Editorial Review:

Item Description:
One Day As A Lion is the creation of musical comrades Zack De La Rocha & Jon Theodore. This is music about space - the space between friends and collaborators where ideas form; the space in a song where the tension builds waiting for the next wave of sound; the space in the corners of the recording studio (Sinatra's old room at Ocean Way) where the sound gathers to fade and die. One Day As A Lion worked hard to capture that space on tape, unadulterated, unmolested, from heart to hand to skins to mics to tape to speaker to ear. The result, someone said, sounds like Led Zep meets Dr. Dre.

Amazon.com:
After almost a decade of speculative anticipation on the part of his fans, Rage Against the Machine’s Zach de la Rocha finally returns to the studio, with former Mars Volta drummer Jon Theodore. It’s been a long wait, but if anything, the machine’s sway has only grown more insidious, and de la Rocha rises to meet it as if he hadn’t missed a beat. RATM fans will find all the familiar sonic and lyrical calling cards here, but One Day as a Lion is a mimeograph of neither contributor’s flagship band. 'If You Fear Dying' and opener 'Wild International' highlight this five-song, 20-minute set. Sharing nearly synchronized leading riffs, the two songs also take similar liberties with religious taboo: 'I target more heads than a priest on Ash Wednesday' ('If You Fear Dying'); 'I’m like a nail stuck in the wrist of their Christmas' ('Wild International'). In 'Ocean View'--a heart-breaking, impressionist portrayal of the PATRIOT Act’s capacity for enabling new twists on the old story of racial profiling--de la Rocha’s wailing chorus glides atop a merciless cascade of thunderous drums. For those who follow either of these guys, everything here merits sustained attention. More generally, for those who like their protest music hard, loud, and in small doses, One Day as a Lion is king for a day, at least. --Jason Kirk









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Disc 1:

1. Wild International
2. Ocean View
3. Last Letter
4. If You Fear Dying
5. One Day As A Lion

Rating: - * The Lion is here. It is king! ... Rage Against the Machine is my favorite band, so it was hard to hear of their break-up, however, seven years later, we have the greatest band in the world back, alongside Zack's incredible side project One Day As a Lion who recently released an eponymous debut album. The two bands can barely be compared, considering there is two less members, and only two instruments, in One Day As a Lion, but they do share one common trait: They're both incredible. Every song is truly awesome, and non deserve less than the best rating, however if I were to select any two favorites, I would choose the first two songs, "Wild International" and "Ocean View". Allow me to thoroughly break down each song, then give it a rating of 1-5 (5 being best): "Wild International" is an amazing song that starts with Jon doing a drum count on the hi-hat, counting along "1,2,3,4". Zack's [AMAZING] keyboard riff follows for virtually the rest of the song. My personal favorite line, "they say that in war the truth be the first casualty, so I dig in selector, I the ressurector..." is featured as well as some others. (I BELIEVE) the song is about the lies brought on by war and international affairs (thus, the title "Wild INTERNATIONAL"), although Zack touches on subjects such as his distaste of christmas time and the lies associated with it. Great song! rating: 5/5 "Ocean View" is another great song, a personal favorite. Keyboard riff is great as usual, with an outstanding drum fill in this one. The lyrics reference the damage police have done to a city (likely L.A.). Lines such as "cops blasting out church windows" "bumpers were burning, tires, you could smell the exhaust", and "you can have the mic or the heater but you can't have both" not only show Zack's outstanding lyrical talent, but further proves the message in the song. Zack sings incredibley in this one, also. Zack sings "Ocean of tears rise, rise a flame to tear them down, ocean of past crimes rise, rise a flame to tear them down". By this, Zack is speaking of a hypothetical ocean of all the tears, pain, and past crimes caused by the police, and how they should come and "tear THEM down", THEM being the pigs themselves. rating: 5/5 "Last Letter" is probably my least favorite of the bunch. This entire Ep is outstanding, but this would probably be my least personal favorite of the rest. The beat to the song is outstanding, and Zack sings about how he believes the christian god is a "homeless assassin" who's "killed so many he can't go home" (to heaven). The lyrics really don't bother me, but the other songs I believe touch on greater, more important issues. That is simply the reason I dislike this a little bit. But it's still good, PLEASE don't allow my personal opinion to turn you off from buying this album. rating: 4/5 "If you fear Dying" is the next song. It is very good as well. rating: 4.9/5 "One Day As a Lion" is the self-titled song off of the self-titled Ep of the same name. It is an outstanding song with a great keyboard riff, outstanding drum fill, and extraordinary vocal rhythm. This song is amazing and is definitely one of my favorites. "One Day As a Lion" is outstanding and has a very cool, different beat than any of the others. I once heard someone say Jon's drums were so important because Zack's keyboards toggle on and off, so the drums lay a constant, steady rhythm while the "treble" of the song has briefly paused. I can do nothing less than agree with that. You've [likely] heard The White Stripes (vocals, drums, and guitar only), well, it's about time you "get to know" One Day as a Lion. Buy this Ep today and see what all the rave is about. Rating: - * Bracing and free-spirited ... I like this EP a lot, and am keyed for the album to drop. The combination of Jon Theodore's Bonham-like assault and Zach's vocal polemics (which give way at points to some surprisingly Ozzy-ish melodic lines -- check "Ocean View") makes instant sense. The songs are strong and the performances committed. It's good to hear Zach sounding so limber after such a long absence from recording. Rating: - * Great Album ... It's a good post-Rage album for Zack. I would like for them to come out with full length ablum. Even though I would prefer Rage Against the Machine, it's still a good one to listen to. Rating: - * Straight. How to see through ... Allright, look at "if you fear dying" as a demo for "wild international", and the whole gig as a test run, and you get the groove. Come on, y'all. This is two guys, two instruments and a few mics. Promote, and get Zach bach. Don't listen to fools bitching they didn't get enough. That's the key: They wanted more. You got teased, fool. Smack. Me, I want more. I saw Rage live, and contractual obligations aside, I need more. [...] Rating: - * One Day As A Lion ... I was a teenager when Rage first came on the scene and blew me and my friends away. We loved the militant Public-Enemy political message, the impressive delivery and flow of Zack, and the funky/metal guitar of Tom. They were a band built for teenage boys to love and idolize. Rage was one of my favorite bands and their old albums still sound VERY good today. So I came into One Day As A Lion hoping for something great. And overall it is pretty good, but it's definitely not great. Zack still sounds good on the mic. But it can't touch the old Rage albums. I got the feeling I was listening to some sort of Junior-Varsity-Rage. As mentioned in other reviews, the 5 songs on this EP kind of all sound the same, two of them especially, which is not good creativity-wise. Plus, I thought the choruses/hooks were not as strong, powerful or memorable as his other previous work. It's taken Zack nearly TEN years(!) to put something out and this is what we get? So yes, I'm a bit disappointed. Will I still be listening to this One Day As A Lion EP 15 years from now like I do with the Rage albums? Probably not.