人们总是认为一支受大众欢迎的，主流的乐队是不可能持有极为左派的政治观点的。然而来自洛杉矶的说唱/鞭击重金属乐队Rage Against The Machine（“暴力反抗体制”）乐队却同时做到了这两点，在他们的世界里金钱和激进的政治观点根本就没有关系。
Rage Against The Machine（以下简称RATM）乐队于1991年成立于洛杉矶，成员来自于美国各地：主唱是加州本地的一个名叫扎克·德·拉·罗查（Zack de la Rocha）的警察，之前他就发起成立过一支名为Inside Out的朋克乐队；留着长发的吉他手汤姆·莫雷罗（Tom Morello）来自著名的哈福大学，他来自一个偏僻的乡下；贝斯手蒂姆·科姆佛德（Tim Commerford）和莫雷罗来自同一个乡下；鼓手布莱德·维尔克（Brad Wilk）这来自俄勒冈州的波特兰。
RATM乐队一开始就将说唱、重金属、朋克、以及舞曲巧妙的组合在一起，又将极端的舞台力量与那些现代音乐禁忌的政治观点用坦率的歌词表达，RATM乐队的影响力也遍布整个南加利福尼亚，共售出了超过五千份的卡式磁带。 在与Epic唱片签约之后，RATM乐队于1992发行了他们的首张同名专辑《Rage Against The Machine》。初期他们被视为一支说唱乐队，RATM乐队与House Of Pain以及Cypress Hill乐队一起进行了大规模的巡回演出，这次活动一举将Rage Against The Machine的歌曲推入了BillBoard排行的前五十位。1994年初歌曲“Freedom”的MTV在电视上频繁播放，这一切使得这张专辑的获得了白金的销量，这也确立了RATM乐队九十年代中期著名另类摇滚乐队的地位，也确定了乐队以说唱为核心的风格。
在经过了精心的准备和漫长的等待之后，他们的第二张专辑《Evil Empire》面世了，在一场名为“Saturday Night Live”的演唱会中，他们将美国国旗倒插在扩音器顶上。《Evil Empire》很快就成为专辑榜的首位并完成了白金级的销量并产生了榜首歌曲“Bulls on Parade”。尽管RATM乐队的这张专辑最终卖出了数百万的销量，可是RATM始终坚持自己的社会主义政治立场，他们用自己的歌声支持墨西哥的反政府武装恰帕斯国民解放军，并且反对美国政府关押左派的非洲籍的新闻工作者Mumia Abu-Jamal以及美国白人左派领袖Leonard Peltier。在1996年他们和信仰天主教的U2乐队在俄勒冈州举行演唱会，籍以反对一些制服生产商利用工人们的制服进行广告宣传。RATM乐队用自己的行动证明了可以利用财富和合理的公民基本权利来部分的改善社会而不一定要进行一次大规模的政治运动。
在1999年11月，RATM乐队发行了自己的第三张专辑《The Battle Of Los Angeles》。之后罗查突然宣布离去使得乐队的前景显出几分黯淡。尽管有这样的不确定因素，他们的又一张专辑《Renegades》还是于2000年秋季发行了。
歌曲名：killing in the name
歌手名：rage against the machine
专辑名：GUITARIST史上最佳100吉他SOLO
Killing in the name of!
Some of those that were forces are the same that burn crosses
Some of those that were forces are the same that burn crosses
Some of those that were forces are the same that burn crosses
Some of those that were forces are the same that burn crosses
Huh!
Killing in the name of!
Killing in the name of
And now you do what they told ya
And now you do what they told ya
And now you do what they told ya
And now you do what they told ya
And now you do what they told ya
And now you do what they told ya
And now you do what they told ya
And now you do what they told ya
And now you do what they told ya
And now you do what they told ya
And now you do what they told ya
But now you do what they told ya
Well now you do what they told ya
Those who died are justified, for wearing the badge, they're the chosen whites
You justify those that died by wearing the badge, they're the chosen whites
Those who died are justified, for wearing the badge, they're the chosen whites
You justify those that died by wearing the badge, they're the chosen whites
Some of those that were forces are the same that burn crosses
Some of those that were forces are the same that burn crosses
Some of those that were forces are the same that burn crosses
Some of those that were forces are the same that burn crosses
Uggh!
Killing in the name of!
Killing in the name of
And now you do what they told ya
And now you do what they told ya
And now you do what they told ya
And now you do what they told ya
And now you do what they told ya, now you're under control
And now you do what they told ya, now you're under control
And now you do what they told ya, now you're under control
And now you do what they told ya, now you're under control
And now you do what they told ya, now you're under control
And now you do what they told ya, now you're under control
And now you do what they told ya, now you're under control
And now you do what they told ya!
Those who died are justified, for wearing the badge, they're the chosen whites
You justify those that died by wearing the badge, they're the chosen whites
Those who died are justified, for wearing the badge, they're the chosen whites
You justify those that died by wearing the badge, they're the chosen whites
Come on!
Yeah! Come on!
Fuck you, I won't do what you tell me
Fuck you, I won't do what you tell me
Fuck you, I won't do what you tell me
Fuck you, I won't do what you tell me
Fuck you, I won't do what you tell me
Fuck you, I won't do what you tell me
Fuck you, I won't do what you tell me
Fuck you, I won't do what you tell me
Fuck you, I won't do what you tell me!
Fuck you, I won't do what you tell me!
Fuck you, I won't do what you tell me!
Fuck you, I won't do what you tell me!
Fuck you, I won't do what you tell me!
Fuck you, I won't do what you tell me!
Fuck you, I won't do what you tell me!
Fuck you, I won't do what you tell me!
Motherfucker!
Uggh!
