Rage Against the Machine
Un article de Vev.
Rage Against the Machine is an American rock band formed in Modèle:City-state in 1991. The band's continual members have been vocalist Zack de la Rocha, guitarist Tom Morello, bassist Tim Commerford and drummer Brad Wilk. Rage Against the Machine is noted for its blend of hip hop, heavy metal, punk and funk as well as its revolutionary politics and lyrics. Rage Against the Machine drew inspiration from early metal instrumentation, as well as rap acts such as Public Enemy and Afrika Bambaataa. The group's music is based primarily on de la Rocha's rhyming styles and Morello's unusual guitar techniques.
Rage Against the Machine released their debut album Rage Against the Machine in 1992, which became a commercial success. Following a slot on the 1993 Lollapalooza, the band did not release a follow-up record until Evil Empire in 1996. The band's third album The Battle of Los Angeles was released in 1999. During their initial nine year run, they became one of the most popular and influential political bands in contemporary music.<ref name="Devenish">Devenish, Colin (2001), Rage Against the Machine: St. Martin's Griffin ISBN 0-312-27316-6</ref>
The band released their fourth studio album Renegades in 2000 and broke up shortly afterwards. Zack de la Rocha started a low-key solo career; the rest of the band formed the rock supergroup Audioslave with former Soundgarden frontman Chris Cornell. In April 2007 Rage Against the Machine performed together for the first time in seven years at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival. The band has continued to perform at multiple live venues since.
Sommaire |
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 free-style 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 drummer Brad Wilk, who had previously auditioned for Lock Up, while de la Rocha convinced his childhood friend Tim Commerford to join as bassist. The newly christened Rage Against the Machine named themselves after a song de la Rocha had written for his former popular underground Hardcore band, Inside Out (also to be the title of the unrecorded Inside Out full-length album).<ref>Myers, Ben (October 16, 1999), Hello, Hello... ...It's Good To Be Back, Kerrang!. Retrieved February 27, 2007.</ref> Kent McClard, with whom Inside Out were associated, had previously coined the phrase in a 1989 article in his zine No Answers.<ref>McClard, Kent, History of Ebullition Records. Retrieved February 19, 2007</ref>
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.<ref> Woodlief , Mark
. Rage Against the Machine . TrouserPress.com
. Retrieved on 2007-01-07. </ref>
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."<ref name="officialfaq">Rage Against the Machine FAQ, Internet Archive cache of FAQ on the official Rage Against the Machine website. Retrieved February 17, 2007</ref>
Mainstream success (1992–2000)
Modèle:Sound sample box align right Modèle:Listen Modèle:Sample box end The band's 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.<ref> Robinson , John
(January 29, 2000) . The Revolution Will Not be Trivialised . NME
. Retrieved on 2007-02-19. </ref> The album's cover pictured Thích Quảng Đức, a Vietnamese Buddhist monk, burning himself to death in Saigon in 1963 in protest of 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. Modèle:Sound sample box align right Modèle:Listen Modèle:Sample box end Rage Against The Machine's 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 sign of distress or great danger), 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.<ref>BBC.co.uk h2g2 entry for Rage Against the Machine</ref> including U.N.I.T.E. , Women Alive and the Zapatista Front for National Liberation.<ref> Rage Against the Machine and U2 Make a Perfect Pairing
(newspaper article) . The State
. Retrieved on 2007-07-11. </ref> 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".<ref> Police Censorship Targets Rage
(online article) . Revolutionary Worker #925
. Retrieved on 2007-07-11. </ref><ref> Judge Gives Go-Ahead For Rage Concert Tomorrow At The Gorge
(newspaper article) . Seattle Times
. Retrieved on 2007-07-11. </ref> 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.<ref> Really Randoms: Jessica Simpson, Oasis
(magazine article) . Rolling Stone
. Retrieved on 2007-07-11. </ref>
Break-up and subsequent projects (2000–2006)
On October 18, 2000, de la Rocha released a statement announcing his departure from the band. He said, "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."<ref name="zackquit"> Armstrong , Mark
(October 18, 2000) . Zack de la Rocha Leaves Rage Against the Machine . MTV News
. Retrieved on 2007-02-17. </ref> The bands final studio album, 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, and 2003 saw the release of a live album titled Live at the Grand Olympic Auditorium, an edited recording of the band's final two concerts on September 12 and 13, 2000 at the Grand Olympic Auditorium in Los Angeles. It was accompanied by an expanded DVD release of the last show, and also included the previously unreleased music video for "Bombtrack".
