What is a My Chemical Romance, anyways? The real headline reunion announced last week was that of Rage Against The Machine. One of the most pivotal bands of the 90s, Zack de la Rocha and company announced their return, and subsequent ending of Prophets of Rage, on their social media. Having not played together since 2011’s L.A. Rising, the band is slated to headline both weekends of the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival in 2020. For those of you who happen to be uneducated on what the band really is, this article will take you through what makes Rage such an important band in the lexicon of popular music.
Rage Against The Machine – composed of guitarist Tom Morello, bassist Tim Commerford, drummer Brad Wilk and the aforementioned lead vocalist Zack de la Rocha – formed in 1991 and signed with Epic Records off the strength of their demo tape. That demo tape eventually became “Rage Against The Machine,” the bands self-titled debut studio album, in 1992. With loud instrumentation, de la Rocha’s delivery and radical political statements, the band quickly gained an immense following. Songs like “Killing in the Name” took off especially well, with the F-bomb being screamed 17 times total in the songs climax. Tom Morello’s unorthodox guitar playing also struck a major chord with audiences. The album is still highly regarded by both critics and fans alike, and is generally considered the band’s finest offering.
From there, the band would release 1996’s “Evil Empire.” The album further cemented the sound of the band, and singles like “Down Rodeo” and “Bulls on Parade” are still considered some of the bands best. In 1999, the band released their final album of strictly original material with “The Battle of Los Angeles.” The album has a noticeably more polished and upbeat sound to it than their first record, but is another solid effort from the group. The bands final project together, – other than live albums like 1998’s “Live & Rare” or 2003’s “Live at the Grand Olympic Auditorium” – was 2000’s “Renegades”. This is not an album by modern album standards, however, since the bulk of it is made up entirely of covers.
After nine years together, the group called it a day in 2000, aside from a few one-offs here and there such as their performance at Coachella in 2007. Now, 13 years after that same headline spot, the band is back to play Coachella all over again in 2020. So, what can we expect from the crew? Well, nothing right now really. All that we know is that the band has announced a few tour dates and no album. And that’s fine. With a new administration in the White House, it’ll just feel good to have a new machine for them to rage against.