Tag Archives: Tool

Further Tool Tour details emerge

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In the last few days there has been plenty of speculation, as well as a few changes by Ticketmaster regatrding the Tool tour.  While still not confirmed officially by Blair or Toolband, the following dates have emerged:

  • 14th Jan, Reno Events Center, Reno, NV
  • 17th Jan, Tuscon Arena, Tuscon AZ
  • 18th Jan, Tingley Coliseum, Albuquerque NM
  • 20th Jan, Verizon Arena, Dallas, TX
  • 24th Jan, Huntington Center, Toledo, OH
  • 8th Feb, Gwinnet Arena, Duluth, GA

Allegedly some of these tickets go on sale on Friday, so keep your ears to the ground, and you wallets stuffed in preparation to get tickets…

Tool dates appear on Ticketmaster

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Seems like quite short notice for Tool dates, however it appears that two dates have been posted on Ticketmaster for shows in January:

  • 17th Jan, Tuscon Arena, Tuscon AZ
  • 18th Jan, Tingley Coliseum, Albuquerque NM

Tickets go on sale on the 16th of December.  Thanks to all of you who emailed me!

Update: ticketmaster no longer shows those dates, however I am lead to believe that they (or at least the tour) are legitimate…

Tool & Justin feature in meaningless polls

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Here at Fourtheye we love robust debates, and nothing triggers mass debates like internet polls.  In this weeks edition we have two polls.

The first is from Music Radar where readers have voted on the Top 25 bass lines of all time.  Justin’s work in Schism comes in at 10th position.  Here’s the whole list:

  1. Hysteria – Muse (Chris Wolstenholme)
  2. YYZ – Rush (Geddy Lee)
  3. Another One Bites The Dust – Queen (John Deacon)
  4. Under Pressure – Queen & David Bowie (John Deacon)
  5. Money – Pink Floyd (Roger Waters)
  6. Orion – Metallica (Cliff Burton)
  7. Billie Jean – Michael Jackson (Louis Johnson)
  8. Roundabout – Yes (Chris Squire)
  9. My Generation – The Who (John Entwistle)
  10. Schism – Tool (Justin Chancellor)
  11. Give It Away – Red Hot Chili Peppers (Flea)
  12. The Lemon Song – Led Zeppelin (John Paul Jones)
  13. Taxman – The Beatles (Paul McCartney)
  14. Good Times – Chic (Bernard Edwards)
  15. The Chicken – Jaco Pastorius
  16. Walk On The Wild Side – Lou Reed (Herbie Flowers)
  17. What’s Going On – Marvin Gaye (James Jamerson)
  18. Stand By Me – Ben E King (Wendell Marshall)
  19. The Guns Of Brixton – The Clash (Paul Simonon)
  20. Sweet Emotion – Aerosmith (Tom Hamilton)
  21. Super Freak – Rick James (Oscar Alston)
  22. Pusherman – Curtis Mayfield (Joseph ‘Lucky’ Scott)
  23. These Boots Are Made For Walkin’ – Nancy Sinatra (Carol Kaye)
  24. In The Midnight Hour – Wilson Pickett (Donald ‘Duck’ Dunn)
  25. Make It Funky – James Brown (Fred Thomas)

Some excellent basslines there.  I’m sure #1 will cause lots angst amongst you readers, so lets get it out in the open.

Tool feature in the next poll, which happens to be Rolling Stone’s readers Top 10 Metal Bands of All Time.  While I’m not sure Tool are a metal band strictly speaking, they managed to take the 10th position:

  1. Metallica
  2. Dream Theatre
  3. Black Sabbath
  4. Iron Maiden
  5. Slayer
  6. Megadeth
  7. Judas Priest
  8. Led Zeppelin
  9. Pantera
  10. Tool

Dream Theatre must have a lot of Rolling Stone reading fans, but at least RS readers have the good taste not to include Slipknot.

October 2011 Tool Newsletter

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Blair’s October 2011 Tool newsletter has been released, and it’s the Samhain/Halloween edition!  A relatively short one, but touches on the bands apparently commitment to getting the next album done, as well as a range of other interesting (or irrelevant depending on your point of view) topics.