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, until the departure of Chris Cornell on February 15, 2007.<ref name="cornellquit"> Harris , Chris
(February 15, 2007) . Chris Cornell Talks Audioslave Split, Nixes Rumors Of Soundgarden Reunion . MTV News
. Retrieved on 2007-02-16. </ref>
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<ref> Wiederhorn , Jon
(October 22, 2003) . Tom Morello Rages Against A New Machine On Solo Acoustic Tour . MTV News
. Retrieved on 2007-02-18. </ref> with no plans to record,<ref> Moss , Corey
(July 29, 2004) . Audioslave's Morello Says New LP Feels Less Like Soundgarden + Rage . MTV News
. Retrieved on 2007-02-18. </ref> 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, entitled One Man Revolution, which was released in April 2007.<ref name="firedup"> Harris , Chris
(February 6, 2007) . Nightwatchman, Rage Reunion Have Morello Fired Up For Political Fights . MTV News
. Retrieved on 2007-02-18. </ref>
Meanwhile, de la Rocha had been working on a solo album collaboration with DJ Shadow, Company Flow, and The Roots' ?uestlove,<ref name="zackquit"/> but dropped the project in favor of working with Nine Inch Nails' Trent Reznor.<ref name="reznor"> Moss , Corey
(May 10, 2005) . Reznor Says Collabos With De La Rocha, Keenan May Never Surface . MTV News
. Retrieved on 2007-02-17. </ref> Recording was completed, but the album will probably never be released.<ref> Gargano , Paul
(October 2005) . Nine Inch Nails (interview) . Maximum Ink Music Magazine
. Retrieved on 2007-02-17. </ref> 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,<ref>Zack de la Rocha.com, official website promoting "March of Death". Retrieved February 17, 2007.</ref> and the 2004 soundtrack Songs and Artists that Inspired Fahrenheit 9/11 included one of the collaborations with Reznor, "We Want It All".<ref name="reznor"/> In late 2005, de la Rocha was seen singing and playing the jarana with Son Jarocho band Son de Madera on multiple occasions.<ref>"King of Rage Onstage Again" (February 2006), Spin.</ref>
Members of the band had been offered large sums of money to reunite for concerts and tours, and had turned the offers down.<ref> Chris Cornell Working on Solo Release - But Dismisses Rumors of Audioslave Split
. MTV News . MTV.com
. Retrieved on 2007-01-07. </ref> 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.<ref>Rockline interviews Audioslave. August 29, 2006. Free recording of interview.</ref>
Reunion (2007-present)
Rumors that Rage Against the Machine could reunite at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival were circulating in mid-January 2007,<ref> Cohen , Jonathan
(January 19, 2007) . Morello Goes Solo, Rage To Reunite? . Billboard . Billboard.com
. Retrieved on 2007-01-21. </ref> and were confirmed on January 22.<ref> Boucher , Geoff
(January 22, 2007) . Rage Against the Machine will reunite for Coachella . Los Angeles Times . LATimes.com
. Retrieved on 2007-01-22. </ref> The band was confirmed to be headlining the final day of Coachella 2007.<ref> Finn , Natalie
(January 22, 2007) . Rage On at Coachella . E! News . EOnline.com
. Retrieved on 2007-01-24. </ref> 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.<ref> Rage Against the Machine discuss reunion
. NME (February 2, 2007)
. Retrieved on 2007-02-03. </ref> Though the performance was initially thought to be a one-off,<ref> Cohen , Jonathan
(January 22, 2007) . Rage, Bjork, Chili Peppers Sign On For Coachella . Billboard . Billboard.com
