So, I'm listening to that little jam tool had on a webcast a while ago, and I must say, relative to that jam, I'm kind of disappointed with the direction they went with in 10,000 days. Don't get me wrong, it's a good album, but comparatively speaking, I think it's their weakest album to date. It just sounds like "stereotypical" Tool manufactured in one CD..."A bunch of Tool cliche's in one cd.." And that's the artwork/the lyrics/the music...everything just seems uninspired.

Whereas the jam was different..it was a little funny, very dark, and sounded original..even though the music was simple. It just seemed like light at the end of the tunnel for the new album. I tried uploading the jam incase people dontknow what I'm talking about, but am having difficulty at the moment, and I couldn't find it on youtube, so if anyone can share it, please do, cuz I can't right now.

Given that a new album might be coming out in the next year or whatever, I don't expect as much anymore to be quite honest. I think Lateralus was their peak in terms of creativity and I don't know that they'll be able to go in a whole new direction like they did with that. Which, in my opinion, is what TOOL does. Not hating, but I can't see myself praising them like I used to if they don't pick it up a notch.

Having said that, I hope they do blow our minds on the next album.

I know what you mean, I was really disappointed when the album came out, but I also had kind of a shitty year that year. One thing that lightened it up for me a little bit was the fact that Danny mentioned it was their blues album. I didn't know what the hell he meant by that at first, but now I think that he meant what you're talking about. Look in the thesaurus. Under cliche, you'll find the phrase 'blues music'. Another thing was after having studied Wagner in school and how he developed the leitmotiff (a signature melody or musical theme) made me appreciated the cliches on the album much more. Like Rosetta Stoned's allusions to Third Eye musically speaking. I was really bummed out at first thinking, "Fuck! I know this song already" but more listens just shut me the hell up as I thought many of there best, unique moments as a band are on that track. And Right in Two's Pushit allusions made me think they wanted to do a kind of 'studio version' of the alternate version. Im curious to see what they would do if they released another EP, where they didn't take advantage of a whole cd, as I think that was the biggest flaw of that album particularly. But on the other hand, it is an aspect of their creative process that I do like, because why the hell put out a compact disc if you're going to waste half of it? By and all, I like to say that I think they know what they're doing, but who the hell does anyways, haha?!?!?

I think 10,000 Days was brilliant.

Yeah, not to mention Maynard (or it may have been Danny who said this was their "back to the basics album") which gives me comfort to know they were deliberately avoiding "pushing the envelope," of music, which is what we know and appreciate them for.
i guess what erks me is the lack of "wholeness" in the album...It doesn't sound coherent as one piece...all the other albums had a distinct sound. To give you an example, when I first started to listen to tool, I downloaded about 10 of their songs, and made a sample CD. Without knowing their albums or much about them, I classified their songs into particular orders "Parabola, schism, Lateralus were artsy, Cold and Ugly and Opiate and Sober were 'angry,' and Stinkfist and Aenima were 'dirty and dark.' I shit you not I had that mentality. Lo and behold, once I got their albums, these songs were on the same album and the same "soundscape" as other song songs on that album, making them relatable. And I guess that gives a "oneness" to the album, solidifying it.

I guess the disappointing thing about 10,000 days is each of the songs could kind of go on another album (disregarding production value), and the fact that they didn't go in a "WHOLE" new direction.,..just how Undertow, Aenima and Lateralus, each in their own way, had an underlying theme of going in a new direction, and the theme was--within each album--a certain sound. I hope that makes sense...Anyways, That's what I would like and I hope they can do that!

LOL, Tool always fills their discs with filler to get to 80 minutes...

Other bands "waste space" so that only good songs are on the disc, and it doesn't take 5+ years to come out with an album every time.

hi, whare can i find this jam eh?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o0T2kMMs9qo

And this is the webcast it came from...Incase you didn't know..

http://www.toolband.com/webcast/index.php

The jam?

Haha, yeah, I never believed the whole decoy album crap.

Ohhhhhh..... yeah we don't kindly to them folks around he-ya >B(

I just listened to it for the 1st time. Wow, someone here actually wanted it to sound like ambient bullshit music I could've made with my iMac?

No? It's a tight riff...and the 'sound' of it sounded like new tool; 10,000 days was new tool but it sounded very familiar

I definitely agree...Cuz I like the album ALOT. Very good stuff. But yeah, with as many "new" things they had (all those you mentioned), I would say there are just as many steps backwards--The angel references in Right in Two, the "jamming riff" in Right in Two (sounds like 46&2), the beginning riff to Vicarious also sounds like 46&2, the voice in Jambi sounds like the dirty/grungy voice in Stinkfirst/Pushit, Rosetta Stoned Third eye...The artwork?!...But whatever, I could go on and on about the things I don't like, there are also a lot of things I do like.

I think Jambi is a solid hit, as is the Pot...Those were awesome in so many ways and were really good Tool additions. Everything else, to me, was just...lackluster. And not entirely, cuz you are right, there are a lot of treasures in each of the songs, but to me, the cons outweigh the pros in all the other ones....

It would just be nice to get the Lateralus of our day..And I don't mean similar to Lateralus in terms of content, I mean similar in terms of how unique and groundbreaking it was...It sounded nothing like their past work, and up until that CD I've never heard riffs like that. They totally exploded with their creativity. I hope they can do the same next time around

Speaking of random jams, this 2010 intro to Schism better be on the next god damn album:

http://youtu.be/DFl-sBl42qg

That one is alright..I like this one better

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mUw5Z2ZyViA

p.s. if you can, watch this whole concert...its amazing

No this is the best version of that intro that i am so excited to hear develop into a song. Adam isnt hendrix but goddamn he knows how to move you through such simple techniques and notes

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wEZbAtDRxhw

if the new album is anything like that webcast then i will be greatly disappointed. I liked how tool made 10000days their blues album, almost restating their previous points with a new realization

Sounds to me like he's just fucking around with the Schism intro that's been round for years now.