I hope the Guru got to see this - it looked like a private concert.
Audioslave
 | ||
|---|---|---|
(From left) Tim Commerford, Chris Cornell, Brad Wilk, Tom Morello. | ||
| Background information | ||
| Origin |  Glendale, California, USA | |
| Genre(s) | Hard rock Alternative rock Post-grunge | |
| Years active | 2001–2007 (Current status in question) | |
| Label(s) | Epic Interscope | |
| Associated acts | Soundgarden Rage Against the Machine Temple of the Dog Chris Cornell The Nightwatchman | |
| Website | Official Website Official Fan Club | |
| Members | ||
| Tom Morello - Guitar Tim Commerford - Bass Guitar Brad Wilk - Drums | ||
| Former members | ||
| Chris Cornell - Vocals | ||
Audioslave was an alternative/hard rock supergroup that consisted of the instrumentalists of Rage Against the Machine: Tom Morello (guitar), Tim Commerford (bass guitar and vocals) and Brad Wilk (drums and percussion), together with Chris Cornell of Soundgarden (vocals and guitar) as their lead singer. The band formed shortly after the break-up of Rage Against the Machine.
They released three successful albums: Audioslave (2002), Out of Exile (2005) and Revelations (2006).
On February 15, 2007, Chris Cornell issued a statement that he was leaving, shortly after Morello, Commerford and Wilk reunited with their former vocalist Zack de la Rocha to reform Rage Against the Machine. This put Audioslave's future into question and the remaining members are yet to announce whether they intend to continue performing with another singer or together as a band at all.[1][2]
History
Formation (2000–2001)
The band's history dates back to October, 2000, after Rage Against the Machine broke up when lead vocalist Zack de la Rocha left the band. The other three members of the band decided to stay together, planning to continue as a trio under the "Rage" name[3][4]. Several vocalists jammed with the band at this time, including B-Real of Cypress Hill and Maynard James Keenan of Tool. Music producer Rick Rubin later suggested that they jam with Cornell and "see what happens". The chemistry between the singer and the three musicians became immediately apparent, and they began work in the studio in May, 2001, writing 21 songs in 19 days (the first of which was "Light My Way" and the third being "Set It Off").
Name
Tom Morello described the origin of the name to LAUNCHcast[5]:
- That was Chris's suggestion that sort of came to him in a vision. We're all on the two-way pagers, and Chris one night said, "I got it. It's Audioslave." We were all, like, "All right, fantastic."... To paraphrase Elvis Costello, talking about band names is like dancing about architecture – there's just no point in it because the band name becomes the music and the people.
Morello added of the name, "I think it adds a kind of three-dimensional depth to the rest of the package."
It can also be speculated their name resembles a conglomerate naming convention with 'audio' being an alternative to the 'sound' in Soundgarden and 'slave' being polar to 'raging', as in Rage Against the Machine. The name also makes use of the compound word format used by Soundgarden for their moniker.
After the name was announced, it emerged that it was already being used by an unsigned band from Liverpool. The two bands worked out a settlement, with the U.S. band paying $30,000 in a deal that allowed each band to use the name. Part of the agreement was that each band was to be true to its own identity when marketing and promoting recordings or concerts.[5]
Audioslave (2002–2003)
Allegations that they argued during production are not entirely unfounded; the group broke up in April, 2002, before they had even released an album. Under the tentative name "Civilian," 14 rough demo tracks were leaked onto various peer-to-peer filesharing networks around the same time as their pre-Audioslave breakup, confirming any rumors of the new RATM/Chris Cornell formation. The most notorious aspect of their temporary dissolution came that summer after the band cancelled their appearance in the popular annual rock festival Ozzfest. Subsequent interviews with the band revealed that early problems had been partly due to external pressures which were resolved when the band members sacked their previous management companies and hired Los Angeles-based company The Firm.
Once that was completed, the Audioslave moniker was chosen by the band, and in August 2002, Audioslave's first single, "Cochise", was released, named after the famous American Indian chief, the last to die free and unconquered. Later in the fall, they would go on to release their debut, self-titled album on November 19, 2002.
The group's first studio album, Audioslave has attained triple platinum-selling status. Some lambasted the group as millionaire musicians who constantly argued during album production, and whose 1970s rock sound is primarily the result of post-studio modification. Others compared them to Led Zeppelin, saying they added much-needed sound and style to contemporary mainstream music. They toured extensively worldwide in 2003, gaining largely positive reviews for their live performances, including overshadowing the headlining "reunited" Jane's Addiction at that year's version of Lollapalooza.
Out of Exile (2004–2005)
After spending some time off in 2004, they returned in fall of the same year to record the follow-up. In early Spring 2005, Audioslave announced that their follow-up album was completed and would see release that summer. As a special treat to fans who did not see them on Lollapalooza, the band secretly booked a small club tour to promote their upcoming album. On this tour, the band began performing songs from their previous bands, including Soundgarden's "Spoonman", "Outshined", and "Black Hole Sun", Rage Against the Machine's "Bulls on Parade", "Sleep Now in the Fire", and "Killing in the Name" as well as several new songs, including "Your Time Has Come", "Be Yourself", "Doesn't Remind Me", "The Worm", and "Man Or Animal".
On May 6, 2005, Audioslave became the first American rock group to perform a concert in Cuba, playing for free in front of an audience of 70,000. The concert was organized with the joint authorization of the United States Department of the Treasury and the Instituto Cubano de la Musica (The Cuban Intitute of Music)[6]. This concert was recorded, and released on DVD, entitled Live in Cuba, on October 11, 2005. It came in two versions, a basic package consisting of only the DVD, and a deluxe edition consisting of a DVD and a CD of the Sessions@AOL.
