Four days to "10,000 Days"

cornbb

My 2 cents:

The new album is a serious letdown. Every preceding Tool album represented a huge progressive leap, 10,000 days is pretty unoriginal and backward in comparison. The first track sounds like an out-take from Lateralus, most tracks remind me more of A Perfect Circle than Tool, and the lyrics are dire. With some exceptions (such as the Wings for Marie tracks), the complex and beautiful melodic and rhythmic structures that Tool usually create are absent. The thunder/rain sounds in Wings for Marie are clichéd as hell.

As for the artwork, fair play for trying to do something new (god knows the record companies need to start justifying the 20 odd euros they charge for CDs) but the lenses strike me as a bit childish and gimmicky. The CGI images are cool but the photography is pretty pap.

I realise that Tool albums generally take a while to get into but I've been a big fan for a long time and can't see myself falling in love with this one, as has happened with every other album since Undertow.

dabhoys

I'm really enjoying my new tool album

porn_star

salival is on sale at play.com for like 15 pounds or something now, if you don't have it and dont wanna pay about 100 quid for it.
kinda makes it lose its value now.

cornbb

cornbb wrote:

My 2 cents:

The new album is a serious letdown. Every preceding Tool album represented a huge progressive leap, 10,000 days is pretty unoriginal and backward in comparison. The first track sounds like an out-take from Lateralus, most tracks remind me more of A Perfect Circle than Tool, and the lyrics are dire. With some exceptions (such as the Wings for Marie tracks), the complex and beautiful melodic and rhythmic structures that Tool usually create are absent. The thunder/rain sounds in Wings for Marie are clichéd as hell.

As for the artwork, fair play for trying to do something new (god knows the record companies need to start justifying the 20 odd euros they charge for CDs) but the lenses strike me as a bit childish and gimmicky. The CGI images are cool but the photography is pretty pap.

I realise that Tool albums generally take a while to get into but I've been a big fan for a long time and can't see myself falling in love with this one, as has happened with every other album since Undertow.

at last someone who agrees with me! I think some peoples judgement of the album is clouded by the fact that theyre hardcore fans, but over the next few weeks when the buzz of the new album wears off, itl become clear that its in no way the same league as lateralus or anima.

Ans after listening to the album a few more times, i still see no real progression!

Tar.Aldarion

No I'm not a hardcore fan at all. I think a lot of tool songs are meh. Like a lot of songs on this album though.

mp3guy

Great album, much more prog than the last few. Was glad to see its 4th in the charts in virgin.

Mystic Fibrosis

To be honest, I don't think this concept of 'progression' is really a conscious thing on Tool's part. People talk all the time about bands 'finding their sound' and while I doubt Tool would take so long to do this I would wager that the experimentalism and progression with each previous release is more to do with them finding a style that they feel they really like. I mean ok, there has always been a signature Tool 'sound' but I think that the band were very happy with the sound and feel of Lateralus and stuck with that. Regardless, I think their comments regarding the album being influenced by Meshuggah and Fantomas are justified, as I think the polyrhythmic aspect of their music is much more obvious than on previous albums.

It's just my 2 cents anyway :P

projectmayhem

Mystic Fibrosis wrote:

Regardless, I think their comments regarding the album being influenced by Meshuggah and Fantomas are justified, as I think the polyrhythmic aspect of their music is much more obvious than on previous albums.

i'm glad someone else picked up on that. i thought i was all alone

and thank god you mentioned fantomas. everyone's mentioning meshuggah, while ignoring fantomas (tool toured with both bands for a lengthy time, so both bands rubbed off on them), which annoys me.

LightofDarkness

I'm afraid I think it's a backward step for a band that's supposedly progressive. The "polyrhythms" (it's called syncopation, polyrhythmic would entail each musician playing to an alternate time sig) are simple varied diddles at the end of 4/4 beats mostly, nothing wildly spectacular about that (and nothing as directionless as Meshuggah, thank god). This album seems like an addendum to Lateralus, more derived from earlier work than a new, original set piece. There's my 2 cents (we have 6c altogether now, come on lads!)

Mystic Fibrosis

LightofDarkness wrote:

The "polyrhythms" (it's called syncopation, polyrhythmic would entail each musician playing to an alternate time sig) are simple varied diddles at the end of 4/4 beats mostly, nothing wildly spectacular about that (and nothing as directionless as Meshuggah, thank god).

