BackgroundZack de la Rocha came up with the name "Rage Against the Machine" before the band ever formed, while he was in a California hardcore band called "Inside Out". Inside Out had a song titled "Rage Against the Machine", that was also going to be the name of the band's second record. Instead, the band broke up and never released a second record. So when Zack met up with Tom Morello and formed a band, "Rage Against the Machine" seemed to be the most appropriate band name for the music and the ideas that were being put across. Tom Morello describes exactly what "machine" they are raging against: "The machine can be anything from the police in the streets in Los Angeles who can tear motorists from their car and beat them to a pulp and get away from it, to the overall international state capitalist machinery that tries to make you just a mindless cog, and not to think critically and never confront the system , and to just sortof "behave" and look forward to the next weekend and next six pack of beer." The music, known as the most popular crossover between "rock and rap", sprouted from Zack's interest in early hiphop outfits like Public Enemy, and KRS-One, as well as his hardcore roots. Tom Morello's appreciation for hard rock and punk like Black Sabbath and the Sex Pistols accounts for the band's hard-edged sound, while Tim Commerford's interest in jazz and Brad Wilk's unique hip-hop to punk oriented drum beats round out the band's sound.
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