I think this album probably has the worst lyrics in it, barring Wings and 10K.

The lyrics feel really forced, and they don't seem to flow very well either, and what's with trying to make everything rhyme all of a sudden, it really doesn't sound that great when Maynard does it, and uses it in a Tool song.

Totally.

Lyrically the innovation is clearly hit and miss, I find Lost keys --> Rosetta Stone to be the most exciting and experimental piece on the album. However, i find the arrangment of the songs to cause disharmony. Jumping from idea to idea leaves me to listen to the album in pieces rather than all the way through.

I suppose "I need to watch plants grow..." doesn't have the same ring to it.

Right in Two is the only song on the album that truly makes me squirm when I hear it. I think the album is good, and surely the lyrics have less of a metaphysical flavor to them, but that's not to say the interpretations are without metaphysical layers. I think there are possibly more identifiable "philosophical" themes to this album than Lateralus, but they're just embedded less obviously.

I'm fucking sick of the people on this message board. Listen to the songs. If you like them, then keep listening to them. If you don't like them, don't listen to them and SHUT THE FUCK UP! You don't know what the band was thinking when they wrote the songs. You don't know what each song means to the people that wrote it. If it means something to you, then I couldn't be happier for you. If you don't like the way it sounds, or you don't like the way Maynard sings it, or whatever other complaint you may have, then go the fuck away and don't listen to the song anymore. And whatever you do, don't buy tickets to anymore Tool shows because you're not going to want to hear half the songs they're going to play. Get a life and stop thinking the band owes you something more than they gave you. Go listen to something else. If you like it better, then good. If you, don't, then good luck finding somethin you like.

I know man, I hate when people have opinions that aren't completely fellacious towards tool as well. Who the hell are they to post on an opinion message board?!!??!?!?

It's a blues album. It's not supposed to be like Lateralus. And in any case I disagree with you 100%. The lyrics have as much meaning to them as Lateralus, and with much more emotion (not saying they're better... I will not decide which album I like more).

I disagree. This album has more depth and thought in it than Lateralus did. And it does it in a less pretentious and 'trippy' way. There are many other great moments outside of 10,000 Days and Wings for Marie on this CD, both lyrical and musical. And the more I listen, the more I see what they were going for. 10,000 Days is better than Lateralus on almost every level. And up till now I really thought that would not be possible to do.

Those of you passing judgement on this record so soon- I just don't get it. It took MONTHS for me to fully accept and understand Lateralus and I think 10,000 Days is even more demanding and challenging (as it should be). I don't understand how so many of you have missed that and decided to judge this recording so quickly. Music like what Tool has done here is not meant to be loved and understood by everyone it touches within the first few weeks of release. That in itself may sound pretentious and elitist, but if I want easily accessible and digestable music I can always put a Buddy Holly record on.

I wanted Tool to release something that forces me to revisit it constantly without passing judgement on it. And that's what they did with 10,000 Days.

It took me YEARS to digest Lateralus, not just months.

And c'mon...the lyrics on The Pot are just brilliant: the verbal puns, the innuendos, the wit and word-play...
It's a different style, but the talent in lyric-writing has not waned.

They could have put out a CD with just Lost Keys and Rosetta Stoned on it and I would have been happy. It might be straightforward, but Aenima is about as straightforward as Tool has ever gotten, 10,000 Days included, and its a masterpiece, as is Rosetta Stoned. There are countless songs by countless bands with similar themes, such as love, death, etc. What makes Tool great and unique is that they sing songs about genetic mutation and alien abductions, in other words songs that deal with subjects 99% of other songs by other bands dont. I wouldnt have any other lyrics for Rosetta Stoned.

I think an EP with Rosetta Stoned (+Lost Keys) would have been a great idea.

Meshuggah put out a one-song EP.

Fair enough- I just measure things in months. Makes me not feel so old! :)

You'll grab at any reason to try and rationalise your dislike of the album, won't you? I on the other hand, along with many others I'm sure, do like the album and do like the lyrics. You'll get over it.

I would say that lyrics must be geniune to be 'heartdropping', and I certainly don't believe MJK thinks his mothers soul is wearing angel wings in heaven.

Yes he loved his mother, yes he was deeply affected by her life, and death, but the lyrical intent of 10000 days revolves around his mothers (false) beliefs?

He never had sex in prison though either.

