Word: morello
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Unlike many other hard-rock bands, Rage, as guitarist Tom Morello puts it, has "social and political" concerns. Indeed, in an interview, De la Rocha sounds off on a wide range of topics. He ridicules New York City mayor Rudolph Giuliani: "There's nothing more dangerous than a fascist with aspiration for higher office." He's also critical of Sean ("Puffy") Combs: "If Reagan were a rapper, he'd be in Puff Daddy's crew. It's the same set of politics. Get yours. F___ everyone else. Just get paid. Don't think about community...
...that music has meaning beyond SoundScan figures. Nonetheless, Rage's rock-hop music takes on racism and capitalism while also offering vocal support to Mumia Abu-Jamal and the Zapatista rebels. And with a Chicano singer (dreadlocked Zack de la Rocha) and an African-American guitarist (wizardly Tom Morello), the band looks like the future of America. Rage's new CD--with songs like Calm Like a Bomb and Guerrilla Radio--promises to be uncompromising and exhilarating. "We've made the record we've been waiting our whole lives to hear," says Morello. "It incorporates the angriest anger...
...Joel G. Thomas `02 thinks that Rage Against the Machine's guitarist lurks somewhere in his subconscious. "[Tom] Morello went to Harvard and concentrated in [government]," said Thomas, who's a gov jock himself. "Morello calls himself a communist. I wouldn't call myself that, but I agree with almost all of his politics. I'm passionate about progressive issues...
...MORELLO Rock guitarist, Rage Against the Machine
While some might argue that it's unseemly, if not a bit screwy, for a major-label band (Rage Against the Machine is on Epic, which is owned by Sony) with an Ivy League guitarist to decry networks, millionaires and capitalism, Morello says there's no contradiction. "There's no more or less irony," he says firmly, "than in buying a Noam Chomsky book at Barnes & Noble." And if Joe Hill were alive today--who knows?--he might well be on MTV right alongside Rage Against the Machine...