Apparently in the next newsletter there might be some news on the new Tool website.

Don’t forget that tonight Blair will be playing some tunes on Children of Saturn, and Puscifer will be appearing on David Letterman playing Conditions of My Parole.

Maynard talks about Puscifer and updates us on APC & Tool

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UncleJackson emailed me today with this quite interesting interview with Maynard on Loudwire, where he mainly discuss Puscifer, but also comments on his recent work with A Perfect Circle, and the progress on the new Tool album.

Here’s a bit I know interest the majority of you:

Tool are reportedly working on a new album, as well. In the past, you’ve expressed frustration with sitting around in the studio with guitarist Adam Jones and drummer Danny Carey’s aesthetic of going over endless combinations of song structures before committing to anything.

I’m allowing them their space to do what they do, so we’re still in that mode. Even if they told me how close they are to being done, I couldn’t tell you because if I say 60 percent people will start counting down. When it’s done everyone will know. But I haven’t done anything yet. They write forever and then we go in and knock it all out. We’re writing. We’re writing vocals. But nothing’s solid. With Puscifer, there’s ideas and then we’ll record stuff. Then we’ll go back and change stuff and fix stuff and record new stuff before we finally put it all together. But with Tool, we practice jams, but there’s no actual recording going on until it’s time to record.

Are you prepared to tour for a year for the next Tool record whenever it’s ready or have you put your foot down and said, “I don’t want to spend my life on the road.”

It has nothing to do with putting my foot down. Physically, I can’t do it, so that’s not gonna happen. We will tour, but it won’t be the old school dog and pony show of eight months of beating yourself to death.

For most bands now, staying out on the road for a year-plus and selling lots of tickets and merch is the only way to make money because their albums are being downloaded for free by file-sharers.

How much do you need, really? If we can make a living going out for a few weeks a year and keep people satisfied by making sure we play the locations we need to hit, I’m not Kirk Hammett. I don’t need to buy $10,000 guitars every day. That’s not my lifestyle. I love Kirk, but that’s not me. I have a very sustainable vineyard industry in the Valley which will eventually start to pay its own bills.

I love to go on the road and play music for people and express myself, but for it to be something where I’m out there to make money, that’s depressing to me. You end up beating yourself up. Who gives a s–t how much money you have if your back hurts so much you can’t stand up. Money’s not the goal. Having fun making the art, that’s the goal. Finding a nice, happy medium. Being healthy and still expressing what you need to express in an effective way, that’s the ideal.

The end of lengthy world tours comes as no real surprise to me.  I’ve said before (at least in the forums) that I expect Tool’s touring habits will become a little less album orientated, where they hit the road for a month or two once every year or so.  Though I imagine with the new album there will still be a world tour, it just may not be so tightly scheduled as it has been in the past.

September 2011 Tool Newsletter

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‘][' [[]] [[]] ][, posted in the forums this morning at the September Tool newsletter has been released, and low and behold I found it stashed away in the Newsletters section of the site (no sign of it in the News section).

The newsletter itself is the usual cryptic type, hinting at a lack of progress in the new Tool album (though there may be a hint of sarcasm there) as well as “Adam’s other Tool-related project (other than it is draining the very life out of him)” which I believe is the next video he’s working on.

Tool Revisited part 1: Divorced

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Tool Revisited is a series of articles dedicated to analysing, and discussing a Tool related topic, be it a song, album, show, side project or anything really.  I plan on publishing one of these every week or so, and hopefully it may fill in some gaps in your own Tool knowledge, or even just generate some interesting conversation.  If anyone has any ideas for future topics (or even wants to be a guest writer) then let me know.

The first of these articles is about the Tool/Melvins collaboration Divorced.  This 15 minute track appeared on the Melvins album, The Crybaby, which featured many such collaborations not only with Tool but with other acts such as Mike Patton, David Yow, Skeleton Key and Hank Williams III.

According to the liner notes from the album:

"Tool: What can we say about these generous monsters? They have consistently been models of integrity professionally and personally, no matter how big they get; an example a LOT of bands could learn from. Dale came up with the song, we recorded it, and they slithered away with the tape. The man-love we feel for these gents knows no bounds, and their sweaty hands have been all over this baby. Their massive artistry cannot be denied."