I completely disagree. Who are you to know or say what the 4 grown men of TOOL should be writing about? You are so hung up on Lateralus. That is called Fan-Boyism. This is a DIFFERENT album. A NEW JOURNEY. Not the same as the LAST journey. Therefore, YOU must adapt to it, absorb it, feel into it, understand it. To think that you've come to this conclusion after a few weeks is pretty retarded. The lyrics on ALL the songs are INCREDIBLE, and fit in line with TOOL/MAYNARD/REALITY in general. Plus, it isn't DATED at all. Any of these songs and their lyrics can be interpreted in many ways, and have many deep meanings attached to them. 50 years from now, it will be just as meaningful as the lyrics from LATERALUS, because as usual, TOOL deals with universal themes and personal themes in a way that can mean something to everyone at any time, and the meaning can be different to as many people that listen to it. It's not all about "meaning" anyways.
Have you tapped into the FEELING of the other songs that you don't deem lyrically worthy? SO you like WFM/10K. How did you miss the creepy and relevant warning/observation of Vicarious? How did you not read into and feel the vulnerability in Jambi? How can you not marvel at the hilarious/sarcastic/venomous/intelligent lyrics of THE POT? How can you not be blown away by the tapestry of imagery in ROSETTA STONED? Just because it doesn't fit with YOUR Lateralus-saturated brain, doesn't mean that on its own merit, doesn't completely make sense and is incredibly beautiful in ITS OWN RIGHT.
The simple and eloquent lyrics of INTENSION are amazing. IT says so much with seemingly simplistic words. RIGHT IN TWO's lyrics are COMPLETELY SPOT ON in regards to the whole HISTORY of humanity, not just the last 50 years. It is a brilliant take on the nature of our species, and it applies to so many possible angles. To think that TOOL needs to write the JOURNEY TO ENLIGHTENMENT album everytime is a complete joke. You obviously haven't experienced enough from life to realize that there is so much more to it than the naive realism of spirituality. To be human encompasses so much more than the trickery of bliss in meditation and the false sense of peace that comes when you are going through the spiritual stages. At the end of the day, there is still a REAL F*CKING WORLD out there that doesn't share your little Third Eye Coming out Party.

TOOL has always been REAL and TRUE and HONEST to where they are, and also reflect the world incredibly well. in 2001, before 9/11, there was a sense of hope and promise for humans to grab hold of the next step in awareness, but when our government blew up our own WTC 1, 2 and don't forget 7, it was a coming out party of a different sort, the kind where they basically say: We're in control, we will kill whoever we please to meet our needs. You now live in a world where there is government sanctioned terrorism (london bombing, bali, Spain) to influence the idiotic masses into believing there is some underground terrorist group causes all this mayhem. It is a joke. It is a lie. Anyone who believes that BS is not being intelligent, logical and their eyes are CLOSED, their ears are deaf.
TOOL understands this. The rules have changed. We are all F*CKED. The US is purposefully engineering our demise financially and otherwise. For TOOL to lyrically talk about the Great Bliss of Existence would surely ring totally UNTRUE at this point in time, that is why you aren't getting LATERALUS 2: Beyond Enlightenment.

The lyrics on 10K are the most insightful, mature, honest and direct that we've ever heard from Maynard James Keenan. Clearly, it is too much for some of you that haven't developed as far as others. That's quite alright. But please don't think you know what you're talking about when you tear down a beautiful work of art that 10,000 days is and always will be. IT is a masterpiece, lyrically/vocally/musically. If you haven't quite developed the capacity to be vulnerable enough to understand and enjoy the lyrics to the album, come back in a couple years after the world has taken a few more notches downward, and sh*t really starts to hit the fan, and you tell me if you think the lyrics are not perfectly adequate for the music.

For you to say MJK doesn't have his heart and soul on this record is ridiculous. It is YOU, that doesn't have the heart and soul to FEEL and accept the naked vulnerability that he is sharing with you. That's your problem. Not his. MJK is as right-on as ever.

**im one of those people that listened to Lateralus everyday for the last 3 years, so I love that album. Some of you over analyze/overthink your way out of enjoyment all too often, like right here and now with this new TOOL album, which is clearly another masterpiece from them.

The lyrics are not forced. You are forcing the lyrics. Maybe you should look to your inability to understand, instead of automatically tearing down the art that is causing you this limitation. Huh?

I mean, what is the purpose of real art if not to relflect back to you what a limited little monkey you are? Clearly, because of your post, and anyone that agrees with your statement, is a limited monkey and can't really open up to intelligent/humorous/insightful lyrics. That's too bad.

of course she doesn't have wings in heaven right now. maynard knows that. for the benefit of his mother, whom he loved deeply, he is putting in that imagery with a tinge of sarcasm. This is his expression for the loss of his mom, one of the few people that believed in him. If you have trouble reading into layers of possibility and different dimenisions in lyrics, maybe you should check out another band that doesn't challenge you so much. It seems that when you are challenged, you tear down the artist, instead of realizing that maybe you are the mentally disabled one, who is much more limited than the artist we're speaking about. Ever think of that? My guess is NO. Why? Because for me, it is entirely obvious. You're not there yet. Don't worry, lil buddy. You will be. In some other life.

