welcome to calum's rage against the machine news page

 

*Listed below is all of the Rage Against The Machine news from the beginning of this year*

29/07/2001
Zack's solo debut

According to an Australian newspaper Zack's untitled, unfinished solo debut is due out October 29. This was the article: The former Rage Against The Machine front man has been working with underground rappers, Roni Size and DJ Shadow on tracks for his unfinished solo debut. One collaborator say the album has "crazy-fast beats". Out Oct 29

15/07/2001
RATM/Cornell Album rumors dispelled

Contrary to reports on Rockdaily.com (credited to Shoutweb.com), the fruits of the endeavors by former Rage Against the Machine members Tom Morello, Brad Wilk, and Tim Commerford and ex-Sound garden front man Chris Cornell will not surface on Nov. 6. According to both a spokesperson for the band at Epic Records as well as Q Prime, management for the Rage portion of the band, the album is still not finished and has not yet been scheduled. As of late May, the as-yet-untitled new band had penned over 20 tunes and are currently working them out in the studio with producer Rick Rubin.

 
11/07/2001
RATM/Cornell Album

There have been unconfirmed reports that the debut album from Cornell/RATM is due for release on November 6 this year. Details are very sketchy at this point but I will do my best to find out more about this.


01/07/2001
Not much happening, It's coming, RATM cover album?

 At the moment there has been no news regarding Zack or the remaining three RATM members and Cornell. All I know is that Zack is working on a solo album due for release later this year and Cornell has formed a Band with Tim, Brad and Tom and they have already written and recorded 20+ tracks. There is no word on the name of the new band as of yet. In regards to the BOMC DVD release in Australia it is still set for release on August 3. Details of places to purchase will be posted as they become available. New Zealand fans also should expect to see the DVD on their shelves around August 3 also. Also amazon.com has a RATM cover album listed being released on July 10. The recording is a compilation of various artists who have covered RATM songs.

12/06/2001
Morello on Crystal Method Track
          
DJ Crystal Method's new single was released today. It features Tom Morello on guitar. You may recall the last Rage / Crystal Meth collaboration; the DJ once remixed Rage's "Renegades of Funk" back in November of 2000.

05/06/2001
Official Cornell / Rage Information
          
For the past few weeks, Rage Against the Machine's Tom Morello, Y-tim-K, and Brad Wilk, along with Chris Cornell have indeed been rehearsing in a Los Angeles studio. Cornell, Commerford, Morello, and Wilk are definitely not going to remain under the name Rage Against the Machine. Some releases from the foursome may come out in early 2002. However, there are no release dates yet, whatsoever, so don't expect anything too soon, although they have made quite some progress. According to Chris Cornell spokesman and manager, Jim Guerinot, "They're in the studio at the moment... They've written 21 songs and it's amazing stuff. But everything's up in the air right now... a lot of legal stuff needs to be sorted out."

The Battle of Mexico City to be Released in Australia
          
The latest official Rage Against the Machine home video, The Battle of Mexico City, will be re-released in Australia on August 3. Sony Music Australia has also stressed that it may include new, unreleased footage on the DVD. This could mean uncensored versions of "Guerrilla Radio", "Bulls on Parade", and "Killing in the Name", and also the curiously hidden "Bullet in the Head".

29/04/2001
Tom Wins a California Music Award
          
For the fourth consecutive year, Rage guitarist Tom Morello has won the category 'Best Guitarist' from the California Music Awards. He was not only there to accept it, but also to present an award. He presented the 'Best Punk / Ska Album' award, which went to Green Day's Warning. That album was the biggest winner of the night.

21/04/2001
Latest on the FTAA Protests
          
The remaining original members of Rage took part in a protest today at the USA / Mexico border. Things started off a little late, and as of 6:30pm eastern standard time, there have been over 100 arrests, exactly 50 of which are confirmed.

20/04/2001
Tim, Tom, and Brad Protest the FTAA
          
Tomorrow at noon in Larsen Park in San Ysidro, California, at the border of the United States and Mexico, Y-Tim-K, Brad Wilk, and Tom Morello will protest the FTAA (Free Trade Area in the Americas) meeting in Quebec. Other protesters will converge and ultimately disrupt the meeting in Quebec.

