Just last week, Rage Against The Machine celebrated the 20th anniversary of their landmark self-titled debut with a deluxe box set/reissue. The release made many fans hopeful that the semi-reunited group had more in the works, like a tour or even a new studio album. However, guitarist Tom Morello has stated numerous times since announcing the box set’s release that Rage Against The Machine had no plans to do anything. And in a recent interview with Rolling Stone, Morello gave insight into why.
When asked if Rick Rubin (who served as executive producer on the reissue) has given the group “direction on where he thinks Rage should go in the future,” Morello laughed and said the following:
“Maybe I shouldn’t laugh at that. I don’t know that there’s much direction to go. There’s no plans, no current direction of anything, so I guess the answer is no. It was my great hope that we’d celebrate the 20th anniversary with a five-continent world tour. But short of that, this box set that celebrates the 20-year span of Rage Against The Machine is something that will hopefully be very satisfying for longtime Rage Against the Machine fans as well as turn on new fans to what the band is all about.”
When pressed further as to why a RATM tour has been difficult to arrange, Morello admitted the following:
“We’d have to agree to go on one. Once a year, the band meets and very seriously discusses and turns down awesome offers to tour the world. That’s part of the program. I’m very grateful that we did agree to do is this box set, which we’re very, very proud of. Some of those early videos, you know, we’re playing these clubs for 25 people. I remember that period very, very well. I had been in a lot of bands before Rage Against The Machine, bands that had tried hard to make it, and with that band, with Rage, it just spontaneously combusted. It immediately connected with something in the reptilian brain of fans of rock, hip-hop, punk, metal, activists in a way that was global right off the bat.”
It’s not surprising that RATM has been given numerous tour offers since their first reunion shows in 2007. And it’s also easy to believe that some members are more hesitant than others to take those offers. We can only speculate, though, which member(s) are holding out of a full tour.
