Adam on the new album
Adam, Tool, Tour July 10th, 2010
Yet another interview with Adam today, this time with Crave Online. As with the previous interviews, it largely focuses on the upcoming art gallery, however Adam does talk about the tour, the setlist, Maynards voice and the writing process for the new album:
CraveOnline: I know you’re on tour now, but can you tell us anything about the new Tool record?
Adam Jones: We’re writing, we’re writing. It’s going a little slow. We’re trying to get our feet wet, just basically the three of us. Maynard’s been busy with his wine and his other band. That’s usually how it is – we’ll write and write, and then he comes in last and starts putting stuff in. It works, it is what it is and it works. It’s good. I love it.
I can’t really tell you any direction we’re taking or anything like that at this point. It just feels like the same as every time we get into it. We just write for ourselves, and when we’re happy with it we say alright, let’s go into the studio. I really like the process with those guys because we don’t worry about what worked on the last record or what’s selling or the single. You just write. You rip your guts out and… yeah. I’m so happy where I’m at and what I do with those guys. It just feels so good right now to be out on tour.
CraveOnline: How do you keep it fresh on tour? How do you build on these songs you’ve been playing for so many years at this point?
Adam Jones: This tour has been great because we’re actually doing a different setlist than we’ve been doing in the past. We’re getting older, and Maynard has trouble sometimes singing the older songs, from back when he was young and screaming his fucking head off all the time. His vocal chords are getting older and he can’t really do what he used to do all in a row in a string of back to back shows. So we’ve changed up the set a little bit, which feels really good. Once we actually get together and start playing, it’s so great. It’s so great hanging out with the guys and playing the songs. It comes back to keeping it fresh.
Sometimes in the middle of a song we’ll start jamming, or go off on some tangent of a song and come back. That’s a great way to keep it fresh too. Also we keep adding to our show, we put a lot of money back into the show because we want it to be stimulating. We want all the senses to be on overdrive. More lights, more visuals, more lasers, more soundscapes. That’s what I would want in a show.
CraveOnline: Sounds like we shouldn’t hold our breath for a Tool acoustic tour anytime soon.
Adam Jones: Um…. I don’t think so. (laughs)
A good read!
ruling out an accoustic tour doesnt automatically that they wont do a tool unplugged show someday. lol. *dreamin* 8~) very excited about the more frequent improvisations or “tangents”, as Adam calls them, during live shows. Justin always looks his best to me when they do those little rabbit trails, he seems to get a major kick out of it from the shows i’ve seen. and of course the new setlist is great news. 8~)
word.
SO stoked for Monday and Tuesday. I love that they are out there having fun, and putting so much into the shows. From the clips I’ve seen and heard, it’s a distinct improvement from the last outing in 2009 (which I saw twice, and was still fucking great, but didn’t have the energy they seem to be putting out currently).
I am also giddy with anticipation to hear the new album, whenever it’s ready. I still vividly remember that first listen to the 10,000 Days leak… I was smiling from ear to ear and couldn’t believe how amazing it sounded. I also still get a chuckle out of how many people thought it was a “decoy” leak. 8`)
“Sometimes in the middle of a song we’ll start jamming, or go off on some tangent of a song” the same tangent every time. Does that still make it a ‘tangent’? Doesn’t it just become part of the live song, time after time again? ugh, im starting to get really cynical of my favorite band.
I’ll be more than happy to take care of that vegas vacation for ya! LOL. I keed, keed. Yeah, I didn’t hear any tangents at the two shows I went to. I did notice that third eye was extended….that was different. I also noticed some filler music between songs. I can’t wait for the new album so I can go back and watch this tours bootlegs to see if that “filler” music is a new song like they did with Wings during the Lateralus tour.
i listened to two shows prior to seeing the two shows at RR. They did basically all the same extensions on the songs. But virtually all the songs were altered from studio version.
is born!
Cool interview. I think thats the first time I have ever seen one of the band members make a remark about their age, or about their mortality in a performance sense… Maynard getting older and having some issues with singing the early material and stuff. I know thats a common worry among Tool fans (’’oh shit, the band is getting old, they’re losing it!’’), so its kind of nice to see Adam mention it in his own words. You know?
