They are at least somewhat based. ‘Prison Song’ talks about the prison industrial complex and imperialism. There are also some other songs like toxicity or protect the land that sound anti-capitalism. I also just like there music in general. Their album Hypnotize is one of my favorites overall. Unfortunately, the song of the same name seems to talk about the Tiananmen protesters in a positive light and also talks about propaganda. My inference is that they see China as an “authoritarian” (capitalist?) country. They also talk a lot about freedom or liberty which is kind of cringe. So, what do you think?

    • QueerCommieOP
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      81 year ago

      Maybe they’re MLM or something. I’m pretty sure the bombtrack video is pro-gonzalo

        • @whoami
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          1 year ago

          yeah morello had “sendero luminoso” written on one of his guitars, that’s how I first learned about them

      • @whoami
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        1 year ago

        their politics seem to be a mix of different ideologies, can’t really pin them down

        In their liner notes they would reference different causes, books, etc. It’s how I learned who Chomsky was, howard zinn too, subcommandante marcos and the zapatistas

  • @Comrade_Faust
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    131 year ago

    SOAD is a complicated one.

    Their first album is very angry and very lefty. According to Loudwire, ‘The album cover art of an open hand was based on World War II anti-fascist poster by John Heartfield, a member of the Communist Party of Germany.’ The single Sugar’s music video is a direct criticism of ‘the system’ in the form of a rebellious journalist, who says the following:

    ‘The key factor is sensationalism.’ ‘They got you running in circles, 9-5 and 5-9 you’re mine.’ ‘I tell you want they want you know, and you consider it the truth.’ ‘Our global economy is depleting the world of its natural resources.’

    P.L.U.C.K. features the statement ‘Revolution is the only solution: the armed response of an entire nation’ and, while this is explicitly in reference to Armenian resistance against genocide, it goes to show that SOAD promulgated a message that one needs to take a side and take radical action (a message that is later echoed in Toxicity’s Deer Dance 'We can’t afford to be neutral on a moving train).

    You’ve already covered Prison Song, where Serj spits facts about the US prison system; they take the socially liberal view of drug liberalisation that sets them apart from mainstream centre-leftists. Around this time you could also see members like Daron sporting USSR/CCCP jerseys, though that’s probably more for the aesthetic rather than actual political conviction. Mesmerize further reflects discontent with American imperialism (‘Why do they always send the poor?’) as well as celebrity idolisation (Lost in Hollywood).

    Serj Tankian is probably the ‘most based’ out of all of them. The song ‘Harakiri’ features an explicitly anti-capitalist message (‘Mother Nature Against Capitalism’) as well as further promoting an environmentalist stance incompatible with capitalist exploitation of natural resources echoed by earlier SOAD songs. Daron on the other hand is a lot more enigmatic; it doesn’t help that his behaviour has always been erratic. He is a fan of Charles Manson, a neo-Nazi cultist, and mourned his passing. He responded negatively to criticism about this with a terrible defence that ultimately indicates ignorance and possibly edginess rather than sincere convictions; however, his affinity for Charles Manson at least dates back to Toxicity (2001) with the song ‘ATWA’ having been named after Charles Manson’s environmental concepts. Shavo seems to be pretty apathetic except for obviously being pro-Armenia like the rest of the band vis à vis Armenia’s struggles. The most problematic one is John Dolmayan, who is an outright Trump supporter who takes umbrage to any criticism directed at his convictions, and often spars with detractors on social media.

    It’s pretty well known that Serj and John can’t stand each other’s political views, though they remain respectful towards one another given a shared struggle (ie Armenia and Azerbaijan) as well as their history in the band together. A further point about the song B.Y.O.B. (Bring Your Own Bombs) is that, during a live performance, Daron sang the lyric ‘We don’t live in a fascist nation!’, after which Serj exclaimed ‘Yes we do!’ in reference to the Trump Presidency. It’s pretty evident that Serj likes to take the piss out of John’s beliefs and one could argue Daron does as well—whether that’s out of pure edginess or an actual distaste for Trump (or perhaps both) merits more exploration.

