rage against the machine
The 90 Greatest Albums of the ’90s
This article originally appeared in the September 1999 issue of SPIN. “You must be high.” We heard that a lot during the time we spent preparing this issue. Which is understandable. Pronouncing the 90 greatest albums of the ’90s is a somewhat presumptuous thing to do. When you’re measuring the music this decade is offering to history—the sounds we partied with, copulated to, fought about, and wept over—everyone has an opinion. That ours should be more valid than yours is debatable. But hey—it’s our magazine. What, then, you ask, constitutes “greatest”? Don’t even start. Suffice it to say that, after much heated discussion and countless veiled insults, it came down to the factors of both remarkable artistry and cultural shock value. Sometimes a record’s knock-you-off-your-Skechers impa...
Protohype to Appear on Star-Studded Album From Rage Against the Machine’s Tom Morello
It’s not every day an electronic music artist sees their name alongside Bruce Springsteen and Eddie Vedder on an album. But Protohype isn’t just any artist. The Nashville-born, neck-breaking dubstep vet has been confirmed to appear on The Atlas Underground Fire, the star-studded upcoming album from Tom Morello. Protohype, who has long been championed for his versatility and genre-fluid approach to production, took to social media to exult in the pie-in-the-sky collab and share a preview. “[D]reams come true,” he tweeted. Check out the clip of the raucous electronic-rock hybrid, dubbed “Charmed I’m Sure,” below. Morello, perhaps best known as the virtuosic guitarist of iconic rock band Rage Against the Machine, has locked in a staggering list of...
Tom Morello Gives Viral Rage Against the Machine TikTok His Stamp of Approval
Despite pushing back their reunion tour until next year, Rage Against the Machine has been more popular than ever in 2020 and 2021 as protests broke out all over the world, fighting for social justice. While they’ve seen a resurgence, TikTok user @thejacobgivens posted a video that absolutely nails how we all felt when we first heard the band’s song “Freedom” for the first time in 1993. Playing two characters in the clip, Givens exclaims “You DO have to rage against it!” after asking what the band’s name is. The other character then comments that Zack De La Rocha “sounds so ANGRY!” “And now I’m angry about what he’s angry about!” he adds. “I’m angry… but I’m learning.” His mind then gets absolutely blown by the song’s aggressive outro, and it’s something we all can relate to. Paul Bae...
Rage Against the Machine Push Reunion Tour Dates to 2022
If you’re waiting to see Rage Against the Machine reunite on stage, you’re going to have to wait a little bit longer. The band announced on Thursday that they’re pushing their tour dates to March 2022. SPIN’s 2020 Artist of the Year Run the Jewels will open for Rage on most of the dates of the Public Service Announcement Tour. The first night of the tour will take place in El Paso, Texas on March 31, 2022 at Don Haskins Center. There are a few festival dates in there as well, but not Coachella. Rage was supposed to perform at the 2020 edition of Coachella before it was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Curiously, though, there is a big gap between the group’s second Phoenix-area show on April 6 and their two-night stint in Oakland on April 26. The tour was originally slated to resume...
Tim Commerford Says Rage Against the Machine Will ‘Never be One of These Sellouts’ That Play Drive-In or 10% Capacity Shows
Rage Against the Machine were forced to postpone their highly-anticipated reunion tour last year, and though they’re rescheduled to hit the road this June, Tim Commerford has made it clear that will only happen if the band can play to full venues. “We’ll never be one of these sellouts that’s gonna go play a drive-in show or play a venue that holds 100,000 people and there’s only 10,000 people there,” the bassist told TooFab earlier this week. “That’s bullshit. Rage will never do that. It’s not a good show unless the audience is going off, too. It’s gotta be a shared experience.” “It was already going to be something really special without getting into it, like we were doing things that we never done before, and we’re all better musicians than we’ve ever been before,” Co...
Tom Morello Hits Back at Accusation of ‘White Privilege’: ‘I’m Not White’
Rage Against the Machine guitarist/activist Tom Morello is usually a man of many words but in a response to a Twitter user who accused him of “white man privilege” on Wednesday, he gave a simple answer to the accusation. His reply? “I’m not white.” The guitarist sent the message to Twitter user @TheRealNubian2, who had criticized him for defending his friendship with Ted Nugent, the guitarist who espouses strong right-wing views. His accuser identifies on Twitter as: “She/Her. Feminist SJW. Not an American but will talk shit anyway.” Morello, the son of an American mother of Italian and Irish descent and a father, Kikuyu Kenyan, who is from Kenya, told the story of his friendship with the Motor City Madman to Howard Stern on his SiriusXM show earlier this week. Discussi...
