RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE recently returned home from headlining the Big Day Out festival in Australia and New Zealand, where guitarist Tom Morello also did double duty on some shows as his political folk alter ego, the NIGHTWATCHMAN. Although RAGE still has no plans to record, Morello told The Pulse of Radio that he's already finished his second NIGHTWATCHMAN CD. "The working title is 'The Fabled City', and it's pretty damn rocking," he said. "Over the course of the last year, you know, playing hundred-some shows, I think I've grown as a performer, and there's a certain amount of energy and electricity to those acoustic shows that I tried to translate to the record, and it's definitely a more high-energy affair. And there's actually one or two guitar solos may have crept their way in, as well as a riff or two."

Morello did not give a release date for "The Fabled City", although he said he expects it to come out later this year. His first NIGHTWATCHMAN record, "One Man Revolution", arrived last April.

RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE reunited last year for a series of concerts, its first in seven years. The band is next slated to hit the European festival circuit this summer.

As for Morello's other band, AUDIOSLAVE, he said there are no plans at the moment to issue a greatest-hits collection from the now-defunct supergroup. He did hint, however, that there is unreleased material recorded by the band which could someday see the light of day.