RATM - Are they still relevant?

[Satanstoenail]

Well RATM certainly aren't. Anyone who willfully plays above 120dB should be sued btw.

 

[The Ozzman]

Swans in the 1980's, Manowar isn't and never was louder.

Manowar holds the record for loudest musical performance according to Guinness (139 decibels). The Swans 'record' isn't official according to wikipedia

 

[Omni]

Not holding an official Guinness record doesn't change the fact that they were definitely louder than Manowar in the 1980's, as shown in audio recordings, video footage, police reports and eye-witness accounts documenting their shows.

Guinness not recognizing something because they never sent anyone to personally verify it doesn't mean anything, and Michael Gira got tired of loud music specifically because he wanted his band to avoid being known only for being loud.

 

[The Ozzman]

Please provide proof of this actually happening (whether it is a news clipping or youtube vid or whatever) or shut the fuck up.

 

[Thoth-Amon]

I don't get how RATM are not metal. They are the loudest band on the planet. Get some open minds you guys. ahh

loud does not equal metal. if you blasted frank sinatra at 150 decibels would that be metal?

 

[razoredge]

most amazing thread yet, three pages long about a band that... well...

Who gives a crap about loud, loud sucks, any loud concerts I've ever been to from Rush in the late 70's to Symphony X in 07 SUCKED ! Totally illegible music, shit acoustics, a waste of good money and worse yet great music... which I cant say about "rage"

 

[Omni]

Please provide proof of this actually happening (whether it is a news clipping or youtube vid or whatever) or shut the fuck up.

Maybe you should shut the fuck up, since you haven't offered any evidence to prove that I'm wrong aside from that Guinness never verified something, which doesn't actually mean anything. You can read about the volume of their shows on Wikipedia, among other places, and you can also find show reviews, articles on things like the volume of their music making people vomit and resulting in things such as police involvement to shut down shows by them due to the volume, live videos, live albums and various other things online, so I don't feel pressured to provide evidence to support something that there's way more to suggest is true than is not.

Besides, considering the fact that Guinness discontinued their listing and support that record after 1984 out of fears for ear damage that could result from bands trying to be the loudest ever, which is the period of time that Swans played their loudest shows, that means absolutely nothing. So you're basically telling me that because they weren't recognized as holding a record that ceased to exist before they would have been eligible to receive it, they can't possibly be louder than Manowar.

Besides, The Who held that record with 126 decibels in the 1970's, and since many bands, including Swans, had gear and amps that dwarf anything that existed back then by a good margin, it's logical to assume that they could be much, much louder, and since Manowar apparently wasn't much louder than The Who to begin with, I don't see how it would be unreasonable that a band that played an already loud kind of music with extremely large amp set-ups wouldn't be louder than them.

Just go to YouTube and look up live videos by them from the 1980's. They're definitely louder than you seem to think possible, because they caused people to feel physical pain and vomit, and people would call the police to report disturbances pretty much any time they ever played live.

They got a lot of attention from the British press because of how people reacted to hearing their music live, something you can look up to verify on your own. I know there's even video interviews on YouTube where Michael Gira talks about it, and you can probably find some original articles if you look for them.

For additional info, try actually looking up the band.

I have a feeling that there are other bands who were similarly loud, such as early SPK, but none of them gained more than a cult following during the 80's while they still played music like this, so Guinness probably didn't even realize they existed.

Nowadays, I'd wager that something like Sunn O))) or some Boris shows are definitely extremely loud.

EDITING FOR SOME YOUTUBE VIDEOS AND OTHER STUFF

Very loud and very slow live videos:






Compression definitely lessens the impact, but you should get the idea. In the 1980's, the volume they played at was typically in the range of 130-140 decibels and sometimes even higher, depending on the setup of the venue they played in. It's only just recently that Manowar played a show at 139 decibels, 2008 in fact, while Swans played at that volume and higher in the mid-1980's, after that record was no longer supported by Guinness.

 

[zabu of nΩd]

Jesus Christ, who cares.

They suck, babes. <3

You fail at hard rock, babes.

RATM is one of the best examples of a band I tried so hard to listen to, but just wound up not being able to because no matter how good the music was, the bullshit that comprised their lyrics almost always ruined it.

It's not that bad, is it? Personally I don't give a shit about whatever ridiculous political views De la Rocha might have, but the general revolutionary attitude of the music is pretty cool. I can't think of any band that would serve as a better soundtrack for torching government buildings and rioting in the streets.

Ummm no. De la Rocha's lyrics and, more importantly, passion were what made the band. Morello is the most overrated guitarist ever. All their riffs sound the same, that fucking bouncy shit, and then don't get me started on those wannabe Hendrix guitar-molesting solos.

I sorta agree with you here. They have an exciting sound and all, but without De la Rocha's charisma they would be thoroughly fucking mediocre.

 

[Satanstoenail]

They have an exciting sound and all, but without De la Rocha's charisma they would be thoroughly fucking mediocre.

See: Audioslave

 

[Vimana]

I disagree but whatever.

 

[Ender Rises]

I like Rage Against the Machine. They're as close to rap or hip hop as I normally get on my own. I'm not huge into the political thinking of De la Rocha but the music and the raps are fucking great, even if the music is a tad simplistic. Audioslave can suck a nut though... they had all this potential to be a really exciting, high-energy band and they just released power ballad after power ballad, other than Cochise.

 

[Satanstoenail]

I nearly exploded with joy when I heard RATM were teaming up with Cornell, and my god what a let down it was when I heard their music.

 

[Ender Rises]

Yeah. It had great potential and Cochise looked like it was going to live up to that potential... then came power ballad after power ballad after power ballad.

I think Cornell didn't want to do the loud uber-singing that he did in Soundgarden. I don't know... just a big letdown there.

 

[Dak]

I'll take Audioslave any day over RATM.

@Vihris: yes RATM is that bad (to me).

 

[Ender Rises]

No taste.

 

[mutantllama]

I sorta agree with you here. They have an exciting sound and all, but without De la Rocha's charisma they would be thoroughly fucking mediocre.

It wouldn't be RATM without him.