Rage Against The Machine - back together again!

[Go With The Flow]

http://www.ratm.com/new2/news/index.shtml

Rage Against The Machine will be headlining Coachella.

I wonder if this is a full comeback, or merely a one-off?

[ziggy starbucks]

great news for people with no ears

[Egyptian Feast]

I have no ears, so as you can imagine, I'd be rather thrilled to see RATM reform. I'm not a huge fan, though I've always enjoyed their first album, but if it's a full-blown reformation, Morrello and company will hopefully cut that Audioslave shite out for good. It's be interesting to hear their take on current events also. I'd be interested to see how this turns out.

[Marvin]

I'd certainly be happier to have RATM exist again than Audioslave. I'm not a huge fan of RATM but they did some produce some very good music. They've inspired one of the worst legacies of any band though, so it'd be good if they could redeem themselves.

[thugler]

great news. Evil Empire is a great album.

[chand]

They've inspired one of the worst legacies of any band though, so it'd be good if they could redeem themselves.

Heh, well luckily most of the shit bands they inspired have fucked off.

Really like RATM though. At the moment it seems this is a one-off but if they could get together again it could work. I mean, they won't have to like, try and find a way to be musically relevant, they'll just carry on where they left off. I guess in the same way that Tool haven't really changed in all that time, I don't really want them to evolve massively because they're great at the thing they do. And they wouldn't have a shortage of topics to be angry about!

[no_offenc]

I remember loving these when I was one of those teenage kids you see loitering around "alternative" shopping places such as Afflecks Palace and Quiggins.  I grew up pretty quickly after that.  But still, at least they're not playing as Audioslave, who are fucking disgracefully bad.

[The Region Legion]

Fuck. Yes.

About damn time. I still regard Audioslave's first album as a minor classic, but they quickly ran out of ideas and Out Of Exile was a bucket of shit. Still haven't heard Revelations but I imagine it will be much of the same.

Hopefully this concert will make them all realise the error of their ways and get back together for more righteous indignation.

[Sovereign]

Best. News. Ever. Is this confirmed? fucking hell I'd love to see these live, nice to hear they're still on good terms.

[trotsky assortment]

great news. Evil Empire is a great album.

Really? I've always found it weak when sandwiched between the debut and 'Battle For Los Angeles'.   The songs themselves are okay, but since it took so long to make (there were reports of a half finished album before this appeared), I've always had a problem with the album's really tinny sound - like it was recorded for SST and not a multi-million dollar record label.

[trotsky assortment]

EDIT: for double-postness.

[Egyptian Feast]

The songs themselves are okay, but since it took so long to make (there were reports of a half finished album before this appeared), I've always had a problem with the album's really tinny sound - like it was recorded for SST and not a multi-million dollar record label.

When did it eventually come out? I recall them playing a couple of tracks from it when I saw them in Belfast in 1993 and eagerly awaiting the new album for what seemed like years afterwards. It couldn't help but be underwhelming when it eventually arrived.

[trotsky assortment]

1996.  They played 'Vietnow' and 'Tire Me' (I think) at Glasto '94 as well.

[Godzilla Bankrolls]

I thought Renegades was actually their best album - fusing the raps with the big daft riffs perfectly.

So, Zach's solo album...

[Al Tha Funkee Homosapien]

Fusing other people's riffs with other peoples raps perfectly. The first album is great, everything else is gash though.

[Marvin]

Fusing other people's riffs with other peoples raps perfectly. The first album is great, everything else is gash though.

That's not true though is it? Cuz of course we all love the rapping and riffing on the original of Maggie's Farm etc

The first album is great and I occasionally dabble with The Battle of Los Angeles and Renegades.

March of Death by DJ Shadow and Zack De La Rocha is ace, so I don't know why he never released anything else, he worked with Shadow, Roni Size and Trent Reznor and then seemingly binned the lot.

[Claude the Racecar Driving Rockstar Super Sleuth]

I quite like RATM in small doses, but their sound gets very repetitive after a short while. Also, their version of Kick Out the Jams is one of the worst things I've ever heard. Still good to hear they are coming back though.

[Godzilla Bankrolls]

You're right about their cover of KOTJ, worst thing on Renegades. It's so limp! They make up for it with that Chemical Brothers-style Street Fighting Man and a really broody I'm Housin'.

