Insane mosh pits? Eh . . . if you say so. I've been in theirs, and they ain't too
insane. Anyways, that's not the point.
Rage Against the
Machine is a solid band in my opinion - musically they have
a lot to offer.
Tom Morello is a
wizard with making
weird guitar noises, and the rest of the band
plays tightly.
However, I find their
political beliefs hard to swallow. I understand that everyone's gotta
make a living, but the hypocrisy in their posturing is still very apparent. Sure, they argue that they're getting their
message to more people, but the
integrity of their message is being compromised to do this. Look at a band like
Fugazi - fiercely
anti-corporate, and has existed on their own
independent label their whole career. Yet they have developed a
huge following and
legions of devoted followers and garnered a
ton of admiration, my own included.
It's a tough call. Another
complaint I have is their fans. Not all of them obviously, but a good number of them are
suburban upper-class white kids with everything they ever wanted. I've seen many of these. Now, there's absolutely nothing wrong with them
liking the music, but when they say "
America sucks!
Fuck the system, we're being
oppressed", I have to
draw the line. These kids have
never been oppressed in their lives. Never had trouble with
the law. All of a sudden, they hear a song on the
radio and fancy themselves
political theorists and
comrades of a new
revolution.
Jesus Christ.
However, to their fans who
agree with their politics and understand them, as well as, of course,
enjoying the music, I say
more power to you. Keep fighting the
good fight.