Rage Against the Machine was an American rock band from Los Angeles, California. Formed in 1991, the group consisted of vocalist Zack de la Rocha, guitarist Tom Morello, bassist Tim Commerford and drummer Brad Wilk. [1] After a self-issued demo, the band signed with Epic Records and released its self-titled debut album Rage Against the Machine in 1992, the material for which was written by all four members of the group. [2] After contributing the single "Year of tha Boomerang" to the Higher Learning soundtrack in 1995, [3] the band released its second studio album Evil Empire in 1996, on which "Year of tha Boomerang" was featured as the closing track. [4]
In 1997 the band released a cover version of Bruce Springsteen's "The Ghost of Tom Joad", [5] and the following year contributed "No Shelter" to the soundtrack to the film Godzilla , as well as releasing it as a single. [6] In 1999 the band released its final album of original material, The Battle of Los Angeles , which again credited all four members equally for songwriting. [7] The group disbanded in October 2000, after de la Rocha departed to focus on producing his first solo album. [1] After the group's breakup, Epic released Renegades in December 2000, which featured cover versions of songs originally recorded by several hip hop artists, rock bands and other artists. [8]
† | Indicates song released as a single |
‡ | Indicates song written by the whole band |
Rage Against the Machine was an American rock band formed in 1991 in Los Angeles, California. The band consisted of vocalist Zack de la Rocha, bassist and backing vocalist Tim Commerford, guitarist Tom Morello, and drummer Brad Wilk. They melded heavy metal and rap music, punk rock and funk with anti-authoritarian and revolutionary lyrics. As of 2010, they had sold over 16 million records worldwide. They were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2023.
Rage Against the Machine is the debut studio album by American rock band Rage Against the Machine. It was released on November 6, 1992, by Epic Records, four days after the release of the album's first single, "Killing in the Name". The album was based largely on the band's first commercial demo tape of the same name, completed 11 months prior to the album's release. The tape contained earlier recordings of seven of the ten songs.
Thomas Baptist Morello is an American guitarist, singer, songwriter, and political activist. He is known for his tenure with the rock bands Rage Against the Machine and Audioslave. Between 2016 and 2019, Morello was a member of the supergroup Prophets of Rage. Morello was also a touring musician with Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band. Under the moniker the Nightwatchman, Morello released his solo work. Together with Boots Riley, he formed Street Sweeper Social Club. Morello co-founded Axis of Justice, which airs a monthly program on Pacifica Radio station KPFK in Los Angeles.
Robin Yvette Allen, known professionally as the Lady of Rage, is an American rapper, singer and actress best known for her collaborations with several other Death Row Records artists, including Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg on the seminal albums, The Chronic and Doggystyle. The Lady of Rage has been described as "one of the most skillful female MCs" with a "mastery of flow" and "hard-core lyrics".
Evil Empire is the second studio album by the American rock band Rage Against the Machine, released on April 16, 1996, by Epic Records. It debuted at number 1 on the US Billboard 200 chart with first week sales of 249,000 copies, and the song "Tire Me" won a 1996 Grammy Award for Best Metal Performance; "Bulls on Parade" and "People of the Sun" were nominated for Grammys for Best Hard Rock Performance. On May 24, 2000, the album was certified triple platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America.
Zacharias Manuel de la Rocha is an American musician, rapper, singer, songwriter, and political activist. He is best known as the vocalist and lyricist of the rock band Rage Against the Machine. Through both Rage Against the Machine and his activism, de la Rocha promotes left-wing politics in opposition to corporate America, the military-industrial complex, and government oppression.
Bradley Joseph Wilk is an American drummer. He is best known as a member of the rock bands Rage Against the Machine, Audioslave, and Prophets of Rage (2016–2019).
The Ghost of Tom Joad is the eleventh studio album by American singer-songwriter Bruce Springsteen, released on November 21, 1995, by Columbia Records. His second primarily acoustic album after Nebraska (1982), The Ghost of Tom Joad reached the top ten in two countries, and the top twenty in five more, including No. 11 in the United States. It was his first studio album to fail to reach the top ten in the US in over two decades. The album won the Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Folk Album.
