RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE's classic debut album has returned the Billboard 200 and the iTunes' Top Albums chart, early 30 years since the LP was originally issued. The renewed interest in the effort comes in the wake of nationwide protests against police brutality following the police-involved death of George Floyd. According to Forbes, "Rage Against The Machine" landed at No. 174 on this week's Billboard 200, and as of Thursday afternoon, it had reached No. 8 on iTunes' Top Albums chart. Earlier in the week, RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE guitarist Tom Morello, with the help of some fans, has roasted a former listener who claimed he "used to be a fan until your political opinions came out" — a strange hill to die on considering that RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE has been sharing its leftist political message since first hitting the scene in 1992. The person wrote in a now-deleted tweet: "I used to be a fan until your political opinions came 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." Morello responded: "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." Other RAGE fans also came to the band's defense, with one writing, "What . . . machine did you think you were raging against? The busted up toaster? A faulty dryer? Did the printer run outta toner?" Morello also posted another exchange from a while back in which he responded to someone saying he had "instantly" become a "political expert" by retorting that he was an honors graduate in political science from Harvard University. The guitarist told The Pulse Of Radio a while back that the idea that musicians and entertainers should keep quiet about their political views is nonsense. "The reason why you hear from celebrities is because they have some access to the media to present an alt — you're not gonna hear that on the Fox News," he said. "They will not — they will have General This and General That and Generalissimo This. The fact that we have some, for lack of a better word, celebrity and are able to inject a different opinion, you can take it for what you want. We each get one vote, and we each have one voice." RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE was set to tour this summer for the first time in more than a decade until the pandemic pushed those plans to next year.
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