"Few bands are in a league with Rage Against The Machine. They are not only one of the most successful modern rock bands, they are also among the few with deep political and social involvement who fight for their beliefs. After three long years, they finally released their new album, The Battle Of Los Angeles, and to the delight of critics and fans alike, they haven't mellowed one bit. Instead, they have shown all the naysayers that, in fact, music and politics do mix. Harder than ever, the savage, rigid combination of punk inspired rock and politically loaded rap hammers away on The Battle Of Los Angeles and guitarist Tom Morello voices the band’s firm belief that it's their best album so far.
     "We're all more than happy with the result,” he remarks. “Zack even surpassed himself with his lyrics. On our first album the lyrics sounded a bit like slogans, on Empire they sounded a bit like a history book, but now he sounds more personal, more emotional than he ever did. The songs are harder than anything we've ever done before, but there's enough funk and hip-hop in them to grab you. I think it combines the angriest aggression of the best punk rock and the most driving funk of the best hip-hop. And I guess I do what I do best: nervous, weird guitar parts, my trademark! Of course we had some ideas and plans about how the album should sound, but in the end we just started playing, and the longer we played, the better the songs sounded!"
     Tom is absolutely delighted with the way they all worked together and the HiFi studio where they recorded. "We used a lot of weird instruments and amps, and we used (all the) technical equipment the studio could offer. I could even use my ten coolest guitar riffs. Basically, we all could work on our parts and do with them what we liked best."
     RATM are often named as heroes and influences by other bands, but Tom claims that they get outside influences and they're necessary inspirations for all of them. "I think we'd simply cease to exist if we weren't inspired by other bands or other musical styles. I listen to a lot of electronic music or techno just to get the vibes, the atmosphere. I'm trying to integrate it in my guitar parts; that's far more exciting than just practicing the hardest riffs possible. I worked with Liam Howlett from the Prodigy; that's the best example. It is a typical Prodigy song if you look at the structure of it, but all the elements are guitars and typically RATM."
     No matter if Tom does guest stints or collaborations with other musicians, his first and only love is Rage Against The Machine. "I love playing with other musicians and I had the chance to play with some of the best in the past five years, but it's just not the same. It was great, but no matter how good it is, it is never quite the same as playing with Rage. I've been in hundreds of bands, but what happens when RATM are playing together is just something else and it doesn't matter if it's at a gig or in the rehearsal room."
     Music isn't all that RATM is about. Loved by fans for their inventive rock assault and outspoken lyrics, and feared by authorities for their strident, far-left slogans, civil rights activism and political involvement are the real threads that weave through the band’s story.
     In 1989, vocalist Zack De La Rocha and ex-Nirvana guitarist Krist Novoselic joined forces in a spoken word tour--they called it The Spitfire Tour--through American colleges. They support the Zapatista movement in Mexico. Zack is also a supporter and benefactor for the people of Chiapas, a war-torn Mexican state, and is helping to raise funds and support for the people there. He works closely with the National Commission for Democracy in Mexico. The band is openly affiliated with the EZLN (Ejercito Zapatista de Liberacion Nacional, the Zapatista National Liberation Army) to promote the cause and demands of the people in Chiapas: work, land, shelter, food, health, education, autonomy, freedom, democracy, justice and peace.
     Guitarist Tom Morello's mother, Mary Morello, is one of the originators of Parents For Rock and Rap, an anti-censorship organization she helped to found in 1987. They are the sworn enemies of the Parents Music Resource Center (PMRC), the organization that tries to ban explicit lyrics and makes sure that albums with "offensive words" don't get airplay and have parental advisory stickers on the covers.
     To authorities, Rage Against The Machine is the synonym for trouble, but the band never faltered or gave up. In France, they almost got arrested for selling T-shirts with printed instructions on how to build Molotov cocktails. During their tour with the Wu Tang Clan in 1997, authorities warned booking agencies about the group’s radical, extremely left-wing tendencies and socialistic propaganda and told venues to prepare for possible fights and violent outbreaks during the concert, no doubt in the hope of getting the shows canceled.
     Morello was arrested for protesting against work conditions in the Guess? sweatshops. RATM embarked upon a successful crusade for better working conditions, which brings Morello great pride. "It's great; we managed to change something. Personally, it's the biggest compliment I can imagine. That's even more satisfying than playing a great gig or being on the charts!"
     He explains that The Battle Of Los Angeles was also the battle against Guess? Jeans, because Guess? used suppliers who paid their sweatshop laborers below minimum wage. "A lot of people still have a very weird image of Los Angeles. They think in stereotypes. Of course, if you're watching the news you always see the glittery boulevards, palm trees, limousines driving down the Sunset Strip and the Hollywood hills. Rubbish. You don't see stars in Los Angeles, and the real life happens somewhere else. It happens in parts of the city where the people are fighting for survival, where the sweatshops are and where unions fight for better working conditions, higher wages and fair treatment!"
     RATM tried every other avenue before they decided on the strike that got them arrested. They rented billboards with the band's image and the slogan "Rage Against Sweatshops, We Don't Wear Guess? A Message From Rage Against The Machine and UNITE." "They took the billboards down because the company started to pressure them. We tried the same with radio spots, but they 'convinced' the stations to stop the spots, so we decided to take matters into our own hands. We got arrested for blocking the entrance, but in the end something changed!"
     Rage Against The Machine are all for changes and believe both their songs and political activism encourage listeners to think about issues. “I think there is already something going on,” notes Morello. “Eighty percent of the population knows that there's something wrong with this country, but they don't know what they can do about it. We don't tell them what they should do, but we help them to think about how some things could be started. Everywhere they keep telling you that you should be an individual, you should have your own personality, but how about community? How about getting up and doing something with others; something that helps? It seems as if a lot of Americans can't do anything other than watch TV because they've never learned anything else. It doesn't take an army to change something, it just takes a couple of determined people who've got the courage to stand up for what they believe!"