Their second album, Out of Exile, was released on May 24, 2005. It debuted #1 on the U.S. charts, and featured the song "Be Yourself" as the leading single. "Be Yourself" was soon followed by "Your Time Has Come" and "Doesn't Remind Me". The fourth single was the title track, "Out of Exile". The whole album was uploaded online at Audioslave's MySpace site for previewing. Critics did note Cornell's stronger vocals on Audioslave's second LP, likely the result of his quitting smoking and drinking.[7]
That summer Audioslave performed at the Live 8 concerts. Their performance was in Berlin, Germany. On August 19, 2005, Audioslave announced their first-ever headlining arena tour across the U.S. and Canada. Audioslave were nominated for the 2006 Grammy Awards in the "Best Hard Rock Performance" category for their song "Doesn't Remind Me".
In 2006, video game company Empire Interactive announced that two songs from Out of Exile, "Your Time Has Come" and "Man Or Animal", would be featured on its racing game, FlatOut 2.
Revelations, RATM and Cornell's departure (2006–2007)
The band wasted no time recording their next album, Revelations, hiring producer Brendan O'Brien, who had worked with acts including Rage Against the Machine, Soundgarden, Korn, Pearl Jam, Stone Temple Pilots, Incubus, and Bruce Springsteen. Audioslave had 20 songs written and returned to the studio in early January to finish recording them. As the bulk was sampled during their 2005 tour, the recording process took only 6 weeks. Revelations was released on September 5. The album has a number of songs influenced by old-school R&B and Soul, with guitarist Tom Morello describing the album as a cross between Led Zeppelin and Earth, Wind & Fire[8]. Several of the songs on the new album, such as "Wide Awake" and "Sound of a Gun", take a more overtly liberal political stance than previous Audioslave releases. "Original Fire" the first single from the effort, was directed by P.R. Brown between July 3-July 7 and released July 17. On July 11, the song was made available online on Audioslave's official website for free streaming.
The songs "Wide Awake" and "Shape of Things to Come" from the new album are prominently featured in Michael Mann's summer film, Miami Vice. This was not the first time Mann had featured Audioslave in his work; his earlier film Collateral features the song "Shadow On The Sun" from the group's self-titled debut. The title song of their third album, "Revelations", is also featured (as well as debuted) on the soundtrack for the EA Sports football video game Madden '07.
Chris Cornell wanted to delay the Revelations-tour in support of the new album, because he wanted to concentrate on his second solo album. Tom Morello said that he also is preparing his first solo album (see below) in the spring.
On February 15, 2007, Cornell officially announced his departure from Audioslave, issuing this statement: "Due to irresolvable personality conflicts as well as musical differences, I am permanently leaving the band Audioslave. I wish the other three members nothing but the best in all of their future endeavors.¨ [9]
On February 23, 2007, the New York Post reported that "sources tell that the split had more to do with money than anything else. According to the source: 'Chris was unhappy with the financial arrangement within the group - he wrote all the music, yet the other three bandmates took an equal share in the multimillion-dollar publishing rights.'" [10] Guitarist Tom Morello has said that he never officially heard from Cornell that he was leaving the group. Cornell countered: "Tom and I did have communications about the fact that I was gonna go make a record, and that I was tired of what ended up seeming like political negotiations toward how we were gonna do Audioslave business and getting nowhere with it." The other members of the band are yet to make any public statement on the situation and the future of the band.
Rage Against the Machine reunited for a show at Coachella festival on April 29[11] and will play 4 more shows as a part of Rock the Bells with the Wu-Tang Clan in New York (2 shows in 2 days as a second date has been added to the originally scheduled one[12]) as well as northern and southern California[13] to voice the band's political opposition against the George W. Bush administration since the band's dissolution. The band is also schedule to perform during the October 26-28 lineup of the Voodoo Music Festival in New Orleans, LA. [14]
Despite RATM's reunion concerts, Tom Morello has said that as of now there are no plans for a new RATM album[12].
Solo projects
Lead singer Chris Cornell released a solo album, Euphoria Morning, during the time between his leaving Soundgarden and forming Audioslave. Cornell recorded "You Know My Name", the theme song to the 21st James Bond film, Casino Royale, and will provide a song for the upcoming Lionsgate thriller Bug. He released his second solo album, Carry On on June 5, 2007. Cornell has said that the process of "doing Audioslave business" led him to go solo. "Tom and I did have communications about the fact that I was gonna go make a record, and that I was tired of what ended up seeming like political negotiations toward how we were gonna do Audioslave business and getting nowhere with it. We had back and forths about that, and we also as a band sat in a room with other people trying to work this out on numerous occasions, and it wasn't really happening."[15]
Guitarist Tom Morello also performs solo under the name The Nightwatchman with a little known guitarist/singer called Olly Butler. His first album One Man Revolution under the Nightwatchman moniker was released on April 24, 2007. The 13-track set was produced by Brendan O'Brien and sports more acoustic-based compositions than his work in Audioslave and Rage Against the Machine.
Bassist Tim Commerford and Drummer Brad Wilk have recently been in the studio together recording some bass/drums only tracks. In addition, both have contributed to Maynard James Keenan's Puscifer side project, set for a fall release.
Political agenda
While Rage Against the Machine's music was politically influenced, Audioslave's originally was not, as Chris Cornell said he did not want to become the new singer of Rage Against the Machine and needed the freedom to write lyrics which were not overtly political. However, some songs on their newest album, Revelations, are politically influenced, which was explained by Cornell who says that he always tries to evoke his feelings into lyrics with no matter of subject. The band is part of the "Axis of Justice", which is a non-profit organization formed by Tom Morello and Serj Tankian of System of a Down. Its purpose is to "bring together musicians, fans of music, and grassroots political organizations to fight for social justice." [2] Despite their newfound ability to remain traditional artists without direct political involvement, Audioslave has remained active in politics. Some of their music videos, their affiliation with other political bands, and the foundation of the Axis of Justice is testament to the "Rage Against the Machine" vibe still lingering in the three instrumental musicians.