. Retrieved on 2007-01-24. </ref> 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."<ref> Rage Against the Machine Guitarist Calls Rally Performance 'Very Exciting'
. Launch Radio Networks . 93X Rock News (April 20, 2007)
. Retrieved on 2007-04-21. </ref> 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;<ref name="reunionnme"> Staff Writer
(April 30, 2007) . Rage Against the Machine reunite at Coachella . NME
. Retrieved on 2007-05-01. </ref> their performance was widely considered the festival's most anticipated.<ref name="reunionnme"/><ref name="reunionyahoo"> Sulugiuc , Gelu
(April 30, 2007) . Rage Against the Machine reunites . Reuters . Yahoo! News
. Retrieved on 2007-05-01. </ref><ref name="reunionmtv"> 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. </ref> De la Rocha made a speech during "Wake Up", citing a statement by Noam Chomsky regarding the Nuremburg trials,<ref name="chomskyinterview">Tom Morello interviews Noam Chomsky, ZMag. Accessed June 21, 2007.</ref> as follows:
The event led to a media furor. A clip of Zack's speech found its way to the Fox News program "Hannity & Colmes." An on-screen headline read, "Rock group Rage Against the Machine says Bush admin should be shot." Ann Coulter (a guest on the show) stated, "They’re losers, their fans are losers, and there’s a lot of violence coming from the left wing."<ref> Rage Against Bush
. Spin (May 4, 2007)
. Retrieved on 2007-05-15. </ref>
On July 28th and 29th, Rage headlined the Hip Hop festival Rock the Bells with the Wu Tang Clan, Public Enemy and Cypress Hill. On July 28, they made a speech during Wake Up just as they had done at Coachella. During this, De La Rocha made another statement, defending the band from Fox News, who he alleged misquoted his speech at Coachella:
On August 24, Rage Against the Machine played their first non-festival concert in 7 years at the Alpine Valley Music Theater in East Troy, Wisconsin, with support act Queens of the Stone Age. During the show, De La Rocha made a speech similar to the one at the Rock the Bells festival in July. On October 26, Rage co-headlined at New Orleans's Voodoo Music Experience. During Wake Up, de la Rocha gave a speech saying he went through the New Orleans communities, including the 9th Ward. He said that the Bush administration has started war on two fronts; he is destroying the communities in and around Baghdad and he is destroying the community and culture, notably African-American culture, within New Orleans.
Future
Rage Against the Machine has been confirmed to co-headline all six of the Big Day Out venues in Australia and New Zealand along with Bjork, silverchair and Arcade Fire from January 18 to February 3, 2008,<ref> Rage Against the Machine tour announced
. fasterlouder.com.au . www.fasterlouder.com.au (September 19, 2007)
. Retrieved on 2007-09-26. </ref><ref> Rage Against the Machine - The fans have spoken!
. Big Day Out (September 27, 2007)
. Retrieved on 2007-07-27. </ref> <ref>[1]</ref> including additional shows in Sydney and in Melbourne which sold out in record time. Also, it has recently been confirmed that Rage Against The Machine is one of the three headliners at the 2008 Rock Am Ring and Rock Im Park music festivals in Germany and Pinkpop Music Festival in the Netherlands.
On December 13th 2007, it was also announced that Rage Against The Machine will be headlining the Optimus Alive!08 Festival in Portugal along with Pearl Jam, Smashing Pumpkins and Linkin Park.
