Tool Doesn’t Fail With New Album 10,000 Days
The release of Tool’s album Lateralus in 2001 changed the course of progressive rock. This album ushered in a new age where the use of odd time signatures helped achieve a sound that will haunt and inspire you. Tool’s newest album 10,000 Days, released in 2006, does not disappoint in its innovativeness. The entire album covers deep philosophical viewpoints, for example in the first song Vicarious, the singer talks about how humans can only pay attention to the media when there is bloodshed and conflict. Heavy guitar riffs mixed with grooving and driving bass lines topped off with out of this world rock drum patterns give birth to a sound that cannot be matched by any other band. A listener of hard rock who enjoys figuring out the complexities behind the music will find 10,000 Days to be an album they will listen to a thousand times.
Album Art Provided by: Grandmaster Studios
Nearly all of mainstream music is in the standard 4/4 time signature. This means that for every measure, there are four beats. Tool takes this to a whole new level and plays with this concept, creating sobering melodies such as Right In Two where the whole song is played in an 11/4 time signature. This means that for every measure, there are eleven beats. The beautiful guitar introduction, along with a complex bass line, helps create a sad and driving melody to underscore lyrics that talk about how humans have been given so many gifts such as opposable thumbs and a conscience, and yet to this day act out of selfishness and greed.
To find a band that sounds similar to Tool is an interminable task . No other band can quite match the angry and resentful sound combined with insightful lyrics whose topics are those we cover in Mr. Hackman’s Philosophy class. Listening to all of Tool’s albums shows how all of the band members matured and returned from the uncharted territory of music with bountiful results.
To call 10,000 Days a masterpiece is an understatement. No other album to date can cover deep topics concerning the purpose and the faults of humanity while simultaneously demonstrating the glorious sound brought about by a combination of heavy guitar riffs, driving bass lines, and a convoluted drum line built around an odd time signature. Fans around the world cheered and fell in love with the band Tool even more after this album was released. Any lover of hard rock and progressive metal will listen to this album for a very long time.