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Tool

10,000 Days

Written by: PP on 06/05/2006 09:57:38

Tool. The band that is worshipped by those who understand their complex music, and hated by those who aren't keen on spending enough time to realize the inner beauty of music this complex. Or perhaps I should call it art instead of music, as Tool takes music to a level that previously has only been achieved by the likes of Pink Floyd, Deep Purple, and more recently, Opeth. Yes, Tool is the modern day Pink Floyd, and after five years of eager but patient waiting, we are once again relished with a new outing by this already legendary band, namely "10,000 Days".

And quite like the title implies, we are once again forced to spend hours upon hours before the depth of the album reveals itself. The lengthy double-tracks like the Wings-part1/2 are the true gems of the album, with Maynard exploring a soothing, nearly mumbling vocal aspect as opposed to the more common angry singing that more often than not nearly breaks into shouting. The opening track "Vicarious" is as catchy as Tool will ever get on an album, its infectious heavy rock hooks are alluring and captivating and yet the band is able to avoid the all too common verse/chorus structure well enough to have the depth of Tool demonstrated all around. On "Lost Keys", the introduction to the lengthy "Rosetta Stoned", the band is exploring an avant-garde ambience-style with feedback running on the background while the lead guitar runs a continous low-scale slowly creeping towards the 'grand finale', which "Rosetta Stoned" can be concluded to be. This track is classic Tool at its best, where the bass line is distinct and the most easily-identifiable element, and the guitar riffs are simple but ever so cleverly written to provide simplicity and depth at the same time!

Grading a Tool album lower than a 9 is guaranteed to get flame to the reviewer from almost all fronts. However, the instrumental exploration Tool uses in tracks like "Intension" and "Viginti Tres" is just too much, resulting in a vibe that the band is trying too hard to top their artistic creativity. Together with the strange "Lipan Conjurin", they seem more like fillers than actual tracks. Even so, when you compare "10,000 Days" to 99.9% of the other releases this year, it reigns over as superior and makes most of them sound like ridiculous, unserious efforts of making music. However, when you compare "10,000 Days" to their previous masterpiece "Lateralus", it becomes clear why I can't give it a higher grade than it does. "Lateralus" is the culmination of Tool's excellence, and I don't believe "10,000 Days" tops it. Yet. But as with all Tool albums, an immense amount of time is required to understand the albums completely, which is why my opinion might change over the course of this year. But for now, all I can give it is an

Download: Wings For Marie (pt 1), 10000 Days (Wings pt 2)
For the fans of: Opeth, Pink Floyd, Nine Inch Nails
Listen: No streams

Release date 02.05.2006
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