When asked in May 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
Political views and activism
Integral to their identity as a band, Rage Against the Machine voice revolutionary 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; de la Rocha explained that "I'm interested in spreading those ideas through art, because music has the power to cross borders, to break military sieges and to establish real dialogue."<ref name="Juice">Wooldridge, Simon (February 2000), "Fight the Power", Juice Magazine. Retrieved October 6, 2007.</ref> Morello said of wage slavery in America:
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:
EZLN
The band are vocal supporters of the Zapatista Army of National Liberation (EZLN), especially de la Rocha, who has taken several trips to the Mexican state of Chiapas to aid their efforts. The flag of the EZLN serves as the primary recurring theme in the band's visual art. Morello described the EZLN as "a guerrilla army who represent the poor indigenous communities in southern Mexico who, for hundreds of years, have been trodden upon and sort of cast aside and which really are the lowest form on the economic -social ladder in Mexico. In 1994, on New Years Day, there was an uprising there and they were led by the very charismatic Subcomandante Marcos and it's a group which is tremendously supportive of the most objectively poor and continues to fight for dignity, for all people in Mexico."<ref>Tom Morello interview on Triple J, October 31, 1999.</ref> An interviewer was once told by de la Rocha, "Our purpose in sympathising with the Zapatistas is to help spark [real] dialogue."<ref name="Juice"/>
De la Rocha, while known for shying from the media, has been particularly outspoken on the cause of the EZLN. He explained the importance of the cause to him personally:
De la Rocha made four trips to Chiapas in order to aid the EZLN. His first was in an observatory team monitoring negotiation between the EZLN and the Mexican government. At one point de la Rocha and others in the team formed a human chain to protect the EZLN from potential threats.<ref name="rolstone">Rricke, David (November 25, 1999),"The Battles of Rage Against the Machine", Rolling Stone. Retrieved October 6, 2007.</ref>
His second trip, in February 1996, was to peace campaign camps in La Garrucha. de la Rocha said of the experience: Modèle:Cquote2
Later in 1996, de la Rocha led an educational trip for young students, artists and activists from L.A. to Chiapas.
The EZLN and de la Rocha's experiences with them inspired the songs "Wind Below", and "Without A Face" from Evil Empire<ref name="chiapas"/> and "Calm Like a Bomb", "War Within a Breath" and "Maria" from The Battle of Los Angeles<ref name="rolstone"/>
Saturday Night Live censorship
On April 10th, 1996 the band was scheduled to perform two songs on the NBC comedy variety show Saturday Night Live. The show was hosted that night by ex-Republican presidential candidate and billionaire Steve Forbes. According to an unidentified RATM member, "RATM wanted to stand in sharp juxtaposition to a billionaire telling jokes and promoting his flat tax by making our own statement."<ref name="SNL">Anon., Saturday Nigt Live Incident, Public release and distribution. Retrieved November 12, 2007.</ref>
To this end, the band hung two upside-down American flags from their amplifiers. Seconds before they took the stage to perform "Bulls on Parade", SNL and NBC sent stagehands in to pull the flags down. The inverted flags, says Morello, represented: Modèle:Cquote2
The band's first attempt to hang the flags during a pre-telecast rehearsal on Thursday were frustrated by SNL's producers, who "demanded that we take the flags down," according to Morello, "They said the sponsors would be upset, and that because Steve Forbes was on, they had to run a 'tighter' show." SNL also told the band it would mute objectionable lyrics in "Bullet in the Head" (which was supposed to be RATM's second song), and insisted that the song be bleeped in the studio because Forbes had friends and family there.<ref name="SNL"/>
On the night of the show, following the removal of the flags during the first performance, the band were approached by SNL and NBC officials and ordered to immediately leave the building. Upon hearing this, RATM bassist Commerford reportedly stormed Forbes' dressing room, throwing shreds from one of the torn down flags. Modèle:Cquote2 Morello noted that members of the Saturday Night Live cast and crew, whom he declined to name, "[e]xpressed solidarity with our actions, and a sense of shame that their show had censored the performance."<ref name="SNL"/>
Radio Free L.A.
