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Rage Against the Machine

May 15, 2014 by strictlyrock Leave a Comment

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Guitarist Tom Morello moved to Los Angeles, California after he graduated from Harvard University with a degree in Political Science. After working for a short time with Senator Alan Cranston, Morello set out to pursue a career in music. After a two-year stint in the band “Lock Up,” Morello met rapper Zack de la Rocha in 1992. After Morello recruited drummer Brad Wilk and de la Rocha convinced childhood friend and bassist Tim Commerford to be a part of their project, Rage Against the Machine was born. The group played for the first time at a party one of Commerfords friends was holding in Orange County California. After coming up with a 12-song demo tape, the band started to attract attention from record labels. They eventually signed with Epic Records after being assured they would have creative control of their music.

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The band exploded on to the scene with their self-titled debut album “Rage Against the Machine,” which was released on November 11th 1992. The record included the songs “Bombtrack,” “Killing in the Name,” “Bullet in the Head,” and “Wake Up.” The names of the tracks themselves made the album hard to ignore, and the public noticed. The album peaked at #45 on the charts and sold more than 3 million copies in the United States alone. The band supported the album by performing live, which they are particularly revered for, earning a spot at Lollapalooza in 1993 alongside heavy hitting rock acts like Alice in Chains. The song “Wake Up” would later be featured in the 1999 summer blockbuster “The Matrix.”

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Making just about as big of an impression as they possibly could have, Rage followed up their debut album with the epic “Evil Empire,” on April 16th 1996. The album debuted at #1 on the charts. With songs like “Bulls on Parade,” the band dominated the airwaves and MTV’s video rotation. The single “Tire Me,” earned the band a Grammy Award for Best Metal Performance that same year. In 1997 Rage opened for U2, arguably the biggest band of the 1990’s, on their PopMart Tour.

Letting fans digest, Rage didn’t release their next album until 1999. On November 2nd the band triumphantly returned with the politically charged and simply amazing “The Battle of Los Angeles.” Their 2nd consecutive album to do so, “The Battle of Los Angeles” debuted at #1 selling a staggering 420,000 copies in it’s first week of release. The album included the singles “Testify,” “Guerrilla Radio,” “Calm Like a Bomb,” and “Sleep Now in the Fire.” While shooting the music video for “Sleep Now in the Fire,” on Wall Street in New York City, the band tried to enter the New York Stock Exchange, which prompted a brief lock down. At the end of it all the video’s director, documentary filmmaker and political activist Michael Moore, was arrested.

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After the debacle that was Woodstock ’99, Rage Against the Machine took part in kicking off what would end up being one of the largest and most influential annual music festivals in recent memory, The Coachella Music and Arts Festival. Held in Indio, California on October 9th and 10th in 1999, the two day festival included acts such as Beck, Tool, Morrissey and The Chemical Brothers to name a few. The next year, on December 5th 2000, the band released their 4th and final studio album “Renegades.” The record is almost completely cover songs, spanning the works of Bob Dylan to the Rolling Stones. Not as successful as their previous albums, “Renegades” still managed to peak at #14 on the charts and sell more than a million copies.

Unfortunately for fans, and most likely for record sales as well, Zack de la Rocha had decided to leave the band before the album’s release. Zack went on to pursue a solo career and the remaining 3 members of Rage teamed up with former Soundgarden front man Chris Cornell to create the incredibly successful “Audioslave.”

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For fans of outspoken, long since broken up Rage, news of the 2007 Coachella Music and Arts Festival lineup caused an unparalleled feeling of anticipation with the announcement that the band would be reuniting for 1 show headlining the event. It was later announced that the band would in fact perform at other venues around the country. Although they have yet to put out any new material, fans of Rage Against the Machine can check out the band’s members in one of their many side projects. At the moment, there are not any tour dates scheduled, but according to the band there should be more chances to see them in the future.

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100 Greatest Rock & Roll Bands

  1. The Beatles
  2. The Rolling Stones
  3. Led Zeppelin
  4. Jimi Hendrix
  5. Elvis Presley
  6. The Who
  7. U2
  8. Pink Floyd
  9. The Doors
  10. The Police
  11. Elton John
  12. Metallica
  13. AC/DC
  14. Van Halen
  15. Nirvana
  16. Guns N' Roses
  17. Santana
  18. The Allman Brothers Band
  19. Bon Jovi
  20. David Bowie
  21. Grateful Dead
  22. Rush
  23. Yes
  24. Black Sabbath
  25. Bob Dylan
  26. James Brown
  27. The Beach Boys
  28. Eric Clapton
  29. Fleetwood Mac
  30. The Eagles
  31. Bob Marley
  32. Van Morrison
  33. Bruce Springsteen
  34. The Clash
  35. Queen
  36. Janis Joplin
  37. Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young
  38. R.E.M.
  39. The Kinks
  40. Steely Dan
  41. Steve Miller Band
  42. Jethro Tull
  43. Tool
  44. The Scorpions
  45. Coldplay
  46. Stone Temple Pilots
  47. Rod Stewart
  48. Marilyn Manson
  49. Creedence Clearwater Revival
  50. KISS
  51. The Pretenders
  52. Green Day
  53. Aerosmith
  54. Tina Turner
  55. Pearl Jam
  56. Ted Nugent
  57. Pantera
  58. Motörhead
  59. Judas Priest
  60. ZZ Top
  61. Megadeth
  62. Motley Crue
  63. Alice Cooper
  64. Def Leppard
  65. Iron Maiden
  66. Billy Idol
  67. Journey
  68. Anthrax
  69. Rage Against the Machine
  70. Blue Oyster Cult
  71. Alice in Chains
  72. Genesis
  73. Red Hot Chili Peppers
  74. Chuck Berry
  75. Buddy Holly
  76. Little Richard
  77. Elvis Costello
  78. Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers
  79. Sex Pistols
  80. Cream
  81. Frank Zappa
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  83. Stevie Ray Vaughan
  84. Billy Joel
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  90. Foo Fighters
  91. The Cure
  92. Soundgarden
  93. Iggy Pop
  94. Peter Gabriel
  95. The Byrds
  96. Traffic
  97. Deep Purple
  98. Blondie
  99. Velvet Underground
  100. Heart

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