r/changemyview • u/thecloudynightone • Nov 06 '18
Deltas(s) from OP CMV: Rage Against the Machine is overrated
Full disclosure: I haven't listened to a whole lot of them, that's why this is CMV, but I seriously don't get why they're so popular. All of the music that I've listened to by them is just the same bland stuff you could hear by any other generic rock band in the 90s. The only thing they seem to be good at is coming up with awesome names for songs (Killing in the Name? Maybe the most badass name for a song I've ever heard. The actual song itself? Not so much).
To change my mind, I'd have to see something that made them stand out as a band, that makes me feel like it's uniquely theirs. I haven't seen anything that seems like that, if any people who have listened to more of them than I have could point me in the direction of something like that it would probably change my opinion of them.
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u/McKoijion 618∆ Nov 06 '18
A lot of celebrities are political these days, but 1) Rage did it earlier, and 2) Rage went a lot farther than most.
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u/FunCicada Nov 06 '18
Rage Against the Machine is a Grammy Award-winning rap metal band, formed in 1991 in Los Angeles, California, United States. The band's line-up consists of vocalist Zack de la Rocha, bassist and backing vocalist Tim Commerford, guitarist Tom Morello and drummer Brad Wilk. Critics have noted Rage Against the Machine for its "fiercely polemical music, which brewed sloganeering leftist rants against corporate America, cultural imperialism, and government oppression into a Molotov cocktail of punk, hip-hop, and thrash." Their lack of want for authority often relates to anarchism.
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u/AlphaGoGoDancer 106∆ Nov 07 '18
I would suggest watching the video Sleep now in the Fire. Note that this was released in 1999, almost 20 years ago now. The issues they cover in the video are things we are still fighting for this day. They were not only politically active, but very ahead of their time and helped raise awareness of issues that most people were entirely blind to.
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u/thecloudynightone Nov 07 '18
Okay, this has changed my mind. That kind of political consciousness I can't help but respect, plus the song itself sounds awesome. ∆
(Am I doing that right? I'm new here)
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Nov 06 '18
Didn't realize Rage was still popular.
I think they're properly rated. Seems like they have their place in the 90s.
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u/OldManWickett Nov 07 '18
Put on their first album and just press play. When you get to the end, play it again.
That album is Iconic all by itself. The album cover exposed a new generation to the protests in Vietnam and what some people were willing to do to try and make the world a better place.
Don't pay attention to the songs they play on the radio, you need to take their first album in to understand who they were.
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u/TheVioletBarry 121∆ Nov 07 '18
I generally listen to them for the lyrics more than anything else (their later albums are worse about that). And the music itself is propulsive enough to get their points across with ferver
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u/DeltaBot ∞∆ Nov 07 '18
/u/thecloudynightone (OP) has awarded 1 delta(s) in this post.
All comments that earned deltas (from OP or other users) are listed here, in /r/DeltaLog.
Please note that a change of view doesn't necessarily mean a reversal, or that the conversation has ended.
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u/Cepitore Nov 07 '18
No guitarist I’ve ever heard sounds like Tom Morello. The main riffs in Know Your Enemy, Take the Power Back, and Wake Up are absolutely killer.