Rage Against the Machine (also known as American Composite) is the original demo tape by Los Angeles rap metal band Rage Against the Machine, released in December 1991. The 12-track tape was recorded at Sunbirth Studio in Los Angeles, California after drummer Brad Wilk joined the band, but before they had played their first live show. When the band began performing live shows they sold the tape for $5, and sold around 5,000 copies. The band was signed to a record deal with Epic Records on the strength of the demo's success shortly afterwards.

As well as being sold at early live shows, the demo tape was sent to a number of record companies to showcase the band. Atlantic Records was sent one, and produced a number of copies which they sold under their name. The band later discovered this but decided not to take action. The Atlantic Records tape has a different cover to the one seen above, with a picture of a man with a distorted face and Rage Against the Machine with the lettering taken from different newspaper headlines.

Most of the songs on the demo tape were included on the band's eponymous debut album, with only five songs left out: "Darkness of Greed", "Clear the Lane", "Mindsets a Threat", "Autologic" and "Narrows". Two of these were eventually included as B-sides, with the remaining three songs never seeing an official release. Some of the tracks on the demo are almost identical to the versions that appear in the debut album, but others have noticeable differences; the tempo of "Take the Power Back" on the demo, for example, is much slower and has a different final verse. The record was notable for the first appearance of the song "Bullet in the Head", which became a hit when reissued as a single later in the year after being transferred intact (with re-recorded vocals for the verses only) from the demo to the album.

The track "Darkness of Greed" hails back to vocalist de la Rocha's previous band Inside Out that had broken up earlier the same year. Inside Out performed the track on many occasions, and several ROIOs exist of the performances. (Rage later re-recorded it for The Crow soundtrack.) Another significant indicator of Inside Out's influence on Rage Against the Machine's initial direction is the name "Rage Against the Machine" was also the title of another Inside Out track.

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