Discography
- "Out of Exile" (file info) —
play in browser (beta) - From Out of Exile (2006)
- Problems playing the files? See media help.
- Audioslave (November 19, 2002) Epic
- Out of Exile (May 24, 2005) Epic
- Revelations (September 5, 2006) Epic
Notes and references
- ^ "99.9 Percent Chance of Audioslave Breakup", rollingstone.com, February 15, 2007. Retrieved on 2007-02-23.
- ^ "Chris Cornell Talks About Audioslave Breakup", starpulse.com, February 21, 2007. Retrieved on 2007-02-23.
- ^ ratm.net - MTV.com online chats with Tom Morello. ratm.net (2000-12-04). Retrieved on 2007-05-10.
- ^ Farley, John. "Time - In Full Revolt", Time, 2000-12-25. Retrieved on 2007-05-10.
- ^ a b Anderson, Brett (2002-10-24). Yahoo! Music - Audioslave Works Out Settlement To Share Name With U.K. Band. Yahoo! Music. Retrieved on 2007-05-27.
- ^ Harris, Chris. "MTV News - Audioslave To Make History By Playing Free Show In Cuba", MTV, 2005-05-04. Retrieved on 2007-05-30.
- ^ Scaggs, Austin (2005-07-14). Rolling Stone - Q&A: Chris Cornell - The Audioslave frontman on touring with Guns n' Roses, quitting smoking and more. Rolling Stone. Retrieved on 2007-05-29.
- ^ Harris, Chris. "MTV News - New Audioslave LP: 'Led Zeppelin Meets Earth, Wind & Fire'", MTV, 2006-03-31. Retrieved on 2007-05-30.
- ^ Harris, Chris. "Chris Cornell Talks Audioslave Split, Nixes Soundgarden Reunion", MTV, February 15, 2007. Retrieved on 2007-02-27.
- ^ NYP news about Chris Cornell leaving [1]
- ^ Cohen, Jonathan. "Billboard.com News - Rage, Bjork, Chili Peppers Sign On For Coachella", Billboard.com, 2007-01-22. Retrieved on 2007-05-30.
- ^ a b "Blabbermouth.net - TOM MORELLO: There Are 'No Plans' For New RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE Album", Blabbermouth.net, 2007-04-30. Retrieved on 2007-05-30.
- ^ "JamBase - RAGE AND WU-TANG", JamBase, 2007-02-26. Retrieved on 2007-05-30.
- ^ Voodoo Music Fest. "Music festival lineup", Voodoo 2007, July 12, 2007. Retrieved on 2007-07-12.
- ^ "Blabbermouth.net - CHRIS CORNELL Comes Clean On AUDIOSLAVE Break-Up", Blabbermouth.net, 2007-05-15. Retrieved on 2007-06-27.
External links
- Audioslave official site
- Audioslave at MySpace
- Audioslave at Last.fm
- Official Audioslave Fanclub
- The Audioslave Fan Forum
- "Audioslave; Live and Rare"
- "Audioslave; Ressources"
Rage Against the Machine
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Rage Against the Machine | ||
|---|---|---|
 | ||
| Background information | ||
| Also known as | Rage | |
| Origin | Los Angeles, California, USA | |
| Genre(s) | Alternative metal Alternative rock Funk metal Rapcore | |
| Years active | 1991–2000 2007 | |
| Label(s) | Epic | |
| Associated acts | Audioslave Inside Out Lock Up The Nightwatchman Class of '99 Electric Sheep | |
| Website | www.ratm.com | |
| Members | ||
| Tom Morello Zack de la Rocha Brad Wilk Tim Commerford | ||
Rage Against the Machine (a.k.a. Rage or RATM) is a Grammy Award-winning American rock band, noted for their blend of hip hop, hard rock, punk and funk as well as their revolutionary socialist philosophy and lyrics.[1] Throughout their 9 year run, they became one of the most popular and influential political bands in music.
The band split up in 2000, with vocalist Zack de la Rocha starting a low-key solo career, and guitarist Tom Morello, bassist Tim Commerford and drummer Brad Wilk forming the supergroup Audioslave along with former Soundgarden frontman Chris Cornell. In April 2007 Rage Against the Machine performed together for the first time in 7 years at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival.
RATM drew inspiration from early metallic instrumentation, as well as rap acts such as Public Enemy and Afrika Bambaataa. Their music was based primarily on de la Rocha's rhyming styles and vocals along with their sound, especially Morello's unusual extended guitar techniques.Band history
Early years (1991–1992)
In 1991, guitarist Tom Morello left his old band, Lock Up, looking to start another band. Morello was in a club in L.A where Zack de la Rocha was rapping. Morello was impressed by de la Rocha's lyric books, and asked him to be the vocalist in a band. Morello called and drafted a drummer named Brad Wilk, who had previously auditioned for Lock Up, while de la Rocha convinced his childhood friend Tim Commerford to join as bassist.
The new band named themselves after a song de la Rocha had written for his former band, Inside Out.[2] Kent McClard, with whom Inside Out were associated, had previously coined the phrase in a 1989 article in his zine No Answers.[3]
Shortly after forming, they gave their first public performance in Orange County, California, where a friend of Commerford's was holding a house party. The blueprint for the group's major-label debut album was laid on a twelve-song self-released cassette, the cover image of which was the stock-market with a single match taped to the inlay card. Not all 12 songs made it onto the final album—two were eventually included as B-sides, with the remaining three songs never seeing an official release.[4]
Several record labels expressed interest, and the band eventually signed with Epic Records. Morello said, "Epic agreed to everything we asked—and they've followed through.... We never saw a[n] [ideological] conflict as long as we maintained creative control."[5]
Mainstream success (1992–2000)
The band's eponymous debut album, Rage Against the Machine, reached triple platinum status, driven by heavy radio play of the song "Killing in the Name", a heavy, driving track repeating six lines of lyrics. The uncensored version, which contains 17 iterations of the word fuck, was once notoriously played on the BBC Radio 1 Top 40 singles show.[6] The album's cover pictured Thích Quảng Đức, a Vietnamese Buddhist monk, burning himself to death in Saigon in 1963; Quảng Đức was protesting the murder of Buddhists by Prime Minister Ngô Đình Diệm's regime. To promote the album and its core message of social justice and equality, the band went on tour, playing at Lollapalooza 1993 and as support for Suicidal Tendencies in Europe.
