the waiting is eternal ... release date is an illusion

new song is gonna be fire

Hype level 317811%

That’s a lot of hype

Can you handle it?

what the hell goes on in here?

Hype.

yo they played the whole song with vox tonight, there are videos on Youtube

something something complete

Gotta say I'm a bit disappointed by the 2 new songs, Grudge v2 and patient/Jambi mash-up. 12-13 years and the only one who has changed is Maynard and I'm not sure it was for the better yet.

How dare Tool write songs that sound like Tool. What an outrage!

My first impression from the two songs played last night is that sounds like Tool but with a different energy/different emotion and I'm not really sure what that emotion is. To me, Undertow felt like anger, self-awareness, introspection. Aenima felt like anger turned into motivation to try really hard to change and control what you can control but let the rest go. Lateralus was trying to focus more on the big picture, if that makes sense. 10,000 never felt as focused on a theme. Maybe no one will agree with any of this. Now the fun part - trying to figure out what he's saying.

The point wasn't whether they sound like Tool, they literally reused riffs and all of the same scales without changing very much. If you look back on their progression from opiate > undertow > aenima > Lateralus > 10k days there were overall differences and improvements in playing styles for each album, but if these 2 songs are any indication of how the rest of the album sounds then I would say they've already reached their peak.

I might grow to like these songs, but if you weren't going to take the last 12-13 years to develop something new but just rehash old riffs... ya, as a fan I am going to be disappointed. And to be honest, they can make a complete trash album for all I care, plenty of other bands I've liked have made trash albums, but I still like the stuff I like and maybe they enjoy playing this stuff.

maybe the new tool album will be like an ear-wormhole if you catch my drift

TBH, I can't tell if you're being serious or if you're mocking all the decoy album people of yore.

. . . because what you just wrote is exactly the type of things they were saying about 10,000 Days when it leaked. Bravo.

There are very few bands that reach this point in there career and don't sound like they are rehashing ideas. Tool are not, and never have been one of those bands.

I love the formula though, so it's no biggie for me, and we're not talking AC/DC levels of rehashing or anything.

I didn't like 10k Days very much either, it still has the least replays for me from any of their other work.

I'm mostly digging the new songs. I hear the re-use of riffs here and there. But I don't mind it. For years now, the most satisfying experience for me creatively is taking old ass riffs/jams of my own and trying to add some new spice to them. It gets to the point where im like... damn, this is something completely different, emotionally speaking. If the result is something that grooves differently, feels familiar and releases new emotion and passion - it's good in my book.

That said. I'm mostly latching on the the music with these new tunes. Maynard's doing okay. I'm having a hard time hearing most of the lyrics, but what I am able to hear doesn't sound too heavy handed socially or politically which was my biggest fear. But he also sounds restrained. No really big vocal moments, melodically or just big notes/screams. Also fairly minimalistic.... he left a lot of empty space. I'm not sure how I feel about that yet. It's understandable.

Take this part from Invincible https://youtu.be/8s5J3HzZUlw?t=552

That groove that starts up feels so... fresh, in terms of Tool. Maynard stopped singing 30sec before that and this whole part goes without a note from him. It feels like a missed opportunity for him to play with the style of his voice a little and just.... join in.

IDK. That and I feel like maynards word choice is a little clunky at times. Sounds like he's forcing "big" words in there some times.

"War-ri-or" 3
"Strug-gl-ing" 3
"To Re-main" 3
"Con-sequ-en---tial" 4 <------ rhythmically that fourth syllable feels... off. But when he changes it to "Rel-e-vant" with 3 syllables, it feels fine to me.

TL:DR; Music good. Maynard okay. 7/10

their set appeared chaotic but it was straight-forward. flashy, but c'mon ...oscillating poster art in oscillating colors. to get the mind going, without letting it wander too far from the music. same thing with maynard, and i think that may be the point this time around. the vocals have always been used as a complimentary instrument within the ensemble of sounds, but now the lyrics - perhaps more than ever? (at least, from first impressions) - are embedding itself within the rhythm. the lyrics are present, but placed atop the beat ... 'hidden in plain sight', sorta thing. they've been saying for years, decades now, that the "real shit" is in the music. hush the talking monkey (of mind), toss the calming apple (of knowledge), fall to gravity/unknown, let go, feel the rhythm, learn to give a listen. idk, it's like they're folding into themselves - if that makes sense. microcosm, fractal metaphor, whatever you want to call it. i like it. tool to the tool'th power.

Friday August 30th 2019!!

Maybe the instrumentals were written in 2006! And these are 10,000 Days b sides.

In all seriousness, I am not judging new material based on the first lives performances. Certainly not on smartphone video.

Mostly agree. The reuse of riffs feels oddly satisfying... Yet a little uncomfortable because it doesn't go where I feel it's going. Looking fwd to the album versions for sure as far as the vocals are concerned. Wonder if these are pretty spot on with the album or if they're taking some liberties because no one knows any different?

The packaging might have lights incorporated on it?

http://i68.tinypic.com/2zsuov7.jpg

Roggles!

they were Apple iphonehome X THOUGH

For a group of people who try so hard to keep the integrity of their work in tact, it boggles my mind that they didn’t try to get ahead of all the shitty phone videos and just release the tracks if they plan on doing so on streaming services anyway. It just seems counter-intuitive to all the no-phone policy’s of the last decade. And if they were waiting till the European dates to do stuff, well we should ask ourselves why. Is there the off chance these two songs have nothing to do with the album and why they haven’t been associated as such on a proper level. When the track list comes out for this do these tracks even appear?? Was this all a rouse and when proper audio is realeased will it sound nothing like this?? Things to ponder...

I'm pretty stoked about this. I've been listening to tool for over 2 decades now and love their work. I live in the Phoenix area and am planning to drive to Jerome (about 2-2 1/2 hours) for the listening party at Puscifer on the 29th!

Anyone else planning to go?

I'm thinking about it, there might be other official listening parties on the West Coast as well...

I imagine I wouldn’t be welcome at such an event.

I'll bite, why not?

you're welcome any time Dan, but you can never leave