Divorced
Written by Dale Crover and the Melvins
Produced by the Melvins, Tool, Ryeland Allison and Vincent DeFranco
Recorded at the Lodge, Hollywood, CA
Tool appears courtesy of Volcano Entertainment II, L.L.C.

The track itself is a long, largely bass and drum driven track and also includes significant guitar riffs provided by both Adam Jones from Tool and King Buzzo from The Melvins.  The track features no vocals of any note, except for a few screams, whispers and conversations.  While not confirmed, it is assumed that Justin recorded the bass parts, and to my ears it sounds much like his sound and technique on the track.

Perhaps even more significant is the drum duel that takes place mid track between Danny Carey and Dale Crover.  Though never confirmed, it is thought that Danny appears in the right channel of the recording, with Dale appearing on the left.  There are some fantastic sections where both drummers exercise their considerable talents, making this track a must listen for those drumophiles out there.  In some ways it feels to me that this track was a precursor to both Tool’s regular drum duels while on tour, and the future pairing of The Melvins with the guys from Big Business.

Shane from Toolshed summarised the track as follows:

1. keyboard/organ (sounds like it’s through a rotating cabinet)
2. sequencer percussion, electronic effects, with snare drum
3. left and right mixed drum tracks (Dale – left and Danny – right)
4. overdriven bass line (likely Justin)
5. whispered vocals (sounds like Buzz)
6. guitars, basses, and drums come in…heavy riffing
7. screaming (likely Buzz or Kevin [Rutmanis – former Melvins bass player])
8. repeat 3-5
9. repeat 6-7
10. drumming (Danny) over guitar feedback and playing, distorted bass
11. guitars, basses, and drums…heavy riffing (no vocals)
12. guitar solo and melody
13. drum solo duet (Dale and Danny) over guitar feedback
14. guitars, basses, and drums…heavy riffing (no vocals)
15. phone conversation (Maynard and someone) about a woman’s voice over trance music

As mentioned as point 15 in the list, at around around 13:30 into the song, this conversation takes place.  At this stage I’m reasonably confident the “someone” mentioned above is Danny:

DANNY: what about Ryan?
MAYNARD: no, he blew it, he lost the number for the girl he met down here.
DANNY: oh,and Adam said she’s a beauty.
MAYNARD: she’s the one who has that fucked up voice.
DANNY: is she a rocket scientist?
MAYNARD: the fuckin…she has a voice like a fuckin’ modem dude!
DANNY: (laughs) sounds perfect!
MAYNARD: imitates a chick with a voice like a modem sayin’ some weird gibberish…(you have to hear it)
DANNY: (laughs heavely)
MAYNARD: then he got to work up there, you know Ryan gets off at work,i guess to show that he has a dick.
DANNY: (laughs again)

Are Danny & Maynard reading from some kind of script, or is this a genuine discussion.  Who is Ryan?  I guess we may never know.

For those that haven’t heard the track, here’s a Youtube link for you!

The Pot video production starting soon

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While things may appear to be quiet on the Tool front, perhaps it’s not as quiet as it may seem.  Word is that production on the next Tool video, for the 10,000 Days track The Pot is rumoured to be starting very soon.  Possibly as soon as this week.

For those that need a little reminding about this video, in September 2009 Adam mentioned the following in a Guitar World interview:

Adam Jones: We’re working on ‘The Pot’ but Ive been really lazy lately[Laughs]. The setup for it is a-lot more epic, so its actually good that we’ve been able to have more time. Its going to be all stop motion and in 3D. We’re doing it so that we can hopefully have it shown in the theater. A-lot more theaters are going digital and those projectors can do 3D. We have a *consultant who worked with us on the 3D packaging for 10,000 Days, and he was telling me that in 10 to 20 years you wont need goggles for 3D, you’ll go to the movie theater and everything will look 3D. Its almost holographic. Its really exciting. Sorry, gimme a chance to nerd out and I will [Laughs]

So about 18 months later, it looks at though this may come to fruition, and perhaps become a Xmas present for Tool fans?