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New Tool Cd


BigDave

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  • 3 weeks later...

They'll probably have 10 trillion copies at Best Buy for $12 on release day, so I'll probably just traipse on down there...

Anyone have a copy of Vicarious, yet?? I haven't gone digging in the refuse of p2p sharing world, yet... not that desperate, I guess ;)

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

Interesting move for them. Still definitely Tool. Layers, parallel themes, percussive.

Much as Undertow is still my personal favorite Tool album (a lot of personal meaning...), I gotta say that had they not had the lineup switch afterwards, I don't think they'd have quite found this direction... Heavy Justin influence in Vicarious, no doubt (remember, he wrote the main themes in 46&2 and in Schism). I read some of the banter on the various blogs and forums... hoping the whole album would be like that. We'll see - Lateralus had some of their heaviest stuff, and also some of their most ethereal. Should be interesting either way...

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  • 2 weeks later...

My feeling is that this album is definitely better than Lateralus - and it grabs me quicker than Aenima did. I liked this one unreservedly from the first listen. I don't know if that's good or bad - I guess we'll see ;)

Overall mood of the album is somewhat somber - heck, 17 minutes of it is a eulogy for Maynard's mother (Wings for Marie, and 10,000 Days). The rest seems to be more astute observations by MJK on the human condition and it's manifestations in today's world. Particularly Vicarious and Right In Two.

I still giggle listening to Rosetta Stoned - I haven't decided quite how to take the track, yet, whether I think the subject is "self medicated" or shot up on something more other worldly... hmmm... It still seems to capture the whole notion that we, as humans, tend to drop the ball when it comes to our own futures, spirituality, and growth - "must remember to write it down ... but I forgot my pen ... typical".

As far as playing goes... The vox are slightly buried in the mix - typical for a Tool album, and not so buried that they're unintelligible, but you have to pay attention to get it. Maynard shows us some new dimensions, though, such as the beginning of "The Pot". You just can't imagine anyone but Maynard singing for this band... More of the usual stuff for Adam, but with the appearance of a talk-box on his solo in Jambi - and well done, too, not the typical "listen to me make my guitar 'talk'" stuff that everyone tries to copy off of Frampton. Danny plays very well, as usual - though I'm not sure if his playing is quite as inpsired on this record as Aenima and Lateralus. I haven't digested enough, yet. It fits the music, and is definitely Tool, and doesn't disappoint. Justin's bass playing is, I think, the highlight in the execution of this album. More so than before, he really really shines on this record. I keep picking up on little things he's doing. What an awesome addition to this band.

Sonically, it's a Tool album, and the overall sound of the record fits nicely next to Lateralus. Very clean, well produced, good sounds across the board, very well mixed and edited.

The packaging is pretty cool - the 3D glasses and artwork take a little bit of fumbling to use correctly, but add a neat visual dimension to the experience.

I paid $10 at Best Buy yesterday at lunch. I'd have been happy if I'd had to pay a lot more - this is a great record (we won't talk about the other record I bought at the same time that might make a 1-way trip to the range with me next time I go....).

Oh, BTW - if you buy and rip to iTunes, be sure to link Wings for Marie w/ 10,000 Days, and Lost Keys with Rosetta Stoned so that you get them with no breaks between those tunes... and... link Intension and Right In Two (which are also related...)

Edited by XRe
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I just finished my first listen through today. Well, well worth the 5 yr wait IMO.

Dave - I was thinking the exact same thing regarding Justin's work on this CD - just killer, killer stuff. The whole CD flows from one song to the next it really is hard to tell where one starts and ends (or do they? :) ).

My first trip though was in the car, so I can't wait for a hour or so alone with nothing but a set of phones.

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Picked up 10,000 Days tonight. First impressions, I like it much better than Aenema. I missed, have not heard, Lateralus but this newest album reminds one of Undertow. Seems that you can hear the Perfect Circle's sound in there as well.

The CD packaging is fun and interesting...a visual training tool perhaps? Better quality and more inventive than a lot of other groups attempts at a non jewel case package. Still not as utilitarian as a jewel box.

Edited by Middle Man
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I'm still working with it. First impressions - it didn't hit me near as hard as Lateralus and Aenima, but that may change. (And of course I'm an original Undertow fan.) But I'm coming off of, five years ago, buying Lateralus and putting in the Van's CD player (that will just blow the windows out of it) and parking it in disbelief as The Grudge was still playing. I remember staggering out of the van in shock - that any music could be so powerful. "Until you choose to ... let this go..." So Vicarious, compared to that experience, is more "Perfect Circle like." Good, but it lacks the power. My 2 favorite first songs: 10,000 days and Rosetta Stone. Which is cranking right now. I'm going to have to play it again...

;)

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Jeremy - Lateralus is definitely worth picking up... ;)

Brian - I agree re: lack of raw power vs. Lateralus. It's definitely a different album - just like every one of their albums before it. There are more throwbacks on this album - The Pot could almost be off of Opiate, in terms of the songwriting, etc. I get a different sense of cohesion in the music on this album, which is appealing to me. Hookier singing doesn't bother me any, either - I like a good portion of the APC stuff, too.

We'll see how it holds up over time.

"And after calming me down with some orange slices and some fetal spooning, ET revealed to me his singular purpose. He said 'You are the chosen one. The one who'll deliver the message....'" :lol: :lol:

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Jeremy - Lateralus is definitely worth picking up...

Thanks, I'll pick it up as well. I almost bought it last night along with the new album, but a 2 disk Essential Iron Maiden on sale ('cuz May is Metal Month) caught my attention. It was an impluse buy because all my Iron Maiden cassettes (and the walkman to play them) are long gone.

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Hmm...I'll have to give another listen. XRe let me borrow a copy and I listened through a couple times in my truck. Gotta say, first impressions, it just didn't grab me. Not like the other albums. Some of it is great, but I got bored several times and had to shut it off. Too much droning ethereal stuff, I think. Diet Tool? Not quite violent enough? :P It's Tool, so I'll give it more listening chances. I have to appreciate Danny Carey's drumming, if nothing else.

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  • 2 weeks later...

At first, I was not so impressed with the slower sections.

Acquiring the lyrics helped with that (especially Wings Pt 1 and 2), as did continued listening.

I think that their use of faster/slower sections reminds me of Pink Floyd's pre-wall stuff.

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  • 3 months later...

It was a great show. Not the best Tool show I've seen (seen them every time they've played in Phoenix except at the recent Gammage show, since Undertow), but still awesome. I think most of the not quite up to par was because Maynard got hit in the head with bottle during the first part of their second song (The Pot). That definitely took him out of his groove, and he really didn't recover (seem like he was fully there/into it) until the last song - 10,000 Days. Which was just unbelievably awesome. It was worth it just to see them play that song.

be

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la-la-la.

me still happy be alive to experience that :)

I first didn't like 10,000 days but how the heck it grew on me this much. I started to listen to almost every day..... then I get to go to concert last week.

I had expeirenced that much of pure, powerful artistic energy to the point energy become the matter, only once before.... sitting in front of Picasso's Guernica in Museum in Madrid. You know, you feel it choking you, pushing you, trying to take you apart, questioning you and reaching you so deep to

liquidify who you are.

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