Why would Right in Two make you squirm?

You make me laugh. In any case you are a fanboy who didn't like Lateralus. And the world was shitty enough before 9/11, just take a look at the results of the atomic bomb in Japan.

I hope you're being sarcastic.

Your implication that 10000 Days is metaphorical is false, being that it literally expresses his mothers beleifs.

555

...are you SHITTING me? Either you're using the pseudo-intillectual monkey cliche on your own because you're a drone mistaking itself for a queen, or you're swiping said cliche from the song, which is doubly pathetic.

"Trials and tribulations"

"And this little light of mine...I'll let it shine" Right. Okay, I'll give you that one. The little kid's song is used effectively and appropriately (I'm being serious), and I'm sure there are no other words for "trials and tribulations," (not quite so serious).

"Monkey Killing Monkey" ?

"I need to watch things die...from a good safe distance"?

"...to the sky, crying why oh why" ? That's your idea of something that's not forced? It's certainly not original.

"...poison in his TEA"? Maynard is using the word "TEA" to finish up an already weak rhyme scheme with poor lyrics. There is nothing profound in this "statement."

The whole monkey cliche is pathetic. It's the shit high school kids use to sound lofty and enlightened. That is not the sort of shit I need to have sink in after savoring it and opening my third eye like the Tool-God apparently wants us to, according to the fan-boys with hard-ons and eyes firmly shut who apparently speak directly to the members of the band to stomp us down with their pompous dickhead opinions. "I need to watch things die from a good safe distance" is terrible. It's not profound. There's a line between "straight forward" and crappy, uninspired, and worn out.

Rosetta Stoned is the most progressive thing on there (lyrically, and I loved whatever they did to the vocals at "...as one would be in my position"), and Wings/10K Days is the only thing remotely heart-felt.

Sorry. If you think it takes people months to weed through the meaning behind "Monkey Killing Monkey", then you need to quit trying to open your third eye and work on basic reading comprehension skills. Ditto for the whole of Vicarious. The Pot may be a bit better, and admittedly witty, but if you think this is anything beyond any other rock song, sorry. It doesn't stand up to Ænima or Undertow's material, lyrically. On the whole, these lyrics are undeniably poor...they fail even in their awful rhymes (specifically Vicarious).

Again. There's a difference between "Straight Forward" and "Insultingly Blatant and Cliche." I don't want Lateralus II. I want good lyrics, straightforward or otherwise, minus the platitude.

But I'm glad an individual of such infinite insight and depth could provide me with an explanation of how an opinion makes me a limited monkey (and similarly, how everyone else with my same opinion is incapable of advanced thought). Which you evidentially are as well, because "what is the purpose of real art if not to relflect back to you what a limited little monkey you are?" I suppose, the purpose of ALL art is to show me and everyone else ( therefore you as well my pretentious friend) that we're chimps, and not, say, separate portions of a higher being viewing itself subjectively (sound familiar?) or creatures of infinite potential, capable of infinite love and kinship. Oh well, Tool changed it's perspective...guess everything they said up until now never counted or wasn't art, right?

Try tackling Dorian Gray before you talk any more about art...or anything else. You're speaking out of your ass, and it's shit everyone past 8th grade seen before. At least quote it from someone more talented than you.



Say, did this reflect back to you what a little monkey you are?


I welcome a PM.

You're not getting one and don't PM me either. Your post was full of crap. No need to dissect it. It just was. You may think that posting such drivel will change opinions around here. It doesn't. So save it next time. You don't like the CD- we get it. But your reasoning is dull, so please feel free to move onto some other topic before you unleash another long dissertation based on nothing more than weak opinion.

Hehehe.

Nice one Airgonaut, that's what I was thinking.

I agree with this completely. To say the lyrics have any less substance than any of TOOL's other albums is ridiculous. Maybe to YOU there isn't as much meaning, but it's all a matter of opinion. I agree with Exegesis, there are changes, which reflect changes in the world, society, and understanding of our place in the world.

agreed

wow, someone isn't paying attention.

how's the brainwashing going for ya, anyways?

