10,000 Days
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This article documents a current album. Information is likely to change as the album remains on the charts. |
| 10,000 Days | ||
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| Studio album by Tool | ||
| Released | May 2, 2006 | |
| Recorded | August 2005 - January 2006 at O'Henry Studios in Burbank, California, The Loft and Grandmaster Studios in Hollywood, California | |
| Genre | Alternative Metal Progressive Rock |
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| Length | 75:45 | |
| Label | Volcano II/Tool Dissectional: U.S. | |
| Producer(s) | Tool | |
| Professional reviews | ||
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| Tool chronology | ||
| Lateralus (2001) |
10,000 Days (2006) |
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10,000 Days is the fourth full-length studio album by Tool. It was released on April 28, 2006 in parts of Europe, April 29 in Australia, May 1 in the United Kingdom and May 2 in North America.
Contents |
[edit] Overview
Following a five-year gap after their previous album, Lateralus, Tool's newest release was subject to much speculation and rumor, just as its predecessor had been. Rumors surrounding the band members' activity reached a point where it was speculated that they had fabricated a "decoy" album, creating an elaborate hoax to fool audiences until the day of release.[1] These rumors began to subside when a leaked copy of the album was illegally distributed via filesharing networks on or around April 18, 2006. 10,000 Days elaborates upon the sound of Tool's earlier records, while stylistically acknowledging the musical influence of the band's tourmates Fantômas and Meshuggah.[2] The album received generally favorable reviews by critics.
[edit] Singles
On March 27, 2006 Billboard.com posted an article about 10,000 Days,[3] which mentioned that "Vicarious" would be the album's first single. "Vicarious" was officially released to radio on April 17, and entered the Modern Rock Tracks chart at #2. A music video for the song was tentatively scheduled to premiere in early July 2006.[4] However, it has not been officially released.
The second single from the album is "The Pot", which peaked at #7 on the Modern Rock chart. It was the band's first #1 single on the Mainstream Rock chart.
[edit] Recording
The album was recorded at O'Henry Studios in Burbank, California as well as at The Loft and Grandmaster Studios in Hollywood, California. It was mixed at Bay 7 in North Hollywood and mastered at Gateway Mastering Studios in Portland, Maine. The May 2006 issue of Guitar World (released April 11, 2006) featured an interview with guitarist Adam Jones discussing the new album. Jones explained that recording techniques for the album involved the use of a "pipe bomb microphone" (a guitar pickup mounted inside a brass cylinder), and a talk box guitar solo on the song "Jambi." Drummer Danny Carey triggered many of the sound effects on the album using electronic drums called Mandalas.
[edit] Artwork
The CD packaging for 10,000 Days consists of a thick cardboard-bound booklet partly covered by a flap holding a pair of stereoscopic eyeglasses, which can be used to view a series of images inside (including, for the first time since Undertow, an individual portrait of each band member). Viewed with the glasses, the artwork produces an illusion of depth and three-dimensionality. Alex Grey, who created a majority of the album art for Lateralus and its accompanying video "Parabola", reprised his role for 10,000 Days. The artwork's 3D modelling is credited to Ray Zone while the illustration and CGI concepts are credited to Grey (including several adaptations of his painting "Net of Being"). The CD face itself is decorated with stylized eyes, arranged in a seemingly logarithmic spiral towards the center (adapted from a previous Alex Grey painting, "Collective Vision"). As with Tool's other albums, the lyrics are not printed within the artwork; vocalist Maynard James Keenan has instead released lyrics for previous Tool albums online following their respective releases; however, it is unknown if this trend will continue. As of November 2006, only the official lyrics of "Rosetta Stoned" and "The Pot" have been released.
