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Tool November 2018 Newsletter

Blair‘s Tool Newsletter for November 2018 is out now.  It highlights a recent visit to LA following the Malibu fires, where Blair catches up with Danny Carey and a few other regulars from the Tool family.  The good news is that Blair managed to hear at least part of the new album, though keeps it spoiler free:


While walking to his car (parked on yet another deficient alley), Danny emerged from the studio and insisted that we hear a couple of new Tool songs before we left. (Not the final mix.)  Yes! Climbing into the Porche, I remarked that a cave man probably wouldn’t be able to tell that it was better than Kent’s BMW because he would be so astonished at seeing an automobile that little details wouldn’t matter.  While reclined in the passenger seat (with both Sturgeon guitarists comfortably in the back), Danny put the CD into the tray and selected track 3… (No spoilers here, which I’m sure you’ll thank me for later.)

https://www.toolband.com/news/newsletter/457514/tool-newsletter-november-2018-e-v

To indulge in a little speculation: Blair suggests that it’s not the final mix.  The glass half full people (myself included) would take this to be that Tool are in the process of finalising the mix of the album – meaning that tracking has finished (including vocals) and that we’re perhaps on track for a release sometime before touring kicks off in 2019.  The more cynical among us might say that they’ll believe a new album is coming out when they actually see it.  Some are still waiting for the non-hoax version of 10,000 Days is released.

Also Danny has a Porsche Panamera now, which I believe is in addition to his Lamborghini.  Perfect for a growing family!

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DRURY
DRURY
5 years ago

This is basically confirmation that workhorse and sneaky ninja Maynard did indeed do his vocals and they’ve been mixing. No reason to mix if vocals not done. Wow…they really have got on track to get this album released. They must be pretty confident that it’ll be ready this spring-summer.

Z-Werewolf
Z-Werewolf
Reply to  DRURY
5 years ago

I like your level of optimism. I’ll second this.

Stinkfist
Stinkfist
Reply to  Z-Werewolf
5 years ago

THIRDED

BellJH
BellJH
Member
Reply to  DRURY
5 years ago

I’m 100% confident Maynard recorded his vocals before the APC tour at the start of October. We know he was in LA then for ~2 weeks before the tour, which I believe kicked off on the 20th Oct. Then I don’t think it’s a coincidence that AJ posted on Instagram some kind of EQ analyser with 4 distinct frequency plots on it (?bass + guitar + drums + vocals?). Coupled with the updated from BMB: “Monday, October 8th at 1:35 AM I received an enthusiastic text message from Danny. Without going into specifics, he REALLY liked what he heard in… Read more »

Coochiemudlo
Coochiemudlo
5 years ago

Track three the proposed single, and the possibility to hear it by years or very early 2019…..

PUSHER
PUSHER
Reply to  Coochiemudlo
5 years ago

Highly doubtful a full single by years end but maybe a snippet of a crumb of an intro. I remember hearing the first 30 seconds of Vicarious on the radio months before release. I’d kill to experience that again

Fanny Alger
Fanny Alger
Reply to  hellboy1975
5 years ago

There was an official clip released on Toolband that cut out right before the riff kicks in. I think the next day the whole song leaked, and pretty shortly after that was on the radio.

Coochiemudlo
Coochiemudlo
5 years ago

I thought Triple J had the exclusive one morning. I do recall hearing the snippet and then the single was released a few days later.

Jethro Tool
Jethro Tool
5 years ago

I reckon they will let APC conclude tour then announce release date in January.

unclejackson
unclejackson
5 years ago

I thought a 30 second or so portion of Vicarious’ intro was actually released via toolband.com in the week s prior to 10k days release.

Does anyone else remember this? Maybe I just misremember where I heard the intro.

profondogiallo
profondogiallo
Reply to  hellboy1975
5 years ago

There was definitely a 30 second portion of Vicarious leaked before its release.I remember it very well. https://toolnavy.com/archive/index.php/t-40750.html

Fanny Alger
Fanny Alger
Reply to  unclejackson
5 years ago

You’re right. I remember specifically reading a thread on the old ToolArmy forum about the intro clip when someone posted “want to hear the whole thing?” and that was the first I saw of any leaks.

DRURY
DRURY
5 years ago

Final mix will probably be done with Maynard present after the holidays and then they can go master it. Work for the album in that sense could be complete in Jan/feb. depending on how long it takes to get a Album release ready these days, it shouldn’t take more than a few months after to release. Might depend on their artwork and packaging for CD…

Hopeful mindset here after all this time.

But yeah nothing major or no official announcements this year.

DRURY
DRURY
5 years ago

Mixing is such a personal and objective thing and all 4 member will need their input in person. They can do preliminary mixes now but I really don’t see them putting their stamp of approval without Maynard around. I remember mixing a song years ago in a studio, wasting 8 hours on 1 song and then we scrapped the entire day of mixing.