    To sum this all up:

    Serj is pretty based insofar as a ‘mainstream’ celebrity goes. He resembles a kind of ‘popular’ anti-capitalism: pro-Bernie, anti-Trump… His heart is in the right place. The others aren’t so clear, but have taken part in the aforementioned songs and have had some input into the overall message of the band; John is the most egregious offender with his open rejection of everything the band actually stands for despite remaining a member. Serj has also collaborated with RATM who are pretty radical.

    • @whoami
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      101 year ago

      We can’t afford to be neutral on a moving train).

      Is that a Howard Zinn reference?

      • @Comrade_Faust
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        91 year ago

        It seems to be! Thanks for pointing that out.

  • @KrupskayaPraxis
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    111 year ago

    I like them, I like that they speak out against the Armenian genocide and the current Azerbaijani aggression

  • @whoami
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    101 year ago

    @Comrade_Faust did a better job of summing them up than I could.

    Overall, I’m a fan of their music, I love Serj, and I love their highlighting of the armenian genocide.

  • the lead vocalist apparently supported Bernie “Maduro is a vicious tyrant” Sanders in the 2016 election (but he also wanted to negotiate with Assad, so who knows), whereas the drummer was/is a rabid Trump supporter

    based on my extensive 5-minute research, they don’t seem to be a very radical bunch

    • QueerCommieOP
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      131 year ago

      Honestly, I don’t really hold supporting Bernie against Americans, in my experience they’re usually the easiest to move further left.

        • @cfgaussian
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          91 year ago

          This. A lot of Americans who became communists in the last 7-8 years started out supporting Bernie but became disillusioned when he capitulated to the Democratic party. Now that he has jumped on the empire bandwagon along with all the other “progressive” frauds it is clear to see that he was never as radical as many of his supporters thought he was in 2016. If you dig just a little into his history you see that he was always an empire collaborationist, starting with his support of the US destruction of Yugoslavia.

  • ButtigiegMineralMap
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    81 year ago

    ever since my friend showed me the cumtown bit they did on System of A Down, I can’t listen to them at all

    • QueerCommieOP
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      61 year ago

      I looked it up, and it seems like someone did a homophobic cover of Chop suey? Who did it?

  • Soviet Snake
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    81 year ago

    I think the more left you get for a more or less popular band, because you then have bands like Los Monstruitos who have great hits such as “Corea del Norte” but they aren’t known at all, is Ramnstein. They were born in the GDR and even though they don’t have songs that openly talk about communism I seem to remember that upon some criticism made to them because of being fascists, they said that on the opposite. I guess it must be hard to be a popular person and be openly communist, so it’s understandable.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rr8ljRgcJNM

    • @Comrade_Faust
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      121 year ago

      Rammstein are definitely left-wing by their own admission. The song you’re referring to is called ‘Links, 2, 3, 4’—if you’re familiar with Bertholt Brecht, this is a direct allusion to the Einheitsfrontlied. Rammstein composed this song after frequent condemnation for being Nazis, owing to the band’s militaristic image as well as peculiarities such as the leader singer’s, Till Lindemann, rolling of Rs, which is often linked with Hitler’s oratory. The music video for the song is an allusion to countless ants (resembling the oppressed masses) uniting to destroy fascism/Nazism represented by large beetles. The lyrics state the following:

      Sie wollen mein Herz am rechten Fleck doch, Seh’ ich dann nach unten weg/weck, Da schlägt es links.

      They want my heart in the right place, but (double-meaning: right as in correct as well as right-wing, like in English) I then look down, It beats to the left (the heart is also beating towards the left of the political spectrum).

      Rammstein’s band members all grew up in the GDR; however, as far as I’m aware, two of them have made pretty clear statements about their experience. Till Lindemann, in spite of his chaotic on-stage appearance, has lamented the loss of authenticity and retains strong connections to how life was in the East. His father, Werner Lindemann, was a poet and was awarded a prize for his contributions to socialist children’s literature.