While I would agree with the diddles thing, I'm kind of confused as to why you call it syncopation..... I would have considered syncopation more of a playing technique than a musical idea. Then again I'm coming from a guitarist point of view, syncopation in a drumming context could be totally different....

ShotgunblueZ

10.000 Days was the 6th best selling album in Ireland last week....

Sir Digby Chicken Caesar

it was sold out everywhere the first day I went to buy it here

Tar.Aldarion

Canada is backwards.
(I want to live there)

Sir Digby Chicken Caesar

it's great.

it's 7:37 am here, and the sun is coming down strong. It's going to be another beautiful day.

shame I'm going to bed.

Tar.Aldarion

Bah, have fun there...one day...one day.
Damn I love their wonky accent too.
Japan or Canada...decisions...decisions.

Sir Digby Chicken Caesar

they love ours too, I get told that one out of every five calls.

doesn't get old, but it's kind of weird when middle aged men say it

smackbunnybaby

LightofDarkness wrote:

This album seems like an addendum to Lateralus, more derived from earlier work than a new, original set piece

you may be closer to the answer than you think....
found this on metal ireland forum a while ago.it was taken from toolnavy and
is some fellas take on the album.took me ages to read but it is quite insightful.....

this post ill come in a few parts.....

///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
I read Kabir's review when he first posted it, but kept away from all
of the other personal reviews/interpretations, not necessarily by
choice, but because there simply are too many threads to skim through
and moderate. But I think that's probably for the best. At the risk of
opening myself up to the relentless hostility that occurs here, here's
the flux's take on the new music that I have from Tool. I'll try to
keep it interesting. But I can tell you right now, if you don't want
to read for long periods of time, sorry, but I just feel like this is
the only way I can truthfully talk about what this record means to me.

First, I want to say that to get out of this what I got out of it, you
should be familiar with Tool's past works, especially the preceding 2
records Ænima and Lateralus. Especially a little song on Lateralus
called Reflection…

Kabir, in his review, said that this record picked up right where
Reflection left off. I thought that was an odd statement. Lateralus
didn't end with Reflection, but Triad. So why would this record start
there? I've always said that Tool records follow a certain pattern,
that the next release from the band sounds like the last song on the
preceding record, and that the last song on any record could have very
well have been on the next record, almost as if they were giving us a
preview. Opiate (the song) stands out on Opiate (the album) and showed
us Undertow. Flood shows us the chaotic power of Ænima, Third Eye
shows us the spiritual progression of Lateralus, and I expected 10KD
to be largely connected like Disposition/Reflection/Triad. I didn't
count on them to use just Reflection. But Kabir nailed it, and I was
pretty amazed at his ability to see as much as he saw with only one
listen.

I turned on Vicarious, Jambi, and Right in Two in a playlist last
night before I went to bed. While I lay there, I had a sort of
breakthrough concerning the problems that everyone who didn't like the
album, and my own first reservations about it, were talking about.
"Something" apparently was missing. People weren't being "moved" as
they were with prior releases. People didn't like that parts of older
songs showed up in the new ones. People talking about Maynard's
comment that one can only do so much before basically "quitting."

How many times have we heard the weariness in their song, releasing
the burden of never really being grasped by the mass majority of
listeners? The Patient. Over Now on Mer de Noms. The pointed bitter
sarcasm. How many times can you repeat yourself in different ways to
infant-like souls before you realize that you aren't getting through
to most of them? What we are missing, guys, is being pushed. We have
all felt it. I mean, Opiate was my first record, so I have seen the
progressional concept from the band in all of it's fascinating
history. Opiate gathered the angry. Undertow took the anger and pushed
and molded the anger into some sort of plan. Ænima pushed us to
understand what was available to us. Lateralus pushed us to see why we
should take it, showing us ethereal soundscapes depicting our
potentials, all laid out for us in it's epic glory. How long do we
need to be pushed before we do it on our own? How ****ing long? As
responsible sentient beings, do they keep pushing us and feeding us?
If they did that, they would be leading us. And that's not how it
works. That's no different than any cult or sect of religious
fanaticism. They don't want to be your Christ. They don't want fanatic
followers who follow just as blindly as any hardline religion. The
euphemism "think for yourself" is mocked often, because it's so
cliché'd now, since every 12 year old who saw Tool on that tour where
that Leary quote preceded Third Eye has it in their signature. But
it's really a point they want to drive home. Do it for yourself, guys,
because it's time. And that's what makes this album so scary to me.
I'm facing fears here that I haven't faced in a while. This album's
passive-ness made me not be able to sleep last night. We aren't being
pushed, driven, because it's up to us and we cant keep being fed
because the time is coming where if we cant do it on our own, we'll
see ourselves on the wrong side of the gap. We're junkies for the kind
of inspiration and push that Tool provides us with. Do they mind doing
it? Of course not, but as I said, as responsible sentient beings, they
cant keep feeding the junkies or the junkies will not progress. They
wont always be able to show us the next door through, and we will have
to be able to find them on our own.

