17 August 2008

(Re)listening to Rage Against the Machine

Rage Against the Machine is, for those who have no idea, angry-sounding music for angry-thinking people.

There’s a mass without roofs / There’s a prison to fill / There’s a country’s soul that reads post no bills / There’s a strike and a line of cops outside of the mill / There’s a right to obey / And there’s a right to kill (“Calm Like a Bomb”)

or

Spectacle monopolized / The cameras eyes on choice disguised / Was it cast for the mass who burn and toil? / Or for the vultures who thirst for blood and oil? (“Guerrilla Radio”)

And that’s not even their best.

It’s been nearly ten years since The Battle of Los Angeles was released (nostalgia), in which time RATM has dissolved and seemingly reunited, mostly as “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” (Wikipedia).

Also, de la Rocha has released a new album, One Day as a Lion (comparison, judgment).

Start with The Battle of Los Angeles (preferably with the song ‘Guerrilla Radio’ instead of ‘Testify’), hit Evil Empire next, and then Google their other albums and enjoy.