Return of Tool
With the release of 10,000 Days, their fourth studio album, Tool cements its status as one of the most influential bands of the last 20 years, adding life to a genre-metal-that has been bled dry. To their credit, the LA natives have remained relevant despite prolonged periods of absence and, more importantly, have consistently produced albums ascending in power. Basically, Tool is a goddamn machine.
Throughout its 16-year run, the band-vocalist Maynard James Keenan, guitarist Adam Jones, bassist Justin Chancellor and drummer/percussionist Danny Carey-has garnered heaps of acclaim and a wide array of fans: Everyone from shamanic hippies to fat teenagers loves Tool. Incorporating polyrhythmic jams, chainsaw-riffing, biting social commentary and the most delicate emotions, the guys have consistently yielded bodies of work rife with meaningful lyrics and progressive grinds that leave even the biggest skeptics a tad spellbound. Their sound is always eerie and brash, but never contained. Tool offers a little something for everybody; a recipe for concentrated success, if you will.
Yet it wasn't until its sophomore release, 1996's Grammy-winning AEnima that Tool became the veritable beast it is today. AEnima was more of a journey than an album, ingeniously assimilating Keenan's lucid vocals with the tripped-out body created from Jones' haunting guitar, Chancellor's punchy bass lines and Carey's precision drumming. Not only did the album produce one of the spookiest videos of all time ("Stinkfist"), it also birthed the insanely heartfelt "Pushit" and "Third Eye," a psychedelic warpath that introduced the audience to an extraordinarily introspective side of the band, one which would be further expounded upon in 2001's Lateralus.
On their latest, Tool has turned yet another corner, reaching new peaks of heaviness ("Jambi"), brilliant songwriting ("The Pot") and sincerity ("10,000 Days [Wings Part 2]"). And how could they not? The album's title serves as a dedication to Keenan's deceased mother who was partially paralyzed by a stroke for 27 years (approximately 10,000 days) before passing away.
If you're holding tickets to this week's sold-out shows at City Center, consider yourself extremely lucky or a soulless scalper. (Tickets are to up to $335 on eBay.) You'll experience hypnotizing, albeit slightly scary visuals pumping from screens, Keenan's onstage commentary (typically a muted comedy act) and as some stoner who's seen Airheads one too many times might say, music that is "like a dolphin's butt hole?water-tight."