Try to listen to this album next time in that light. See if you don't
feel yourself craving being driven, having inspiration exploding
through your brain at all times. Then wonder if I could be correct.
See if your hostility towards them using parts of music they have used
in the past is misguided. See if you can accept it as them simply
pointing to things they have already told us, and take it as a mockery
of us not being able to get it the first time.

So what is this record, then? If not to push us, what purpose does it
serve? Every one of us knows that at least since Undertow, not a
single second of any Tool release is out of place, it is all precisely
crafted together. Whether you identify with it or not, the precision
with purpose is there.

This album mourns.

This album is the release of the tremendous, horrific sadness that
sentient beings must undergo in order to survive. We are all familiar
with the concepts of evolution being interwoven throughout Tool's
message. We've felt the push that helps us understand it, know that it
is real. This is the blues record they were speaking of.

This album is about catastrophic division. We've seen it before, in
Pu****, with the gap, we've seen the hard path in the Patient, we've
seen the gap being defined and described in Schism. But we have never
witnessed it. We've never seen what that gap does. Tell you the truth,
I've always been a little afraid of it. But it's time to face it now.

Because finally, this album is about death and the necessary invoked
apathy that the witnesses are forced to endure. It's ****ing painful.


Before I talk about the music on this record, I have to explain what I
get from Reflection and Triad. Reflection is my favorite Tool song. It
represents, to me, the exodus that is bound to occur. Those humans
that are moving on, say their last goodbyes and look sadly at their
reflection. I have gone into this song in much detail in the past, but
I feel as if I must skim this to conserve your time. Triad represents
those who partook in the exodus arriving at their new promised land
(heaven), they plant the seed and then step back a distance (when the
music gets really quiet and Danny does the tick-tock thing as if we
were waiting), then the seed explodes into glorious growth when the
music kicks back in. To me this trio of songs represents the change we
are facing that is roaring down the stretch at breakneck (relatively,
of course) speed. The most key songs on this record, to me, are
Vicarious, Jambi, Rosetta Stoned, and Right In Two, and I'll try to
focus mostly on them.

smackbunnybaby

Vicarious
To say that this album picks up where Reflection left off is kinda
misguiding, actually. I think of it now as "zooming in" on the aspects
of Reflection and taking a journal with you. There's some things we
don't want to face, and these guys aren't afraid to show it to us.
Another pattern I have noticed is that the promo single that is
release with the last two albums, especially, represent the theme of
the record. I couldn't find the theme, at first, like I said. So I was
confused about Vicarious when I heard the rest of the record.
Stinkfist represented the problem of desensitization, the slipping of
our race, and pointed it out in no uncertain terms. Ænima dealt with
what to do about that problem. Schism represented the gap and putting
the pieces together to bridge it. Lateralus showed us what was on the
other side, the promise of rewards, the magnificence of our inner
spirals. So I made the comment to Cronos one day, I said, "Vicarious
represents… soup? (referring to the rest of the album)" I didn't know
where the pieces went on 10KD and it was all a jumbled soupy mess to
me. But it represents the rest of the album perfectly now.

We start with a tease of Schism. This whole song refers back to Schism
at different times. The beginning is like a dream, up until the alarm
goes off. I'm sorry, but I disagree with Kabir when he says that
Vicarious hits us all at once and there is no real intro like the rest
of the albums have. Undertow has the weird drowning waterish sound,
AEnima has the jack-in-the-box winding up, and Lateralus has the film
projector/elevator starting up. This album has a dream as the intro
sound. We dream of the gap. We dream of the Schism. We feed off of the
tragedy so much that we dream about it. The intro and the real
beginning of Vicarious come in after the alarm goes off (the second
time, as if we hit snooze because our asses are lazy), and we awaken.

