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Rage Against the Machine Information
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In Brief
Despite its break-up in 2000, 'Rage Against the Machine' ” also 'Rage' or 'RATM' ” remains in the global consciousness as one of the most popular political bands of all time. With a raw, original sound and insightful, politically searing, communist-inspired lyrics, it is little wonder that the band quickly gained worldwide popularity among the international Radical Left, and equal notoreity among conservatives and the right-wing.
Rage toured globally on numerous occasions, playing shows all the way from Mexico to Tibet to promote its core message of social justice and equality. As one reviewer wrote, "With its 1992 self-titled debut LP, this L.A.-based punk/thrash/hip-hop combo took
on injustice, prejudice, and complacency with all the subtlety of a plane crash." (Inline)
Rage quickly became a worldwide phenomenon. Its second album, Evil Empire (1996) entered Billboard Top 200 chart at No. 1. Two tracks on that album later won Grammys. The 1999 release The Battle of Los Angeles also debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard Top 200, selling 450,000 copies the first week and then going double-platinum.
Considered pioneers in the hard rock genre, they drew much inspiration from early rap. Rage is sometimes considered a rap-rock or rap-metal group because of their rhymes and vocals, but their sound is difficult to confine to a particular genre. Zach de la Rocha's "militant poetry," combined with talented instrumentalists Tom Morello, Brad Wilk, and Tim Commerford for a uniquely rebellious sound. Meanwhile Morello forged a new genre of guitar solos using a combination of unique guitar distortion and advanced fingering techniques. Timmy C's driving but melodic basslines clearly draw from both blues traditions and hip-hop roots, while Brad Wilk's pounding drum beats round out Rage's distinct style.
The band's musical style evolved over its nine-year existence yet always remained distinctly reconizable as "the Rage Against the Machine sound" or "RATM sound". Influence and inspiration came from numerous other musicians, including Public Enemy, Cypress Hill, the MC5, KISS, Black Sabbath, Run DMC, and Living Colour. Rage Against the Machine was always committed and uncomprimising in advancing their core militant Maoist-inspired beliefs. Their biting political commentary remains as poignant and insightful today as it was when they first emerged. De la Rocha split with the band in late 2000 to pursue solo work.
Tom, Brad, and Tim joined with Chris Cornell, the lead singer from Soundgarden, to form Audioslave. The band members, though dispersed, continue to fight on for social justice.
'Guilty Parties' (Band Members)
The four members of the band throughout all four albums were:
*Zack de la Rocha - vocals
*Tom Morello - guitars
*Brad Wilk - drums
*Tim Commerford a.k.a Timmy C., Tim Bob, Simmering T, Y.tim.K and Tim.Com - bass
Rebels with Vision
:America touts itself as the land of the free, but the number one freedom that you and I have is the freedom to enter into a subservient role in the workplace. Once you exercise this freedom you've lost all control over what you do, what is produced, and how it is produced. And in the end, the product doesn't belong to you. The only way you can avoid bosses and jobs is if you don't care about making a living. Which leads to the second freedom: the freedom to starve.:
Rage's main engine of political action was its music. Yet even with the fantastic visibility their fame brought, the group never compromised its ideals of Radical Left revolution. Throughout its short but potent existence, RATM participated in political protests and advocated their strong beliefs at all opportunities. Many criticised the band for voicing loud committment to leftist causes while being signed to Epic, a subsidiary of media mega-giant Sony Records. Of course, Rage always recognized this apparent contradiction. As Tom Morello pointed out,
:When you live in a capitalistic society, the currency of the dissemination of information goes through capitalistic channels. Would Noam Chomsky object to his works being sold at Barnes & Noble? No, because that's where people buy their books. We're not interested in preaching to just the converted. It's great to play abandoned squats run by anarchists, but it's also great to be able to reach people with a revolutionary message, people from Granada Hills to Stuttgart.:
Rage long advocated the releases of death-row inmate Mumia Abu-Jamal (who was executed and pronounced dead at 12:35am 13 December 2005) and life-sentenced Leonard Peltier. The band is an ardent supporter of the Zapatista Movement, especially de la Rocha who has taken at least four trips to the Mexican state of Chiapas to aid their efforts.
'A few highlights of Rage's active political career':
* At a Lollapalooza appearance in 1993 in Philadelphia, the band stood completely naked on stage for a full 15 minutes in protest against censorship by the Parents Music Resource Center. They duct-taped their mouths shut and painted the letters "PMRC" across their chests. The only noise was the feedback from Tom and Tim's guitars through the amplifiers.
* On January 26th, 2000 filming of their music video "Sleep Now in the Fire" (directed by Michael Moore) shut down the New York Stock Exchange. The NYSE locked its doors midday in response to unjustified(?) fears of the crowd gathering to watch the filming.
