in a 180 gram vinyl album, 40 page booklet, and a poster for your hard-earned dollar.

Label: Legacy (The box set can be ordered here)