Again this song focuses on the problem. The problem is what we feed
ourselves with. The power of the collective that is referred to in
Tool's music is not limited to those who have crossed the gap. It
involves all of us, from the lowest scum to the highest ascended
master. Anyone born of a human mother in this plane is involved. Your
thoughts and actions affect me, and vice versa, no matter how far away
physically we are from each other. So this is a problem for those who
have crossed. They don't want to be extinct, thank you very much. But
all this feeding on tragedy and death are simply pulling us further
and further backwards. AND WE HIDE IT FROM EACH OTHER. Hence all of
the accusations of hypocrisy…

frown out your one face but with the other stare like a junkie into the tv

…and pleas of disclosure

you all need it too don't lie why cant we just admit it

This trend of feeding on negativity doesn't appear to be slowing down.
We all know it, see it, every news headline is a horrible accident or
something equally as morbid, if not worse. It's as if we are trying to
outdo the last headline, every day, always with an ear out for more
more more. Blood flows. We want it. We wont stop till we get it. Tell
me, is this harmless? We are turning into the vampires of our own
race, of our own accomplishments, our own pleasures, our own desires.

At the end of the chorus at 3:25, Maynard turns to us and spits the
words in our face,

why cant we just admit it?

As always, the music and lyrics are one, the music punctuates his
venomous question. Then in comes a marching-like riff, as if to
describe a war

Blood like rain fallin down down on grave and ground

Then a tremendous part, it's like a broken up transmission! Describing
to onlookers, if we knew they were there, what we are.

Part vampire part warrior carnivore and voyeur

And more importantly,

We still have the transmittal synched to the death rattle

As if this was our destiny all along, to crash. Perhaps there are
escape pods, though…

La la la la la la la lie…

Singing the death rattle. And guess what we are immediately faced with
after singing it??? The Schism again. There it is, as if to say, "you
called?" I don't know what that talking in the background is supposed
to represent, perhaps more of our garbled transmissions. And yet
AGAIN, we realize we are dreaming again and the alarm once more wakes
us up. I feel at this point they want to stress the amount of times
that we have heard this exact same message from them before, in
creating this sense of déjà vu with the Schism/alarm thing.

incredulous at best your desire to believe in angels in the hearts of men

(*sigh*)

but pull your head out give a listen,

(ALTHOUGH)

I shouldn't have to say it all again

(But let me break it down for you one more time…)

THE UNIVERSE IS HOSTILE, SO IMPERSONAL

DEVOUR TO SURVIVE

SO IT IS

SO IT'S ALWAYS BEEN

(And I will devour your cancerous ass if I have to in order to
survive. Again, I will rip your ****ing throat away as I did in
Pu****, I will not hesitate, and the love that I felt when I said it
last time is starting to fade. I must prepare myself, and that means
that my energy must be focused on what's happening in my moment. Being
completely in the moment doesn't mean that you cant have anyone else
around you. They are allowed to be there. But I'll be damned if I am
going to be held back much longer. The division is happening as we
speak to you about what we are feeling.)

The above stuff in parentheses is just the feeling I get when he is
singing this, when I feel this way about the rest of the album. Then
we have the reiteration closing comments

We all feed on tragedy it's like blood to a vampire, Vicariously I
live while the whole world dies

Then, finally, as chilling as any of the other lyrics on the record…

much better you than I…

When we watch from a distance, we think we are "safe." But our idea of
safety is about to be tested.

smackbunnybaby

Jambi
Bi=two

I cant say that I understand where the title comes from. I do think
that the "bi" part represents duality. I get the feelings that I got
from the Patient in this one.

Just tryin to hold on one more day

One of the more powerful thoughts in this song:

If I thought tomorrow, they'd take you away

As if those who have crossed the gap thought only about their future,
then the other side would already be gone. But the separation has not
occurred yet, they are still tryin to hold on, help as many as
possible across. It just isn't working on the scale that would lead to
positive feelings instead of mourning.

Dam my eyes, jam bi eyes

This is what I hear. Poke out my eyes.

Jam bi eyes if they should compromise a fulcrum, what you need
(watching me?) divide me

Division. If the balance is going to be upset, I'll cut you off, I
wont be able to see you anymore. I would rather lose my sight for you
than be dragged down with you. Then another chilling line…

Then I might as well be gone

As in the patient, thinking of what it would be like to walk away

And I still may

The song really isn't the same after this point. It's almost as if, to
me, the division is beginning right here. Gone are the thoughts of
holding on, the thoughts of the balance being upset. They simply cant
allow that to happen, see?