* Rage performed in protest of American Imperialism outside the 2000 Democratic National Convention in Los Angeles, California;
History
Tom Morello, in a Feb 1997 interview with Guitar World, said,
'Formation'
The duos of Zack de la Rocha and Tim Commerford and Tom Morello and Brad Wilk teamed up in 1990 to form Rage. The band's name comes from the song "Rage Against the Machine" by de la Rocha's former group, Inside Out. Shortly after forming, Rage recorded and distributed twelve songs on cassette tape. When word got out, several record labels expressed interest in the group. Rage eventually signed with Epic Records. Tom says, "Epic agreed to everything we asked--and they've followed through... we never saw a [ideological] conflict as long as we maintained creative control."
Rage released its self-titled debut album "Rage Against the Machine" in late 1992.
'Break-up'
In late 2000, less than a year after the release of The Battle of Los Angeles, de la Rocha left the group. He released the following statement on October 18, 2000:
:I feel that it is now necessary to leave Rage because our decision-making process has completely failed. It is no longer meeting the aspirations of all four of us collectively as a band, and from my perspective, has undermined our artistic and political ideal. I am extremely proud of our work, both as activists and musicians, as well as indebted and grateful to every person who has expressed solidarity and shared this incredible experience with us.
Their last two shows were played to the small (by Rage standards) crowd of 3000 on September 13, 2000 at the Grand Olympic Auditorium in Los Angeles, CA. Shortly thereafter, Rage's final album Renegades, a collection of covers, was released.
'The World After Rage'
Tom, Brad, and Tim teamed up with ex-Soundgarden singer Chris Cornell to form Audioslave. The first Audioslave single, "Cochise", was released in early November 2002, and the first album followed to mainly positive reviews. Their second album Out of Exile debuted at the #1 position on the Billboard charts in 2005.
Zack de la Rocha is continuing to advocate his vision with other artists in the hip-hop arena. In September 2004, de la Rocha released a song called "We Want It All", produced by Trent Reznor, on the Songs and Artists That Inspired Fahrenheit 9/11 soundtrack. Tom Morello, credited as "The Nightwatchman," also contributed a song entitled "No One Left" to this compilation.
According to a Spin magazine interview with de la Rocha, he has recorded several tracks with various artists, among them Reprazent and DJ Shadow. In 2003 a song called "March of Death" that he recorded with DJ Shadow was released in protest of the war on Iraq. As of September 2005, de la Rocha's debut solo album is scheduled to be released on December 31, 2005.
Discography
LPs
*Rage Against the Machine, 1992
*Evil Empire, 1996
*Live & Rare, 1998
*The Battle of Los Angeles, 1999
*Renegades, 2000
*Live at the Grand Olympic Auditorium, 2003
Singles
* "Killing in the Name", 1993 (also featured on the Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas soundtrack)
* "Bombtrack", 1993
* "Know Your Enemy", 1993
* "Bullet in the Head", 1993
* "Freedom", 1994
* "Bulls on Parade", 1995
* "Tire Me", 1996
* "People of the Sun", 1996
* "Down Rodeo", 1996
* "No Shelter", 1998 (also featured on the Godzilla (1998 film) soundtrack)
* "Guerrilla Radio", 1999 (also featured on the Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2 soundtrack)
* "Sleep Now in the Fire", 2000
* "Testify", 2000
* "Calm Like a Bomb", 2000 (also featured on The Matrix Reloaded soundtrack)
* "The Ghost of Tom Joad", 2001
* "Renegades of Funk", 2002
* "How I Could Just Kill a Man", 2002
* "The Illingworth Song", Coming 2006
Music Videos
* "Bombtrack"
* "How I Could Just Kill a Man"
* "Sleep Now in the Fire", 2000, directed by Michael Moore.
* "Testify", 2000, directed by Michael Moore.
DVDs
*Rage Against the Machine, 1997
Contains footage of concerts in Irvine, CA, at the Rock Am Ring Festival 1996, and at the Pink Pop Festival 1994. It also features music videos for five Rage songs from their first two albums. Also contains a poem by Zack de la Rocha entitled "Memory of the Dead" and the song, "The Ghost of Tom Joad".
*Revolution USA, 1999
This unauthorized DVD contians the biographies of the band members and interviews with Tom Morello and music journalists, but does not contain any live video clips.
*The Battle of Mexico City, 2000
Rage's first concert in Mexico. Features songs from Rage's first three albums and a cover of "Zapata's Blood".
*Live at the Grand Olympic Auditorium, 2003
RATM's last performance at the Grand Olympic Auditorium in Los Angeles, CA on September 13, 2000. It features long-time friend B-Real for a cover of Cypress Hill's "How Could I Just Kill A Man". The DVD also contains the music videos "Bombtrack" and "How I Could Just Kill A Man", footage from the band's free Democratic National Convention concert on August 14th, 2000, as well as two bonus concert performances of "People of the Sun" and "Know Your Enemy".
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