The band’s debut album, Rage Against the Machine, reached triple platinum status, driven by heavy radio play of the song “Killing in the Name”, a heavy, driving track featuring only eight lines of lyrics. On Rage Against The Machine’s first album, the cover is a Pulitzer prize winning photo of a burning monk, Thich Quang Duc. RATM have taken a consistent counter cultural stance that has troubled much of conservative America. While appearing on Saturday Night Live in 1996, bassist Tim Commerford took a U.S. flag, tore it up, and charged into guest host/Republican Steve Forbes’ dressing room, hurling it at his associates. This incident followed Rage’s planned two-song set being cut short after they hung inverted American flags onto their amps. Rage Against the Machine has been described as rap metal, rap rock, funk metal, alternative metal, hard rock, nu metal, heavy metal and alternative rock.