The best artists are the ones who are the most genuinely passionate about their work regardless of limitations, and as long as the guys have something new to say and continue to have fun doing what they do together I’ll be excited for whatever they come up with next.
I love Maynard’s voice (then and now)…but sometimes it makes me so sad that I missed out on seeing him live in the early years. They still kick ass…don’t get me wrong…but there was just this “rawness” (making up words, sorry) to him back then.
Ah well–thank heavens they are still around making music and that I can see the early version on Youtube!
Noname….I do agree with you on the same extended “tangents”. I kind of laughed when I read that. What was different to me was the filler between songs.
It is very nice to hear in his own words his passion about this band since it has been in question as of late.
Blahmoo: That rawness (nice word) back in the day was just awesome. It was that passion that I loved about them then and it is nice to see some of it again.
“We’re in the finishing aspects of the writing process for the new album”. -AJ, July 2009.
“We’re writing, We’re writing. It’s going a little slow”. – AJ, July 2010
When Tool says it’s going a little slow, god damn it’s going a little slow.
I hope they are just taking their time, and aren’t struggling for ideas…Although I wouldn’t blame them if they are, with the amount of ground they’ve covered already.
Maybe this tour will inspire them to overcome their writer’s block. One can hope.
It’s called structured improv, and it’s the best kind out there. Sure they start and stop at the same point, but it’s what’s in between those two points that matter. Im sure they will eventually hone it down to where it simply becomes part of the song, like Stinkfist, but the extended parts in Third Eye and Intolerance are still developing as the tour goes.
Any live band can improv. Any great band will have structured improv.
I will see them again this next friday, sunday and mon in vegas and la. I hope you are right.
Listen to the New Orleans recording then listen to the new videos coming out. They are different. The band is also getting tighter.
After the last two tours I think it’s obvious that Maynard has lost significant control and upper range as well as tone and some screaming power. I fail to see this as simply an age thing but rather vocal chord nodes or some other surgically correctable pathology resulting from the very kind of singing we miss. I’m convinced that these vocal weaknesses are the reason he frequently is buried in the mix.
I can’t help but think of AC/DC’s Brian Johnson and how by the “Stiff Upper Lip” album and tour his voice was completely shot, with virtually no range and poor tone, yet “somehow” he returned on “Black Ice” sounding like he did back in the ’80s! I saw them live in the middle of that tour and he was more audible than Angus (disappointingly), and I can confirm he sounded spectacular. Vocal surgery is the only explanation and it can apparently work wonders. I’ve even seen it work for female operatic sopranos who’s voices must be pitch and tone-perfect while front and center every night.
I don’t know if Maynard thinks it’s important enough or perhaps severe enough of a problem yet to consider surgery, but I for one hope he does. His instrument needs a tune up, and whatever his philosophical or emotional take is on going under the knife, if he puts a high priority on the live experience and his ability to express every ounce of artistry and emotion that he can through his music of whatever sound and style he’s into at the moment, I think he’ll be glad he did it the first time he’s out on stage with all that control and power on tap once again.
Man that sounds great! ^ Havent heard about “voice surgery” yet… And yeah this gives a hope to us, fans. Let’s be otimistic!
I can see it now, MJK in the future paraphrasing Ned Flanders, “I never should have gotten that trendy vocal chord surgery. It’s great for a while, but at the ten year mark, your throat falls off.”
“After the last two tours I think it’s obvious that Maynard has lost significant control and upper range as well as tone and some screaming power. I fail to see this as simply an age thing but rather vocal chord nodes or some other surgically correctable pathology resulting from the very kind of singing we miss. I’m convinced that these vocal weaknesses are the reason he frequently is buried in the mix.”
Have you seen Tool yet this tour? Maynard’s voice is sounding absolutely great and 100% audible. I saw Tool in ’07 and his vocals have got louder/clearer since then.
