calm like a lol: the RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE singles poll

like a stone

I have very fond college memories of "Killing In The Name Of"

lol @ "year of that boomerang." thanking u firefox autocorrect.

i love "Guerrilla Radio" so much, in part because it boils down so much of what they do well into a fast three and a half minutes, without a big repetitive breakdown dragging out the end like most of their songs

i still love this band tbh and think battle of los angeles is a tremendously underrated album.

i remember when they made a video for "Freedom" and MTV made a big deal out of it and played it a lot, and it wasn't until years later that i realized that nobody really cares about that song and all that probably just happened because there wasn't a video for "Killing In The Name Of"

the few times i've heard "Down Rodeo" on the radio have made for good road rage moments

no pun intended

bulls on parade easily

i wont lie, i crank up the radio any time these guys come on

^^

the only things these guys did that I liked were "Killing in the Name Of" and "Renegades of Funk", otherwise I totally understand the scorn

fuck.. either Freedom or Tom Joad..

xp Renegades of Funk is bullshit

i don't like that ratm youtube hopping has led me to "nookie" but i understand.

Renegades of Funk is bullshit

― billstevejim, Monday, August 8, 2011 10:38 PM (59 seconds ago) Bookmark

otm

tamtam otm; bulls on parade really is all you need

eh never liked that song. feels kind of leaden and like it's just alternating between 2 sections that aren't different enough.

killing in the name is all-time classic. nothing else they did even came close for me, though the first record is pretty solid all the way through.

it's very leaden. that's ratm!

xp i get that; i think i like leaden rage the best tho

actually damn i maybe could have voted for tom joad speaking of leaden

i like zippy RATM. "Guerrilla Radio" is like the perfect little Rage jingle, verse chorus verse chorus wheeoop wheeop guitar solo whispery part shouty part BOOM over.

re. leaden rage, these guys only had one "heavy" groove but it was a good one

thats why it always cracked me up whenever people praised morello... the guy only has one riff

yeah but riffs weren't his thing, his thing was SQUEEEEEOOOOOLOOOOOOSWEEEEEEEEEEPWEEEEEDEEEOOOODOOOOP

every rage against the machine guitar/bass riff ever: DOO DA DOO DA DOO DA DOOOOOOOOOOO, DOO DA DOO DA DOO DA DOO DUNNNNNNNNNNN

it really wasn't very shocking that the bassist turned out to be dumb enough to call himself "y tim k" and get arrested for climbing an mtv awards set

bulls on parade w/great fondness for freedom, bombtrack & guerilla radio

so disappointed "great fondness for freedom" isn't the title of a ratm deep cut

great fondness for freedom is a north korean ratm cover band

lol i had no idea until right now that sleazy from coil/throbbing gristle directed the "freedom" video

that's the video with neo flying into the sky in the matrix right

yeah but riffs weren't his thing, his thing was SQUEEEEEOOOOOLOOOOOOSWEEEEEEEEEEPWEEEEEDEEEOOOODOOOOP

― some dude, Monday, August 8, 2011 10:58 PM (6 minutes ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

the way guitar magazines used to jack off over morello was disgusting.

"this guy can shred like vai but he'd rather make, like, weird sounds!"

man listening to this song for the first time in forever i am with some dude in that i am glad they progressively phased out the jam band "funk" breakdowns all over the first album

though i am uncomfortable with how much the breakdowns sound like the live breakdowns in fugazi songs from the same period where brendan and joe would just ride out for a while

BROTHA DID YOU FORGET YOUR NAME
DID YOU LOSE IT ON THE WALL PLAYIN' TIC TAC TOE
YO
CHECK THE DIAGONAL
THREE MILLION GONE
COME ON
CAUSE YOU KNOW THEY'RE COUNTING BACKWARDS TO ZERO

ENVIRONMENT
THE ENVIRONMENT EXCEEDING ON THE LEVEL
OF OUR CONSCIOUSNESS
FOR EXAMPLE
WHAT DOES THE BILLBOARD SAY?
COME AND PLAY AND PLAY
FORGET ABOUT THE MOVEMENT

THE ENVIRONMENT EXCEEDING ON THE LEVEL
OF OUR CONSCIOUSNESS

lol

the most 90s sentence ever uttered

you could think about that for the rest of your life and never come close to cracking what the hell dude thought he was actually talking about

it makes sense if you think about what the billboard says

isn't it "succeeding on the level of our unconsciousness," ie a line about marxist false consciousness?

are you telling me that metrolyrics.com fucked me over?

ie the billboard aids in the construction of a false "consciousness" that everything is ok and you should come and play and forget abt the movement

i mean i'm not defending ratm lyrics here i'm just sayin lol

of course if anyone could peer into the mind of de la rocha and make out the pattern it would be our hoos

"i read noam chomsky after a few monster bong rips: the complete rage against the machine lyrics"

haha

i love the way he angrily yells FOR EXAMPLE

guy had one of the great collection of ad lib grunts and unghs and YEAHS! for sure

the way guitar magazines used to jack off over morello was disgusting.

