Political Metal: RATM infestation

The newly reunited Rage Against the Machine recently headlined Day One of the Electric Weekend festival in Madrid. Lest one think that almost ten years away from a recording studio had calmed them down at all, the band showed up dressed as Guantanamo Bay detainees.



This comes 15 years after RATM introduced themselves to much of the world by giving up their Lollapalooza time slot with a none-too-subtle message.

Rage Against the Machine officially released only 34 original songs, all politically charged and all awesome. One of the first-ever to meld rap and hard rock, Rage became a rock band for metal fans to like, a metal band for rock fans to like and the whitest band that was OK for hip-hoppers to admire (and tour with, in the Wu-Tang Clan's case) since the Beastie Boys. They're also unchallenged as the most politically active rock band of the past 20 years.



Rage benefits from one of the best singer/guitarist combos in the world. Harvard graduate Tom Morello is one of the most inventive axemen of our time, especially with a pedal, and fiery, confrontational rapper Zack de la Rocha has one of the most distinct and forceful barks in the world. He can't sing or even rap very well, but funk metal never had a stronger vocalist.



Some folks find Rage Against the Machine's compliance with huge corporations like MTV and Sony BMG hypocritical. Maybe a band of pinkos that covers Ian McKaye should be expected to shun those organizations, but I thought it was pretty cool how RATM infiltrated the media to get their voices heard. Did the producers of the last American Godzilla movie realize that their soundtrack's lead single attacked consumerism, packaged rebellion and the movie itself, which de la Rocha calls "pure motherfuckin' filler?"



During the band's 1996 SNL performance (with host Steve Forbes!), NBC cut the band's set to one song and removed two upside-down flags from the stage. But somehow, it was still OK for them to perform their anti-weapons industry hit 'Bulls on Parade.'



Was there a single Clear Channel radio programmer who thought there was something odd about giving airtime to 'Guerilla Radio?'



Whenever the media were ingested and promoted Rage's music without grasping just how subversive it was, it was always through the media's ignorance and not the band's subtlety. Not that they never got in trouble for their activism--the filming of the Michael Moore-directed video 'Sleep Now in the Fire' got the band escorted off the Wall Street by security, and caused the New York Stock Exchange to close (watch here.)



Although their left-wing and free speech activism is usually admirable, the band has expressed misguided support for terrorist South American organizations, advocated the release of some questionable convicted killers and are frankly as blindly leftist as Ted Nugent is conservative. Their 1984-quoting hit 'Testify' is a great song, but the "Bush and Gore are the same person"-themed video is shameful propaganda. It's infuriating to watch nowadays, when one considers the current administration, and I really hope no one abstained from voting (or supported Nader, who appears at the song's end) because they saw this video.



It doesn't seem like they've learned their lesson--Tom Morello recently refused to support Barack Obama for being too right-wing.

As bothersome as it, there's no way around the fact that Rage Against the Machine were one of the most powerful and original mainstream rock bands of '90s, and one of the best. And in a time where it's patriotic to keep your mouth shut, Rage's music is refreshing and invigorating. No matter how hard you try, you can't stop them now.