Why Rage Against The Machine Need To Reform

Rage Against The Machine were one of the biggest, best and angriest bands of the the 90's, and are easily the most politically driven band, ever. By combining the seemingly opposite styles of Heavy Metal and Hip Hop, they're unique style and attitude built them a legacy of infamy, making as many enemies as they did fans. From attempting to place upside down American Flags around the stage during their SNL Performance in 1996, starting a riot outside the Democratic National Convention in 2000, and legitimately shutting down the New York Stock Exchange in 1999, after doing a live random concert. It's these reasons why Rage needs to return ASAP.

Rage Against The Machine (1992). From left to right; Tim Commerford, Tom Morello, Brad Wilk, Zack de la Rocha.

Rage exploded onto the scene with their self titled release, 'Rage Against The Machine', in 1992. Featuring loud but funky guitar riffs, venom-filled vocals, and a bitter attitude. The album now features legendary songs like 'Know You're Enemy', 'Wake Up', and the one and only, 'Killing In The Name'. The album needs no more praise, going Triple Platinum in the US, and receiving 4.5/5 stars from Rolling Stone, NME and The LA Times. It's the gospel for Punk, Metal and Hip Hop combined. The cover art is one of the most famous photos of all time, the 1963 'Self Immolation' of Vietnamese Monk, Thich Quang Duc. The Album Art is pictured below, along with the 20th Anniversary Edition.

The Los Angeles outfit consisted of Zack de la Rocha on anger fuelled vocals, Tom Morello on heavy yet groovy guitar, Tim Commerford on heavy and dirty bass, and Brad Wilk on heavy as f*ck drums. The band formed in 1991, and referenced politics on all of their music, with their overall message being 'F*ck Authority* and *Power To The People*. Zack is a well known activist, always standing against racism, but his political opinions are what made Rage the phenomenon they were.

Rage released 3 Studio Albums in their stellar career, with their followup album coming in 1996, entitled 'Evil Empire', and had brilliant songs and now fan favourites, 'Bulls on Parade' and 'Without A Face'. Guitarist Tom Morello really develops his 'insane' sound on this album, that he still uses to this day. 1999 would be the year they dropped my personal favourite, 'The Battle of Los Angeles', named after the LA Riots, and the apparent UFO Sighting in LA in 1942. The album is so good, and I'd recommend it the most. But the band split in 2000 after 'disagreements', but did give fans a parting gift with a Covers Album, 'Renegades', where they covered songs by Bruce Springsteen, The Rolling Stones and Bob Dylan, it's a really interesting listen.

So what did the members of RATM do following the breakup? Well, the problems were mainly with Zack, so the other 3 members continued together, and formed 'Audioslave', a RATM Reformation in 2001, with former Soundgarden singer Chris Cornell as their now lead singer! Holy sh*t! Audioslave is amazing, and one of the greatest crossovers ever in Rock. Rest in Piece, Chris. Audioslave broke up in 2007, but regrouped for a one-off gig in 2017, the night Donald Trump was sworn into US Presidency. Brilliant. Audioslave, even without Zack, were still very politically driven. Morello is also a well known activist in many areas. 

Zack has really laid low since RATM broke up. He released a 5 Song EP in 2008, 'One Day As A Lion', and has popped up every now and again, but he stays very quiet, sadly. But I think, with the times we live in now, Zack's voice is needed now more than ever. Rage returned in 2007, and toured through to 2010, gaining mainstream attention for hijacking the sacred UK No. 1 Chart Position for Christmas from X Factor Winner Joe McElderry, and they did it, with 'Killing In The Name' once again defying authority. I f*cking love this band. They played Finsbury Park in London to it's capacity 40,000 crowd, but the concert was set up with Free Tickets, which had to be obtained online, as it was a celebration of the Christmas No. 1 Campaign, but that didn't stop a further 20,000 jumping the fence. The videos are insane. Watch 'Killing In The Name' from Finsbury Park below.

We live in very sensitive times right now. A Clickbait age that will have people be offended by anything, Donald Trump is running the United States, and Religion and Politics are surrounded by endless controversy. And any Rock fan would be lying if they said they didn't want to hear Zack, backed by Tom, Tim and Brad, spewing harsh and honest opinion about today's world, in front of millions. The world was a sh*t show back in 1992, but it's here in 2019 that people are crying out for Rage to return. Tom, Tim and Brad are still together, touring with a supergroup of Rap and Metal, called 'Prophets of Rage', I'm personally not a fan, as the 7/8 member group is a far cry from the original Rage. Come on Zack, the world needs you.

Rage Against The Machine performing at Finsbury Park in 2010.

Tom Morello said that the Rage reunion in 2007 had '0 chance' of producing an album, and with Tom currently touring with Prophets of Rage and his own solo venture, 'The Atlas Underground', maybe Rage isn't his main focus right now, but he's always said he'd join a reunion in a heartbeat. For now we can only hope, but maybe the 2020's will be the time, to Make America Rage Again. Thank you for reading.