MUSIC REVIEWS
Tool - 10,000 Days
Matt Jameson
Got damn! I have been waiting what seems like eons for this new album. Can you tell I am a TOOL fanatic? Even since I first heard their music in 1993, I have been hooked like a crack addict with a free source. TOOL is now, and will forever remain one of the most amazing acts in music today. This new release titled 10,000 days is yet another amazing album with potential to propel their fan base to even greater heights.
Fronted by Maynard James Keenan of A Perfect Circle, Pucifer, and even Bikini Bandits fame, TOOL has evolved to become one of the most dynamic and unclassifiable heavy acts ever. The band formed when guitarist Adam Jones had been searching for a vocalist, and happened to overhear a neighbor shouting. The simple power contained in that voice moved him to seek out and meet this neighbor. Jones quickly invited Keenan to front his musical project, as he felt this kind of vocal presence was just what his amazing talent needed to get noticed. Thus the band was formed by Keenan and Jones.
Their sound was further complimented by the amazing and world-renowned drummer / genius Danny Carey. Mr. Carey has been awarded the prestigious drummer of the year award on numerous occasions by many drum publications from around the world.
TOOL’s amazing bass lines are now being fingered by Justin Chancellor’s capable hands (although Justin is a newer member of the band), and combined with the others this act is a super group of sorts. 10,000 days is at once musically brilliant yet incredibly subtle. A talent this band has always been known for pulling off.
You may see mixed reviews on this album, as some TOOL fans don’t appreciate the direction they seems to be going with these last two albums. But true TOOL fans will more than appreciate this album. It has everything that makes TOOL great, plus a new spin on their excellent sound. The band has taken a more progressive direction, and Keenan actually dubbed it a “rhythm and blues” album in a recent interview.
Juggling multiple beat counts, and weaving them together as is they were supposed to fit has become a mainstay of the TOOL catalogue, but none more so than this newest release. Musicians and listeners alike will hear this awesome feat pulled of flawlessly on almost all of these brilliant 10,000 days’ tracks. This time around there is less focus on the vocal and more push on the guitar and drums. In this way this album differs from all their previous releases. You can learn more about how this is done in a hilarious and insightful article release in the March issue of Guitar World. Adam waxes philosophically about what he calls “his” band, teaches a little lesson he learned from Danny Carey about unusual time signatures, and even explains why TOOL takes so long to release new albums. Pick it up if you are interested in learning a whole lot about a band that for the past decade has remained rather withdrawn. Sadly though, in recent interviews there have been hints about the end of TOOL, but of course nothing set in stone.
And as if that is not enough reason to rush out and pick up this album, consider the packaging. Once again the creative juices were flowing when Adam Jones designed the new album sleeve and artwork. This release comes with a built in stereogram viewing lenses, which allow you to revel in the amazing 3D photos and unusual artwork. This time around, you even get to see clear pictures of each band member. Something TOOL rarely allows as a way of building curiosity and keeping the focus on the music.
All of that sounds great, but get this. Days before the release of this epic, information was given out by numerous radio stations indicating that the entire 10,000 days album had leaked and was now being downloaded before its release. This resulted in millions of impatient fans flooding music swapping websites to get their hands on these tracks a few days early. In true TOOL style, it was an extremely well thought out hoax. Tracks named properly were “leaked” but they weren’t the real songs. Many of these tracks sounded very similar to something TOOL might do, but true TOOL fans knew better. Only two of these “leaked” tracks were actual real tracks from the album. They were the radio played “Vicarious” and another powerful track titled “Right In Two” which features some of the best lyrics ever from Mr. Keenan. Hours later hundreds of negative “reviews” from “fans” bashed the new album claiming that TOOL had “fell off” and that this new album was crap. Meanwhile real fans were even more excited to hear the new album and prove these other fans to be gullible morons.
After all, TOOL was the band that played a huge April Fools’ joke by claiming that front man Keenan had found Jesus and was giving up the band. In fact this is just the kind of thing TOOL is known for. Posting hidden meanings and messages into the album artwork began way back on the Undertow release. This one album boasted 10 secrets ranging from easy to find, to downright obscure. At this point, just how many secrets are held in this new album is pure speculation - but I assure you that there are many to be discovered.
I don’t want to spoil the surprise by talking too much about the songs, as they truly need to be experienced to really be heard - but I can tell you that this is some of the most impressive work from these musicians I have ever heard. This self-produced album not only surpasses the previous limits of Danny Carey’s talents, but it also proves once again that Adam and Justin are truly some of the most talented guitarists playing today. And of course as always the ever impressive Keenan does what he does best – shows us what true vocal talent is all about.
Take it from this TOOL-head; this album is a 20 out of 10 that aims to forever establish TOOL as one of the greatest musical acts of all time. Don’t just take my word for it listen for yourself. TOOL continues to create music that requires an extreme amount of talent to produce, something that altogether missing from most of the devoid dribble they poop out of radio recently. TOOL: you had me at hello.
