While I somewhat agree, hey, musicians are artists, they do what they want because they are expressing themselves. Why should they care?
This is why...
The problem with pushing a political agenda as hard as RATM did, is that while some of their audience embraced their band/beliefs (as RATM intended), some of their listeners were also repelled by it. While their goal was to promote a militant, activist mentality towards government "oppression", the portion of their listeners who were repelled this message might tend to associate their aversion with their message.
I wonder how many others out there see pictures of Che Guevara on teeshirts, or hear the evening news, and picture Zach belting out a song at the top of his lungs while cringing at the lyrics. While I agree that RATM was an awesome band, I know for sure that I'm not the only one who was jamming to their music but dismissing their political agenda.
I'm all for freedom of expression. But don't you think it's ironic how some bands complain about society selling-out and force-feeding them advertising, etc. when thats exactly what they are doing to their own listeners...?
:beer:
