Can we have an honest appraisal of Rage Against the Machine?

They were fucking awesome. Cheers.

13 Likes

FUCK YOU I WONT TIDY MY BEDROOM

30 Likes

I think theyā€™ve never been seen as anything but excellent by lovers of rock.

1 Like

This might be my most repeated post in the history of DiS, but:

Evil Empire is fucking amazing
Killing In The Name is a stain on their legacy

5 Likes

Iā€™ve never seen them as anything but excellent

26 Likes

Pretty good band, until that berk does the scratchy guitar thing

1 Like

Walked off after two songa at Leeds to see Less Than Jake (i think) where I had a much better time

2 Likes

Last time I saw them live, Zach was imploring the mosh pit to ā€œSave that for the streetsā€, at which point I wondered if Iā€™d become a grown up because he sounded so fucking stupid.

9 Likes

To answer the topic, i have found them always cringey

Their debut is the only album Iā€™ve sung / shouted the lyrics to from start to end on a car journey. And I even did the dunnnunnunnunuuu guitar impressions when Zach wasnā€™t being angry. Theyā€™re brilliant.

3 Likes

I really liked them as a teenager but find liking them a bit embarrassing as a grown up.

Thereā€™s not really a song on any of their albums that I wonā€™t tell you is in some way awesome and then also admit that another bit is a bit rubbish. Often the guitar noises and lyrics are at opposite sides of this.

In summary: they are fully awesome and also embarrassing bullshit at the same time.

Fuck the man.

4 Likes

I think it helps if you donā€™t take the lyrics seriously.

1 Like

I disagree, I think itā€™s important to recognise their lyrics are on point but weā€™ve been conditioned over and over by regressive society to dismiss any sort of left wing anger as akin to childish tantrums.

Look at Wake Up. Yes itā€™s well worked because itā€™s a lyric that matches the tune and rhymes but the points made are entirely correct

Come on, although ya try to discredit
Ya still never edit
The needle, Iā€™ll thread it
Radically poetic
Standinā€™ with the fury that they had in ā€˜66
And like E-Double Iā€™m mad
Still knee-deep in the systemā€™s shit
Hoover, he was a body remover
Iā€™ll give ya a dose
But itā€™ll never come close
To the rage built up inside of me
Fist in the air, in the land of hypocrisy
Movements come and movements go
Leaders speak, movements cease
When their heads are flown
ā€˜Cause all these punks
Got bullets in their heads
Departments of police, the judges, the feds
Networks at work, keepinā€™ people calm
You know they went after King
When he spoke out on Vietnam
He turned the power to the have-nots
And then came the shot
Yeah!
Yeah, back in thisā€¦
Witā€™ poetry, my mind I flex
Flip like Wilson, vocals never lackinā€™ dat finesse
Whadda I got to, whadda I got to do to wake ya up
To shake ya up, to break the structure up
ā€˜Cause blood still flows in the gutter
Iā€™m like takinā€™ photos
Mad boy kicks open the shutter
Set the groove
Then stick and move like I was Cassius
Rep the stutter step
Then bomb a left upon the fascists
Yea, the several federal men
Who pulled schemes on the dream
And put it to an end
Ya better beware
Of retribution with mind war
Twenty/twenty visions and murals with metaphors
Networks at work, keepinā€™ people calm
Ya know they murdered X
And tried to blame it on Islam
He turned the power to the have-nots
And then came the shot

8 Likes

Youā€™ve got to admit that some of the worst moments are a bit childish though.

As much as I do agree with most of what you say there, I also feel like the lyrical viewpoint is too one-sided (America - bad; governments - bad; all of the proletariat - heroic and noble) to fully appreciate the music/ delivery around it.

Heck of a lot of narcs in this thread

10 Likes

Yeah they seemed genuinely amazing when they came out, but I never really listen to them now. First heard them on - I think - newsnight doing bullet in the head (maybe Iā€™ve got that wrong as it seems a bit implausible. but there definitely was some late night high brow BBC2 show which played alt rock at the end. Iā€™ve got a vhs comp somewhere but have failed to find it on YouTube).

Drove 3 hours each way to see them at the Manchester ritz soon after just after Iā€™d passed my driving test. And can confirm it was in the top 3 most bonkers mosh pits Iā€™ve been involved in.

2 Likes

TBF I only really know the first album. Itā€™s about big ideas and its presented in a big way. I donā€™t think the lyrics seek to say these things, I think they seek to say:

America - not particularly worthy; governments - not to be assumed as having your best interests at heart; all of the proletariat - more heroic and noble than the media and those in charge tend to make out.

Now thatā€™s a nuance to what youā€™re said but itā€™s important. The effect of the Overton Window being right shifted has been keenly felt for decades and part of that is in seeing attacks on America (say) as implying youā€™re dismissing it completely rather than actually talking about important things that need addressing.

2 Likes

Politics were good, more or less pioneered a certain type of metal, got a bit samey towards the end, fans are an utter embarrassment.

7 Likes

It was the Late Show. Remember watching it on VHS before going to see Dinosaur Jr at Brixton Academy.

To be fair to them, I donā€™t think I really gave them a fair chance as they were touted as this very political and dangerous band issuing wake up calls, but seemed very tame to what was happening in rap music at that time.

They remind me a bit of Banksy.