Rage Against the Machine back to do battle

With public support for the war in Iraq plummeting and the recent resignation of Karl Rove, you'd think this would be a feel-good time for Rage Against the Machine, that massively popular, politically-engaged rap-rock band that broke up -- in a spat of personal, but also by-partisan frustration, it seemed -- in 2000, a year that did not go in their favor.

Here we are on the eve on another presidential election and the band is suddenly back and just as much of an irritant as before. Original members Zack de la Rocha, Tom Morello, Tim Commerford and Brad Wilk reformed early this year, but it's a cautious reunion. Since April the band has only played five summer festivals. That is, except for the show Friday at the Alpine Valley Music Theatre, in East Troy, Wis., the band's sixth show total and the only non-festival date of the year so far.

Exiting at the beginning of the Bush presidency and returning near its end did not go by unnoticed. Already, the band is sparking controversy similar to the old days and through familiar ways: De La Rocha's onstage protests this summer cited Noam Chomsky and derided Fox News.

The band's 90-minute set Friday did not leave much room to breathe. The 13-song setlist hit the band's four albums, but nothing they played --even if ripped from, by now, dusty headlines -- sounded dated. In fact, the seven-year absence sounds like one of serious rejuvenation. The militant bombast of early set songs like"Bulls on Parade,""Bombtrack" and"Guerrilla Radio" were just as muscular and menacing as before and, framed in the context of today, they seemed just as urgent and reliable.

Guitarist Morello --ˆť a Libertyville native --ˆť fired off a relentless stream of inventive sounds, squawks and squiggles, in a way that gave the songs a playful human element, despite the brutal rhythm provided by his bandmates. Commerford's meaty bass ultimately drove the songs, but Morello played as if to break through them, adding and then removing layers, playing countermelodies, and a barrage of offbeat sounds.

Looking lean and quite like an elder statesman these days, De La Rocha paced the stage thoughtfully. He remains a rock frontman who always appears like he's alone, despite the presence of nearly 30,000 people before his eyes. That focus gives meditative heft to his protests, making them sound less like he's simply proselytizing to whip up a crowd and more like they are the product of a troubled, genuinely concerned soul.

He switched up songs to make them apply to current affairs."Bullet in the Head," a 1992 song about government mind control, became a platform for the lies that launched the Iraq war and"Killing in the Name" -- which ended the set -- was a call for public awareness about how killing is a moral issue and travels in both directions.

"I won't do what you tell me," De La Rocha sang repeatedly. The point did not have to be made.