Smells Like Alternative

FYI: Rage Against The Machine

by acostill on January 11th, 2008

Since the reunited rebels will be heading to Australia, New Zealand and Japan this month it seems like a good time to do an FYI on them.

• RATM formed in 1991 when guitarist Tom Morello saw frontman Zack de la Rocha rapping and was impressed by his lyric book, so…Morello brought in drummer Brad Wilk and Zack brought in childhood friend Tim Commerford on bass.
• Shortly after their first gig, (which was at a house party) the band recorded a 12 song demo.
• The band opened up for Porno For Pyros and would appear on the second stage of Lollapalooza 1992 in L.A, which also featured Red Hot Chili Peppers, Soundgarden, Pearl Jam, Jesus and Mary Chain, Porno For Pyros to name a few.
• A scout from Epic saw the band at Lollapalooza and signed them.
• Their self titled debut album was released on November 3, 1992 and would reach triple platinum status.
• “Killing in the Name”, the band’s first single, was named #24 in the 100 Greatest Guitar tracks byQ magazine. 
• The video for “Freedom” depicts the story of Native American activist Leonard Peltier.
• The track “Know Your Enemy” features guests Maynard James Keenan from Tool and Stephen Perkins from Jane’s Addiction.
• The band returned to Lollapalooza 1993 which also featured Alice in Chains, Primus, Dinosaur, Jr., Fishbone and Tool.
• At the Lollapalooza stop in Philly the band stood on stage completely naked for 14 minutes to protest censorship and the PRMC; they also duct taped their mouths and they spelled out PRMC on their chests.
• Their second album, Evil Empire, was released on April 15, 1996 and debuted at #1 on the Billboard 200.
• “Bulls on Parade” was listed at #15 on VH1’s 40 Greatest Metal Songs.
• “People of the Sun” was performed by RATM as early as 1992.
• The band’s Saturday Night Livewas cut to only one performance after the band attempted to hang inverted American flags on their amps to protest having Steve Forbes as host of the show.
• The band opened up for U2 during their 1997 PopMart Tour.
• The summer of 1997 RATM tour with the Wu-Tang Clan, despite police in several cities attempting to cancel the shows for safety concerns.
• In 1999 RATM appeared at Woodstock and the Tibetian Freedom Festival.
• The Battle of Los Angeles is released on November 2, 1999 and debuted #1 on the Billboard 200.
• Michael Moore directed the videos for “Sleep Now in the Fire” and “Testify”.
• “Guerrilla Radio” won the Grammy Award for Best Hard Rock Performance.
• RATM released their final studio album, Renegades December 5, 2000 and is a collection of covers ranging from The Rolling Stones, Bob Dylan, Devo to Cypress Hill.
• When the video for “Renegades of Funk” was released the band had already broken up.
• Zack de la Rocha left RATM on October 18, 2000 and the remaining members would eventually join Chris Cornell in Audioslave.
• Live at the Grand Olympic Auditorium was released on November 25, 2003.
• On January 22, 2007 RATM confirmed rumours of a reunion for Coachella.

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