Colin Devenish to Release a Rage Biography
          
Music critic Colin Devilish has written and will release a book biography of Rage Against the Machine. The book is expected to be released on June 15th, this summer.

15/04/2001
B-Real Could be the New Lead
          
In a press release today, Cypress Hill front man B-Real said that he would be glad to front Rage if the music with Cornell doesn't work out. He claims he really got interested in the position when in last summer he was jamming with Tim, Tom, and Brad, improvising a rendition of "How I Could Just Kill a Man", which, of course appeared as a track on Renegades a few months later. He had the following to say: "If they call me, I'm down. Hell yeah, that would be a dream to front them. That's like today's Led Zeppelin... I told them, 'Hey, if you guys want, I'm here.' If not, it's all good... But I think they're going to take it in another direction... I'm sure whatever they do is goanna be great with whoever they go with. I just hope they keep making music."

Cornell Continues to Work With Rage
          
Chris Cornell, former lead singer of Sound garden is heading back in the studio with the remaining members of Rage Against the Machine. Y-Tim-K confirmed that Wilk, Morello, Cornell, and he will start a new project, not under the name 'Rage Against the Machine' though. That is all the information now; there are no tour dates or releases expected anytime soon

08/04/2001
False News
          
Okay, it's now understood that Cornell has been recording tracks with Rage, but the tracks listed in April 5th's news are completely false. Rage fans you're back to square one - there is no other information for the future of Rage Against the Machine, except the fact that Chris Cornell has been rehearsing with Rage. Us webmasters apologize.

05/04/2001
Cornell Lays Down Some Tracks With Rage
          
Chris Cornell, Rage's current temporary new lead singer has completed some songs in the studio with Tim, Tom, and Brad of Rage Against the Machine. The four songs are assumed to be under the titles "Manifestation", "Monstero", "Breaking Away", and "Within the Outside". Leaked MP3s of the four tracks are all over Napster, but "Monstero" is available for download on this site.

26/04/2001
Next Single from Renegades?
          
Recent rumors hint that the third single from Renegades will be "Beautiful World". However, some contradicting rumors point out that "Maggie's Farm" may be the third and final single from the album.  Neither of these songs are expected to be released soon. The current single, "How I Could Just Kill a Man" has only been on radio for a little more than a month now, and hasn't shown a video yet, if there will be one at all.

Quick Clip of Tom at the Oscars
          
During Total Request Live on MTV today, Tom was featured in an after-hours Oscar post-party, saying, "I know there'll be some party later tonight at the International House of Pancakes, and I'm about to drag my ass over there with them." A side note: the caption under this clip read, "tom morello, rage against the machine" and that's their typo, not mine.

24/03/2001
Rage Lands a Spot on Rap-Rock Countdown
          
You voted, and your voices were heard. Rage made the #3 spot on FNX's top 50 rap-rock songs, with "Bulls on Parade". They were beat, of course, by Aero smith and Run-DMC's "Walk This Way", but the #1 song was "Fight For Your Right (to Party)" by the Beastie Boys. The other songs by Rage that made the countdown were: "Killing in the Name" at #39, and "Snoop Bounce (with Snoop Dogg)" at #21.

19/03/2001
Vote for Rage as Rap-Rock Originators
          
Now is your chance to vote for Rage Against the Machine as one of the top 50 rock-rap originators. To avoid voting for different, webmasters suggest that fans vote for the song "Bulls on Parade". What is the voting for? The top 50 songs will be counted down this weekend on the FNX Radio Network (also available online).

