Rage Against the Machine are Back on the Charts in Light of Ongoing Protests
Unsurprisingly given the current political climate, Rage Against the Machine’s music — all three of their albums — have climbed back onto the charts.
As protesters across the U.S. continue to hit the streets to demand racial equality and increased scrutiny of law enforcement in the wake of the killing of George Floyd, protest music is up across the board, and naturally Rage Against the Machine fit into that category.
The band’s self-titled debut hit #174 this week on the Billboard 200 chart, which includes both pure sales and streaming metrics in its calculations, while landing at #8 on the iTunes Top Albums chart. The album topped out at #45 on the Billboard 200 upon its release in 1992, but went on to go 3x platinum.
The band’s subsequent albums failed to crack the Billboard 200 this week, but Evil Empire landed at #35 on the iTunes chart and Battle of Los Angeles at #39.
Guitarist Tom Morello took note of these achievements, posting on Twitter, “Every Molotov needs a soundtrack,” with a link to a Forbes report detailing his band’s recent chart rankings.
Some conservatives remain oblivious to the band’s message, which famously likened police officers to Ku Klux Klan members in one of the band’s best-known tracks, “Killing in the Name.” In a tweet that went viral earlier this week, one fan posted:
“I use to be a fan until your political opinions come out. Music is my sanctuary and the last thing I want to hear is political bs when i’m listening to music. As far as i’m concerned you and Pink are completely done. Keep running your mouth and ruining your fan base.”
The tweet prompted a response from Morello, which also went viral, who wrote:
“Scott!! What music of mine were you a fan of that DIDN’T contain ‘political BS’? I need to know so I can delete it from the catalog.”
Rage Against the Machine were poised to bring their message to the masses with a massive reunion tour this spring and summer, but, along with everything else, those plans were scuttled because of the virus. Those dates have since been rescheduled to 2021.
