Well, it happenned to me again. One of my favorite bands has hit the skids. In May it was the Smashing Pumpkins. Now Zack De La Rocha, lead singer and basically the heart and soal of Rage Against the Machine, said he was leaving the band because the group wasn’t collaborating well (though, if you ask me, he’s probably just still pissed at Tim Commerford for his meaningless stunt at the MTV VMAs).
The rest of the band seems to give off the impression that they are going to continue to make records. Why bother? Aside from Tom Morello’s psychoticly funky guitar licks, Zack was the only member of the band with exceptional talent (honestly, when was the last time you heard a single bass riff past the opening of any Rage song? And drummers are a dime-a-dozen). He was able to write lyrics that were both poetic and politicly poinagnt and was able to spit them out like musical venom.
Face it: Rage is dead. And the really sad part is that they were the only mainstream band left who were really trying to change the world and battle injustice through their music. They were the only ones who could make it onto TRL (if only for a day or two) and still have the balls to say, “There is something very wrong with the way things are and we want a change right fucking now!” And they weren’t just another cookie-cutter “My childhood sucked” rap metal-band. They had a purpose and a cutting-edge sound to boot. To quote my friend and fellow poster red dragon, why must the good always die young?
Good!
Don’t get me wrong. I liked RATM for many years, and appreciated the band members personalities. I interviewed Tom Morello and Brad Welk several times each back in the day. I was at the Lollapalooza in Philly when they didn’t play and instead stood there, naked, with “PMRC” painted on each of their chests.
But I am sick of their dogma, and it doesn’t surprise me that “drama queen” Zach is going out this way.
Yer pal,
Satan
*TIME ELAPSED SINCE I QUIT SMOKING:
Six months, one week, four days, 4 hours, 54 minutes and 59 seconds.
7768 cigarettes not smoked, saving $971.02.
Extra time with Drain Bead: 3 weeks, 5 days, 23 hours, 20 minutes.
I slept with a REPUBLICAN moderator!*
aw, damn. Just as theyt were startying to get their sound to gel properly.
Still, they were always going to implode upon themselves.
*puts on “Township Rebellion”, and remembers the good old days of eary teenage angst.
I, for one, think they will be better without him. I hate that rap shit. If they had a *singer[i/], they could make some cool music.
Zack De La Rocha is a whiny prima-donna.
Once again, I screw up the italics.
pounds head on counter
Stupid, stupid, stupid!
You can kill the revolutionary, but you cannot kill the revolution.
I also hate that Rage is breaking up. But maybe it is time. Self-titled was excellent, Evil Empire was good, and Battle of LA was not very inspired IMHO. However, they accomplished what they set out to do, if even in a small way. They educated. I know who Che and Zapata were now. I know more about sweatshops than I would care to. So maybe they did what they set out to do. Oh, and their music is good also. Maybe Zack is just over-reacting, as he does it a lot.
And yes, that is me that Diesel refers to in the OP.
Revolution?? Bull-fucking-shit. I’ll say it louder: BULLSHIT.
Rage has nothing to do with “revolution” and everythign to do with posturing, self-absorbed white boys wanting some validation and comfort for their WASP guilt. Fucking poseurs.
Zack can suck my left one.
“self-absorbed white boys”
What’s with Ignorance and closed mindedness these days?
Andros, YOU FUCKING RETARD. SUCK MY RIGHT ONE.
Do you base this statement on any evidence, or is it simply dispossessed-nihilist-gen-Xer-speak for “people with ethics and a point of view”?
I heard that he is doing a solo album. I’ll be looking forward to hearing that. Does anyone know if they are going to release the double album that was supose to come out next month?
I read an article I think on RATM.net, that said the Kick out the Jams album will be released as will another one of some sort.
I read an article I think on RATM.net, that said that the Renegade album will be released as well as a video.
s o r r y a b o u t t h a t.
From what I understand, Zach will be cutting some tracks with ?uestlove, drummer for the Roots. I’m looking forward to that.
Andros: I’m curious–do you base your above comments on anything specific, or just on the fact that the guys in Rage take strong political stands on issues that don’t affect them directly? I do a lot of work toward getting health care access to the poor and uninsured, despite coming from a middle-class background and having a good health care plan myself. Does that make me a “poseur” who just wants “some validation and comfort for my WASP guilt”?
I mean, hell, I don’t know, your comments could be spot-on. I’ve just never had any reason to think so.
Maybe the band members are “real”, but 90% of their t-shirt wearers are, “Rage has nothing to do with “revolution” and everythign to do with posturing, self-absorbed white boys wanting some validation and comfort for their WASP guilt. Fucking poseurs.”
Let me ask you a question, andros: just what the hell do YOU stand for? You know, other than merely speculating that a band with more integrity than anyone you probably listen to is only making music in order to look like they’re standing up for a cause.
How fucking stupid can you be? If someone is really trying to make a difference and they have as high a standing in the music biz as RATM does, they’re gonna try to reach people through their craft. If they didn’t care, they wouldn’t be making the music they make, because politicaly charged music is not a big trend on the market anymore. If they were true poseurs as you say, Zack could put on a red Yankees cap and make himself look cool by bashing Christina Aguilera (and if you EVEN correct me on the spelling of her name, you’re a bigger loser than i thought). So why don’t you go back to listening to Winger and stay away from anything that even resembles a good cause or good music, because you obviously have no idea what either is about.
Deisel, Farmer, thanks for identifying yourself. You’ll be placed with Akatsumi in the “Gross generalizations about people who don’t like the same things I do” section of the Idiot list.
It’s always convenient when the morons out themselves.
matt_mcl, I expected better.
–John
Well, I’m sorry, Yue; if he were right, I would agree with him.
Well, you don’t have to agree with him, matt, but I thought you might have been paying close enough attention to know that andros isn’t exactly a
nor is he particularly lacking
–John
And that being the case, I would appreciate knowing
.