I really liked the collaborative tracks Zack put out now and then, so I'm very disappointed that he never released an album.

[Al Tha Funkee Homosapien]

He should reform Inside Out.
The problem with Zack is although he's a great frontman his rapping ain't all that and whenever he appears on a track or live with another rapper like say KRS-One he sounds pretty weak. Hell, even B-Real can out rap him. But as I say; good frontman and vocalist within the group.

[samadriel]

You're right about their cover of KOTJ, worst thing on Renegades. It's so limp! They make up for it with that Chemical Brothers-style Street Fighting Man and a really broody I'm Housin'.

I must second all that -- their Kick Out The Jams is agonisingly dull, whereas Housin' is ace.

I've got a few RATM albums in my collection here and I'd have to say, in the balance, I find the band pretty inessential.  Apart from a handful of gems from 'Battle' and 'Renegades', I could bin the lot and not miss it.

I'm more enticed by Crowded House returning!  Woo!

[trotsky assortment]

He should reform Inside Out.

On a similar note, Anthony 'CIV' Civarelli should rejoin Shelter.  Without him they're not so cool.  

I really hate the RATM version of 'Street Fighting Man'.

[thugler]

great news. Evil Empire is a great album.

Really? I've always found it weak when sandwiched between the debut and 'Battle For Los Angeles'.   The songs themselves are okay, but since it took so long to make (there were reports of a half finished album before this appeared), I've always had a problem with the album's really tinny sound - like it was recorded for SST and not a multi-million dollar record label.

I love the production on that album. It sounds so raw. Maybe it's not as good as battle or the s/t. But I love it most of all for some reason.

[The Region Legion]

Battle For Los Angeles has to be their best album, with the debut a close 2nd. Evil Empire starts off well and then just loses the will to live after the 4th track. Renegades is the sound of a band that should have broken up years ago.

I'd optimistically think that the whole band just said to each other "the world needs us now more than ever" and decided to reform for good, but sadly I don't see it happening.

[Marvin]

Battle For Los Angeles has to be their best album, with the debut a close 2nd. Evil Empire starts off well and then just loses the will to live after the 4th track. Renegades is the sound of a band that should have broken up years ago.

Well to be fair to them, by the time it was released they had broken up, and according to Zack it was one of many contributing factors.

Renegades is a failure as a good covers album, in that every cover is weaker than the original.

[Little Hoover]

I used to love RATM when I were a young teenager, in fact probably from the age of 12 even.
RATM.COM was the first forum I contributed to, I shudder to think of some of the shit I must have posted.

[chand]

March of Death by DJ Shadow and Zack De La Rocha is ace, so I don't know why he never released anything else, he worked with Shadow, Roni Size and Trent Reznor and then seemingly binned the lot.

El-P and ?uestlove as well, fuck knows what happened to it all. Maybe it's just a 'Chinese Democracy' thing and it'll show up in three years and be a bit disappointing.

I listened to 'Battle...' last night, I do really like that one. Hard to say which album is the best then, there's nothing I really dislike on 'Evil Empire' and lots of it is ace.

[Brutus Beefcake]

Renegades was fucking awful besides the title track.

[samadriel]

Nahh, 'Renegades of Funk' is riddled with Morello's horrible 'kazoo' effect (MYEW myew, MYEW myew, MYEW myew, MYEW myew, MYEW MYEW, MYEW MYEW, MYEW MYEW, MYEW MYEW...)  "I'm Housin" is the goer there.

[Marvin]

After the discussion on here I tried to listen to Renegades (the album) tonight and I just couldn't enjoy it, it just seems so pointless, half the covers would have made alright b-sides, the others should just have been binned. I

[trotsky assortment]

[Maybe it's just a 'Chinese Democracy' thing and it'll show up in three years and be a bit disappointing.

It amazes me reading the rock mags and the like to see that Axl still seems to think he's the dog's bollocks.  Fact is, the amount of people who care about him and his pretend G'n'R is rapidly dwindling.
The album's out next  month sometime, allegedly - though I've still no idea how much of it (or indeed, if any of it) was intended for 'Chinese Democracy'.