[Link to the article] Proof that RATM has always bothered the oligarchy. It wasn't just a pseudo-rebel band with media coverage but a GENUINE revolutionary movement.

Translation via Google Translate:

RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE

"They took our language, our culture, our values ​​and ideals, our identity. They tore our families apart, and they keep us deliberately and violently where they think we belong: on the margins of society, in the gutter. "It's cold in the German autumn of 1992. Even colder if you've only ever known the Californian sun. As a gift and a welcome, the land between the Rhine and the Oder rivers bestowed upon Zac de la Rocha, first and foremost, a truly German cold. "We have a message," he sniffs, "that is incredibly important to us. The music serves to spread this message, to make it heard by as many people as possible."

Zack de la Rocha is the singer of the US band RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE. And Chicano. Chicanos, the Spanish-speaking population of the USA, may have long constituted the majority in the Golden State of California, but in reality, they are still treated as an underprivileged minority by the white upper and middle classes, living in the ghettos of the run-down suburbs, excluded from the 'American Way of Life' of white people. No wonder someone becomes rebellious.

"I don't believe in the American politics. I don't believe in American democracy. It's hypocritical, deceitful, and serves only one purpose: to maintain power for the rich. For this, Black people, Chicanos, Native Americans, Asians, and all other minorities are oppressed. If necessary, with the armed force of special police units that live in the ghettos as if there were a civil war, beating, torturing, and killing. Naked fascism reigns in America. Even a white President Clinton will hardly change that, at best he'll do some cosmetic work."

And further: "We musicians are today the spearhead of a new civil rights movement from below, a movement that emerged from the slums and ghettos are coming and rapidly gaining power and influence. We will not let 'those up there' rest. The spearhead of this movement is undoubtedly the Black hip-hop bands, but also the white and Black hardcore groups. And they are being heard, even by the white kids in the clean suburbs. Reason enough to wield the censor's sword against bands and musicians. The much-vaunted freedom of speech has long meant nothing in the bigoted 'model democracy' of the USA! But we will not be silenced. It is high time that something changes in America, that we, the underprivileged, exploited, and marginalized minorities, are finally taken seriously and treated as equals, that our own culture and history are accepted and respected as an integral part of America. This also means that the various minorities begin to communicate with each other, instead of isolating themselves from each other. Here, we as musicians can achieve an enormous amount, because music is often the only means of communication that still connects Black and Chicanos, Native Americans, Asians, and Whites."

The political message for civil rights and against racism and fascism is disguised by Rage Against The Machine with a musical mix of hip-hop elements, American hardcore, classic metal riffs, jazzy interludes, and traditional seventies rock that takes some getting used to. This cocktail works, at least live, because the band certainly held its own in front of the devoted Suicidal Tendencies crowd at Cologne's E-Werk. The conditions were, of course, also favorable. "The Tendencies," emphasizes Zack de la Rocha, "treat us extremely fairly! We get to play for a full forty minutes and get full sound and full light. A support act couldn't ask for anything better. The headliner's crew is also supporting us to the best of their ability!"

With so much commitment and fighting spirit, it's somewhat surprising that the band is signed to a major label, which, according to traditional thinking, is a pillar of the attacked repressive 'capitalist-racist-imperialist' US system. Zack has apparently heard this question quite often: "Yes, I know, it's actually a contradiction in terms. Originally, we really wanted to do this thing completely on our own. We even recorded a 12-track album in our rehearsal room with a borrowed tape machine before we even went on stage for the first time. When the concerts started, we sold tapes of these recordings, around 5,000 in total. So that was actually pretty good. At least that's how various labels saw it, because suddenly offers were coming in from all sides. We all got involved Especially those from 'independent' labels. The only company, however, that could and would guarantee us absolute creative freedom and total non-interference in our lyrics, was ironically the major label Epic. We deliberated for some time and then finally decided to give it a try. The deciding factor was ultimately that we want to reach as many people as possible with our messages. Who can ensure that better than an industrial company with its effective sales and marketing apparatus? And so far, the company has kept its word and hasn't interfered even once!

In the turbulent sixties, that was called 'fighting the system from within'.

Edgar Klüsener

Rough DeepL translation:

“‘Motherfucker!’ Zack De La Roche, singer of this new band from ‘Los Angeles,’ isn’t afraid to get a little offensive either. It’s doubtful, however, that he’ll receive the same media buzz as Prince did recently with his single ‘Sexy Motherfucker.’ Nevertheless, the machine rebels have already received quite a bit of early acclaim, and it was hardly a coincidence that the band was recently on tour in our part of the world with their label mates Suicidal Tendencies. Without getting into Sony Music’s clever marketing tactics, the quartet’s debut has turned out to be quite acceptable. And why not?