After their debut album, the band appeared on the soundtrack for the film Higher Learning with the song "Year of tha Boomerang". An early version of "Tire Me" would also appear during the movie. Subsequently, they recorded an original song, "Darkness", for the soundtrack of The Crow and also "No Shelter" appeared on the Godzilla soundtrack.
Their second album, Evil Empire, entered Billboard's Top 200 chart at number one in 1996. The song "Bulls on Parade" was performed on Saturday Night Live in April 1996. Their planned two-song performance was cut to one song when the band attempted to hang inverted American flags from their amplifiers, a protest against having Republican presidential candidate Steve Forbes as guest host on the program that night.
In 1997, the band opened for U2 on their Popmart Tour, for which all Rage's profits went to support social organisations.[7] including U.N.I.T.E. , Women Alive and the Zapatista Front for National Liberation.[8] Rage subsequently began an abortive headlining US tour with special guests Wu-Tang Clan. Police in several jurisdictions unsuccessfully attempted to have the concerts cancelled, citing amongst other reasons, the bands' "violent and anti-law enforcement philosophies".[9][10] On the Japan leg of their tour promoting Evil Empire, a bootleg album composed of the band's B-side recordings titled Live & Rare was released by Sony Records. A live video, also titled Rage Against the Machine, was released later the same year.
The following release, The Battle of Los Angeles also debuted at number one in 1999, selling 450,000 copies the first week and then going double-platinum. That same year the song "Wake Up" was featured on the soundtrack of the film The Matrix. The track "Calm Like a Bomb" was later featured in the film's sequel, 2003's The Matrix Reloaded. In 2000, the band planned to support the Beastie Boys on the "Rhyme and Reason" tour; however, the tour was cancelled when Beastie Boys drummer Mike D suffered a serious injury.[11] By the time he recovered, Rage Against the Machine had disbanded.
Break-up and subsequent releases (2000–2003)
On October 18, 2000, de la Rocha released the following statement:
| “ | 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. | ” |
Renegades, released shortly after the band's dissolution, was a collection of covers of artists as diverse as Devo, Cypress Hill, Minor Threat, MC5, Bruce Springsteen and Bob Dylan. The following year saw the release of another live video, The Battle of Mexico City.
Following the September 11th attacks, Clear Channel created a list of "songs with questionable lyrics"; RATM has the distinction of being the only band to have all its songs on the list.
A live album titled Live at the Grand Olympic Auditorium, an edited recording of their last concerts on September 12 and 13, 2000 at the Grand Olympic Auditorium in Los Angeles, was released in 2003. It was accompanied by an expanded DVD release of the September 13 show, and also included the previously unreleased music video for "Bombtrack".
[edit] Post-breakup careers (2001–2007)
[edit] Audioslave
After the group's breakup, Morello, Wilk, and Commerford briefly tried to replace de la Rocha in RATM. Rumoured vocalists at the time included Rey Oropeza of downset., Chuck D of Public Enemy, and B-Real of Cypress Hill. However, the band teamed up with former Soundgarden singer Chris Cornell to form a new band, Audioslave. The first Audioslave single, "Cochise", was released in early November 2002, and the debut album, Audioslave, followed to mainly positive reviews. Their second album Out of Exile debuted at the number one position on the Billboard charts in 2005. The band released a third album named Revelations on September 5, 2006. The band vowed to have a "one-album-per-year" schedule, but Audioslave's future has been cast into doubt following Cornell's leaving on February 15, 2007.[13] Wilk and Commerford are contributing to Maynard James Keenan's side project Puscifer,[14] set for release in mid-October 2007,[15] while Morello is focusing on his own solo project.[16]
[edit] Zack de la Rocha
Meanwhile, de la Rocha had been working on a solo album collaboration with DJ Shadow, Company Flow, and The Roots' ?uestlove,[12] but dropped the project in favor of working with Nine Inch Nails' Trent Reznor.[17] Recording was completed, but the album will probably never be released.[18] A collaboration between de la Rocha and DJ Shadow, the song "March of Death" was released for free over the World Wide Web in 2003 in protest against the imminent invasion of Iraq,[19] and the 2004 soundtrack Songs and Artists that Inspired Fahrenheit 9/11 included one of the collaborations with Reznor, "We Want It All".[17] In late 2005, de la Rocha was seen singing and playing the jarana with Son Jarocho band Son de Madera on multiple occasions.[20]
The Nightwatchman
Morello began his own solo career in 2003, playing political acoustic folk music at open-mic nights and various clubs under the alias The Nightwatchman. He first participated in Billy Bragg's Tell Us the Truth tour[21] with no plans to record,[22] but later recorded a song for Songs and Artists that Inspired Fahrenheit 9/11, "No One Left". In February 2007, he announced a solo album, One Man Revolution, which was released in April 2007.[16] He currently is a part of the Axis of Justice band.
Reunion (2007)
 | This section documents a current event. Information may change rapidly as the event progresses. |
Members of the band had been offered large sums of money to reunite for concerts and tours, and had turned the offers down.[23] Rumors of bad blood between de la Rocha and the other former band members subsequently circulated, but Commerford said that he and de la Rocha see each other often and go surfing together, while Morello said he and de la Rocha communicate by phone, and had met up at a September 15, 2005 protest in support of the South Central Farm.[24] Morello and de la Rocha were photographed together at the protest, the first photograph of the two since the band's breakup. [25]
Rumors that Rage Against the Machine could reunite at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival were circulating in mid-January,[26] and were confirmed on January 22.[27] The band was confirmed to be headlining the final day of Coachella 2007.[28] The reunion was described by Morello as primarily being a vehicle to voice the band's opposition to the "right-wing purgatory" the United States has "slid into" under the George W. Bush administration since RATM's dissolution.[29] Though the performance was initially thought to be a one-off,[30] this turned out not to be the case.