Shine on forever, upon the broken, upon the SEVERED, until the two become one

We are seeing, after the division, the concepts of unity. Before, it
was implied that unity was the two sides coming together as one. But I
don't think this is the case anymore. This is what I found scary. I
see this type of two becoming one as one of the sides ceasing to
exist. An eradication, a squashing (as you would any termite or roach)
of one of the two, not a merging. This is how I am seeing the two
become one.

Divide and wither away

This part sounds, not excited about the fact, but just as if it was
just something necessary, a task. The task of separation.

Breathe in union

Finally, we can breathe in union, the chaff has been separated, the
division is made complete.

So as one, survive another day and season
Silence, Legion, save your poison, silence, Legion, stay out of my way

Legion is the name for the devil (or devils) in parts of the bible.
The evil. Save your sickening poison, stay out of our way, we simply
wont have it anymore.

At this point, after the division, the mourning begins.

Wings For Marie (Pt. I)
Maynard has used many things as examples and metaphors, from Jesus to
the flushing of a toilet. I think the point of these next two songs is
to use something personal as an example to help us understand the
importance of the division.

What have I done to be the son of an angel what have I done to be worthy

What I'm seeing in this song is a recognition that his mother
sacrificed herself for him in some way. I'm somewhat uncomfortable
trying to analyze these songs, as I'm not all too familiar with his
family history. In truth, most of what we know has been sold to us. We
know that in Jimmy he lost something that was most precious to him.
His mother suffered a brain aneurysm. Perhaps it affected to a large
degree her ability to do things for the rest of her life.

10,000 Days (Wings Pt. II)
These songs are obviously connected, yet separated for a reason. His
attitude here is still mourning, but it is far more defiant. Have you
seen "The Exorcism of Emily Rose?" IN the movie, the girl suffers
demonic possessions the likes of which the church had never seen. And
she was given a choice by Mother Mary herself. Emily could be taken
from this pain, or she could be a light for all of those who would
observe her on Earth. Emily chose to be a light for the divine. I
think this is exactly what Maynard is saying to his Mother. Did he
agree with the way she did things? Obviously not, what with the bitter
song "Judith" that attacks her God who did this to her. He never
wanted to see the woman who gave him so much in years and years of
constant pain and complications. Yet, here, he gives her her props, so
to speak. He mocks those gathered around her dead body, calling them
ignorant, blinded hypocrites. None of them have even seen her the way
she really was, divine.

Then, enough about them, they aren't worth the effort. He moves to
speaking to directly about her, to her.

but enough about the collective Judas

Haha, those who have not crossed the gap are called traitors. I love it.

this little light of mine, the gift you passed on to me, I'll let it
shine to guide you safely on your way, your way home

Judith Marie perhaps passed a gift on to her son, a divine hereditary
gift. Blood and genes carry all of the information in our bloodlines.

Ten thousand days in the fire is long enough

27 years of suffering is more than enough for him to watch.
Eventually, Emily Rose was taken up as well. Then these next lines are
awesomely defiant, giving her so much praise, saying she and she alone
has the ability to go up to heaven's gates and demand to be seen,
demand her wings. This is probably the most emotionally powerful point
on the record for me.

You're the only one who can hold your head up high
Shake your fists at the gates saying "I have come home now! Fetch me
the spirit, the son and the father [himself] and tell them their
'pillar of faith' has ascended! It's time NOW! MY time now! Give me
my…. GIVE ME MY WINGS."

The very idea that someone has suffered so much for God that she can
go up there and just start demanding that the angels do her bidding is
powerful. Shaking your fists at the gates? Fetch me the trinity so
that I can demand my ****ing wings? Jesus…

And when Maynard speaks to his mom for the last time, forgivingly he
asks for her to put in a good word for him. Mourning his life without
her.

The Pot
Every album has a song that is less intense in content while being
more intense 9by that, I mean heavy) musically. This is to provide
relief, I think, for our minds. We take in all of this intense
message, god, we need a break or we will snap. With AEnima it was
Hooker with a Penis. Lateralus had Ticks and Leeches. This one has the
Pot. It's pretty self-explanatory so I wont spend much time on it.
It's just against hypocrisy. It has an amused attitude, though, as if
your hypocrisy ultimately doesn't matter to me anymore because the
division is occurring. The whole "You must have been high" is just
throwing back in their faces the ridiculous accusations that have
flown out of their mouths before.