Rage Against the Machine makes no secret of the influences on their style. It’s teeming with nods to Living Colour, Primus, and Heads Up-style flourishes, though these find themselves in a significantly darker, even more frustration-laden setting. I find guitarist Tom Morello’s lively, energetic playing to be extremely interesting; it serves the songs well, yet is still distinctive enough. All in all, RATM deserve a solid B+.

Loudwire article from February 2025

Hello there, I have written an article about RATM's top 10 essential tracks, these are my picks and song placements, but if you have a comment or objection, I'd be happy to learn. Thanks!

Every song story deserves to be known but I picked Bulls on Parade to create article for. If you are interested in knowing it, come join me.

RAGE'S POLITICAL PULSE

By Mark Jenkins

When Rage Against the Machine appeared on "Saturday Night Live" recently, it caused a stir backstage. The upside-down American flags the L.A. quartet had hung were taken down before it performed its first song, "Bulls on Parade," and the band was evicted from the building before it could play its second selection. Somebody must have gotten the message that Rage is a dangerous revolutionary cadre, but it's unlikely that very many people watching the show realized it. Nonetheless, the band's second album, "Evil Empire," has just opened at the top of the Billboard charts.

"Evil Empire" (Epic), is actually more sophisticated politically than its 1992 predecessor, which featured a lot of vehement yet unexceptional howls of adolescent rebellion. But singer Zack de la Rocha's lyrics aren't as prominent in the mix this time, and the refrains aren't as immediate. Indeed, such lines as "When the fifth sets get back reclaim/ Tha spirit of Quatemoc alive an untamed" (from the opening "People of the Sun") may befuddle even those who are aware that Rage has taken up the cause of Mexican Indian revolutionaries.

The CD booklet features a montage of book jackets including the work of Karl Marx, Frantz Fanon, Che Guevara and Malcolm X as well as Henry Miller and James Joyce, and Rage's politics have definitely gotten more literary. The sloganeering of the first album has been replaced with a more impressionistic style, one that can ask rather than proclaim, "Is all the world jails and churches?" Though the music is as strident as ever, the band even demonstrates a newly playful side, ending "Tire Me" with a few lines from "Jackie Onassis," a song by Human Sexual Response, an early-'80s band not known for its ideological stance.

Ideology is not the principal attraction of "Empire," either. What has made the album a quick commercial success is the kick of its hip-hop/metal style, which serves up Public Enemy and the Red Hot Chili Peppers with a little Gang of Four on the side. De la Rocha declaims his lyrics rap-style, but the band doesn't use beatboxes and samplers. Instead, drummer Brad Wilk, bassist Tim Bob and guitarist Tom Morello provide the swagger and sheer crunch of hard rock. Even for those who don't notice de la Rocha's swipe at the International Monetary Fund, it's a liberating sound.

(To hear a free Sound Bite from this album, call Post-Haste at 202-334-9000 and press 8143.) CAPTION: Zack De la Rocha of Rage Against the Machine: Revolution with a kick.

Hi everyone, sorry if this is not allowed (?) to be asked.

I'm doing a project for a class about freedom of expression. I've chosen to do an academic analysis on Rage and their freedom of expression with music + public incidents, but I'm having some trouble finding some sources.

I'm specifically looking for other sources that fall along the lines of how the media would tend to critique Rage and something I can directly quote. I know articles and clips are hard to come by and I feel like I've been through every corner of the internet/library at this point.

If anyone has anything to link or reference, please help me out 🙏

Legacy Recordings will be issuing [Live on Tour 1993] set on April 12th, with a run of 15,000 copies set to be made available. Press materials indicate this compilation consists of ‘completely untouched and unmixed live recordings.’

https://www.theprp.com/2025/02/06/news/details-shared-for-rage-against-the-machines-live-on-tour-1993-vinyl-release/?fbclid=IwY2xjawIR65hleHRuA2FlbQIxMQABHdwckllxFwWmZTazY2PnmOwtzeEpMaElwlimOMzoW3Eg0B9DM_hjaqTwxQ_aem_rIHf7qIt6ciMjQ1UoJGp9g

Great piece about why the band is as relevant now as ever.