On April 14, 2007, Morello and de la Rocha reunited onstage early to perform a brief acoustic set in downtown Chicago at a Coalition of Immokalee Workers rally in support of fairness in the fast food industry. Morello described the event as "very exciting for everybody in the room, myself included."[31] This was followed by the scheduled Coachella performance on Sunday, April 29. The band played in front of an EZLN backdrop to the largest crowds of the festival;[32] their performance was widely considered the festival's most anticipated.[32][33][34] A speech was made during "Wake Up" in which de la Rocha, citing a statement by Noam Chomsky regarding the Nuremburg trials,[35] said:[34]
| “ | ...if the same laws were applied to U.S. presidents as were applied to the Nazis after World War II [...] every single one of them, every last rich white one of them from Truman on, would have been hung to death and shot - and this current administration is no exception. They should be hung, and tried, and shot. As any war criminal should be. But the challenges that we face, they go way beyond administrations, way beyond elections, way beyond every four years of pulling levers, way beyond that. Because this whole rotten system has become so vicious and cruel that in order to sustain itself, it needs to destroy entire countries and profit from their reconstruction in order to survive - and that's not a system that changes every four years, it's a system that we have to break down, generation after generation after generation after generation after generation.... Wake up. | ” |
The event led to a media furor.[36]
Future
Four more performances are planned as part of the Rock The Bells Festival with the Wu-Tang Clan.[37] Another concert at Alpine Valley in East Troy, Wisconsin on August 24 has also been announced with Queens of the Stone Age through the promotional website RATM82407.com.[38] RATM will make co-headlining appearances at New Orleans' Voodoo Music Experience in late October and the Vegoose festival which runs from Oct. 26th - 28th in the Las Vegas metropolitan area.[39] While there have been rumors of a full tour or permanent reunion since Audioslave broke up,[13] a full tour is not planned as of June 2007.[40] Beyond the Coachella and Rock The Bells performances, the band's future is uncertain,[40] but reports of shows planned as far in advance as December 2007 have circulated.[41] When asked if the band were planning on writing a new album, Morello replied:
| “ | There are no plans to do that… That's a whole other ball of wax right there. Writing and recording albums is a whole different thing than getting back on the bike (laughs), you know, and playing these songs. But I think that the one thing about the Rage catalog is that to me none of it feels dated. You know, it doesn't feel at all like a nostalgia show. It feels like these are songs that were born and bred to be played now. | ” |
| — Tom Morello, Blabbermouth.net[42] |
The All Music Guide and others list a new video or compilation release entitled Lowdown due August 28, 2007 through Sexy Intellectual Records.[43]
Politics
Integral to their identity as a band, Rage Against the Machine voice revolutionary left-wing viewpoints highly critical of the domestic and foreign policies of the U.S. Throughout its existence, RATM and its individual members participated in political protests and other activism to advocate these beliefs. The band primarily saw its music as a vehicle for social activism. Morello said of wage slavery in America:
| “ | 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. | ” |
| — Tom Morello, Guitar World[44] |
Meanwhile, detractors pointed out the tension between voicing commitment to leftist causes while being signed to Epic Records, a subsidiary of media conglomerate Sony Records. Infectious Grooves released a song called "Do What I Tell Ya!" which mocks lyrics from "Killing in the Name", accusing the band of being hypocrites. In response to such critiques, Morello offered the rebuttal:
| “ | 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.[5] | ” |
EZLN
The band were vocal supporters of the Zapatista Army of National Liberation (EZLN), especially de la Rocha, who has taken trips to the Mexican state of Chiapas to aid their efforts. The flag of the EZLN is also the primary recurring theme in the band's visual art.
Mumia Abu-Jamal
The band were tireless advocates for the release of former Black Panther and Death Row inmate Mumia Abu-Jamal. De la Rocha spoke before the United Nations Commission on Human Rights in support of Abu-Jamal on April 12, 1999. RATM wrote and recorded "Voice of the Voiceless" for their 1999 album "The Battle of Los Angeles" to show their support for Mumia and those fighting to have him released. They also performed at a benefit concert with all proceeds donated to the International Concerned Family And Friends Of Mumia Abu-Jamal.
Leonard Peltier
The band also raised funds and awareness for life-sentenced political activist and convicted murderer Leonard Peltier. At their live shows, before playing "Freedom", Zack would often repeat, "It's been 20 years, there's no proof and he's still in jail!" The music video for Freedom also documented the Peltier case.
PMRC protest
At a 1993 Lollapalooza appearance in Philadelphia, the band stood onstage naked for 15 minutes with duct tape on their mouths and the letters PMRC painted on their chests in protest against censorship by the Parents Music Resource Center.[45] The only sound emitted was audio feedback from Morello and Commerford's guitars. Regarding this event, Wilk said "The first ten minutes they were going nuts, but after ten minutes they were getting pissed."[46] The band later played a free show for disappointed fans.[46]
| “ | Want me to be perfectly frank? The size of my penis — that's what was going through my mind in Philadelphia. It looked like I'd just stepped out of the ocean. I swear to God, it's bigger than that. So I was thinking: I wish I'd worn boxer shorts before instead of briefs, because briefs kinda like constrict me. I took them off and it was this ... half-roll of nickels. | ” |
| — Tim Commerford [47] |
| “ | I was thinking about how the wind felt underneath my scrotum, what the people in the front were thinking, and all the cameras flashing and what they were going to be thinking as they developed their film. Actually, doing that was no big deal. It didn't freak me out. That's how we all came into the world. It's a liberating thing. | ” |
| — Brad Wilk, Modern Drummer [46] |
[edit] "Sleep Now in the Fire" video shoot
On January 26, 2000, filming of the music video for "Sleep Now in the Fire" – directed by Michael Moore – caused the doors of the New York Stock Exchange to be closed, and the band to be escorted from the site by security, although trading continued uninterrupted[48]. The Stock Exchange locked its doors midday in response to fears of crowds gathering to watch the filming.[49] Footage of enthusiastic Wall Street employees headbanging to Rage's music was used in the final video. “We decided to shoot this video in the belly of the beast”, said Moore, who was threatened with arrest during the shooting of the video, despite the band having a federal permit to perform.