      Christian ‘Flake’ Lorenz is unapologetically pro-GDR. That’s not necessarily to say he is a perfervid socialist or communist; however, he is adamant in that he misses the GDR, and Lindemann stated: ‘Flake is still a citizen of the GDR, and he will die a citizen of the GDR.’ Flake is quoted as saying ‘free of trouble and pressure, we all had enough money to live.’ He even wrote an essay explaining how he misses the GDR, and he also is a vehement critic of the ‘decadent’ United States. Such feelings are undoubtedly reflected in the song you linked, Amerika. ‘We’re all living in Amerika: coca cola, sometimes war’ and ‘This is not a love song. I don’t sing my mother tongue’ are examples of discontent with American imperialistic and cultural hegemony.

      The band members started out as punks during the final years of the GDR as well. There are interviews where Lindemann was vehemently clear about opposing Nazis, laughing at the assertion that he himself could be one. „Wir kommen aus dem Osten und sind als Sozialisten aufgewachsen. Wir waren früher entweder Punks oder Gruftis.“ Und er positioniert sich ganz klar mit der Aussage: „Wir hassen Nazis!“ (‘“We come from the East and grew up as socialists. We used to be either punks or goths.” And he clarifies his position with the statement: “We hate Nazis!”’) This goes to show that the band members never forgot their socialist education, even if most are apolitical now.

      Undoubtedly they are socially liberal given their portrayal of Deutschland/Germania as a black woman in the song ‘Deutschland’ which induced a lot of right-wing tears, and the numerous times they’ve upset officials in Russia by mimicking homosexual acts while on stage. The song ‘Mann Gegen Mann’ is critical of homophobia and it’s music video is pretty outlandish.

      • @whoami
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        91 year ago

        He even wrote an essay explaining how he misses the GDR

        Do you have a link? Was it published in english

    • @redtea
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      71 year ago

      It’s not music related but, iirc, Vigo Mortensen had an interview at the height of his Lord of the Rings fame. He said something mildly communist and was never really interviewed again on mainstream TV shows. (Looks like he spent some of his childhood in Argentina, btw.)

      • Soviet Snake
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        1 year ago

        It’d be nice to find that interview. But yes, I think he speaks Rioplatense Spanish, and he once came to my city because San Lorenzo was playing a match and he wanted to see them, sadly I couldn’t find him for an autograph.

        • @redtea
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          61 year ago

          I’ll see if I can find it. Might take me a while. I’ll have to remember where I first read the story! This was years ago.

          That’s a shame. He’s a great actor and an impressive human being in general. He seems to be quite a compassionate guy, whatever his exact politics. And apparently he speaks five languages.

        • @redtea
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          1 year ago

          I may have got my facts wrong.

          It could be this interview from 2002: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=API3_OC_XSI

          He’s wearing a shirt with the slogan, ‘No more blood for oil’. Maybe it was the shirt rather than what he said.

          Edit: Strikethrough and it probably was this video. Watch from about 7:33!

          Edit 2: Among some other based points, he argues against individualism and jokes that one of the financial backers (Weinstein, I think) should be happy with 5% of the $billion income considering that he never stepped foot in New Zealand.

          • Soviet Snake
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            21 year ago

            Really based interview, at least for a Hollywood actor, keeping in mind all the trash that inhabits those places. Very well for Vigo! I’m going to screenshot him with that t-shirt, lol.

  • @Lemmy_Mouse
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    61 year ago

    Why don’t you ask the kids at Tienanmen Square Was fashion the reason why they were there (no it was a color revolution) Mesmerize the simple-minded Propaganda leads us blinded (idiots lead by the CIA’s FreeDUMB radio Asia)

    I love SOAD 👍

    • QueerCommieOP
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      41 year ago

      It’s often hard to tell pro/anti China for things like this. Reminds me of the jreg video where he’s like “I love authoritarian China/s” then he’s like “and so, we should totally invade this place we didn’t care about til a second ago”

      • @Lemmy_Mouse
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        31 year ago

        Understandable, but in their defense, most of the left was anti-China prior to the last 5 years. In many places it’s still the default. It’s reminiscent of the Sino Soviet Split and the USSR’s footprint left in the world.

  • QueerCommieOP
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    51 year ago

    Wow, a lot of great answers. Thanks.