On May 5, 2006, the band's official webmaster hinted that "the four individual photos [of the band members] can be used as the pieces of a kind of puzzle", but the puzzle and its meaning "will just be another nut to crack."[5]
[edit] Internet leak
On April 14, 2006, a 30-second clip from "Vicarious" aired on Pittsburgh radio station "105.9 The X". Subsequently, the entire song was leaked in WAV format when a private FTP server (used to distribute the song to radio stations) was left open without password protection for a few minutes.[6] The entire album was later leaked to the Internet, despite heavy security and strict conditions regarding media previews. Exactly how the album came to be leaked is unknown. Some rumors had led fans to believe that the band leaked it as an attack on their record company,[7] yet statements from Keenan in interviews expressing his distaste for internet leaks seem to contradict this.
[edit] Critical reception
On average, 10,000 Days received generally favorable critical reception, albeit with less enthusiasm than previous Tool albums, with a Metacritic average of 66.[8] While most critics praised the album as another example of Tool's musicianship, some noted that the album is a "love-it-or-hate-it" affair.[9] Critics who gave 10,000 Days a relatively low score expressed dislike of its ambient interludes, which Tool have also used on their previous releases. Commercially, the album has been a success, almost immediately reaching platinum status and the top ten of the Billboard 200 charts.
[edit] Track listing
All songs written by Tool.
- "Vicarious" – 7:06
- "Jambi" – 7:28
- "Wings for Marie (Pt 1)" – 6:11
- "10,000 Days (Wings Pt 2)" – 11:13
- "The Pot" – 6:21
- "Lipan Conjuring" – 1:11
- "Lost Keys (Blame Hofmann)" – 3:46
- "Rosetta Stoned" – 11:11
- "Intension" – 7:21
- "Right in Two" – 8:55
- "Viginti Tres" – 5:02
[edit] Track information and miscellanea
- The word 'Vicarious' refers to something that is either "experienced or gained through someone else" or "done on behalf of others". (See "Vicarious" for a discussion of the song's lyrics).
- Jambi is an Indonesian Province in Sumatra, which was once part of the powerful Melayu Kingdom. Legends state that it was ruled by a rich sultan who lived an opulent lifestyle; this myth may be the one referred to in the song's lyrics. One fan pointed out on the band's website that the rhythm used just before the talk box/guitar solo in "Jambi" plays out in such a way that it 'writes out "3, 2, 1" twice in Morse code'. Another fan noted that Jambi is also Finnish for iamb, a metrical foot where an unstressed syllable is followed by a stressed one, and that iambic meter is used in the lyrics of the song.[10]
- 'Marie' is the middle name of Keenan's deceased mother, Judith Marie Garrison. As Keenan explains in his commentary on A Perfect Circle's aMOTION DVD, she suffered a stroke that left her partially paralyzed and wheelchair-bound. The length of time between the paralysis and her death was 27 years, or approximately 10,000 days.[11] Prior to her death, on their 2002 tour, the band debuted an instrumental portion of "Wings for Marie"; the finished song contains lyrics referring to a funeral service.
- In a Guitar World interview, Jones confirmed that the title of "The Pot" was a reference to an idiomatic term for hypocrisy (i.e., the "pot calling the kettle black") as well as a slang term for marijuana.
- The Lipan are an Apache band, also known as the "tall grass people".
- On April 7, 2006, the official Tool website specifically mentioned Albert Hofmann, the "father" of LSD, and stated that he first synthesized the drug on that date in 1938.
- The Rosetta Stone is an archeological artifact of carved granite that was used as a key to decipher ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs.
- 'Intension' is commonly defined as 'intensification'; however, it may also mean "a strenuous exertion of the mind or will". In Logic, it means "the sum of all possible attributes in a term". In the study of evolution, it can refer to the process of interbreeding.
- 'Viginti tres' means 'twenty-three' in Latin; the number holds some historical, mathematical, and occult significance.