"this guy can shred like vai but he'd rather make, like, weird sounds!"

― call all destroyer, Monday, August 8, 2011 11:07 PM Bookmark

I remember an interview or something where he was proudly proclaiming that he practiced guitar 8-10 hours a day, every day. And you just had to go, "...wow, really?"

There are some great singles in this list - all of the Evil Empire ones are just relentless beasts on record (well, not "Year of tha Boomerang," but I have no memory of that even being a single). I'm gonna give it to "No Shelter" actually, which is pretty forgotten but I think does the best job of encapsulating their whole thing in one song, plus, I mean, it was on the fucking Godzilla soundtrack, an act of weird corporate synergy that de la Rocha tries to offset by hating on it in the lyrics. Good times.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6NEoesmnYU4&ob=av3n

battle of los angeles is a tremendously underrated album.
otm

lol i forgot they had a song called 'vietnow'

bulls

"be yourself"

Please tell me "How I Could Just Kill a Man" isn't a cover

my best friend in high school looooved these guys and so i associate them w/ like smoking in parking lots and high school roadtrips and just that weird aimless driving around you do when you first get a license & they always just rocked so hard cummin outta the ~killer~ stereo my friend put in the used camry his parents bought him, windows rolled down headbanging along like yeah fuck you, im no slave to yr corporate greed machines and i COULD just kill a mannnn

but honestly voting tom joad cuz its so overwrought and heavy and ballsout

Well there is clearly only one choice here. Every other song they ever wrote is a pale reflection of their magnificent first single.

Please tell me "How I Could Just Kill a Man" isn't a cover
― i'm sorry for whatever (Noodle Vague), Tuesday, August 9, 2011 2:34 AM (12 hours ago) Bookmark

From their horrendously awful covers album, yes...

battle of los angeles is a tremendously underrated album.
I feel the exact opposite about it.. It's the only one I ever see getting any credit, and to me it's the most derivative out of the three 90s records.. They sounded like the lost something exciting and gained something dreadful on those last 2 albums from 99 and 2000, foreshadowing the Audioslave disaster. Their image around the time of those 2 albums didn't help either.. YTimK .. the VMA's thing .. and those lame Michael Moore-directed videos - all of which charted on TRL .. They seemed to become a caricature.

the guy only has one riff
I disagree, but he sure loves Tony Iommi.

i still fuck with evil empire. they lost the everything-and-the-kitchen-sink song structures of the first record but still had ideas. it's just a great-sounding record too, everything sounds really organic and big.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7QU1nvuxaMA

I used to hate these guys. Loved their politics, hated their music. Ham-fisted, comically overwrought, monochromatic. But I love Battle Of Los Angeles. They learned how to swing. Voted "Guerilla Radio."

KOOWITITNAHH

Top Comments

*

Everyone has the same hair in the crowd!
chris16durban 1 day ago 24
*

the world is in dire need of new material by rage against the machine. the world screams ""revolution now!" & r.a.t.m. are able to give us the most perfect sound & content to support this need.

WHAT BETTER PLACE THAN HERE, WHAT BETTER TIME THAN NOW!

thumb up & repost this under each r.a.t.m. related video!
Feuerlighter 1 day ago 21

As much as I love the first album, "bulls" is totally the perfection of that sound. Best riff too.

I never got into most of the rest of evil empire, though

hardcore-ish riffs with breakdowns was a good look for them, instead of the other way around: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cRXDoQiirPI

xp markers, you like that song, dont you...

first two records are still awesome. i wish i had them to listen to right now.

poor markers having to make the same weak joke twice

i gotta say, guerilla radio, but lots of these are pretty awesome.

this is the ultimate band ppl diss but like tamtam said if the shit comes on your local active rock station you can't front on it

by which i mean

bow wow...bow wow...chikka chikka chikka...bow wow...bow wow...COME WIDDIT NOW!

