Rage Against The Machine - Evil Empire (1996)

The left has been politically neutered in this country during the past decade, “liberals” being ridiculed by right-wing pundits and conservative politicians until the L-word has become anathema in society. By allowing the conservative faction of the Republican party – a group increasingly controlled by the far-right fundamentalist Christian segment of the G.O.P. – to control public discussion of the issues, Democrats have been duped into moving towards the right. Progressives and those of us of a more “radical” bent have been closed out of the process entirely.

Music has always been an open forum for radical expression, but it was nonetheless a shock when a little-known Southern California band with the inflammatory name Rage Against The Machine copped multi-platinum status with their self-titled 1992 debut. A powerful collection of tunes that all but called for armed revolt in the streets, it was a surprising and electric jolt to pop culture during an otherwise mundane and nondescript election year. It proved that there was some life left in the corpse after all, and what could have been a wake-up call for the American left proved to be a lone voice shouting – albeit loudly – in the dark.

Almost half a decade has passed since the band's lively debut, and society – especially the left – is still cowering under the thumb of the “Reagan Revolution” (as carried out by his bastard children in Congress). One might expect RATM's passion and fury to have weakened a bit with success, but with the release of Evil Empire, I see that it just ain't so. Zack De La Rocha's vocals are as potent and dangerous as ever, the band's hybrid of metal riffs, industrial energy and rap ethics honed to razor-sharp edge by year's of practice and collective outrage. This is music for the mind as well as the body: the loud, explosive soundtrack punctuated by De La Rocha's furious vocals and by enormous waves of sound and fury. While the music overloads your senses with its sheer muscle, the songs themselves are able to work their not-so-subtle propaganda into your mind.

With a title taken from a term coined by Ronald Reagan to describe the Soviet Union, RATM use their sophomore effort to lyrically describe their vision of a new “Evil Empire,” the good old United States of America. Their rhetoric is infectious, De La Rocha's lyrics serving as an anthemic call-to-arms. The revolution is now, and contrary to Gil Scot-Heron's musings on the subject, it will be televised. Songs like Vietnow showcase a brilliant use of imagery, the song's chilling “fear is your only god” pounded into your brain with a rapper's efficiency and an industrial-strength soundtrack. Revolver offers a final solution to spousal abuse, while Without A Face tackles the controversial issue of immigration, looking beyond the surface to the poverty and injustice suffered by those merely searching for a better life. Bulls On Parade is a magnificent damnation of the military complex and the effect that inflated “defense” spending has on society, delivered with all the swaggering conceit of the baddest gangsta rapper, drilled home by a the song's molten riffs.

Very little of the subject matter spoken of on Evil Empire comes across as new to these tired old anarchist ears. That the repressive times we live in has produced an artistic anomaly as powerful as Rage Against The Machine is a welcome surprise, though. That their music – released by a major label, no less – is reaching the ears of a generation who have been spoon-fed conservative propaganda by a corporate-controlled media is encouraging, indeed. It is telling, perhaps, that the inside CD cover of Evil Empire offers a photo of a collection of books, a “leftist's library” of free thought that includes Ben Bagdikian's The Media Monopoly, the blacklisted Dalton Trumbo's Johnny Got His Gun, Soldedad Brother and titles from Che Guevara, James Joyce, Mumia Abu-Jamal, Malcom X, Carlos Castenada and Jean-Paul Sartre, among other. If just a fraction of Rage Against The Machine's audience delves into the priceless knowledge and philosophy offered by these books, there might just be hope for the left yet.... (Epic Records)

(Click on the CD cover to buy Evil Empire from Amazon.com)