Renegades is the fourth and final studio album by the American rock band Rage Against the Machine, released on December 5, 2000, by Epic Records, almost two months after their first breakup. It consists of covers of songs by Bruce Springsteen, Bob Dylan, Afrika Bambaataa, Minor Threat, Eric B. & Rakim, the Stooges, MC5, the Rolling Stones, Cypress Hill, Devo and others. The cover is a take on Robert Indiana's Love artwork series.
Live & Rare is the first live album and the first compilation of material by the American rock band Rage Against the Machine. Released on CD only in Japan on June 30, 1998 by Sony Music Japan, the album was only available overseas as an import. It comprises "official bootlegs" previously available on other singles as well as a pair of tracks from the band's 1991 demo. In 2018, the album was released on vinyl in the United States and Europe. The album was released digitally for the first time on July 14, 2022.
Live at the Grand Olympic Auditorium is the second live album by the American rock band Rage Against the Machine, released on November 25, 2003, by Epic Records. It is a recording of two shows Rage played at the Grand Olympic Auditorium in their hometown of Los Angeles on September 12 and 13, 2000. The album was originally planned to be released in November 2000, but was delayed due to the break-up of the band shortly after the September concerts. It was then slated for release a year later, but was again delayed due to the formation of Audioslave by the remaining three members of Rage with vocalist Chris Cornell. The album was released amid mixed reviews in November 2003, mainly due to poor mixing rather than musical performance, where on the other hand the DVD version was praised by fans and critics alike.
Rage Against the Machine is the official self-titled debut video release by American rock band Rage Against the Machine. The video was released in 1997 and includes footage from various performances as well as video clips.
"Guerrilla Radio" is a song by American rock band Rage Against the Machine and the lead single from their 1999 album The Battle of Los Angeles. It became the band's only Billboard Hot 100 song, charting at #69. The band won the Grammy Award for Best Hard Rock Performance for this song. The song was featured in the 2012 mountain biking film Strength in Numbers. “Guerrilla Radio" was also featured on the soundtracks for video games such as Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2, Madden NFL 10 and Guitar Hero Live, as well as being a downloadable track for the Rock Band series.
The Nightwatchman is the solo project of American musician Tom Morello. Morello began performing as the Nightwatchman in 2003 as an outlet for his political views while he was playing apolitical music with Audioslave.
"Bombtrack" is a song by American rock band Rage Against the Machine. It is the band’s third single and the opening track on their self-titled debut album.
Natural Born Killers: A Soundtrack for an Oliver Stone Film is the soundtrack to the film Natural Born Killers, produced by Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails. It was released on August 23, 1994. It charted at number 19 on US Billboard 200 album charts and was certified Gold in both the United States and Canada, and Silver in the United Kingdom.
"The Ghost of Tom Joad" is a folk rock song written by Bruce Springsteen. It is the title track to his eleventh studio album, released in 1995. The character Tom Joad, from John Steinbeck's classic 1939 novel The Grapes of Wrath, is mentioned in the title and narrative.
The discography of Rage Against the Machine, an American rock band, consists of four studio albums, two live albums, one compilation album, one demo album, 17 singles, four video albums and 15 music videos. Formed in Los Angeles, California in 1991 by vocalist Zack de la Rocha, guitarist Tom Morello, bassist Tim Commerford and drummer Brad Wilk, the band signed to Epic Records and released its self-titled debut album in 1992. The album reached number 45 on the United States Billboard 200 and was certified three times platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for sales in excess of three million units. Rage Against the Machine singles "Killing in the Name", "Bullet in the Head" and "Bombtrack" charted in the United Kingdom and several other regions.
"Year of tha Boomerang" is a song by American rock band Rage Against the Machine. It originally appeared in the film and on the soundtrack of Higher Learning in 1994 and was eventually included on their second album Evil Empire (1996). On the back of the soundtrack, the song is called "Year of the Boomerang". Although the track was released as a promotional radio CD single, it was never given a domestic release.