04.28.06.1278
I don’t presume to be a professional record reviewer, but I thought about taking this comment into consideration:
So, very briefly, I will give you my thoughts on the upcoming Tool album, 10,000 Days. Of course, if you have not seen this thread: Tool - 10,000 Days, it will explain some needed answers you might be looking for.
I could spend a great deal of this post typing up how 10,000 Days is definitively about death, expounding on Maynard’s lyrics; which a lot of people have tended to misinterpret a great deal—almost as bad as some people have interpreted Nietzsche. However, I’m not going to do that. Instead I will expound on the instrumental aspect of 10,000 Days and how it compares and contrasts to previous Tool albums.
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Vicarious: This single, although intensive, is almost uncharacteristic to the rest of the album. As I’m sure everyone has listened, it shares traits with earlier Tool works in Lateralus and Aenima. Being one of the more upbeat songs on this album, I can trace similarities to songs like Schism and H., but still, it has a sound all its own. I personally think this song was a good choice to make as their single as it introduces the Tool we know and love, with the change we expect to hear.
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Jambi: I’ve been getting some mixed feelings from this song. It has the same upbeat guitar and bass work as Vicarious, but Maynard’s lyrics move a bit slower; giving the tune a sense of discord. It’s this song that I felt could have been influenced by Maynard’s time with APC. An interesting thing I loved in this song though was Adam Jones’ wrenching solo work (it sounded as if he was pulling his guitar through a gravitational vortex) and Danny Carey’s hand drum in the beginning.
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Wings For Marie (Part 1) & 4. 10,000 Days (Wings Part 2): Intended as a single track, but obviously cut in two just like the Eon Blue Apocalypse/The Patient, Mantra/Schism, and Parabol/Parabola tracks in Lateralus, Wings For Marie represents the metaphorical “calm before the storm,” however, unlike the exceptionally short Mantra and Parabol, Wings For Marie is much longer with some sudden “tastes” of what’s to come in the next track. It also features some guitar work that sounds reminiscent of Eon Blue Apocalypse. Wings Part 2, oddly enough, actually moves like a storm moving in. The gradual strumming in the beginning with actual thunder in the background (or at least that’s what it sounds like) picks up speed—a gradual build up of emotion preparing to unleash itself in a manner of retribution; as if it were the coming of the Christian apocalypse… The build up proceeds stronger and stronger, but I’ve listened to it and noted three phases of intensity in this song. The second passes sometime after the five and a half minute mark, and the third (the point where it would seem the storm is in full force) around eight and a half minutes. The resolution picks up at about nine and a half minutes, as if the storm suddenly dissipates and Jones pulls off some strange “rolling” sounds on the guitar.
Considering the lyrical connotations in this song, it could be reasoned that the three phases the song moves in are representations of the Christian trinity—at least that’s my interpretation of it. -
The Pot: Being a drastic change in mood from the last track, Maynard’s singing style reminds me of some of the political-minded covers he performed with APC’s Emotive album. Carey’s African-styled hand drumming makes another appearance in the beginning, adding a tribal flavor to the song. This song, more than any other in the album takes me back to Aenima and to a lesser extent, Undertow oddly enough.
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Lipan Conjouring: I’ll be honest with this song. If you listen to this and cannot feel the Native American influence, specifically the Apache, on a spiritual level of connection, you’re missing out. However, I’ve heard some great Native chant songs and this shadows in comparison. Still though, it’s a good attempt to capture the feel and vibe of that culture, especially considering the rest of the music on this album.
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Lost Keys: Something odd about this song at the very beginning takes me all the way back to Opiate—I won’t say which song, but then it clearly jumps forward with a distinct resemblance to Eon Blue Apocalypse. Another thing I liked was the addition of voice tracks often featured in Tool albums one way or another.
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Rosetta Stoned: Lost Keys seemed to be an intro to this song, like Wings For Marie to 10,000 Days. What’s strange about this song is it sounds like a lucrative and vivid blend between a song from Undertow and Aenima. However, there’s still that sense of discord in some parts of the song that I earlier detected in Jambi between Maynard and the rest of the band.
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Intension: When I first heard this song, the first thing that popped into my head was Vangelis. “Alpha,” from the Albedo 0.39 album is what this song reminded me of within the first few seconds. However, something delightfully interesting about this song is the way Tool has introduced one instrument after another. This song is probably the most serene of all the tracks on this album.
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Right In Two: This is the third instance where a previous track falls into the next during this album, unifying them as one song. Coincidence or something more? This song is sounds purely of Lateralus influences, reminding me of the Lateralus track itself. Carey’s Middle-Eastern-styled hand drumming takes a prominent role in a section of this song.
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Viginti Tres: This last track of the album seriously sounds like something from the Silent Hill game, but not before taking me back to Aenima with a resemblance to Ions, (-) and Lateralus with a resemblance to Faaip De Oiad, but still there stands a creepiness that I didn’t expect, I’ll let you hear it for yourself. Viginti Tres is Latin for twenty-three… the relevance of that number is speculatory, but may have significance to something in the occult.
Well… that’s all I plan to write about this album… for now. I hope you enjoy it as much as I.
