I really liked 10,000 Days. While the album seemed to disappoint some, personally I wasn’t. I don’t think it’s quite as solid as Lateralus and Aenema are, but it’s a great album and a worth inclusion in Tool‘s discography. When I first started putting my list together I had three entries from the album, and there quite easily could have been four.
Though Right In Two, Rosetta Stoned and Wings For Marie/10,000 Days did miss out, Jambi made the cut. When the band spoke about writing for the album, they often dropped Swedish metal band Meshuggah as an influence, and while the rest of the album didn’t really show that influence too much, Jambi certainly did to my ears. The chugging riffs and the polyrythmic drumming pretty much summed up my expectations for this album.
While vocally it’s not a challenging track for Maynard, lyrically I found it to be quite interesting. Deep in symbology, and seemingly pointing to his experiences as a father, they seemed to ring true with me.
And of course then there is the guitar solo. Taking advantage of a Heil Talk Box, Adam created one of his most unique solo proving that while he may not be a technical master of the guitar, he certainly is no slouch when it comes to adding texture and colour to his work.