Rock Hall of Fame 2021 Nominations: The Snubs, Surprises, and Long Shots
The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame traditionally announces its annual slate of nominees in October and narrows it down to a set of official inductees in December. But like just about everything else, the Rock Hall’s schedule was disrupted last year by the COVID-19 pandemic, with the May induction ceremony concert delayed and downsized to a taped HBO special that aired in November. But this week, the gatekeepers in Cleveland finally announced the slate of 16 acts that will be narrowed down later this year to the five or seven artists who encompass the Class of 2021: Mary J. BligeKate BushDevoFoo FightersThe Go-Go’sIron MaidenJay-ZChaka KhanCarole KingFela KutiLL Cool JNew York DollsRage Against the MachineTodd RundgrenTina TurnerDionne Warwick Diversity has never been a particular strength of t...
Foo Fighters, Rage Against the Machine, Iron Maiden Among Nominees for Rock & Roll Hall of Fame
Among the 16 nominees for Rock & Roll Hall of Fame class of 2021 are some rock heavy hitters, including Foo Fighters, Iron Maiden, the Go-Go’s, Rage Against the Machine, Devo, New York Dolls and Todd Rundgren. Rounding out the nominees are Mary J. Blige, Jay-Z, Tina Turner, Kate Bush, Chaka Khan, Carole King, Fela Kuti, LL Cool J and Dionne Warwick. Top vote-getters will be announced in May and inducted at a ceremony that will take place in Cleveland in the fall. There’s a 25-year-rule for eligibility; each nominee’s first single or album had to have been released in 1995 or earlier. Seven of the 16 acts on the ballot (Foo Fighters, the Go-Go’s, Iron Maiden, Jay-Z, Carole King, Fela Kuti, and Dionne Warwick) are appearing for the first time. Tina Turner ...
Rage Against the Machine Unveil Killing in Thy Name Documentary About ‘the Fiction Known as Whiteness’
If you were waiting for Rage Against the Machine to collectively chime in with their take on the modern revival of old-fashioned racism (which has always been there, but is far more prevalent in society now than it was five years ago), your day has come. Arguably the most politically charged band of all time has just released a short documentary called Killing in Thy Name in order to serve as “a fire escape from the fiction known as whiteness and a spring for discovery.” Of course, the film utilizes plenty of the band’s “Killing in the Name” as a soundtrack and reference, while the material itself goes into an explanation about how people who now consider themselves “white” have actually come from a wide variety of backgrounds and committed no shortage of atrocities over the cent...
What So Not Puts a High-Energy Spin on Run The Jewels, Pharrell Williams, and Zack de la Rocha’s “JU$T”
Last summer, cutting edge hip-hop duo Run The Jewels released their much-anticipated fourth LP, RTJ4, to critical acclaim. A standout track from the album was, of course, a collaboration with Pharrell Williams and Rage Against The Machine frontman Zack de la Rocha titled “JU$T.” Now, Australian bass master What So Not has released his take on the fiery single, after sharing a preview of the remix on Twitter earlier this week. With a futuristic, trappy twist on the original, What So Not maintains a hip-hop feel while elevating the production to suit a fresh electronic sound. Epic crescendos give way to verses from Killer Mike, Williams, and de la Rocha that explode with energy over the cleverly designed bass work and glitchy percussive elements. What So Not’s hig...
The Most Influential Artists: #10 Rage Against the Machine
As part of our 35th anniversary, we’re naming the most influential artists of the past 35 years. Today, we’re at #10. From Los Angeles, California, here are Rage Against the Machine. CREDIT: Lindsay Brice / Contributor Tom Morello once described Rage Against the Machine’s debut album as a “raw wound,” but it was much more than that: It was revolutionary. Four guys from distinctly different backgrounds, the band navigated the Southern California music scene carefully and skeptically. And with good reason. There was no one quite like them. Mixing unapologetically far-left politics with the fire and fury of Morello’s guitar Tim Commerford’s bass and Brad Wilk’s emphatic drumming, Rage Against the Machine attacked audiences sonically and demanded their voices be heard. For better or wors...
Tom Morello and Rage Against the Machine Mock Trump Supporters Dancing to ‘Killing in the Name’
The election was officially called this morning, and Joe Biden is the President-Elect of the United States, thanks to Pennsylvania turning blue. But before the announcement, Trump supporters in Philadelphia protested for the state to stop counting ballots, claiming fraudulent mail-in votes. There, of course, has been no evidence of voter fraud, but Trumpers don’t care about reality. Just like these two, who were caught on video dancing to Rage Against the Machine’s “Killing in the Name” — a song that scorns white supremacy in the police system. The band pointed out the irony in a tweet. “They just don’t GET IT do they?” they wrote, retweeting the video. Tom Morello also shared the video, writing “Not exactly what we had in mind” These must be the same people who earlier this year slammed M...