2000 Democratic National Convention
- Further information: 2000 DNC protest activity
RATM played a free concert at the 2000 Democratic National Convention in protest of the two-party system. The band had been considering playing a protest concert there since April of that year.[50] Although they were at first required by the City of Los Angeles to perform in a small venue at a considerable distance, early in August a United States district court judge ruled that the City's request was too restrictive and the City subsequently allowed the protests and concert to be held at a site across from the DNC.[50] The police response was to increase security measures, which included a 12' fence and patrolling by a minimum of 2,000 officers wearing riot gear, as well as additional horses, motorcycles, squad cars and police helicopters.[51] A police spokesperson said they were "gravely concerned because of security reasons".[51]
During the concert, de la Rocha said to the crowd, "brothers and sisters, our democracy has been hijacked,"[50] and later also shouted "we have a right to oppose these motherfuckers!"[52] After the performance, a small group of attendees congregated at the point in the protest area closest to the DNC, facing the police officers, throwing rocks,[53] and possibly engaging in more violent activity, such as throwing glass, concrete and water bottles filled with "noxious agents,"[54] spraying ammonia on police and slingshotting rocks and steel balls.[55] The police soon after declared the gathering an unlawful assembly,[52] shut off the electrical supply, interrupting performing band Ozomatli,[53] and informed the protestors that they had 20 minutes to disperse on pain of arrest.[56] Some of the protestors remained, however, including two young men who climbed the fence and waved black flags, who were subsequently shot in the face with pepper spray.[55] Police then forcibly dispersed the crowd, using tear gas, pepper spray and rubber bullets.[55] At least six people were arrested in the incident.[56]
The police faced severe and broad criticism for their reaction, with an American Civil Liberties Union spokesperson saying that it was "nothing less than an orchestrated police riot."[54] Several primary witnesses reported unnecessarily violent actions and police abuses, including firing on reporters[53] and people obeying police commands[56]. Police responded that their response was "outstanding" and "clearly disciplined."[56] De la Rocha said of the incident, "I don't care what fucking television station said the violence was caused by the people at the concert, those motherfuckers unloaded on this crowd. And I think it's ridiculous considering, you know, none of us had rubber bullets, none of us had M16s, none of us had billy clubs, none of us had face shields."[57]
Footage of the protest and ensuing violence, along with an MTV News report on the incident, was included in the Live at the Grand Olympic Auditorium DVD.
Other activism
Some other controversial stands taken include that of the music video for the song "Bombtrack", in which RATM expresses support for the Peruvian guerilla organization Shining Path and their incarcerated leader Abimael Guzmán. Over its career, the band played benefit concerts for organizations such as Rock for Choice, the Anti-Nazi League, the United Farm Workers, children's care organization Para Los Niños and UNITE.[58] The band also raised funds for Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting, the National Commission for Democracy in Mexico, Women Alive, and played at the Tibetan Freedom Concert on more than one occasion.[58] Album liner notes contained promotional material for AK Press, Amnesty International, the Committee to Support the Revolution in Peru, the Hollywood Sunset Free Clinic, Indymedia, Mass Mic, Parents for Rock and Rap, the Popular Resource Center, RE: GENERATION, Refuse and Resist, Revolution Books, the Rock & Rap Confidential, and Voices in the Wilderness.
Discography
Studio albums
| Date of Release | Title | Label | US Billboard Peak | US Sales | UK Album Chart |
| 1992 | Rage Against the Machine | Epic Records | #45 | 3x Platinum[59] | #17 |
| 1996 | Evil Empire | Epic Records | #1 | 3x Platinum[59] | #4 |
| 1999 | The Battle of Los Angeles | Epic Records | #1 | 2x Platinum[59] | #23 |
| 2000 | Renegades | Epic Records | #14 | Platinum[59] | #71 |
Awards
- Best Metal Performance (1997) - "Tire Me" (Grammy Winner)
- Best Hard Rock Performance (1997) - "Bulls on Parade" (Grammy Nominee)
- Best Hard Rock Performance (1998) - "People of the Sun" (Grammy Nominee)
- Best Metal Performance (1999) - "No Shelter" (Grammy Nominee)
- Best Hard Rock Performance (2001) - "Guerrilla Radio" (Grammy Winner)
- Best Hard Rock Performance (2002) - "Renegades of Funk" (Grammy Nominee)
- Best Rock Video (1996) - "Bulls on Parade" (Nominee) (lost to Metallica's "Until it Sleeps")
- Best Rock Video (1997) - "People of the Sun" (Nominee) (lost to Aerosmith's "Falling in Love (Is Hard on the Knees)")
- Best Rock Video (2000) - "Sleep Now in the Fire" (Nominee) (lost To Limp Bizkit's "Break Stuff")
It should be noted that the infamous event where Tim Commerford climbed to the top of the stage set and nearly brought the left stage down occurred at the 2000 MTV VMAs. Reportedly, Commerford did it in protest of the fact that Limp Bizkit, whose video was merely other celebrities lip-synching the words to the song "Break Stuff" in front of the band performing, won Best Rock Video instead of Rage Against The Machine's "Sleep Now in the Fire".
On May 4, 2006 "Bulls on Parade" entered VH1's 40 Greatest Metal Songs at #15.