smackbunnybaby

Lipan Conjuring
Sounds to me like this could be an Indian burial ceremony. Hmmm…

Lost Keys (Blame Hofmann)
As a segue into Rosetta Stoned, the music sounds woozy, shifting,
unfocused, crazy, confused. This is a perspective narrative, so let's
assume the role of the narrator. We hear the hospital sounds, we hear
ourselves breathing raggedly. They want us to tell them everything… so
we start to talk…

Rosetta Stoned
Look, all throughout Tool's career, we've heard songs that could only
come from an experienced perspective. From all 4 members. How could
one write a song like The Patient and not have personally felt that
way before? As the messenger, trudging along a mundane path, for these
****s who don't even realize what I'm trying to say? And how about 46
& 2? How can you write a song like that and not actually have the
experience of stepping through your shadow? How can you write a song
like Rosetta Stoned and not be this seemingly schizophrenic character?
It's time we gave Tool props officially as being messengers and speak
about them in that regard.

Not that this song is to be taken exactly literally. Kinda like the
story of Jesus. Who knows what really happened 2000 years ago. All we
have is a story of a man who did miraculous wonders and taught a hell
of a lot of people what he knew. Whether he actually existed in the
way that he was written about is not known. But the story remains the
same, and what we are to gain from it is not altered. The meanings are
not in the historical accuracy of the account, but the intended
message proposed. So let's not say that Jesus was physically here and
did all of the things he did, and that Maynard was at Area 51 and was
visited by aliens and all of this actually happened. Maybe it did,
maybe it didn't. Doesn't change the intended meaning.

Rosetta lyrics

Serious props to A WalkAbout for his work on the lyrics, not just in
this song, but I think he was the first to post the comprehensive
album lyrics. This account is the one I mostly used, although of
course some of it is almost unintelligible.

Have you done any research on the Rosetta Stone? The one that they
found in Egypt?
Yeah, you can look it up on Wikipedia, and I will paste something from
there in a minutes, but first take a look at this simplified site
about the Rosetta Stone.

http://www.ancientegypt.co.uk/writing/rosetta.html

It explains that the Rosetta Stone was written in three different
scripts, written by priests, honoring the pharaoh, listing all of the
good things that the pharaoh had done for the people and priests of
Egypt. Now here's what I pulled from wikipedia…

Rosetta Stone is also used as a metaphor to refer to anything that is
a critical key to a process of decryption, translation, or a difficult
problem, e.g., "the Rosetta stone of immunology", "thalamo-cortical
rhythms, the Rosetta stone of a subset of neurological disorders",
"Arabidopsis, the Rosetta stone of flowering time (fossils)".

This song is Tool's Rosetta Stone, listing all of the things they have
done for the people (us listeners, their audience) honoring the
pharaoh (the source of life, in this case, the higher existence). The
reason you hear three different older Tool songs in this song is
because they are listing what they have done for us! What they have
told us! We have H., Third Eye, and Triad. And perhaps more, it would
just make sense if they did 3. To tell you the truth I cant remember
where these parts come from, some of them, in the new context, I just
know they are familiar. Those 3 songs in particular, though, are
listed. And the whole twist of irony in this piece is that it's
narrated by a guy who cant remember the message he was told, because
he forgot his pen when it was key. See the genius here? It really
****ing hits me hard. Given what wikipedia told us, they consider it
to be a key, for decryption of the message that the narrator gives us.
It's all here.

The story explains itself, pretty much. A guy is visited by aliens (in
pretty honest and amusing fashion). After hoping that he hopes his
partner doesn't notice that he pissed his pants, the music changes,
and the narrator starts talking about how it felt to be taken, like he
had taken acid and was tripping outside his body. The ET tells him
that he is the chosen one to deliver a message

Of hope for those who choose to hear it
A message of warning for those who do not.

That's what Tool has been about. The combined message of no worries
for those who cross the gap, and warning for those who don't. Mostly,
the song is composed of riffs from H. until the story gets told, and
the narrator begs for them to believe what he said. H. is about the
connection that we have with each other, and how we are too connected
to slip away, fade away from each other, and that's the reason the
messenger's hearts are opened up again, out of compassion, even though
it's killing them. Not a coincidence. This is what Tool have done for
us, their first script. They showed us compassion when none is granted
to them for the most part. Because they are too connected. Or, rather,
I should say, they were…

So after the narrator tells his story, he is strapped down, eyes red
(signifying suppression via forced medication), doesn't know if he's
alive or dead, cant remember what the aliens said… and he realizes he
has **** the bed, which I think is great way to inject a little humor
without losing a sense of the sadness.

