Tool - 10,000 Days

mp3: Wings For Marie (part 1)
mp3: 10,000 Days (Wings part 2)
website: http://www.toolband.com

Is it controversial to be so uncool and still admire Tool so vehemently? Whatever, I originally came from a rock background and I just can’t shake it. And whatever their critics have to say, they’re as far from a traditional metal band as can be. It’s just a shame many of the fans are such donkeys. When 10,000 Days first leaked, so many didn’t like that it wasn’t full-on guitar noise, or whatever else, going so far to claim they (Tool) had leaked a fake album to punish downloaders. Then there was the continual online criticism of live sets too (not picking songs the real fans deserved), which almost had me believing it too, but having seen Tool live in November in Rotterdam…nah, they’re still a cripplingly good act and put on the most visual rock show around. And what other band bothered to release an album with built-in stereoscopic glasses and beautiful 3D artwork?

So I’m sharing two tracks from the album, which really come as a package deal anyway. Said to be about the death of Maynard’s mother from cancer (after 10,000 days of suffering), there’s not too much hard rocking going on, but it’s a million miles from a whiny ballad either. If you have negative Tool preconceptions and feel like breaking through them, give it a chance. And that bass groove in the second half of ‘10,000 Days’ gets me every time.

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