[edit] Personnel
- Danny Carey - Drums, Tabla, Percussion
- Justin Chancellor - Bass guitar
- Adam Jones - Art Direction, Guitar, Sitar
- Maynard James Keenan - Vocals
- Joe Barresi - Engineering and Mixing (credited as "Evil Joe Barresi")[12]
- Bob Ludwig - Mastering[13]
- Lustmord - Weather effects on "10,000 Days (Wings Pt 2)"
- Bill McConnell - Vocals on "Lipan Conjuring"
- Alex Grey - Illustrations
[edit] Charting
10,000 Days entered the U.S. Billboard 200 chart at number one, selling 564,000 copies in its first week. In Australia, 10,000 Days debuted at #1, selling 39,278 in its first week. In the UK, the album debuted at #4, the highest chart position they have ever managed in that country. It was certified platinum in the U.S. by the RIAA on June 9, 2006.
[edit] Album
| Year | Country | Chart | Peak position |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2006 | U.S. | Billboard Top 200 | 1 |
| 2006 | Canada | Billboard Top 200 | 1 |
| 2006 | Australia | Australian Record Industry Association | 1 |
| 2006 | New Zealand | 1 | |
| 2006 | Austria | Austria Top 40 Longplay Charts | 1 |
| 2006 | Denmark | Album Chart | 2 |
| 2006 | Finland | Top 40 Album Chart | 2 |
| 2006 | Germany | Media Control | 2 |
| 2006 | Ireland | IRMA | 6 |
| 2006 | Israel | 1 | |
| 2006 | Netherlands | 1 | |
| 2006 | Norway | VG/GGF | 1 |
| 2006 | Poland | 1 | |
| 2006 | Czech Republic | 23 | |
| 2006 | United Kingdom | Top 40 Albums | 4 |
| 2006 | Sweden | Grammofonleverantörernas förening (best selling albums) | 2 |
[edit] Singles
| Year | Single | Chart | Peak Position |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2006 | "Vicarious" | Billboard Hot 100 | #55 |
| 2006 | "Vicarious" | Mainstream Rock Tracks | #2 |
| 2006 | "Vicarious" | Modern Rock Tracks | #2 |
| 2006 | "The Pot" | Billboard Hot 100 | #94 |
| 2006 | "The Pot" | Mainstream Rock Tracks | #1 |
| 2006 | "The Pot" | Modern Rock Tracks | #7 |
[edit] Notes
- ^ "Patrick Donovan" (2006). "Is anyone listening?". "The Age". Retrieved on 2006-05-06.
- ^ "Jon Wiederhorn". "Tool Hammer Away At New Album ". "MTV News". Retrieved on 2006-04-06.
- ^ "Jonathan Cohen". "Tool Feeling 'Vicarious' On New Album". Billboard. Retrieved on 2006-04-28.
- ^ Jonathan Drew (2006-05-11). "Name the band Tool's fave artist". ASAP. Retrieved on 2006-05-12.
- ^ "Blair Mackenzie Blake". Puzzle?. Billboard. Retrieved on 2006-05-10.
- ^ "Kabir Akhtar". "Vicarious Leaked. "Toolshed". Retrieved on 2006-04-28.
- ^ "Jessa Kay". "Tool's New Album 10,000 Days Leaked to Internet.". "BlogCritics.org". Retrieved on 2006-04-30.>
- ^ Metacritic Review: 10,000 Days
- ^ AllMusicGuide review by Rob Theakston
- ^ "Blair MacKenzie Blake". Tool Newsletter, July 2006. Retrieved on 2006-08-03.
- ^ Online Obituary for Judith Marie Garrison, MemorialObituaries.com
- ^ "Joe Barresi", McDonough Management.
- ^ "TOOL RECORD MASTERED", Toolband, February 1, 2006.
| Tool |
|---|
| Danny Carey | Justin Chancellor | Maynard James Keenan | Adam Jones |
| Paul d'Amour |
| Discography |
| Opiate | Undertow | Ænima | Salival | Lateralus | 10,000 Days |
| Popular Songs |
| "Prison Sex" | "Sober" | "Stinkfist" | "Forty Six & 2" | "Ænema" | "Schism" | "Parabola" | "Vicarious" | "The Pot" |
| Related articles |
| Tool tours | Progressive rock | Bill Hicks | A Perfect Circle | Peach | Pigmy Love Circus | Lobal Orning |