I can hear Third Eye and Triad as the other two scripts. Hear the
sound Danny uses towards the end of Triad, the same sound is used
starting at 7:43. He uses it the same way, a straight time count. The
most epic part of the message (not necessarily the most emotional,
because I have already reserved that for the part in 10,000 Days),
maybe the most epic part of any tool song, summing up what they have
done, is during these lines.

Overwhelmed as one would be, placed in my position
Such a heavy burden now to be the one
Born to bear and read you all the details of our ending
To write it down for all the world to see

This is their cry. Tool can be summed up in this section of this one
song. This was their task, to bring us the message and be the one band
that would reach us in the way that they have. To record and read to
us the details of our ending. Their music is injected with refined and
precise power. It shows you things if you let it. They show by
example, as Christ was claimed to have done, what is possible. Nothing
is impossible. They show us every album that technicalities and skill
on an instrument is not where sonic power comes from. Yes, they are
good skilled players, especially Danny, but he is probably the only
one that would be ranked in any top 5 list as far as most skilled
musicians go. The power comes from inside them, the convergence of 4
individuals into one unified whole, examples of what can happen and
what is possible if we only cross the gap.

At 9:40 the narrator freaks out because he cant remember what they
said although the music, so familiar to him yet not quite tangible,
dances through his head.

smackbunnybaby

I had trouble deciphering what parts of past songs was used where. It
is very possible that more than 3 scripts were used in this Rosetta
Stone, not sure. But also I think that's part of the point. Because
it's as if it's on the tip of our brains but we cant quite put our
finger on it, like the narrator. Forced medication is keeping him from
remembering, what does that say about us in our situation? That the
stuff that we feed on is holding us back from deciphering the secrets
contained within their music. If we would only grasp it, we would see
that they have indeed just been singing one song, a message of hope to
those who choose to hear, and warning for those who do not. Did not
Jesus say, "He who has ears to hear, let him hear?" The message Jesus
presented to us is the same. "I AM the way, the truth, and the life.
No one comes to the father except through me." But not through his
church following. Not those people who think they are elite because
they believe in a Christ that physically walked the Earth and that all
others are doomed regardless of how they live. Through him. His
example. Tool's example.

This is such a complex interwoven song that I am sure that I do not
fathom it all this early. Perhaps my medication is holding me back…

Intension
The sound in the front is important. Sounds like a wheel, creaking, or
being pushed or pulled, and then slowly, people gather, like they are
all meeting at a rendezvous point, whispering among themselves, then
all come in to chant with Maynard… His voice doubled so many times is
to represent a group setting, I feel. Do you hear parts of the
beginning of Lateralus (the song) in here? I'm starting to take this
as the exodus has already occurred, separation, death to the two, and
only the ones who have crossed the gap can find their way to this
place. To begin again. Pure. By will alone, not with our hands or
other external accomplishments. The group begins, the music gets more
and more involved as the creation progresses. Sparks, then flames, to
light their home (In the beginning God created the heavens and the
Earth from the void…). This song seems to be a genesis. As Triad was,
just portrayed in a different way, still saddened from what they had
to just go through.

Right In Two
This is the saddest song on here. Yes, the Wings For Marie invoke deep
personal sadness, but this… this is beyond that. It's sad not because
of personal pain, but because of how apathetic it is. The net of
being, on the cover, those eyes, do they look like they care? Do they
look like they are thinking about your personal feelings at ALL? ****,
no. The universe is hostile, indifferent to our little plight.
Apathetic to the human race surviving or becoming extinct. They don't
really give a ****. They just keep things running. THEY WILL NOT HELP
US. WE MUST HELP OURSELVES. This song is told from the perspective of
the onlookers.

angels on the sideline again, puzzled and amused
why did father give these humans free will, now they're all confused

There have been plenty of people who claim to have knowledge and
experience on higher planes of existence than the one we are
accustomed to having our realities in. They all say that we are being
watched. Because there's something about humanity that is different
than anything that's ever been done before in the universe. Hence the
puzzlement that the angels on the sidelines (spectators) are going
through. Why were we granted free will already? We will just kill
ourselves. We cant see Eden, heaven. So no, we don't know that there's
enough to go around if we would just step across the gap. We focus our
tasks on external things, seeing what we can build outwardly, not
inwardly. They call us monkeys as a mockery, since that's what we
appear to be to them, similar to how monkeys appear to us, almost
sentient, but not quite. That's how the spectators feel about us.

