One Day As A Lion: One Day As A Lion EP : Music Reviews : Rolling Stone

Album Reviews

Everyone who bet that Axl Rose would finish Chinese Democracy before Zack de la Rocha released a solo album — pay up. This EP — a collaboration between de la Rocha and ex-Mars Volta drummer Jon Theodore — will have to do for now. Along with the recent string of Rage-reunion gigs, this set shows the rapper-activist stepping back into the arena, and dude's on fire. One Day are an exercise in simplicity: Theodore's prog-rock pummeling is compressed into massive funk beats, while de la Rocha's keyboards conjure brute bass lines and heavy-metal guitar chords. De la Rocha's vocals sound both familiar and reimagined; his raps are more impressionistic than usual — check out the political firestorming on "Wild International." And his singing is a revelation, especially the feral, Perry Farrell-style howling on "Last Letter": "I'm Chicano soprano, high off my pitch ammo," he spits on the dancehall-flavored "If You Fear Dying." It's clearly the sound of a man who still lives to agitate over beats.