In 2004, The Battle of Los Angeles and Rage Against the Machine both were entered into Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. The Battle of Los Angeles placed 426 and Rage Against the Machine placed 368.
In popular culture
The phrase rage against the machine, used as a verb or noun phrase indicating rebellion, has become prevalent in popular culture with the band's success. On a podcast of The Ricky Gervais Show, Stephen Merchant joked that Gervais was "raging against the machine" when he wore a t-shirt with Bullshit written on it as a teenager. In another example, a conversation with one of the NPCs in the game Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines contains the dialogue option, "So how long have you guys raged against the machine?"
In the band Harvey Danger's song, "Flagpole Sitta" off the album "Where Have All the Merrymakers Gone?", one of the lines is "I wanna' publish zines / and rage against machines"
The phrase has also seen some popularity in politics. Raj Pannu led the social democratic party, the Alberta New Democrats, during the 2001 election under the slogan "Raj Against the Machine".[60]
Such wordplay with the band's name were common during the height of their success. Such puns included the musical comedy sketches "Rage against the Coke Machine (interlude)" from OPM's Menace to Sobriety and "Rage Against the Answering Machine" by Ugly Kid Joe. Alternative rock band TISM released an album entitled Machines Against the Rage.
The Simpsons has passed references to both the band and the phrase; In one episode, Bart says that his t-shirt, adorned with "Adults suck, then you are one", expresses his "rage at the machine",[61] and in a later episode Bart says "When I raged against the machine, money poured out" after destroying school vending machines.[62]
The band have also been referenced in musical parody and tribute albums. The band's name is parodied in that of the comedy band, Richard Cheese and Lounge Against the Machine. That group's album Lounge Against the Machine contains a lounge version of the song "Guerrilla Radio". The "Weird Al" Yankovic album Straight Outta Lynwood contains the song "I'll Sue Ya", which he states is a parody of Rage Against the Machine's musical style.[63] Two various artists tribute albums were released, Freedom: A Tribute to Rage Against the Machine in 2001 and the Spanish language album Tributo a Rage Against the Machine En Español in 2005. Additionally, A Tribute to Rage Against the Machine, a knock-off labelled a "tribute" recorded by anonymous session musicians, was released in 2003.
Notes and citations
- ^ All Music Guide entry for Rage Against the Machine retrieved May 3, 2007
- ^ Myers, Ben (October 16, 1999), Hello, Hello... ...It's Good To Be Back, Kerrang!. Retrieved February 27, 2007.
- ^ McClard, Kent, History of Ebullition Records. Retrieved February 19, 2007
- ^ Woodlief, Mark. Rage Against the Machine. TrouserPress.com. Retrieved on 2007-01-07.
- ^ a b Rage Against the Machine FAQ, Internet Archive cache of FAQ on the official Rage Against the Machine website. Retrieved February 17, 2007
- ^ Robinson, John (January 29, 2000). The Revolution Will Not be Trivialised. NME. Retrieved on 2007-02-19.
- ^ [http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/A730883 BBC.co.uk entry for Rage Against the Machine
- ^ Rage Against the Machine and U2 Make a Perfect Pairing (newspaper article). The State. Retrieved on 2007-07-11.
- ^ Police Censorship Targets Rage (online article). Revolutionary Worker #925. Retrieved on 2007-07-11.
- ^ Judge Gives Go-Ahead For Rage Concert Tomorrow At The Gorge (newspaper article). Seattle Times. Retrieved on 2007-07-11.
- ^ Really Randoms: Jessica Simpson, Oasis (magazine article). Rolling Stone. Retrieved on 2007-07-11.
- ^ a b Armstrong, Mark (October 18, 2000). Zack de la Rocha Leaves Rage Against the Machine. MTV News. Retrieved on 2007-02-17.
- ^ a b Harris, Chris (February 15, 2007). Chris Cornell Talks Audioslave Split, Nixes Rumors Of Soundgarden Reunion. MTV News. Retrieved on 2007-02-16.
- ^ Maynard James Keenan (2007-02-24). Muzak 02/24/07. Puscifer.com. Retrieved on 2007-03-02.
- ^ Maynard James Keenan (2007-04-10). Spring Sprung. Puscifer.com. Retrieved on 2007-04-17. “I may be shooting for a fall release. Maybe mid October. Hard to say. So much needs to happen between now and then.”
- ^ a b Harris, Chris (February 6, 2007). Nightwatchman, Rage Reunion Have Morello Fired Up For Political Fights. MTV News. Retrieved on 2007-02-18.
- ^ a b Moss, Corey (May 10, 2005). Reznor Says Collabos With De La Rocha, Keenan May Never Surface. MTV News. Retrieved on 2007-02-17.
- ^ Gargano, Paul (October 2005). Nine Inch Nails (interview). Maximum Ink Music Magazine. Retrieved on 2007-02-17.
- ^ Zack de la Rocha.com, official website promoting "March of Death". Retrieved February 17, 2007.
- ^ "King of Rage Onstage Again" (February 2006), Spin.
- ^ Wiederhorn, Jon (October 22, 2003). Tom Morello Rages Against A New Machine On Solo Acoustic Tour. MTV News. Retrieved on 2007-02-18.
- ^ Moss, Corey (July 29, 2004). Audioslave's Morello Says New LP Feels Less Like Soundgarden + Rage. MTV News. Retrieved on 2007-02-18.
- ^ Chris Cornell Working on Solo Release - But Dismisses Rumors of Audioslave Split. MTV News. MTV.com. Retrieved on 2007-01-07.
- ^ Rockline interviews Audioslave. August 29, 2006. Free recording of interview.
- ^ Photo of de la Rocha with Morello and photographer's comments
- ^ Cohen, Jonathan (January 19, 2007). Morello Goes Solo, Rage To Reunite?. Billboard. Billboard.com. Retrieved on 2007-01-21.