The s/t album.. You just had to lol with delight the first time you heard badass "bombtrack" kick into gear.

I gotta admit, if there actually had been a mass youth revolution against global capital in the late '90s, Rage would have made a kick ass soundtrack for it, no pussyfooting around with these guys. "ALL! HELL! CAN'T STOP US NOW!" vs. "I'd like to teach the world to sing..." etc.

Also, when I first heard it, was convinced the title line in "Bulls on Parade" was "Yo, it's time for rage!"

lol

i've thought about making this poll so many times over the past few years but the thought of it becoming a two horse race between "Killing" and "Bulls" just depressed me so i didn't bother

omg "yo it's time for rage" is amazing

i'm gonna say that every time i sing along now

totally

IT'S TIME FOR RAGE

DUN DA DUN DA DAAA DUN DA DA

thakig u

bulls on parade or bombtrack

yo it's time for rage or bombtrack

my high school band performed "yellow ledbetter" by pearl jam and "killing in the name of" at our senior year talent show.

lol up until "talent show" I was all "okay that is a bad-ass marching band"

haha well it wouldnt be the first time rage's message had been "undermined" by being used to soundtrack a sporting event

poor markers having to make the same weak joke twice

i gotta say, guerilla radio, but lots of these are pretty awesome.

this is the ultimate band ppl diss but like tamtam said if the shit comes on your local active rock station you can't front on it

― om nom nom nnamdi asomugha (upper mississippi sh@kedown)

thanks for this? sb

capitalism! xp

xxxp my other talent show experiences:

- rapping "parents just dont understand" at the talent show in 3rd grade
- auditioning for the talent show in 4th grade with "blame it on the rain," not making the cut ;_;

"yr talent show experiences" could be its own thread

poor markers having to make the same weak joke twice

twice? twice?? for markers this is notably parsimonious

you're an idiot

i don't give a shit that you don't like me, but stop turning up in every fucking thread to say something about me, no one cares

My favorite 45 seconds are the start of Killing In the Name Of, but I don't like the rest of the song as much as I like the rest of Bulls on Parade or Renegades.

Bonus points for the Down Rodeo came on when I was driving back from Westwood to the apartment I lived in on the outskirts of Beverly Hills, and I detoured down Rodeo Dr. and turned the radio all the way up for fun. Even though mostly it reminded me that the most of the wealthy people one sees on Rodeo Drive are not exactly the grandchildren of slaveholders.

rage against the mayne-chine

http://www.soulstrut.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/doggie.gif

guys, a rage against the machine thread is no place for taking a stand or making a point.

markers generally thought we were cool, i didn't think that was a real hard diss anyway, but i guess we are not.

yeah, we're fine -- apologies for overreacting, just getting tired of getting called out all the time

but i do deserve some of it and should be posting less and will post less

i'm cool nbd, thx

Yo, it's time for reconciliation.

Bullet in the Head. The way it builds is ludicrously exciting. Amazing that they pretty much had the whole album written and recorded within a few weeks of getting together. They knew exactly what they were doing.

Admire No Shelter for it's shitting-where-you-eat lyric and video.

but i do deserve some of it and should be posting less and will post less

― markers, Tuesday, August 9, 2011 6:18 PM (2 hours ago) Bookmark

i'd rather you post differently than post less fwiw

also sorry but i had to sb you for sb'ing m@tt, you don't go against the family

"yr talent show experiences" could be its own thread

― CLUB PISCOPO (DJP), Tuesday, August 9, 2011 5:59 PM (2 hours ago) Bookmark

ha i have both my anecdotes all lined up

rage were hella corny and one dimensional but i'll be damned if any band in the 90's as popular as they were did big dumb undeniable riffs as well as they did.

bow wow...bow wow...chikka chikka chikka...bow wow...bow wow...COME WIDDIT NOW!

― om nom nom nnamdi asomugha (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Tuesday, August 9, 2011 8:44 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark

otm

otm^

but TESTIFY is the only jam i fully LOVE

lol michael moore video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1JSBhI_0at0

its just got the perfect groove... i wanna go off-roading while drinking canned beer and screaming "wooooooooohhh!" whenever i listen to it

the s/t was one of the first cds i ever bought, i blasted the shit out of it on my discman, gotta go with bombtrack here

those songs still pop into my head unbidden at random moments

I have to say, few major selling bands of the era had such a high level of WTFness about them. Case in point, how they turned de la Rocha losing his voice before a gig into this NSFW and rather embarrassing photo-op.*

*Don't click on this. Really.

