It’s been a seriously long time since the world has heard anything major from Rage Against The Machine. Ignoring all he said she said about whether or not they’re working on new material or touring again, the last time Rage played any shows was way back in 2011 at L.A. Rising, and their latest material was Renegades in 2000. However, with this week a countdown to June 1st emerging on prophetsofrage.com, RATM fans have been a given a glimmer of hope.
https://t.co/75MECE1j0j #TakeThePowerBack pic.twitter.com/CqGGIGK9Z9
— RageAgainstheMachine (@RATM) May 17, 2016
With Rage initially directing fans to the site on Tuesday, the hype was so big that it crashed almost straight away. When users enter their email address, they’re directed to an image that says both “clear the way for the prophets of rage” – a Public Enemy lyric from Prophets of Rage – and #takethepowerback, of the Rage song of the same name. Posters of a similar image have been reportedly been cropping up all over Los Angeles, and Chuck D of Public Enemy has been tweeting videos of Rage playing in 2010. So far, it’s looking to be some kind of collaboration between Public Enemy and RATM given the crossovers going on.
Rage Against The Machine – Bulls On Parade – Live At Finsbury Park, Lond… https://t.co/JB3o9KaupZ via @YouTube
— Chuck D (@MrChuckD) May 17, 2016
A source close to Rolling Stone and RATM has claimed that “this is not a Rage-specific reunion. There’s a lot more to it. There are a lot of moving parts, a lot of exciting news to be revealed. [It will include] some of the members of Rage.. [and live shows].. and whether that’s one show or five shows, [they] don’t know.” Of course this needs to be taken with a grain of salt, and no doubt there will be way more speculation on the news as we get closer to June 1st. Either way, this is super exciting – we can’t wait to take the power back, in whatever form that may be.
Check out our flashback review to RATM’s self-titled record right here.
Image: Pitchfork