Summer before grade 10, when this came out. For me, it was more important than grunge. Although, grunge probably had a larger influence on me in the long run.
I had already had my musical awakening but this showed me that music could be political. I remember listening to this album in an unfinished basement in Tuxedo, thinking, "**** you, I won't do what you tell me." The irony that I was in one of the most affluent, privileged neighbourhoods is not lost on me now.
If you're ever inclined, Alan Cross (Ongoing History of New Music) has a few podcasts on Rage, their rise, fall, and rise again. https://omny.fm/shows/ongoing-history-of-new-music/rage-against-the-machine-part-1