Rise Against have picked up the mantle of 'popular radio band with strident politics and humorless frontman and heavyhanded statement videos with the word against in their name' but it's just nto as much fun because there's no rapping or woop woop guiturntablism

the way guitar magazines used to jack off over morello was disgusting.

"this guy can shred like vai but he'd rather make, like, weird sounds!"

― call all destroyer, Monday, August 8, 2011 10:07 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

ha otm this is the first thing i always think about if i think about RATM

i remember 'evil empire' being very well-produced

i'm trigger happy with my MOR '90s threads, don't make me do a Brendan O'Brien production poll

^^^would vote

^^^^as would I, but for Mirror Ball and not for the execrable production job on Black Ice.

do a ross robinson one

i would never start an ILM poll that at the drive-in would win

come on, man. we live in a post-markers world now.

Brendan O'Bririen! Damn I was trying to remember which ubiquitous 90s rock producer did EE.

an albini RATM album would be legendary

now there's a ratm album i would actually buy

totally otm about morello the so called guitar "genius", esp cuz most of the time it's like some dumb pedal setting he's using to make the wacky sound, those whammy pitch shifter deals and all that

great mosh pit riffer tho

i wonder what has happened to whammy pedal sales since dimebag, morello, and the guys for korn are no longer popular and/or alive.

http://t1.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcRyB1iHKT8RuhX5-biifU5AqXfbF620pONQQQvzivmUwWOickfH

thank this thing in part for a generation of shitty guitar playing.

yeah, we're fine -- apologies for overreacting, just getting tired of getting called out all the time

― markers, Tuesday, August 9, 2011 6:18 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark

dont shitpost if you dont want nasty reactions. people are just recoiling at/gagging on the pungent turdsmell that your posts have created - i for one really didnt appreciate your contentless audioslave posting in a very serious rage against the machine thread

sorry for derailing again, i just felt like this was an important 'teaching moment' for markers

anyway, thread's made me reevaluate a few of these. i think i leapt for bulls because its the one i hear on the radio most and probably the one that puts me in a state of maximum stokedness when im driving, but a lot of these are pretty rockin' & cool.

my fav ratm deep cut is 'Revolver' btw

BTW, and I feel like I've posted about this on ILX before but I can't find it, so: In the same vein as "yo it's time for Rage," a high school friend and I spent a few math study hall sessions working out the details of Roman Empire, a historical edutainment album born the day we learned about the Egypt-raiding "People of the Sea" in 10th grade history. Obviously, the "People of the Sun" variation was just around the corner. Other hits: "Revolver" became "Republic," "Tire Me" became "Ptolemy," and of course "Bulls on Parade" became "Byzantium." Will post what I can remember of the POTS lyrics if y'all care!

please do

yo its time for rage

Edutain us!

fwiw i bear markers no ill will and consider the brief mini-beef squashed

http://t3.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTJpm9cLKCd5bl5un6oAU-1ogBpyx3mNP69oanODRNPX631E1lqMg

i heard a Rage song on the radio today, it took me 30 seconds to figure out if it was "Sleep Now In The Fire" or "Testify," as it always does. obviously they're not the most versatile band in the world but it still blows my mind how they were able to release two virtually identical singles back to back.

lol tamtam

agreed ums

tamtam otm btw

Dunna dunna deddu
dunna dunna deddu
dunna dunna dunna
dunna dunna dunna

Yeah, people float UP!

Better turn the bass up on this one
Check it

SINCE ABOUT FIFTEEN HUNDRED B.C.
they've attacked from underseas
Only leaving broken ruins of the Egyptian dream
Crossin' the border and puttin'
Harpoons in us
Bringin' harsh war from the top
of their aquatic acropolis
This is how they get what they need to gut
The fish-eaters' bad breath got offensive on Tut
The sun god's kingdom is what they claim,
The spirit of Akhenaton...alive but tamed
The sea people came, but the Egyptians were weaker
ON THE THRONE! CAIRO! EGYPT-A!
The mummy tried to save his name... but he had to flee
Yeahhhhh THIS IS FOR THE PEOPLE OF THE SEA!

They're comin' back around again!
This is for the People of the Sea!
They're comin' to your house again!
They're ravagin' the land again!
This is for the People of the Sea!
They're comin' to Los Angeles!
Unh....

oh, and i just remembered that the band would have been called Rage Against the Time Machine which is maybe the best band name I've ever been involved with making up, oh man

ahaha

yo it's time for doctor casino!