I assume a Tool song will go through some serious scrutiny before they are ready to say it’s done.

maxell0405
maxell0405
5 years ago

Just last night I listened to Anima and was so aware of the mix and how good it was – such a crucial part of Tool. The way instruments on that record seem to come from a specific place and then just become enormous in the mix of all the other tracks and dubs is a big part of how they make all that power. (-)ions was never better; zipping around the whole room. I try not to get too psyched up/out for this new record, but at this point it really is close and I am completely certain it… Read more »

bloo-mune
5 years ago

I distinctly remember waiting for the midnight sale of Ænima and Lateralus. Damn you guys are getting me excited. I don’t remember TTDays puchase, must have been mundane. Anyone else preorder the Chet Zar Field Guide? Just remembered that’s coming soon too.

Maynerd
Maynerd
Reply to  hellboy1975
5 years ago

Lateralus leaked about two weeks before the album came out.
I remember downloading the mp3s…. very….very….slowly on my 56k dialup modem.

tOOLNZ
tOOLNZ
5 years ago

Don’t know about Y’all but we are getting closer into the excitement phase of the new album – 2019 is going to be a good year!!

Z-Werewolf
Z-Werewolf
Reply to  tOOLNZ
5 years ago

Totally agree!

budsyralli
budsyralli
Member
5 years ago

Anticipation is a beautiful thing.

mattw
mattw
5 years ago

I’m off to the Download Festival in Madrid on June 30 and then going to the Lisbon show on July 2. The anticipation for the next 6 months can only be a good thing…

sularetal
sularetal
5 years ago

I really hope Alex Grey is onboard again for album art, and gig posters … I feel like he’s almost a fifth member of the band, kind of like Storm Thorgerson to Pink Floyd.

Speaking of Pink Floyd … TOOL should cover “One of These Days”…

children
children
Reply to  sularetal
5 years ago

One of these days would be perfect for Tool to cover. I also think Pigs or possibly Dogs or Sheep would be cool too.

Z-Werewolf
Z-Werewolf
Reply to  children
5 years ago

If they cover Pink Floyd I’d rather hear a cover of “Time” or “Comfortably Numb” TBH.

children
children
Reply to  Z-Werewolf
5 years ago

I doubt they will do any Pink Floyd covers, but if they did it would have to be something that translates into Tool’s sound. I don’t see Time or Comfortably Numb being the right fit for Tool to cover as interesting as that would be. Look at No Quarter; there are plenty of Zeppelin songs I would like to see them cover, but they chose probably the best one that they could play in their own way and not just make a straight cover. I would say No Quarter is one of the rare cases where the cover outshines the… Read more »

Z-Werewolf
Z-Werewolf
Reply to  children
5 years ago

Yeah you’re probably right.

bogie314
bogie314
Reply to  children
5 years ago

Agreed, Dogs or Pigs would be awesome but Pigs would be hard to improve upon IMO. Sorrow or High Hopes would be my other two choices that I think they could do / improve.

DRURY
DRURY
Reply to  bogie314
5 years ago

I’d like to see a full cover of the 23 minute epic song ECHOES. That would be mind blowing.

children
children
5 years ago

Echoes is another that I think could work. I just can’t see it working as well as One of These Days. I think Astronomy Domine or Careful with that Axe would translate into Tool’s heavier sound better than Echoes, although I would love to see them try to do it.

maxell0405
maxell0405
5 years ago

It’s an intriguing question as to which Pink Floyd song they should cover – never occurred to me. I can imagine Adam crushing the guitar riffs in Sheep, with Maynard being mock-terrified that he can’t go out, because there might be dogs about. And Sorrow has to be their heaviest song. Danny could double the guitars on one of his vintage synths… It took me a while to really like their version of No Quarter. I eventually came to like it a lot. Then I put on the original after not having heard it in a long time. Fortunately, it’s… Read more »

children
children
Reply to  maxell0405
5 years ago

Zeppelin could do Flood; fits in nicely with When the Levee Breaks. Sober is basically just Kashmir too so that might work. Pretty much anything off Undertow. They could do it with Bonham’s son unless there’s a way to bring people back from the dead. I can totally hear Maynard shouting “Hey you, Whitehouse! Ha Ha! Charade you are!” on Pigs. Or wailing about getting “dragged down by the stone,” and “putting knives in the backs of the people that you lie to when they turn their backs” on Dogs. There is actually a lot of lyrics on Animals that… Read more »

DRURY
DRURY
5 years ago

All this Pink Floyd talk makes me excited to hear Tools new material. Based on what Tom morello said, I feel like the music will be a combination and expansion of all their styles up until this point. I hope to hear some truly mysterious and trippy stuff on this one.

Z-Werewolf
Z-Werewolf
Reply to  DRURY
5 years ago

Can’t wait man we’re all on the same page I think right now. This is going to be a really exciting year. So many albums coming from so many bands in 2019. Intronaut, TOOL, Deftones, Drab Majesty, The Faint and for some reason I think we’re getting a new Gojira album too. I just feel like it’s time for them. They’ve been writing a ton…

Stinkfist
Stinkfist
Reply to  Z-Werewolf
5 years ago

Gojira is playing numerous festivals next year, including Bonnaroo it appears, so I bet your right!

Z-Werewolf
Z-Werewolf
Reply to  Stinkfist
5 years ago

Fingers crossed! 2019 will be a great year!

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