Radio Free Los Angeles was a radio show held by the band on January 20, 1997, the night of Bill Clinton's inauguration as President.<ref>http://www.mediacast.com/Calendar/97-01-20/Radio_Free_L.A./</ref> The show comprised segments and interviews featuring Michael Moore, Emily Hodgson, Leonard Peltier, Chuck D, Mumia Abu-Jamal, UNITE, Noam Chomsky, Amy Ray of the Indigo Girls, and Subcomandante Marcos of the Zapatistas.<ref name="rfla">Radio Free L.A. at RATM.com]</ref> These were intercut with musical performances by Beck, Cypress Hill, Flea, Stephen Perkins as well as members of Rage. The band organized the show in response to the re-election of Clinton:
That election had resulted in one of the lowest voter turnouts in the history of the country, as more and more Americans came to realize that their government was not in their hands, but in the hands of big business. Radio Free L.A. provided a musical and political gathering point for the majority of Americans—and young people especially—who rightly felt left out of the "democratic process."
The two-hour show was syndicated by over 50 commercial U.S. radio stations<ref name="timeline">Official RATM timeline at ratm.com.</ref> and streamed live from the band's website. Transcripts of the interviews are freely available online.<ref>Tom Morello interviewing Noam Chomsky for Radio Free L.A. at Zmag.org</ref><ref>Transcript of interview with Subcommandante Marcos for Radio Free L.A.</ref>
"Sleep Now in the Fire" video shoot
On January 26, 2000, filming of the music video for "Sleep Now in the Fire", which was 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,<ref name="greenleft"> Rage against Wall Street
. Green Left Weekly #397 (March 15, 2000)
. Retrieved on 2007-10-11. </ref> after band members attempted to gain entry into the Exchange<ref> Basham , David
(January 28, 2000) . Rage Against the Machine Shoots New Video With Michael Moore . MTV News
. Retrieved on 2007-02-17. </ref>. Trading on the Exchange floor, however, continued uninterrupted<ref> "New York Stock Exchange Special Closings", 1885-date
. NYSE Group
. Retrieved on 2007-04-07. </ref>.
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 obtained a permit to perform.<ref name="greenleft"/>
2000 Democratic National Convention
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.<ref name="dncrs"> Asch , Andrew
(August 15, 2000) . Rage Wage Battle of Los Angeles at DNC . Rolling Stone
. Retrieved on 2007-02-19. </ref> 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.<ref name="dncrs"/> The police response was to increase security measures, which included a 12 ft fence and patrolling by a minimum of 2,000 officers wearing riot gear, as well as additional horses, motorcycles, squad cars and police helicopters.<ref name="dnccnn1"> Protest concert due tonight outside convention: Security tight in Los Angeles
. CNN (August 14, 200)
. Retrieved on 2007-02-19. </ref> A police spokesperson said they were "gravely concerned because of security reasons".<ref name="dnccnn1"/>
During the concert, de la Rocha said to the crowd, "brothers and sisters, our democracy has been hijacked,"<ref name="dncrs"/> and later also shouted "we have a right to oppose these motherfuckers!"<ref name="dncindy"> Bleyer , Jennifer
(August 15, 200) . LAPD unleashes horses-pepper spray-rubber bullets . Scoop Independent News . Indymedia
. Retrieved on 2007-02-19. </ref> 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,<ref name="dncsalon"> York , Anthony
(August 15, 200) . Rage against the cops . Salon.com Politics
. Retrieved on 2007-02-19. </ref> and possibly engaging in more violent activity, such as throwing glass, concrete and water bottles filled with "noxious agents,"<ref name="dncwsws"> White , Jerry
(August 17, 200) . Los Angeles police attack protesters at Democratic convention . World Socialist Web Site
. Retrieved on 2007-02-19. </ref> spraying ammonia on police and slingshotting rocks and steel balls.<ref name="dnccnn2"> Convention opens to protests, rubber bullets
. CNN (August 15, 200)