Freedom

Killing In The Name is gonna win.. that sucks.

How I Could Just Kill A Man

ok this title is lol

oh it's a cover I see... Still lol imaging Zachary intoning those words.

Zachary = Zach, dumb iPhone

tbf his name is actually zachary so yr phone is otm

actually i have no idea what his real name is

zorro de la rocha

oh my god

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

i am forever going to call him "zorro de la rocha" now. it's like when my mom called r. kelly "romulus kelly." he would always be romulus to me from then on out.

ahahaha, that's good!

im listening to tom joad rn and i forgot that zorro de la rocha does a hilarious mumbly bruce impression on this

i would never start an ILM poll that at the drive-in would win

― dogps (some dude), Wednesday, 10 August 2011 04:14 (4 days ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

nah, burn piano island burn is the true rr masterpiece

canks otm all over this thread. they had some amazing songs, and i lived and breathed that first album all through my sixteenth year, but i'm torn between people of the sun and bulls on parade.

that said, the covers album was dogshit.

haha i lived and breathed the covers album during MY sixteenth year. loved the street fighting man cover tbh

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XQmzaQhZjfE

I have very fond college memories of "Killing In The Name Of"

― CLUB PISCOPO (DJP), Monday, August 8, 2011 9:25 PM (6 days ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

OTM. I can still taste the Souther Comfort and amateur vandalism.

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

YO IT'S TIME FOR RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGE

I didn't live and breathe this but it def played a part in my 16th year:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nNEVAy8bNiU

down rodeo got robbed

YO IT'S TIME FOR RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGE

― Doctor Casino, Sunday, August 14, 2011 11:07 PM (30 minutes ago) Bookmark

DUN DA DUN DA DA DUN DAAA DAAAAA

haha i lived and breathed the covers album during MY sixteenth year. loved the street fighting man cover tbh

yeah for w/e reason during my youth we jammed the covers album waaay more than any of the others, although the s/t is the one i own

still maintain that 'tom joad' is getting way undersold here

nahhh. strongo OTM.

saw a band dressed as Batman, Superman, Spiderman & Aquaman tear through "Killing In The Name" in the Latin Quarter this June, & it ruled, so I voted that

i would never start an ILM poll that at the drive-in would win

― dogps (some dude), Wednesday, 10 August 2011 04:14 (4 days ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

nah, burn piano island burn is the true rr masterpiece

― sbgorf (stevie), Sunday, August 14, 2011 9:17 AM (12 hours ago) Bookmark

you know that, and i know that, but fake-ass ilm consensus as a whole would not favor blood brothers over at the drive-in, i'm afraid

"Bulls" beating "Killing" is an unjustice so great i want to write a fiery rap rock anthem in protest

i do wonder if this is an age split too

bulls on parade was the first rage single i ever heard and i submit that i'm not the only one who was 6 when the debut came out

I wasnt't 6 but yeah, Bulls was the first Rage i ever heard and it totally blew my 10th grade MTV mind.

YO IT'S TIME FOR RAGE

i love the way he angrily yells FOR EXAMPLE

― BIG HOOS aka the steendriver, Monday, August 8, 2011 11:29 PM (8 months ago) Bookmark

"Bulls" beating "Killing" is an unjustice so great i want to write a fiery rap rock anthem in protest

OTM!

doont doont doont DUNT DUNT DUNT doont doont doont DUNT DUNT DUNT

<3 you guys

dunno if this has made the rounds on here but it's probably the greatest RATM related thing ever:

http://tindeck.com/listen/4n8l5

yo it's time for rage

Sometimes, RATM is the only thing that satisfies.

fuck u i won't do what u tell me

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_pugAklByimc/SOUWsVu2_qI/AAAAAAAAA4U/YcO0AhwYvzQ/s400/nader.jpg

― king of torts (strongo hulkington's ghost dad), Monday, August 8, 2011 10:24 PM Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

^^^ burned into my brain, will never again hear this song without picturing this exact nader.jpg

Am I alone in thinking Rage were one of the worst bands of all time?

i gotta say this is hitting the spot tonight:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WDszr6A8tas

or as i said before:

DUN DA DUN DA DA DUN DAAA DAAAAA

― king of torts (strongo hulkington's ghost dad), Sunday, August 14, 2011

saw a band dressed as Batman, Superman, Spiderman & Aquaman tear through "Killing In The Name" in the Latin Quarter this June, & it ruled, so I voted that

― Euler, Sunday, August 14, 2011 10:08 PM

Am I the only one who wants to know what Aquaman was playing? He's got a harpoon for an arm.

