Speculation over possible album titles was dismissed with a news item on the official Tool website, announcing that the new album's name was 10,000 Days. Nevertheless, speculation continued, with allegations that 10,000 Days was merely a 'decoy' album to fool audiences. Tool jokingly referred to 10,000 Days as their 'blues album' because of its grittier, sadder subject matter 'On our last few albums, there's been more of a metaphysical, attempt-to-open-your-third-eye kind of approach, having faith that people will find a way to expand their consciousness and wake up to the world that they live in,' Keenan told.

• Tool 10000 Days Album Art
• Tool 10000 Days Album Artwork
• Tool 10000 Days Album Artwork
• Tool 10000 Days Album Songs

In an age where major labels dictate that new releases from bands appear on record store shelves every 18 months or so, rare is the artist given freedom and ability to reflect and stretch out to explore creative evolution and release music as an artist, rather than the prepackaged predictability of an entertainer. Thankfully, Tool has somehow managed to circumvent these rituals, releasing a record every four to five years as they so feel the need. This ability to patiently craft their musical direction has paid off for not only the band, but for listeners, as they've been able to expand their musical vocabulary from album to album with great precision, all the while remaining true to the foundations that built such a loyal, if not cult-like, following. But with this absence comes changes to the popular music landscape, as new bands and sounds (as well as a new generation of heavy metal fans to entertain) replace and stimulate the charts. Namely: a lot can happen in five years, especially with a fickle rock audience that is overinundated with constant new bands' songs. The group defied expectations (and even got radio airplay) with Lateralus, but would fans stick with them during the hiatus? There were moments when Maynard James Keenan would emerge courtesy of A Perfect Circle, and there were also several stunning video DVDs to pacify while 10,000 Days was being written, along with cryptic messages via their website, but that was about it.

Tool 10000 Days Album Art

Thankfully, 10,000 Days was worth the labor pains and wait to deliver. It's not only a step forward for the band, but a re-embracing of the epic-length rock songs found at the roots of early heavy metal. The album starts out with 'Vicarious,' which features some of Maynard's most straightforward lyrics since Ænema's 'Hooker with a Penis.' Essentially a biting commentary on reality television, information stimulus overload, and living through others' experiences, it's only a brief glimpse of what's to come, as 10,000 Days also offers some of Keenan's most confessional lyrics. The 17-minute epic 'Wings for Marie/10,000 Days' is an ode to his mother, who passed away during the band's hiatus after dealing with paralysis from a stroke for 27 years. In a way, it's voyeuristic to listen to someone working out family issues on disc, but Keenan does it in a way that's sensitive and honest without ever treading the careful line between melodrama and sincerity. Most of the songs are a bit long in the tooth when compared to most metal songs these days, but then again, Tool isn't exactly just another band, either. With most songs clocking in over six minutes, the exercises in songwriting wouldn't work as well with any other band. But when you have such high-caliber musicianship as Danny Carey and Adam Jones anchoring drums and guitar, respectively, it's hard to make a wrong turn. The anger that served as fuel for some of their greatest works has been replaced with calmer and more introspective moments as they patiently work out rhythm and melodic passages from one theme to the next. That's not to say the anger isn't still there; it does check in from song to song, but like most of Tool's fan base that has stuck with them through their first recordings, the group has evolved beyond that stage and has moved on to new concepts to explore. So depending upon which Tool you are looking for, you're either going to love or hate 10,000 Days. If it's the hard-driving band with an intellectually driven existential anger and fits of Hot Topic-laden angst, they've fled for other pastures (probably to Arizona Bay). But if you're looking for the Tool whose passion and introspection is complemented by intense emotion, brutal honesty, and musical maturity, you'll be hard-pressed to find a better metal album in 2006.

Hidden song on Tool “10000 days” album confirmed!

June 20, 2006

This post is to discuss the “rumors” that there is in fact a hidden secret track on the newest Tool album “10000 days”…First seen this on this blog and Longshot thought he would give it a try himself.

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Longshot says: I can pretty much after seeing the evidence confirm that this is true. It’s actually a pretty simple setup to try it, and you don’t really need experience with an audio editing program. Here’s how it’s done.

1. Rip the tracks, “Viginti Tres”, “Wings for Marie Part 1”, and “Wings for Marie Part 2 – 10000 days” to your hard drive. Use whatever audio format you prefer…WAV is likely best, as it can be used by any program.

2.Open up an audio editing program like the free “Audacity” (I used Audition, but anything will work). You will need to make sure you are using a multi-track view, as you need 2 tracks. Open up the 3 tracks you ripped earlier.

3. “10000 days” goes into it’s own track. The other two go into the second track. “Viginti Tres” goes first, followed by “Wings part 1”.

And really that’s about it, and version 2 of the downloads here is what you will hear. Some sites have said that results are better when you slightly adjust the “Wings part 1” track so that the endings line up, which is how version 1 is done.

4. Export the final track as any format you prefer, and listen away!

Here are the differences in my mind between the two methods.

Tool 10000 Days Album Artwork

Version 1 – The vocals synch better, but the drumbeats seem “off” near the end.

Version 2 – The drumbeats are closer (not quite perfect, but that can be fixed with more trial and error, or a more experienced editor than myself), but the vocals are off. I was thinking that this was actually the “right” way, as the vocals seemed to have a reverb effect as a result, but I’m starting to drift back to preferring Version 1 after lots of thought and comparisons.

Tool 10000 Days Album Artwork

Whichever you prefer, it’s still a very creative effort, and quite the listening experience. You have to hear it to get it. It’s almost creepy.

Tool 10000 Days Album Songs

It’s worth noting that I have read on a couple of forums (that I don’t have linked, unfortunately) that there are actually 5 songs on the album that have similar keys and tempos, and therefore this might be only the first step in synching 5 full tracks to create something larger! Crazy! I can’t wait to see if it’s true or not.

Tentatively, I’d like to propose naming this new track “Wings for Marie : 23 Days” The 23 comes from the fact that Viginti Tres is latin for 23, which (coincidentally? I think not.) considered by pagans to be “the number of synchronicity”.

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Here are two versions he synced a bit differently. I like song 1 better, he likes 2. Either way, it is amazing!