17/03/2001
Morello Interviewed in MTV Special
          
During MTV's Rock Weekend, the highlight show, Testimony: 20 Years of Rock featured interviews from various rock artists, such as Dave Ghrol and Chris Novelsic of the Foo Fighters, Rob Thomas of Matchbox Twenty, Sunny and Wuv of POD, Alanis Morissette, Gwen Stefan of No Doubt, and of course, Tom Morello. Rage was featured in a 3-minute documentary of their videos. MTV showed short clips of "Freedom", "Bulls on Parade", "Sleep Now in the Fire", and "Testify". Commenting on Rage Against the Machine were Alanis Morissette, POD, and Tom himself. Tom also had the chance to remark that "Bulls on Parade" happened to be his favorite Rage music video. That was about all they showed of Tom, but during a question about Woodstock '99, he claimed that the rapes were inexcusable, but to blame an entire generation was "way off the mark". Look for more Rage this weekend, in music videos, or maybe even The Battle of Mexico City clips. Sadly, there are no new downloads from mtv.com.

10/03/2001
Morello Visits Mumia
          
Tom Morello will be visiting Mumia Abu-Jamul's death row cell today.

Look for Rage on MTV
          
Watch out for any Rage video or live performance on the weekend of March 17-18. The full "Sleep Now in the Fire" video will be airing on mtv.com, also. On MTV's Testimony of Rock on Saturday, they previewed a clip of Tom from Rage saying, "I think rock 'n roll definitely has the power to change things." Also, maybe Rage will make it to Ultrasound: Rock Rivalries III for the ongoing lyrical battle between Down set's Rey and Zack de la Rocha.

03/03/2001
Cornell to Record More With Rage
          
Although not the new permanent Rage front man, former Sound garden lead Chris Cornell will record an album with the remaining Tim, Tom, and Brad. Also, there are some rumors of a tour featuring the four. The collaboration will remain under the name, 'Rage Against the Machine'. All of this information is probable; it's not unlikely that the album or tour will never happen.
 
01/03/2001
Rage Wins Polls in Guitar Magazine
                    
In this year's annual poll results of Guitar World, Rage were recognized in two categories. They won first place in Biggest Disappointment: "Zack de la Rocha leaving Rage Against the Machine" (beating out the Smashing Pumpkins' breakup) and Tom came in fourth place for the most important award, Most Valuable Player, as in guitar player, of course (losinto Kirk Hamlet of Metallica).

22/02/2001
Tom Morello Interviewed About College
          
In the latest edition of Rolling Stone magazine, Tom Morello was interviewed about his college days (1982-86) at Harvard University. Here's what he had to say: "I was involved in activism in high school, but it wasn't until I started going to demonstrations in college that the things I was reading about really sprang to light. There was a big police riot where friends of mine got beaten down with Billy clubs for shouting anti-Klan slogans. I had gone in with some naiveté: You think it's going to be all sort of flower-power, and we're holding protest signs high, express ourselves in candlelight vigils and sing 'We Shall Overcome', and then the guy next to you gets his head split open with a police baton. That was a big moment in my political development."

21/02/2001
Rage Takes a Grammy
          
Rage went 1 for 2 this Wednesday at the 43rd Annual Grammy Awards at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, California. The group won in the Best Hard Rock category for "Guerrilla Radio". However, they lost to the Foo Fighters' There is Nothing Left to Lose in the other category in which they were nominated, Best Rock Album. The three remaining members of Rage accepted the award during the pre-telecast. They were interviewed by MTV's Chris Connell after winning the Grammy, on MTV's News Now: Backstage at the Grammies. During the short interview, they had the opportunity to critique Christina Aguleria's outfit, compare the DNC protest show and the Grammies, and deny any rumors that Chris Cornell was indeed their new singer. An interesting side note: Tim broke his Grammy statuette within an hour after he received it.

Chris Cornell in the Studio with Rage
          
Former Sound garden front man Chris Cornell has been rehearsing in the studio with Tim, Tom, and Brad. He is the latest to be rumored to replace Zack de la Rocha. When interviewed by MTV about this, Tom Morello claimed that they "jammed with him, and created some of the greatest music". Interviewer Chris Connell quipped, "We'll take that as a 'no' or a 'maybe.'"