Yep, saw him in OKC, he was down in the mix just like at Nokia last year in Dallas. And this time I was right by the stage out of the path of the subs and in the path of the mains. Sounded OK when I could hear him clearly, like when the band was in a softer section or when he got loud and close to the mic, but it seems like he’s lost some of that unique tone in his voice and can be a bit flat or sound restrained like he’s fighting his vocal chords to hit or stay on pitch. Screams aren’t what they used to be, and on songs like Stinkfist he doesn’t do the high, melodic flourishes. These are all symptoms of vocal chord nodes caused by his style of singing. Point is he’s passable to get through a show, but knowing how he used to sound and having his particular vocal characteristics and melodies be such a major part of the energy and dynamic quality of the music it just leaves me feeling like something’s missing from the experience.
He needs Junior to knock him out with a bottle of Caduceus then get in there and zap those nodes with his laser.
I’m not a doctor, but I am a musician who is overcoming repetitive stress injury. Surgery is NOT the way to go. There are way too many horror stories out there about people (whether they’re in sports, music, etc.) that have surgery to “correct” repetitive stress but all it does it ignore the underlying problem and sometimes just worsens the condition. As awesome as Maynard sounded back in the day, I’m almost sure that it wasn’t natural singing. You can hear the strain at times in some bootlegs, just listen for a subtle hint of that Steve Tyler raspiness. (Come to think of it, Tyler fucked up his voice from a similar vocal style and that’s why he sounds all weird now. Do we want Maynard to sound like Steve Tyler?!?!?) Another indicator it’s just repetitive stress is Adam’s comment on how Maynard can’t do it night after night, setlist through setlist, so he could maybe still do it but just doesn’t have the consistency. And honestly, if Maynard’s earned his dues by being an internationally successful rock band, what the hell would he be angry about? The emotional anger from those songs would probably sound even more forced now then when he had to force himself because he really was angry (hence the repetitive stress). Like the dude above said, as long as they stay true to their artistic integrity that’s what counts.
I have a feeling we’re looking at a 2012 release. Slow writing and what not, and would make perfect sense for them to release a new album that parallels with the Mayan’s prediction of the “end of the world” or the end of the present age/era of the zodiac.
I think Maynard’s singing is as good right now as it was during most of the Lateralus shows. Yeah, he surely can’t hit some of the higher notes that he could back in the aenima days, but I don’t think that matters. The ending lines of 46&2 for example. I think it sounds just as good the way he sings it now, with the lower register notes. So what if it doesn’t sound like it did on the record? Why is the way it sounded on the record the absolute standard?
I just feel like everyone worries so fucking much about the relatively few high notes that he can’t hit anymore rather than enjoy the many that he can.
There is nothing wrong with Maynards voice, other than not being able to sing songs off Opiate/Undertow/some off Aenima….night after night…like Adam said. Some of you need to quit acting like you are doctors, vocal experts, and sitting down for Cherios every morning with MJK for a chat.
i saw them in Vancouver and Seattle this weekend and he sounded fantastic, and screamed when he wanted too
Many of the songs in question were written 20….25 years ago. They have evolved and progressed into a new dimention.
The people who long for the olden days have probably been smoking pot 3 times a day for the last 20 years, and still have the mental capacity of a 15 year old.
thank god for the people who do get it though, and i know many!!
Very true.
Very true indeed!
Maynard continues to sound great and he CAN hit the high notes. Perhaps it’s not a daily thing but he’s able. He’s lost some of the screamish angst but his “singing” voice has improved. It feels like he’s got more control of it. At the Puscifer show he mesmerized in accapella, which is not an easy feat. He hit some crazy notes but his voice carries them differently…
What I’m basically trying to say is that perhaps he’s not young MJK, perhaps he’s lost some “ability” with time – but at the same time he’s improved in other ways. He continues to grow under his own rules and I appreciate the outcome.
Nicely said!
i think he sounded awesome in seattle, i wish his mic. was turned up a little bit though. for his age, and as many shows as he has done, i think he still has it for sure! for example, on “the patient” where he’s singing the last two lines of “i must keep reminding myself of this” where he has to take his voice really high, sounded just as good as it did on the record. and this was 2 days ago.
Completely agree with LimeyGringo – he’s not angry anymore. That’s so much of what’s made them the best band in the world, is their sincerity.
You guys have to remember, he’s got to attempt to preserve his voice for the upcoming album. Which everyone knows (including them) will likely be the last near full power. So more than likely he’s babying it awaiting recording, where he probably will be reaching full power for extended lengths.