We are choosing destruction. Maynard says

Father blessed them all with reason and this is what they choose?

To reiterate that the choice has already been made. Destruction IS
going to occur. It is the path we have chosen. The spectators observe
how we will divide into two on anything at all. And if there aren't
sides, they will cut it in two with a blade. Division is our nature.
Our cells divide with the mitosis process. This carries up to our very
nature. It is the design. It is a flawed design, perhaps this is why
they wonder if we should have been granted free will. We have to find
our way when the lights go down.

We find ourselves, after Maynard repeats several times

cutting it all right in two

Back in Reflection! The tabla sounds, the similar beat to Reflection,
it is here again facing us. We are faced with the choice to leave and
find our way to survival. I cant tell what the lyrics are but it would
only emphasize the point, Im sure that this is imminent. Then the
music definitely picks up and seems rather Triad-ish again before
going straight into a version of a 46 & 2 riff! It's still all here!
The evolution, the message, the information, the way for us. Lit up
again right here in this song. Then more angels on the sideline,
wondering when the tug of war will end. Then more cutting right in
two, but this time triumphant, as in, we did it, we mourned, we went
through what we had to go through to ensure our survival. We saw the
gap bridge close forever and we hear the bombs go off over there and
see the red glow of fire and know that it can only mean death. But
like any disease, the bridge must be destroyed, therefore ripping
their throats away in essence, so that the disease cannot be spread
any longer. This is the end of the mourning. This is the end of the
zooming in on Reflection, the concept of departure, the mourning of
the death of our race, yet… there is hope for those who choose to
listen? What is that hope and what happens to those who heeded the
call?

That hope is not on this record. We know from Triad that there is hope
after the departure. I have seen that the following album reflects the
last song on the previous one, and that this record zooms in on
Reflection. Where is our Triad? Is it what people feel is missing,
this hope? Because this record is not about hope. The cover is a dead
version of Alex Grey's painting "Net of Being." Maybe there is a hope
that Triad is coming. Maybe they will release another record soon that
is already ready, and unexpected. Whether or not we get a Triad from
them, or we have been shown enough, pushed enough, that we are now
required to make our own Triad ourselves, remains to be seen. Maybe
Virginti Tres is in some way, that hope. Maybe the puzzle in the
artwork packaging will tell us. But to me, the point is clear. Their
work is the recording and reading to us the ending, the message of
hope should be evident to us, but we largely reject it, and that the
gap is in process of closing as I type this.

It's scary, depending on which side of the gap you find yourself on.


////////////////////////////////////////////////////

the end

cornbb

Not slagging you off or anything smackbunnybaby, but why do people, like whoever wrote that, have to talk about Tool and analyse their music in such convoluted, rambling and pointless ways? Sigh.

Sir Digby Chicken Caesar

yeah, I was wondering that myself...

i guess he must have been high...

smackbunnybaby

some people have an awful lot of time on their hands i suppose...;)

Sgt. Politeness

Good christ, you dont have to write rambling 10 paragraph posts to try to justify to yourself why you should or shouldnt like 10,000 days. You'll either like it or you wont simple as. It can be summed up as such:
Its more relaxed and inrospective than other tool albums, with alot more 'quieter' songs, rocks out like a bastard on several occasions. If you need your music to be a constant kick in your face and double bass drumming across the entire album you wont like it. End of.
EDIT:
And im not a hardcore fan either, and do love the album. In fact, up until i head laterlaus i didnt like tool at all. I thought undertow was terrible and that anima was ruined by the stupid filler songs. Lateralus was thier first 5 star album imo, i think this is a good follow up.

smackbunnybaby

Sgt. Politeness wrote:

Good christ, you dont have to write rambling 10 paragraph posts to try to justify to yourself why you should or shouldnt like 10,000 days.

am... i didnt....

SmackBunnyBaby wrote:

found this on metal ireland forum a while ago.it was taken from toolnavy and
is some fellas take on the album.

Sgt. Politeness

smackbunnybaby wrote:

am... i didnt....

Did i say you wrote it?

cornbb

Maybe you should have phrased it like "one doesn't have to write..." instead of "you don't have to write..."

smackbunnybaby

the fact you said "you" and "10 paragraph rambling posts" would seem to indicate that you were referring to the posts as being mine.

of course i dont know if i could prove this in a court of law

Arucard

i'll call Judge Judy