Review of TOOL's "10,000 Days"!!!!

"The new Tool album makes life worth living," says my brother, whom I credit for igniting the sparks of my passion for Tool back in 2000, when he let me listen to "Die Eier Von Satan" on his discman. Needless to say, I became so addicted to the distinct and innovative sound of Tool, that for the past 6 years I have considered Tool my favourite band.

I was actually a bit skeptical about "10,000 Days"... I couldn't imagine Tool's previous work being equaled, much less surpassed, but with the amazing talent and abilities of Maynard James Keenan (vocals), Adam Jones (guitar), Justin Chancellor (bass) and Danny Carey (drums), I must say that Tool has far exceeded my expectations with their new album. The long, 5 year wait was worth it, folks!

"10,000 Days" is a musical masterpiece! that proves Tool will continue to transcend genre classification. Tool confirms their polyrhythmic mastery by integrating several uncommon time signatures into the tracks, establishing Tool's special ability to bring a rare and beautiful order to chaos. MJK's vocals are both varied and impeccable, Jones plays the complex riffs with his usual excellence, and Chancellor and Carrey combine to provide a rhythm and tempo that is mesmerizing, powerful and at times even primal. Not only is "10.000 Days" extreme listening pleasure, it is a sanctuary of metaphorical imagery for the mind, and there are several levels of potential meaning in the lyrics. "10,000 Days" provides us with the unique and euphonically addictive metal sound that we have come to love and expect from Tool, and is one hour and 16 minutes of pure audio ecstasy.

There is not one track I can say that I didn't absolutely love, although the tracks that seem to play in my head more frequently than others are Jambi, 10,000 Days, The Pot, Rosetta Stoned and Right In Two. The only negative thing I can say about "10,000 Days" is that it sounds sooooo good that it kind of makes other music sound incomplete and dulled. You know how it is...when something is just so magnificent that everything else seems to acheive a paler shade of grey in comparison? This is Tool's "10,000 Days" in a nutshell.

There are a few more interesting things worth noting about "10,000 Days":

• Good news for people like me who get a little sad when one of Tool's songs is over: 6 of the 11 tracks are over 7 minutes long!!!
• The significance of "10,000 Days" is that MJK's mother became paralyzed after a stroke, and remained that way until she died, 27 years (approx 10,000 days) later
  
• 'Marie' in "Wings For Marie" is referring to MJK's mother, whose name was Judith Marie.
  
• Hoffman - named in "Lost Keys (blame Hoffman)" refers to Albert Hoffman, the Swiss chemist who invented LSD (a synthetic hallucinogen) in 1938.
• Note the spelling of "Intension" meaning 'intensity' rather than 'intention', which means to resolve or determination.
  
• Tool acheives new heights in music lyric history by succesfully incorporating the word 'monkey' into the track "Right In Two" 10 times. (that I could count)
  
• I never thought I would hear MJK say "shit the bed".
  

To read the Wikipedia entry on "10,000 Days" click HERE.

You can also check out either of the 2 Tool links on the right hand side.