Anyone remember one of the biggest political bands of all time? Rage Against the Machine left the scene in 2000 due to Zach de la Rocha’s (lead singer) announcement that he didn’t feel that he could stay honest to himself and be in the band. After the breakup, the rest of the band (Tom Morello, Tim Commerford, and Brad Wilk) joined together with former Soundgarden vocalist Chris Cornell to form Audioslave (which recently broke up.) Forgetting their complicated history, Rage is reuniting to play at Coachella and three more shows as a part of the Rock the Bells concert in New York and Northern/Southern California later this year.Rage plays amazing funk metal infused with very politically charged lyrics. Everyone of their albums is sure to punch you in the face and leave you on the floor bleeding. Tom Morello’s strong guitar sounds go hand in hand with de la Rocha’s emphatic style of writing and execution. Another characteristic of Rage’s music (common to funk metal) is the way that they push the bass to the front many times. It’s very heavy music with a message.I have been in love with Rage for about five or six years now. Yes, this means that I wasn’t into them while they were a band (I was only in 3rd/4th grade when they broke up), but their music hasn’t diminished in meaning as time has passed. If you want to check out what they sound like, I recommend checking out the songs Calm Like a Bomb, Bullet in the Head, and Killing in the Name. If you don’t like those, oh well, those are just my favorite songs. Read more to see the video for Sleep Now in the Fire. Rage Against the Machine will be the headliner for Sunday of Coachella.
Tag: review
Being John Malkovich
Anybody looking for a stoner movie even better than The Wall? Because if you are, Being John Malkovich will definitely sooth you for a while. The basic premise of the movie is that Craig Schwartz (John Cusack), a failing puppeteer, finds a door that allows its entrant access to the world as seen through John Malkovich’s own eyes.
Sounds pretty cool, huh? Let’s go farther. The door is located at Schwartz’ work behind a filing cabinet. The floor the offices are located on is #7 1/2; it has ceilings about 4 feet above the floor. Schwartz’ wife (Cameron Diaz) discovers her lesbian tendencies after her first “trip” into Malkovich and later uses the door to have sex with Schwartz’ love interest at work. Those are the basics without giving away anything important relevant to the ending.
Nearly everything about this movie makes you realize that your imagination isn’t as cool as you think it is. One very strong and interesting aspect of this movie is the lack of special effects. The view of people sliding into Malkovich’s mind is the only sequence I can think of. Another small weird observance of the movie is the number of cameos it has. Randomly, we see Brad Pitt, Andy Dick, Sean Penn, Winona Ryder, Charlie Sheen, and all three of the Hansen boys (yes, those Hansens). If only we could have seen Keanu Reaves, it would have been complete.
Time for my final opinion. I give it a B+. If I did drugs, I would definitely give it an A+, but alas, I do not smoke pot or do anything of the kind. This movie is by far the most original, creative piece of work I have seen in quite a while.
Justice – Waters of Nazareth
It really isn’t fair. Chopped up samples that have been distorted and modulated to no end shouldn’t sound this good. Honestly, they shouldn’t be able to get away with this. Enough of the complaining, the point is: Justice hits you hard… in the face. From the moment you press play, you get a noise that makes you wish that you had bought another stereo with just a few more watts; you can’t ever get the bass heavy enough or the volume loud enough.
So, what genre does this three track EP fall into? My personal analysis is that it is a fusion of some kind of electro-clash, industrial, and house. It seems that every synth/sample has been run through some kind of distorting filter that makes it scream with fury, every drum line kicks a little more than anything before, and that repetition is the name of the game. As with many of the artists signed to the Ed Banger record label, Daft Punk seems an obvious comparison. Both are original, progressive, a duo, French, and insanely popular.
Whether this quick claim to fame through an EP is founded in any way is yet to be seen. But please don’t get me wrong; even with only 3 tracks, Justice won’t be leaving my playlists anytime soon.