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Rage Against the Machine, Renegades (Epic)
Rage Against the Machine (Zack de la Rocha, Brad Wilk, Tom Morello, and Tim Bob Commerford) has achieved renown as leftist guerrillas, much like the MC5 did some decades ago. And for all of their Maoist (uh, guys, he's been discredited) leanings, blood-red flag waving, and cause sympathizing, Rage is one hell of a foul-mouthed rock`n'roll band. Okay, we have lots of language in this column, and, truth be known, Rage isn't the worst of the lot. But de la Rocha's expletive-laced exhortations somehow lose their potency if only because one has to fight through the language to hear the message. If de la Rocha is this generation's McLuhan, and the medium is the message, then this generation's message is excremental, oedipal, coital, and generally unpleasant. I mean, if I were in the audience, and some guy at the mike sez, "So all you f**ckers wanna hear the sh*t we're puttin' down?," I guess I'd be flattered at the personal characterization, but genuinely alarmed at what was to be ...