Rage Against The Machine

[Guest]

I've been listening to this band for about seven or eight years, and having just scanned the forum I cannot see any threads on the subject, so I will just say that this band were the greatest writers of love songs of all time!

Anyone who has seen the Matrix films (1 and 2) will recognise the tunes "wake up" and "calm like a bomb" from these men, and their whole oeuvre reflects the spirit of the seeker of truth, and the dreadful absence of it in our culture.

They were, as many bands with teeth have been over the years, pigeonholed to a certain extent, and their combination of hip-hop and hard rock, funk, and thrash punk has been imitated with diminishing returns countless times by inferior bands such as the tragic Limp Bizkit (the clue is in the name), but imho no-one has come close to the sheer purity of the Rage aesthetic. They are exhilarating and cathartic, whilst also being intellectually precise and questing. Their second album "Evil Empire" features a reading list for interested listeners, which includes "A Yaqui Way of Knowledge" by our good friend Castaneda, among others.

The lyricist/vocalist, Zach de la Rocha, had a very tempestuous upbringing, involving being kept indoors by his possesive and religiously bonko father, praying constantly behind drawn curtains. Naturally, mother had split the homestead many moons before. Zach eventually ran away and the rest is rock history. His father also had a breakdown and they have subsequently reconciled some of their differences, which can be discerned in many of the lyrical allusions to broken homes in their songs.

The band's political activism is open knowledge to most rock fans, and although it can sometimes veer on the precipice of being pro-guerilla, the spirit is one of love and justice above all other things. Oh that justice could manifest in this world. They love the world, and hate the tyrants that have laid waste to it; hence, every song by this band is a love song. They know their world and sing about what they know.

Not exactly musical workaholics, they released just three studio albums, all of which are tremendous, and a couple of curios for the commited, a covers album (featuring songs by Springsteen, Dylan, the Stones and the MC5) and a stirring record of their final gigs from 1999.

1:Rage Against the Machine (1992)
2:Evil Empire (1996)
3:The Battle of Los Angeles (1999)
4:Renegades (covers-2000)
5:Live at the Grand Olympic Auditorium (2003)

There seemed to be a split in terms of philosophy within the band in the aftermath of 9-11, as their website closed down very soon after, and then the band announced that they were to split. Zach worked with UK renegades Reprazent and LA hip-hop sound collage pioneer DJ Shadow (I am still trying to get a hold of their collaboration "March of Death"), while the guitarist and drummer are currently treading water in the less than mind blowing Audioslave (again, the clue is in the name).

I am sure that this truly monumental band needs no introduction, but if there is anyone out there interested in something both powerful and positive, acquaint yourself with the Wachowskis of music. They'll leave you thinking that most contemporary music sounds castrated, in more ways than one.

 

[Guest]

Very appropriate lyrics here from Senor de la Rocha-

"Bulls on Parade"

This microphone explodes, shattering tha molds
Ya either drop the hits like de la o or get tha f*** tha commode
Wit tha sure shot, sure ta make tha bodies drop
Drop and don't copy yo, don't call this a co-opt
Terror rains drenchin', quenching tha thirst of tha power dons
That five sided fist-a-gon
Tha rotten sore on tha face of mother earth gets bigger
Tha triggers cold empty ya purse

They rally round tha family
With pockets full of shells

Weapons not food, not homes, not shoes,
Not need, just feed tha war cannibal animal
I walk tha corner to tha rubble that used to be a
Library
Line up to tha mind cemetary now
What we don't know keeps tha contracts alive and movin'
They don't gotta burn tha books they just remove 'em
While arms warehouses fill as quick as tha cells
Rally round tha family, pockets full of shells


'Nuff said!

 

[OPINMYND81]

Yeah I've been listening to Rage for at least 10 years now if not more. Aside from owning all their albums including Audioslave (I'm also a HUGE fan of Soundgarden) and a couple of the DVDs and old VHSs, it was actually the book list from Evil Empire that got me to where I am today. In other words, I doubt I'd be on this forum if it weren't for that book list. From it I read started reading some Chomsky and Zinn and the rest, as they say, is history. I've obviously evolved beyond those types of authors since then, not to mention in terms of knowledge and understanding of our world and reality. I must say, it's disappointing and isolating to see that so many people don't seem to EVOLVE as quickly as I have, I guess I just get impatient and want to keep digging deeper and deeper while most people prefer to just stay in their happy little mindspace.

That's why there's always a special place in my heart for Rage. I remember reading on some forum of some juvenile left-wing purist criticizing Rage for being sell outs or not revolutionary enough and that ticked me right off. Not just because of that immature left-wing attitude by a bunch of spoiled middle class kids and other BMW Bolsheviks but because Rage got me, and so many other people, out of the matrix and on the path to knowledge.

If that isn't revolutionary I don't know what is.

 

[OPINMYND81]

They were, as many bands with teeth have been over the years, pigeonholed to a certain extent, and their combination of hip-hop and hard rock, funk, and thrash punk has been imitated with diminishing returns countless times by inferior bands such as the tragic Limp Bizkit (the clue is in the name), but imho no-one has come close to the sheer purity of the Rage aesthetic. They are exhilarating and cathartic, whilst also being intellectually precise and questing.

Agreed on all counts. It's funny when magazines or MTV-like music shows get nervous trying to define them, especially the politics (words like 'controversial' and 'left-of-centre' and 'collectivists' and, yes, even 'terrorists' do appear). Not only is their music incredible but the lyrics are smart and have substance and actually force the listener to fire up a couple of neurons as opposed to....well 98% of the rest of the popular music out there. Purity is the right word since they meld the two in perfect symbiosis, just as all the band members perfectly comliment each other. Morella and De La Rocha are the amoung the best of the guitarist/vocalist combinations like all the other great rock bands.

God, don't get me started on Limp Bizkit, sure Durst is an easy target but he's an easy target for a very good reason and deserves all the criticism he can get. I'm still embarrased I actually listened to them when I was 17 and had a # of their albums, meh, I blame it on teenagehood and not knowing any better ;).

while the guitarist and drummer are currently treading water in the less than mind blowing Audioslave (again, the clue is in the name).

LMAO "Treading water" really nails it. I got their last album and only listened to it about 2 -3 times and almost fell asleep. Really sad if you ask me.

Don't forget the bassist is in the band too, it's basically Rage but with Chris Cornell as the vocalist singing Chris Cornell songs...meaning the lyrics get the job done but that's about it; nothing groundbreaking or mind-blowingly thought provoking...sure as heck doesn't live up to the title of the album 'Revelations.' Too bad, their first album was halfway decent.

Funny, as for the name of the band, Cornell actually complained about the name, saying that when your teen in high school you always come up with the best band names...then your a thirty something and you come up with something like Audioslave. Time makes fools of us all!