.Tool - 10,000 Days
I must begin this article by stating that yes, i am an obnoxious Tool fan. Yes i do think they are one of the greatest bands of all time and yes i do think your an idiot if you dont get it. However, i am also one of the only members of this fanatic fan club that can say that this album isn't as good as Lateralus. Maybe it's because i held it up on a pedestal for so long, i dont know but it's not as cohesive and fluid as Lateralus is. Lateralus has this way of bringing you into a trance like state with its interlacing melodies and complex rythmic structure. 10,000 days is still able to do this, but not with Lateralus's finesse. However, in many ways 10,000 days is a grossly different beast to their 2001 effort. Most noticably vocalist Maynard James Keenan has lost the deeply cryptic lyrics for a less subtle metphorical approach. This is a good thing in many ways, as he can go back to the social commentary and cynicism that he is so good at. I suppose writing your songs according to a Fibbonaci sequence has got to get old after a while. Songs like "Right in Two" with its religious connotations and the "Wings Of Marie" suite about his dead mother really hit home and in many ways give the album more meaning than it's predecessor. The crazy rythmic patterns and the crunching riffs are here in spades with songs like "Vicarious" and "Jambi" really kicking ass. However, it's in the segues between the songs that the album loses focus. Who cares i hear you ask, but that's what was so magical about Lateralus, the way everything seemed to flow into each other. On 10,000 days segues like "Lost Keys" and "Lipan Conjuring" seem pointless and tedious. I must admit though that "The Pot", a song about hypocrisy not drugs, is one of their best and most catchy songs. Ultimately, this is most definitely a Tool album which makes it 5 times better than any other second rate crap on radio these days, but it doesn't reach the dizzying heights of Lateralus and personally i never expected it to.
P.S It's worth buying just for the stereoscopic 3D cover art. Absolutely the best idea ever!
