Rage Against The Machine

RZA is stoked to see the guys from Rage Against the Machine rocking again -- but he wants to see another reunion that involves them and his Wu-Tang Clan.

We got the Wu leader at LAX and asked how he felt about Tom Morello and Zack de la Rocha putting their band back together to hit the road and play Coachella. RZA says it's the perfect time for their return, 'cause there's plenty to rage about these days.

He also brought up some unfinished biz with Rage that he wants to address -- wrapping up the tour their groups weren't able to complete 20 years ago!!!

Yes, believe it or not ... the Wu-Tang Clan actually got its touring feet wet with a co-headlining national tour with Rage Against the Machine back in 1997 ... but it was cut short after RZA and the fellas pulled out due to internal conflict among its members.

Welp ... RZA says he wants to run it back and finish out what they couldn't all those years ago. In fact, he's already got a point of contact on how to pull it off.

President Trump and his base are full-on racists, but there is a solution ... so says Rage Against the Machine's bassist, Tim Commerford.

We go the rocker Wednesday at LAX and asked a pretty broad question about the most pressing world issue -- he does not mince words.

Lance Armstrong has a pretty cool ally -- the bassist from Rage Against the Machine ... who's vouching that Armstrong still "rules" and says it's time for people to get over the P.E.D. scandal.

TMZ Sports spoke with Tim Commerford -- who's gotten pretty serious about cycling over the years -- and he told us that Armstrong was his "pit crew guy" during a recent race in Colorado.

"[He] took care of me and fed me and hydrated me ... trained with me and all that. It was an awesome experience."

And get this ... Commerford says despite the cheating and all the other bad stuff Armstrong 'fessed up to, he still thinks Lance is an inspiring guy and deserves a second chance with the American public.

As for Lance, he's taken a self deprecating approach in the hopes to change his image ... and recently got props from the cops for helping spread the word about a bike thief.

If you bang your head to rock music so hard that your skull fills with blood and doctors have to DRILL HOLES in it to save your life -- Rage Against The Machine's Tim Commerford not only has your back ... he says keep rocking!

We asked the Rage bassist about a German Motorhead fan who suffered a brain bleed -- which his doctors partially blamed on years of excessive headbanging -- and Tim doesn't think the horrific news will scare true headbanging fans.

In fact, he says he's felt the same pain, telling us ... "Banger neck, yeah. Every time we played I got banger neck."

Of course, Tim never had to have HOLES DRILLED IN HIS HEAD ... like the Motorhead fan -- but watch him explain why that danger is just part of the show.

Hardcore.

Tom Morello's so pissed about the worldwide search for Edward Snowden that he's willing to foot the bill to help the man behind the NSA leaks escape the U.S. government.

We brought up the Snowden scandal to Rage Against the Machine's guitarist last night ... and he absolutely unloaded on the Obama administration, and recommended Snowden -- who's been charged with espionage and theft of government property -- never return to the U.S.

Morello explained, "I think he should live a happy life in Ecuador. That's what I think. I think he's a hero."

He added, "He exposed the crimes of the government. That we're all being spied on. all the time by the Obama administration? If anybody deserves to be in jail ... it's not Snowden."

Tom goes on to say he'll personally pay for Snowden's flight to South America -- and you've gotta hear his choice words for President Obama and his emails soliciting money.

"Rage Against the Machine" drummer (and co-founder) Bradley Wilk has a solo in his future ... 'cause his wife just filed for divorce, TMZ has learned.

Wilk -- who's also beaten the skins for Audioslave and Black Sabbath -- had separated from wife Selene Vigil-Wilk just last Friday ... and 3 days later, she filed the paperwork in L.A. County Superior Court.

According to the documents, obtained by TMZ, the two tied the knot back in 2005 -- and have 2 young children together.

Selene is asking for joint legal custody ... but she wants primary physical, probably because he's a famous rock star ... and rock stars often go on the road. She's also asking for spousal support.

Calls to Wilk have not been returned.

Tom Morello from "Rage Against the Machine" says everyone needs to stop bitching about Jay-Z and Beyonce's Cuba trip.

Tom was out in L.A. Friday, when our photog ask the rocker -- who's a pretty well known political activist and founder of the non-profit "Axis of Justice" -- about the controversial trip to the country famous for cigars and human rights violations.

Unlike lots of others ...Tom had their back.

In the process he dropped some Cuba knowledge ... explaining how to get in and out of the country ... legally.

Check it out.

Republican VP hopeful Paul Ryan should've thought twice before saying he's a fan of Rage Against the Machine -- because the band's bassist tells TMZ, it makes Paul look like a complete idiot.

Tim Commerford was out in Malibu this week when we asked about Paul's love for the notoriously left-wing group -- and Tim responded, "Clearly [Paul's] not smart to be admitting that."

He adds, "It seems like it's stupid for him to even bring it up, so he's obviously not that smart of a guy."

Tom Morello -- Rage's guitarist -- has already ripped Paul over his fandom, saying, Paul "is the embodiment of the machine that our music has been raging against for two decades."

You'll recall, last time we spoke to Commerford he hinted at a new Rage album in the works. This time we asked if the new album was for real, and Commerford replied, "DEFINITELY ... maybe ... Anything is possible."