Goddamn. Shit The Bed

Tool – 10,000 Days

When the best band in the world takes six years to follow up one of the best albums ever made, they're inviting a bit of over-anticipation. Before Lateralus came out Tool had been defunct for several years, Maynard had joined A Perfect Circle and the band was engaged in a long legal battle with their record label. Even though everyone loved Aenima, I think few people really expected Lateralus to even come out, and certainly not for it to turn out so good. Hence 10,000 Days is the first Tool album to be released with the full weight of anticipation upon it, and no matter what they did with it it was always going to invite a backlash. A brief look over the Tool Navy message boards will show you dozens of people swearing that the album leaked to the internet was a fake, or that it just plain sucks. But they're all wrong. It's not as good as Lateralus but I'd still rate it at least on a par with Aenima. To be honest I was slightly disappointed the first time I put it on, but with repeated listening I'm growing to like it more and more.

To start with, the album packaging is great. The booklet contains a series of stereoscopic images that can be viewed in 3D with the help of a special pair of glasses attached to the CD case (you can't download that!) The art itself is excellent too, easily better than even that of Lateralus. The common motifs include skulls and the guy on the front cover image with dozens of eyes and universes inside his head. Each member of the band has a solo portrait, posing with all sorts of esoteric materials from a wizards laboratory around them. The overall mood is far more mystical and old-worldly than they've appeared before. It's such a cool package that now I wish I hadn't downloaded the album early, as the packaging really does enhance the music. I rolled my eyes when the band said that they wanted the music to be experienced with the artwork, but I realise now they were right.

So what about the actual music then? In some ways I feel like it's a bit of a step back from Lateralus, the songs have less progression and are arranged more in the manner of Aenima, based around straightforward repeated riffs instead of moving forward from one place to another. It's not as meticulously arranged as Lateralus either; with the exception of 'Vicarious' the overall structure as well as the individual riffs are looser and less elegant. Although this isn't necessarily a bad thing, as together with it's rawer production it combines to give 10,000 Days a more natural, bluesy feel.

Maynard's vocals have gone in new directions. There's little of his typical Tool screaming and he seems to have bought a lot of his A Perfect Circle approach to singing to the songs. He also experiments more on this album, as on earlier Tool albums he pretty much used the same voice the whole way through, merely varying along the scream/sing axis. His lyrics are also some of the best he's ever written, a definite step up from Lateralus and Thirteenth Step, which I felt he was possibly rushed for time in coming up with lyrics for. Justin, the bass player, seems to have finally come into his own too. On Aenima and Lateralus he certainly did a good job but was always overshadowed by the huge talent of the other three band members. On 10,000 Days he seems to have become more of a central focus to the music, playing more of the melody and less just rhythm. Danny Carey has once again just ratcheted himself one notch higher on the insane-o-meter. On the other hand Adam Jones, my idol as a guitar player, is the only one who seems to have slipped a bit. He's using much more complicated rhythms and has certainly advanced the music technically, but it's come at the expense of some of the visceral emotion that made his compositions on earlier albums so great. Hopefully by the time they put out another album he will have progressed some more and be able to meld both the passion and the technique together, because that will fucking rock.

The album opens with 'Vicarious', which we have probably all heard many times by now. Maynard's lyrics deal with the political situation of the world today, but in an indirect way by lambasting the tendency of the human race towards schadenfreude. Surprisingly it's probably the weakest song on the album. There are lots of clever time signatures and it's one of the slickest in terms of production and arrangement (in other words the song that could belong most easily on Lateralus), but still it's a good catchy, heavy track that's probably just diminished a little by listening to it too much over the last few weeks.

'Jambi' continues in a heavy vein, also featuring some weird time signatures but this time arranged in a much more natural, engaging way. This track features Adam's best work on the album, with the very satisfying tempo changes from subdued but menacing to heavy and of course with his legendary talk-box solo in the middle. This is probably the highlight of the album in terms of a catchy song that stands on it's own, and it's bound to be a winner during their live shows.

