Rage Against the Machine
Rage Against the Machine
(1992) Sony Records
and
Evil Empire
(1996) Sony Records

Somehow I missed this band for four years.

I've always been a fan of politically charged music. One of my all time favorite bands is Dead Kennedys, mostly because of the incindiary political nature of rap master Jello's lyrics. But Jello left the punk rock scene a few years ago to focus on spoken word performances. When this happened, I was worried the important role he had played in the punk community (for over a decade mind you) would go unfilled. Who will tell the people what they need to hear? There were a few contenders, Michael Franti and Ice T come immediately to mind. But Franti grew less angry with the world (eventually forming Spearhead) and, somewhere along the line, Ice T became a parody of himself.

I guess there never was a gap. In 1992, Rage Against the Machine came on the scene about the same time Jello stopped performing with bands. Yet somehow they didn't come to my attention until Evil Empire came out last Spring.

Rather than analyze my personal character flaw, let us celebrate the rebirth of truth in music! Plenty of bands tell it like it is, but you have to have something special to pull off music as political as Rage Against the Machine's is. Their growing specialty is metal/rap fusion without samples and sans monotony. Zach de la Rocha is one intelligent dude and the musicians provide a magnificently crafted wall of sound for him to kick the truth in front of.

To see what I mean, check out 'Bulls on Parade' or 'Down Rodeo' from Evil Empire or listen to 'Bombtrack' or 'Killing in the Name' from the first Rage album. Not since the Dead Kennedys' Bedtime for Democracy album have lyrics been so deliberately political. Empire's opening track,'People of the Sun', gets your foot tapping and head banging while your brain is learning about revolutionaries in Central America. And that's just the start of this musical manifesto.
There aren't many bands who can pull this off... Rage does while rocking you thoroughly.

–Mattro