Scooter Chronicles

Tool - “10,000 Days”

Tracks:

1. Vicarious
2. Jambi
3. Wings for Marie, Part 1
4. 10,000 Days (Wings, Part 2)
5. The Pot
6. Lipan Conjuring
7. Lost Keys (Blame Hoffman)
8. Roseta Stoned
9. Intension
10. Right in Two
11. Viginti Tres

Like many people that listened to rock radio in the early to mid 90’s, I eventually heard the weirdness that was Tool. Their first single “Sober” hit the airwaves and had a lot of heads turning. Their sound, in many respects, has remained rather constant, but their delivery has changed making even those not big into hard rock / heavy metal take notice. “10,000 Days” is about to see it’s first birthday, but to me is the band’s best to date. (And I have David and Catherine to thank for this one - it was a birthday present from them last year.)

(From left:) Maynard James Keenan (vocals), Adam Jones (guitars), Danny Carey (drums), (standing in the back) Justin Chancellor (bass).

Two of the members of Tool (Keenan and Carey) got their start with the infamous Green Jelly, the whacked out hard rock band that hit it big with their raucous version of “The Three Little Pigs”. After the band broke up, Carey was invited to Keenan’s place (all original members lived in L.A.) to jam with a new band he was putting together, and Tool was born (with Paul D’Amour on bass for the first album).

One thing that really stands out on this album over their previous releases is the smoothness of their sound. Like I just said, their sounds hasn’t changed much. Tool has impressed some progressive rock fans, but other’s joke that they have been writing the same song over and over for years. But it’s much more polished on this album. Now polish is usually not a good thing. Here is it, because they stretch their legs with excellent arrangements, and get to the heart of the issues lyrically, making this album more accessible then others, yet it’s oozing with artistic integrity.

Another HUGE plus on this album - chunky bass. My friend Andy used that description after finally hearing the album a few weeks ago, and it is a great phrase that best describes the bass sound. Maybe not chock full of over complicated lines, but boy do you ever know the bass is there.

The song that kicks off the album seems to set the tone. Of all the other Tool albums, I am somewhat clueless as to what the lyrics mean, if anything. But with this album, they come rather clear. “Vicarious” opens up the issue of those glued to their TV watching the drama of tragedy being played out in real life. Part of the bridge (”Why can’t we just admit it / Why can’t we just admit it / We won’t give pause until the blood is flowing”) and chorus (”Vicariously, I / Live while the whole world dies”) sum it up best.

The true amazement of this album are the third and fourth tracks. They express love and faith, or at least the hope of Heaven’s existence. Supposedly the two songs are about the last 10,000 days of Keenan’s mother’s life (approximately - she suffered a stroke and was wheelchair-bound because of paralysis for the last 27 years of her life), and her funeral. From the lyrics, you get a sense that Keenan’s mother was a devoted Christian, and that he feels in awe of what she did for him, referring to saving his life and the constant prayers for him (”Yet it was you who prayed for me / So what have I done / To be a son to an angel? / What have I done / To be worthy?”). The reason this is so amazing is it’s coming from a band that usually excels in creepiness, dark brooding themes, and even the really disgusting. Though the brooding and anger still play a part. You get the idea that Keenan is ticked off that his mother suffered for so long, yet tried to put him first, and now it’s time she stands up and let’s Heaven know she deserves her eternal reward. (”You’re the only one who can hold your head up high / Shake your fists at the gates saying / ‘I’ve come home now! / Fetch me the spirit, the son, and the father / Tell them their pillar of faith has ascended / It’s time now! / My time now! / Give me my, give me my wings!’”)

“Roseta Stoned” returns to the realm of the very dark, but it expresses the best humor I have seen out of Tool. It is set up by “Lost Keys” where an individual is a patient at a hospital and no one seems to know what is wrong or how he got there. A doctor tells him he’s in a safe place and that he needs to tell him everything. “Roseta Stoned” then kicks in with the “patient” saying “Alrighty then. Picture this if you will.” then goes on to describe a meeting with an alien that looks very much like ET just outside of Area 51. ET proceeds to tell him that the end of humanity (or that is what I am picking up in the song) may be coming to an end, and the “patient” is the chosen one to deliver the message and write down the events. The “patient” can’t figure out if he really witnessed this or if some “Deadhead” gave him some kind of drug. He continues to try and deal with this, and he continually forgets to bring a pen to write about the events.

The other tracks on the album continue to show the higher level of maturity that Tool seems to have reached. Of course when you see publicity photos for the album, like the one below …

… I sometimes wonder if I am giving them more credit then they are due. One thing is for sure though, these guys aren’t dumb. They know what they are doing. And they have sucked me into listening to them like the others.

One other thing, too, they are very good musicians, especially Carey. This isn’t just a bunch of metal heads running around using marketing tricks to gain popularity. Well, OK they do that, too. But the chops are there. As much as I have gone on about four of the songs, the entire album is full of good to excellent musicianship. This album is a great example of what modern hard rock music can do.