20/02/2001
The Battle of Mexico City Video is Released
          
Today, the long-awaited The Battle of Mexico City was released in record stores worldwide. It is available on primarily DVD, but also on VHS. The full track listing for the VHS is as follows:

1 - Testify
2 - Guerrilla Radio
3 - [Documentary Part I]
4 - People of the Sun
5 - [Documentary Part II]
6 - Calm Like a Bomb
7 - [Documentary Part III]
8 - Sleep Now in the Fire
9 - Born of a Broken Man
10 - Bombtrack
11 - Know Your Enemy
12 - [Documentary Part IV]
13 - No Shelter
14 - War Within a Breath
15 - [Documentary Part V]
16 - Bulls on Parade
17 - Killing in the Name
18 - Zapata's Blood
19 - Freedom/Life is Lost

The documentaries are short political pieces narrated by Zack de la Rocha with Rage music in the background. Part I is about the uprisings in Chiapas brought in by the Zapatistas. Part II is about the poor living conditions of Mexican farmers. Part III describes what the apatistas call Marcos. Marcos refers to any oppressed, underrated, under appreciated person in the world, such as a Jew in Germany, or a Black in the southern United States. Part IV is about the extreme rise of price to public schooling in Mexico, from 2 cents a year to 150 dollars a year. Also, it teaches about how the students went on strike and were able to shut down 95% of Mexico's largest school's facilities. Part V is about the movements in Seattle in November 1999, when protesters shut down the annual WTO meeting, and the IMF meeting last April. Part V also had video excerpts about the police violence that took place during both events. All documentaries are lead by narration of Zack formerly of Rage. The VHS is basically the same, but the DVD includes interviews with Naomi Chaosky, and music video clips of "Testify", "Sleep Now in the Fire", and "Guerrilla Radio". Some of the highlights of the video are: Zack knocking himself over during "Freedom" and once in "Guerrilla Radio". Also, someone from the crowd throws a t-shirt at Zack during the second verse of "Know Your Enemy". The only upsetting fact about this video is that "Bullet in the Head" was played on the set that date in Mexico, but didn't show up on the DVD or VHS.

Guerrilla Radio is Covered as Predicted
          
Richard Cheese's debut, Lounge Against the Machine, is a jazzy casino-flavored parody album. Hence the name, they covered a Rage song on their album which came out today. Here's the full track list:

1 - Nookie / Break Stuff (by Limp Bizkit)
2 - Guerrilla Radio (by Rage Against the Machine)
3 - Come Out and Play by (Offspring)
4 - Closer (by Nine Inch Nails)
5 - Wrong Way (by Sublime)
6 - Bullet the Blue Sky (by U2)
7 - Creep (by Radio head)
8 - Last Resort (by Papa Roach)
9 - Rape Me (by Nirvana)
10 - What's My Age Again (by Blink-182)
11 - Smack My Bitch Up (by Prodigy)
12 - Fight For Your Right (to Party) (by Beastie Boys)
13 - Only Happy When it Rains (by Garbage)
14 - Suck My Kiss (by Red Hot Chili Peppers)
15 - Holiday in Cambodia (by Dead Kennedy)
16 - Rockefeller Skank (Fatboy Slim)


Tom is a Guitarist of the 90's
          
In a special issue of Guitar World magazine, Tom Morello and 1992's Rage Against the Machine were one of the five best rock albums of the decade. The magazine describes Tom's playing on this record as "hip-hopped up metal" and "rap-flavored rock". Also, the author of this short article said that the next three albums didn't compare to Rage, but were still impressive because of Tom's unique playing style.

19/02/2001
Jazz Cover Band Ruins a Rage Song
          
Look for Richard Cheese's Album, Lounge Against the Machine, to feature a cover of "Guerrilla Radio", which they regularly play on MTV's Say What? Karaoke. The album comes out tomorrow.

14/02/2001
Tom is Nominated for a California Music Award
          
Tom Morello is nominated for a California Music Award (formerly the BAMMIEs) in the category of Best Guitarist. He is up against Wes Borland (of Limp Bizkit), Kirk Hammett (of Metallica), Josh Homme (of Queens of the Stone Age), and Jason Lytle (of Granddaddy). Last year, Rage was the biggest winners, winning in the following categories: Best Hard Rock / Heavy Metal Album (for The Battle of Los Angeles), Outstanding Group, Artist of the Year, Best Guitarist (Tom Morello), and the Arthur M. Sochot Award for Public Excellence.
          