- ^ Boucher, Geoff (January 22, 2007). Rage Against the Machine will reunite for Coachella. Los Angeles Times. LATimes.com. Retrieved on 2007-01-22.
- ^ Finn, Natalie (January 22, 2007). Rage On at Coachella. E! News. EOnline.com. Retrieved on 2007-01-24.
- ^ Rage Against The Machine discuss reunion. NME (February 2, 2007). Retrieved on 2007-02-03.
- ^ Cohen, Jonathan (January 22, 2007). Rage, Bjork, Chili Peppers Sign On For Coachella. Billboard. Billboard.com. Retrieved on 2007-01-24.
- ^ Rage Against the Machine Guitarist Calls Rally Performance 'Very Exciting'. Launch Radio Networks. 93X Rock News (April 20, 2007). Retrieved on 2007-04-21.
- ^ a b Staff Writer (April 30, 2007). Rage Against The Machine reunite at Coachella. NME. Retrieved on 2007-05-01.
- ^ Sulugiuc, Gelu (April 30, 2007). Rage Against the Machine reunites. Reuters. Yahoo! News. Retrieved on 2007-05-01.
- ^ a b Moss, Corey (April 30, 2007). Rage Against The Machine's Ferocious Reunion Caps Coachella's Final Night. MTV News. MTV.com. Retrieved on 2007-05-01.
- ^ Tom Morello interviews Noam Chomsky, ZMag. Accessed June 21, 2007.
- ^ Rage Against Bush. Spin (May 4, 2007). Retrieved on 2007-05-15.
- ^ First reported in the LA Times: Boucher (February 24, 2007). Rage Against the Machine adds more dates. LA Times. Retrieved on 2007-02-26. Later confirmed on RATM's official website: Official website. Retrieved on February 27, 2007).
- ^ Concert poster, RATM82407.com. Retrieved July 9, 2007.
- ^ Waddell, Ray (June 26, 2007). Rage To Co-Headline Vegoose Festival. Billboard. Retrieved on 2007-06-26.
- ^ a b Full Rage Against The Machine Tour Not In The Works, Says Guitarist Tom Morello. Launch Radio Networks. MetalUnderground.com (March 29, 2007). Retrieved on 2007-04-21.
- ^ Farber, Jim (April 3, 2007). Audiences think reuniting feels so good - but the musicians often have other thoughts. New York Daily News. Retrieved on 2007-05-06.
- ^ Tom Morello: 'No Plans' For New Rage Against The Machine Album. Blabbermouth.net. Ultimateguitar.com (May 1, 2007). Retrieved on 2007-05-01.
- ^ allmusic.com entry for Lowdown. Accessed June 9, 2007.
- ^ Young, Charles M. (February 1997), Tom Morello: Artist of the Year interview, Guitar World. Retrieved February 17, 2007.
- ^ Rage Against The Machine. Velvetland.org. Retrieved on 2007-06-24. (Image of PMRC protest available at this site.)
- ^ a b c Micallef, Ken (March 1996), Rage Against The Machine's Brad Wilk, Modern Drummer. Retrieved February 17, 2007.
- ^ Devenish, Colin (2001), Rage Against the Machine: St. Martin's Griffin ISBN 0-312-27316-6
- ^ "New York Stock Exchange Special Closings, 1885-date. NYSE Group. Retrieved on 2007-04-07.
- ^ Basham, David (January 28, 2000). Rage Against The Machine Shoots New Video With Michael Moore. MTV News. Retrieved on 2007-02-17.
- ^ a b c Asch, Andrew (August 15, 2000). Rage Wage Battle of Los Angeles at DNC. Rolling Stone. Retrieved on 2007-02-19.
- ^ a b Protest concert due tonight outside convention: Security tight in Los Angeles. CNN (August 14, 200). Retrieved on 2007-02-19.
- ^ a b Bleyer, Jennifer (August 15, 200). LAPD unleashes horses-pepper spray-rubber bullets. Scoop Independent News. Indymedia. Retrieved on 2007-02-19.
- ^ a b c York, Anthony (August 15, 200). Rage against the cops. Salon.com Politics. Retrieved on 2007-02-19.
- ^ a b White, Jerry (August 17, 200). Los Angeles police attack protesters at Democratic convention. World Socialist Web Site. Retrieved on 2007-02-19.
- ^ a b c Convention opens to protests, rubber bullets. CNN (August 15, 200). Retrieved on 2007-02-19.
- ^ a b c d Police defend use of pepper spray, rubber bullets at Democratic Convention protest. CNN (August 15, 200). Retrieved on 2007-02-19.
- ^ Live at the Grand Olympic Auditorium DVD, Grand Olympic Auditorium performance, part of de la Rocha's speech.
- ^ a b Rage Against the Machine: A Time Line, time line of RATM's career, official website. Retrieved Fenruary 19, 2007.
- ^ a b c d Recording Industry Association of America RIAA
- ^ Moroz, Ross. Dr Raj Pannu retires (the Machine, presumably, keeps on running). Vue Weekly. Retrieved on 2007-02-19.
- ^ "Fat Man and Little Boy", The Simpsons. Original airdate December 12, 2004.
- ^ "The Heartbroke Kid", The Simpsons. Original airdate May 1, 2005.
- ^ "Weird Al unleashes his new album with a Bill Plympton Video DON'T DOWNLOAD THIS SONG!!!", Ain't It Cool News, 2006-09-11. Retrieved on 2007-02-07.
References
Devenish, Colin (2001), Rage Against the Machine: St. Martin's Griffin ISBN 0-312-27316-6
External links
- The official Rage Against the Machine site containing a band timeline
- Axis of Justice Tom Morello and Serj Tankian's activist website
- Rage Against the Machine at All Music Guide
I wouldn't have know who these worthies were save for some nice older folks who were informed by a 10 year old.
Rock on Garth where ever you are - Sparky
posted by ZenPupDog @ 9:16 PM
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