. Retrieved on 2007-02-19. </ref> The police soon after declared the gathering an unlawful assembly,<ref name="dncindy"/> shut off the electrical supply, interrupting performing band Ozomatli,<ref name="dncsalon"/> and informed the protestors that they had 20 minutes to disperse on pain of arrest.<ref name="dnccnn3"> Police defend use of pepper spray, rubber bullets at Democratic Convention protest
. CNN (August 15, 200)
. Retrieved on 2007-02-19. </ref> 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.<ref name="dnccnn2"/> Police then forcibly dispersed the crowd, using tear gas, pepper spray and rubber bullets.<ref name="dnccnn2"/> At least six people were arrested in the incident.<ref name="dnccnn3"/>
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."<ref name="dncwsws"/> Several primary witnesses reported unnecessarily violent actions and police abuses, including firing on reporters<ref name="dncsalon"/> and people obeying police commands<ref name="dnccnn3"/>. Police responded that their response was "outstanding" and "clearly disciplined."<ref name="dnccnn3"/> 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."<ref>Live at the Grand Olympic Auditorium DVD, Grand Olympic Auditorium performance, part of de la Rocha's speech.</ref>
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
The band are advocates for the release of former Black Panther and Death Row inmate Mumia Abu-Jamal for whom they wrote and recorded the track "Voice of the Voiceless" for their 1999 album The Battle of Los Angeles. The band performed at a benefit concert with all proceeds donated to the International Concerned Family And Friends Of Mumia Abu-Jamal, and de la Rocha spoke before the United Nations Commission on Human Rights in support of Abu-Jamal.<ref name="zackun">Modèle:Cite book</ref> The band also raised funds and awareness for life-sentenced political activist Leonard Peltier, and documented his case in the video for "Freedom".
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.<ref name="velvetland"> Rage Against the Machine
. Velvetland.org
. Retrieved on 2007-06-24.
(Image of PMRC protest available at this site.)</ref> Refusing to play, they stood in silence with the sound emitted being only audio feedback from Morello and Commerford's guitars; the band later played a free show for disappointed fans.<ref name="moderndrummer">Micallef, Ken (March 1996), Rage Against The Machine's Brad Wilk, Modern Drummer. Retrieved February 17, 2007.</ref> Tom Morello was arrested for civil disobedience in October 1997 during a union protest by garment workers and their supporters against the use of sweatshop labor by Guess?.<ref name="timeline"/> Billboards subsequently appeared in Las Vegas and New York featuring a photograph of the band with the caption "Rage Against Sweatshops: We Don't Wear Guess? – A Message from Rage Against the Machine and UNITE (Union of Needletrades Industrial and Textile Employees)."<ref name="timeline"/>
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.<ref name="timeline">Rage Against the Machine: A Time Line, time line of RATM's career, official website. Retrieved February 19, 2007.</ref> 1994 saw the band organizing Latinpalooza, a joint benefit concert for the Leonard Peltier Defense Fund, United Farm Workers, and Para Los Niños. 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.<ref name="timeline"/> 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
|
Live albums
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Awards
Grammy Awards
- Best Metal Performance (1997) - "Tire Me" (Grammy Winner)
- Best Hard Rock Performance (1997) - "Bulls on Parade" (Grammy Nominee)
- Best Hard Rock Performance (199Image:Cool.gif - "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)
MTV Music Awards
- 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")
At the 2000 MTV VMAs Tim Commerford climbed to the top of the stage set and nearly brought the left stage down, 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". <ref> Zahlaway , John
. " Rage Bassist Pleads Guilty To Misdemeanor After Disrupting MTV Awards " , Live Daily , 2000-09-08 . Retrieved on 2007-12-26 . </ref>
Notes
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
- Axis of Justice Tom Morello and Serj Tankian's activist website
- Modèle:Allmusicguide
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