Rage Against The Machine (Paperback)

~ (Author) "Blending politics and music began long before any of the four members of Rage Against the Machine were born..." (more)
Key Phrases: rage against the machine, Los Angeles, Rolling Stone, Evil Empire (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Review

"A good song should make you wanna tap your foot and get with your girl. A great song should destroy cops and set fire to the suburbs. I'm only interested in writing great songs." -- Tom Morello in Alternative Press

"A good song should make you wanna tap your foot and get with your girl. A great song should destroy cops and set fire to the suburbs. I'm only interested in writing great songs."--Tom Morello, Alternative Press
-- Review

Review

"A good song should make you wanna tap your foot and get with your girl. A great song should destroy cops and set fire to the suburbs. I'm only interested in writing great songs."--Tom Morello, Alternative Press

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 160 pages
• Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin (June 8, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312273266
• ISBN-13: 978-0312273262
• Product Dimensions: 8.1 x 5.4 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #788,699 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars It's not bad, November 2, 2002

By A Customer

Whether or not Colin Devenish's biography of Rage Against The Machine will be of any use to you depends on how big of a fan you already are. While Mr. Devenish does a decent job of collecting information from magazines and various other publications to inform the reader about the bands history, most of it is probably information that the hardcore fan has already discovered for themselves.

The book chronicles the entire career of the band, starting with their childhoods with their first introductions to music and the various frustrations with society, government, and racism that each one faced in order to start out their elite political path. It moves through the members first bands in their teen years until their formation in the early 90's and debut album. It then proceeds to discuss the details behind each albums recording process, the tours in support of each, and various other tidbits all the way up to when Zack de la Rocha departed from the group. While the biographical information is useful if you've never been exposed to the band before, any serious Rage listener will know that 148 pages is simply not enough to keep track of one of the most integral, politically-minded, and activist bands in rock history, especially one that has released such honest, truthful, and rebellious music.

The author seems to have a decent grasp on researching, but falls short a few times when he uses the same quote twice in various places. Thankfully, shortcomings aside, the book will give you an insight into some of the organizations and stances against oppression Rage has aligned themselves with, including the Anti-Nazi Leauge and the efforts to free two innocent prisoners of the U.S. government, Mumia Abu-Jamal and Leonard Peltier. The biography will give enough adequete information about each to lead the reader in the right direction of finding more information.

The real complaint that I have is that the book was simply not long enough. Rage is by far one of the most important bands in rock history in the ways of both politics and music and has shaped both in drastic ways. A less-than 200 page summary just doesn't cut it. If you're a die-hard fan, I would go along with another reviewers suggestion and try to find a good web site or FAQ online, if you're new to the band and want some starting information, Colin Devenish's effort isn't bad as it will at least give you some information about the band and their cause, not to mention the various opinions on the group by rap virtuosos Public Enemy and rock gods such as Neil Young.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Very Poor effort, September 29, 2001

By	"themanincharge" (San Francisco) - See all my reviews

This book is a very weak attempt at chronicling one of the most politically motivated and innovative bands in the last 20 years. I would not recommend this book for anyone because there is very little if any new information or stories behind the music and the people who built it. Time would be better spent on the web reading a good faq. I was very disappointed with the effort put into this book, (entirely made up of magazine quote references) and find this book and insult to any biographer or Rage Against the Machine fan. Not worth the 90 minutes it took to read it (nap included).

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Thin, June 5, 2001

By	J.C. (Belmar, NJ USA) - See all my reviews

I bought this book not out of being a Rage fan, but just to learn about them. I must say that I did learn a lot about them. So my goal was accomplished. Maybe. But, comparing this book to other band's biographies that I have read, I thought it was very thin, incomplete, not edited very well, and many times repetitive. It appeared that the author had no access to the band, which I can't blame him for. Access definitely could have helped in this case. Quotes from magazine articles were sloppily strewn together."The Age" , which is the major newspaper out of Melbourne, Australia, was first referred to as a "magazine", then later in the book as a "publication". This is Australia's equivalent of calling the New York Times a magazine. Mistakes like this just can not be overlooked .... I now question the accuracy of much of the book. For what do I know? I was never a fan of the band. That is why I bought the book. To learn. How can I trust the accuracy? Many times I would be given an opinion that one of the band members had, or told a fact, and realize that I was told the same thing 15 pages earlier. That showed me that the book was thrown together piece by piece....A major focus of the book is Rage's polital leanings. I felt informed on how the band was influenced in their earlier lives to be so politically driven. I can also see, through the book, where the musical and creative talents of Zack and Tom came from. What became noticable to me, and maybe not even to the author, was the "wannabe" nature of the bass player Tim. His choice of the unoriginal and obvious name "Y Tim K", which he referred to himself at the time close to the millenium. Also, his misguided stunt he pulled at the awards show. If the band was behind him fine, but why break ranks with the other, smarter members.....