Sorry, I'm not here to PM people. I really don't care THAT much. You are quite hung up on the monkey lyric, aren't ya? I don't know what to tell you. The lyrics paint an accurate picture of humans, so to use the word "monkey" works. It gets the job done. I guess to be oh so different, Maynard could have called everyone orangutangs or something. I'm sorry you, the almighty TOOL LYRIC SHERIFF, don't approve of the imagery. Perhaps it hits a little too close to home? I've accepted that im a piece of sh*t that deserves to die a horrible death. Apparently, you haven't. Keep living the dream. Naive Ave's resident LYRIC FILTRATION SYSTEM. Good to know. Next time I have trouble with lyrics, I'll make sure to run it by YOU.

Keep up the good work.

I liked the Vicarious lyrics, not because they are profound or original (they aren't) but because MJK is finally spreading an appropriate - http://www.RichardDawkins.com - message regarding nature and human-nature to the world.

10000 Days, on the other hand, seems profound and deep on the surface, until you realize that he simply does not believe the things he says.

You just don't understand that concept of "tribute," do you?

how would you know that?

have you ever written a song?

It's not a mystery.

The compromising of beliefs are, however, more subtle.

Both sides of this argument need to take a step back to gain a little perspective here. In this thread alone there are 2 pages of ranting and raving back and forth from people trying to logically support an argument that is all about personal taste. This board would be empty if this type of thread did not exist. Why? How can anyone here expect to argue a matter of taste? We all would have to see the world through your eyes for as long as you've lived to understand why you do or do not like this album, words will never adequately convey your point because what you are trying to communicate goes far beyond words.

I forget the scholastic term for it, but in sociology there is a concept where people basically need to have others believe the same things in order to feel more secure about the validity of said beliefs (see Organized Religion). I feel the same concept is at work here. It is time to move past this. On this planet alone there are 6 billion + different ways of viewing the universe, none of which can be said to be correct yet each is valid in its own right due to the subjective nature of truth.

Its great that some of you see the beauty of this album and I can understand why you want the people that don't like it to share in its beauty with you. I feel the same way, but I refuse to go into details as to why I love this album because these details will mean nothing to the rest of the community here. It is important to remember, however, that no matter how clear your revelation seems to you when it happens it will in all liklihood sound like utter gibberish to many other people, again due to the subjective nature of reality. "You believe me don't you? Please believe what I just said."

I find it sad that a community filled with intelligent and creative people can find nothing better to do with our talents than argue back and forth on taste. These are arguments that can never be won. Submachine: I understand that you don't think this album is as good as their other works. That is fine. Please don't believe, though, that you are going to change anyone else's mind through argument, if someone's taste can be changed through argument that person is not being true to themself. People that do like the album: please stop feeding the fire of people that think they can argue you into having different taste, let them not like it. The fact that some people don't ike what you like should not threaten you in any way - just remember that outside of this community are countless numbers of people that don't even like this band, that idea never threatened you, did it?

It is time to move on from arguing about taste. I would love to see the result of all this passion and energy channeled into something that is not the equivalent of mental masturbation. Thank you for taking the time to listen.

the only lyrics I don't like are those from Intension. The song is Ok anyway.

Salud!

I myself am a big fan of this record. The words to these songs are beautiful. Being someone who can (humbly) sing most tool songs, I have no problem finding emotional resonance in any of it. This album has been an amazing way for me to express emotions that under other circumstances I could not express. I mean how often do we get to build to a grand "...much better you then I!" in life and feel equally responsible for the words as well as uplifted and clear. Sure, some lyrics may be "simpler" but that is fine by me. The emotion is there and anyone thinking otherwise is nuts. If anything, my years with tool have taught me that these guys know what they are doing and I am willing to go wherever these boys want to take me. Now that is not a blind sheep’s words, it is the words of someone whose been opened up to new realities by four men and because of this trust that the product that is put forth is laden with as much heart as any other. People have the right to hate the album all they want, everyone has a different artistic taste but it is disrespectful to insinuate that Maynard and the boys are lacking in their talents. They still got it, plain and simple

i couldn't agree with you more. i had just fully realized how amazing lateralus was about a year and a half ago and i got the day it came out. and im sure many other people feel the same way. i can't believe people aren't giving 10000 days more of a chance it is a truly great album also but again im sure it needs some time to settle. also i think part of the problem is that tool fans have worked themselves up to believe that 10000 days was going to be the most amazing thing ever because of the 5 year long wait and maybe what they had envisioned
was a repeat of lateralus and 10000 days is not like lateralus i think it is a little more personal so maybe that might be what throws people off with this new album..........but all in all in my opinion all tool albums are fucking amazing and i would'nt want a change made to any of them