Political thrash-rockers Rage Against the Machine are working on their third LP with noted producer Brendan O'Brien (Pearl Jam, Stone Temple Pilots). The album reportedly will expand the band's sound, while also offering the usual dose of the heavy punk and rap on which they've based their career.

"It's got some new stuff, new sounds, different things going on," said O'Brien, who also worked on Evil Empire.

Rage guitarist Tom Morello was born 35 years ago today in New York and was raised in the Chicago suburb of Libertyville. His father was a member of the Mau Mau guerrilla army, which freed Kenya from British colonial rule, and Morello's uncle Jomo Kenyatta was the first Kenyan president.

Morello's mother founded the anti-censorship organization Parents for Rock & Rap in 1987.

Morello joined with singer Zack de la Rocha, drummer Brad Wilk and bassist Tim Bob to form Rage Against the Machine. The band self-distributed an eponymous 12-song cassette in 1992 featuring "Bullet in the Head."

Rage Against the Machine quickly gained interest among the media and underground rock fans for their polemic sentiments and songs that combined leftist opposition to corporate America and cultural oppression with thrash punk and rap.

After Epic Records signed Rage, the band was criticized for aligning with Epic's parent company Sony, which, as one of the world's largest corporations, was the epitome of the establishment the group's music railed against. Epic issued a self-titled Rage LP in 1992. It included the songs "Killing in the Name," "Bombtrack" and "Freedom" (RealAudio excerpt).

Rage played the Lollapalooza tour and spent years readying a sophomore LP. Evil Empire emerged in 1996 at #1 on the Billboard 200 albums chart. The album featured the hit "Bulls on Parade." In 1997 Morello was arrested for protesting against Guess? Jeans, which allegedly conducted unlawful activities against workers, including surveillance and interrogation of union supporters. That same year he collaborated with techno rockers the Prodigy on "One Man Army" from the "Spawn" soundtrack.

In 1998 Rage Against the Machine contributed the song "No Shelter" to the "Godzilla" soundtrack.

In January, Rage helped organize a benefit concert for Pennsylvania death-row inmate Mumia Abu-Jamal, a black activist convicted of murdering a police officer. Recently, Morello has spoken out against politicians and journalists who linked the Littleton, Colo., school shootings to the influence of bands such as Marilyn Manson.

This summer, Rage is scheduled to play WXRK-FM radio's Dysfunctional Family Picnic in New York; the Tibetan Freedom Concert in Amsterdam, Netherlands; the 30th-anniversary Woodstock festival in upstate New York; and the Mt. Fuji Festival outside Tokyo.

Other birthdays: Lenny Davidson (Dave Clark Five), 55; Nicky "Topper" Headon (Clash), 44; Marie Fredriksson (Roxette), 41; Wynonna Judd, 35; Tim Burgess (Charlatans UK), 31; Patrick Dalheimer (Live), 28.