'Wings For Marie' and '10,000 Days' are a pair of songs that go together. They both open with some of the gentlest material Tool have ever produced, and the two songs are rendered most memorable by some of Maynard's best and most personal lyrics he's ever written, dealing with his mother's death (after 10,000 days paralysed by a stroke). Both tracks end with a heavy passage, although the first one is much better than the second, followed by an incredibly sad coda that is identical on both tracks save for the lyrics. This moody, reflective song is a real departure for the band and works very well. The Tool Navy forums are full of people saying they can't listen to this song without crying, a bit of an extreme reaction but it's impossible to hear Maynard close 'Wings For Marie' with “It's time for us to let you go...” and not feel a shiver.

'The Pot' opens with the album's big What The Fuck moment; Maynard singing unaccompanied “Who are you to wave your finger/ You must have been out your mind,” in what has been described as his best James Blunt voice. The song then goes on to rock out in a big way. It's probably the closest thing to a classic Tool song on the album and will probably make a great single. Heavy, catchy and with clever lyrics paying out hypocritical idiots, it's all very familiar territory for these guys pulled off with impeccable skill and total assurance.

'Lipan Conjuring' is a short Native American chant to ward off evil, and to clear the past away for the future. In other words, the absolute definition of an album divider.

'Lost Keys (Blame Hoffman)' is the track that was my favourite on my initial listen. Slow, simple and pretty, wistful but not depressing. A bit of a skit runs under the music, as an Australian doctor (New Zealand and Australia are Tool's biggest fans per head of population, so the doctor's nationality is probably a bit of a nod in our direction) attempts to diagnose an unresponsive Maynard, finally asking him “What's happened? Tell me everything...”; cue feedback and then the repeated riff starts up again with heavy distortion, leading us into the songs other half 'Rosetta Stoned'. For the first few listens I wrote this song off completely. It goes for a good ten or eleven minutes and seems fairly aimless and repetitive. The only immediately catchy thing about it is Maynard's aggressive cutup vocals, which babble and rave nonsense under heavy riffs that repeat in odd time changes, leaving the listener in a very unsettled state of mind. However recently it's been rapidly growing on me. Anyone who's having trouble getting into this song should try reading the lyrics, the story is goofy and funny but once you get the mood behind it the song makes more sense, it's supposed to invoke the idea of a bad trip, a recurring dream and the feeling of trying to remember something very important that you can't put your finger on, all at the same time. If you've ever had a drug induced experience when your brain is flying around in feverish, frustrated circles you'll know the feeling. It's a hard song to listen to, but one that is rewarding when given enough attention.

The album winds down with 'Intension', a mellow progression from 'Disposition' off Lateralus. However 'Intension' is a little darker and a lot longer. It's one of the more forgettable tracks off the album but it's pleasant enough and remains listenable over its seven minutes. Watch out for Maynard's backwards message at the beginning: “Work hard, stay in school, listen to your parents.”

The last song is my favourite. 'Right In Two' starts off in a very gentle vein, with a beautifully sad riff by Adam, and Maynard singing about the angels watching over Earth, puzzled by these stupid humans who use their God given free will and reason to fight and kill one another. Gradually the attitude of the angels turns to anger and the music bursts into the album closing rock out, complete with Danny Carey sounding like his arms must be about to fly off. The closing refrain is “Cut it all right in two”, are the angels describing the actions of the humans or have the angels decided to cut us all right in two, 'Aenema' style. Are the angels attempting to bless us with patience and reason or is Maynard attempting to bless the angels with those qualities? In other words are we going to fuck ourselves or is nature going to fuck us or is there still a little bit of hope for humanity...

'Vigniti Tres'. A quiet little walk out track, very reminiscent of 'Switches' by Coil. A better album closer that 'Faaip De Oaid' from Lateralus, I think.