09/02/2001
Top 50 Alternative Rock Songs
          
On the large and widely popular WFNX Radio Network, a program called "The Top 50 Alternative Rocks Songs That Shaped the 90's" aired tonight. Rage landed the #15 spot with "Bulls on Parade". Also, they fell at #3 with "Killing in the Name", beat out by Nirvana's "Smells Like Teen Spirit". This program will be airing all weekend, so tune in to hear "Bulls on Parade" or "Killing in the Name" on the radio.

08/02/2001
Morello to Appear on Limp Bizkit Side Project
          
Limp Bizkit's DJ Lethal has announced that he will be releasing a solo album in the future. The album will feature his band mate Fred Durst, Eminem, XZibit, Tom Morello, and many others. The release date and any other information is unknown at the time.
 
27/01/2001
Radio Station Uses Rage to Give Away $1,000
          
A large and very popular radio station chain in New England, the FNX Network, has a daily program called "1K a Day". The DJ announces the "1K a Day" song the night prior, and during a morning show called "Jackson and the Pharmacist", they will play the song again. The tenth caller after the song plays wins $1,000. This Monday's song is "Bulls on Parade", so listen in to FNX for that song, and call in to possibly win 1 grand, if you're in that New England area.

18/01/2001
Morello Names New Single and Video Plans
          
In a recent interview, Tom Morello inquired that in the midst of all the urgency to find a new singer, the band, Rick Rubin, and Michael Moore have decided to release a new single and video. The second single from Renegades will be "How I Could Just Kill a Man". Michael Moore, who directed the "Sleep Now in the Fire" and "Testify" videos, will also direct this upcoming video. The single will be released to radio in a week or two.

15/01/2001
Video Release Date Confirmation - Hopefully
          
The release date of The Battle of Mexico City has been finally conformed to the 20th of August 2001.

New Single and Singer Answers from Tom
          
In a recent CDNow interview with Tom Morello and Rick Rubin, Tom stated that they were pondering the next single. Many radio stations have already added "How I Could Just Kill a Man" to heir play lists. Also, he said that they were going to hurry up the selection process of Zack's replacement, and they should be finished sooner than they'd planned.

12/01/2001
Spin Readers Name Rage Second Best
          
In this year's annual Spin magazine readers' poll results, music fans name Rage the second best live act, second to Radio head. Spin's caption for their choice read, "Sammy Hagar holding on line one!" Also, Spin gave Renegades a review, with a 7 out of 10.
 
11/01/2001
Rage mini-article in Rolling Stone
          
On the cover of this week's Rolling Stone, below Johnny Knoxville of MTV's Jackass, in large print reads, "Rage Against the Machine: Inside the Breakup". In the Rock & Roll section of the magazine, Tom is interviewed about the breakup.

03/01/2001
Grammy Nominations
          
Rage is nominated for two of the 43rd Annual Grammy Awards. They are nominated for Best Hard Rock Performance for "Guerrilla Radio" (against "American Bad-Ass" by Kid Rock, "Take a Look Around" by Limp Bizkit, "Down" by Stone Temple Pilots, and "Grievance" by Pearl Jam). Also, they are nominated for Best Rock Album for The Battle of Los Angeles (against Bon Jovi's Crush, Foo Fighters' There is Nothing Left to Lose, No Doubt's Return of Saturn, and Matchbox Twenty's Mad Season). The Grammies will be broadcasted live by CBS at 8pm central on February 21.
 
02/01/2001
New Ironic Rage Cover Band
          
An all new season of MTV's Say What? Karaoke is taking place in Las Vegas. This show features a new jazz band, Lounge Against the Machine, who opens with a modified jazzy version of "Guerrilla Radio" (Lights out guerrilla radio / Turn that shhhh up / Guerrilla radio / Turn that shhhh up / Guerrilla Radio). You can catch Say What? Karaoke on MTV on weekdays at 4:30/3:30 central.