Am I alone in thinking Rage were one of the worst bands of all time?

aw c'mon mr snrub, have you never attended a "local music" show? nobody has ever heard of the worst band of all time. any band that can manage to have any number of actual fans is well, well ahead of the pack...

what does ilm think about prophets of rage?

Would have voted for 'Sleep Now In The Fire'

Just had to go and watch the video again, because I haven't seen it for years... is that someone holding up a "Trump For President" sign at 1:04 !?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w211KOQ5BMI

Coca-Cola is back in the veins of Saigon
And Rambo too, he's got a dope pair of Nikes on
Godzilla, pure mothafuckin' filler
Keep your eyes off the real killer
Cinema, simulated life, ill drama
Fourth Reich culture, Americana
Chained to the dream they got you searchin' for
The thin line between entertainment and war

i know these guys are kind of easy to clown on but these are some pretty awesome anti-capitalist, Seattle '99 type lyrics that they somehow got onto the platinum-certified soundtrack of a $150 million dollar Godzilla movie. that kind of trojan-horse corporate subversion thing shows its weaknesses a lot more in 2020 than it did in 1998 but it's still p cool they did that imho. i mean if they just wanted the paycheck they could have just rapped about special effects and the terrible chemistry between Matthew Broderick and Maria Pitillo.

i do not find it easy to clown on rage. i listened to all three records yesterday and they undeniably rock

would've voted for "down rodeo"

Yeah, idk why ppl clown on Rage

either drop the hits like De La O
or get the fuck off the commode, son

agree, i love all three albums. and the covers album still rips, maybe my fave

yo it's time for reevaluation

also i am happily imagining that Brad's revive here is in some sense Matrix-related

seems like most the hate i see around ratm revolves around killing in the name

idk why anyone hates on it
it GOES

"Renegades of Funk" totally passed me by. I wasn't a fan of that covers album, but it does seem like the highlight, one of the few that successfully rearranges the song...I have to say it kind of remind me of a meowing cartoon cat.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4KXdU3cZbNQ

I like Bulls on Parade but how KITN didn't win this easily is anyone's guess

lol "meowing cartoon cat," absolutely

I can tell you guys why I clown on this band… namely, cuz Tom Morello continued to be associated with Sony Music well into the 00s, when, if his band's ideology was to be worth more than a fuckin' plugged nickel, they could quite easily have affiliated with…I dunno… Am Rep or Touch and Go, or probly the best fit would be Alternative Tentacles after making an impact on Sony… if one wishes to speak truth to corporate power, then one should not be involved with a multinational at any level, particularly after one has the ability to extricate oneself legally as such, as surely Morello did… I won't put de la Rocha in the same category, as he doesn't seem to be interested in operating as a big time rock star in the music business, as the inveterate schmoozer Morello does… perhaps dlR is involved in grass roots organizing? he stays out of sight in any case… I also wouldn't put the rhythm section therein either, as those guys seem to be most interested in sustaining a big band lifestyle and thus do not seem to exactly be Chomskyites…

I expressed this concern to Morello once, and he replied with the old "if one kid gets into leftist activism because of my band's advocacy, then it will be worth it" routine. I think that's self-serving bullshit… there may be some committed leftist activists because of this band, but there is also Paul Ryan, surely not a few 1/6/21 revolutionaries who get pumped to that song and vast misappropriation at all levels for 27 years.

that song = fuck you I won't do what you tell me

My biggest problem with the band (besides its inadvertent mook-rock legacy) is that whenever I hear a song of theirs I'm digging, on the right day, in the right mood, and put on an album, I get pretty bored/exhausted after about three songs. I get it, but I don't really want it, and do think Morello is some sort of cornpone poseur, well-intentioned or not.

I do often wonder what ZdlR is doing on a random Tuesday.

xxxp I still enjoy a good bit of their stuff, but veronica moser is so not wrong too.

xxp and this too. They are good in small doses - I eventually sold the three albums I had and made a "best of" for myself.

purity discourse around this band is exhausting.

yet-you-participate-in-society-curious.jpg

morello having an NYT column about being a 'rebel' is pretty funny

That said, I've had "Sleep Now In the Fire" stuck in my head a surprising number of times.

map otm

I do often wonder what ZdlR is doing on a random Tuesday.

yet-you-participate-in-society-curious.jpg

this. and people have been saying it since the first album.