In a lengthy Tool interview with Rolling Stone, Adam and Danny outline the legal woes that have drained their time, resources and creativity over the last 7 years:
“And it’s costing millions and millions and millions of dollars to defend us,” Jones adds. “And the fans are all going, ‘We want a new Tool album. What the fuck?’ And you don’t want to pull people into your problems, because they don’t understand.
“But the point is, we’re fighting the good fight,” he continues. “We’re going to trial and we want to crush them. But every time we’ve gotten close to going to trial, it gets postponed and we’ve wasted money and time and it has just drained our creative energy. We bought an insurance policy for peace of mind, but instead we would have been better off if we never had it and just dealt with the original lawsuit.”
They also talk about progress in song-writing and tell us how the current work is coming together:
In fact, “heavy” is a word both band members use to describe their new sounds. “Sometimes I feel we get a little too proggy or too into exploring time signatures but not getting heavy enough for my taste,” Jones says. “There are some good nose-bleeding riffs happening, and I’m really happy about that. It’s not out-of-the-gate crazy heavy, but there are these little journeys with nice paths that end up very heavy.”
“It’s all a little more ‘metal’ sounding, if I may,” Carey says with a laugh. “I’m having fun drumming on it. There is one other song [beyond the 10-minute tune] that I would say is pretty much there. It’s another one that’s pretty gnarly with some good double-kick [drumming] going on in it.”
It’s a great article, and while not necessarily full of good news, it is nice to hear some substantial news in regards to song-writing on the album.
Thanks to the dozens of you who emailed me links to the article – these things always come out when I’m asleep!
Who’s the middle guy in the pic?…
Danny Devito
SWEEET! He looks so different when standing next to Tool members. Very…..”hipsterish”.
That’s HB then? Heh.
It’s Mike Patton.
Fingers crossed for them to finish those pain in the ass and entering the studio asap with quality materiAl as promised by AJ (and as they have always done) . It was cool for them to try to explain what’s going on, they could have said nothing and we would still be here excpecting new album news. At least we know some % of the why.
Appreciated.
I’d like to say that this stinks of ‘Curveball’, and if I am proved correct I would like the new album as my prize.
I thought that the curveball was supposed to be something good. This is bad, really bad. I hope that they get this garbage cleared up but that doesn’t seem likely before January 2015, when the case goes to court. I did find it interesting that they admitted that the new sections to the songs during this latest tour was new material. Maybe the curveball will be some sort of mini live album featuring those extended songs. I’m dreaming, I know.
I think this definitely sheds some light on some things. Probably explains why they’ve been touring so much too. Hopefully this stuff gets resolved asap.
Yes, gamebounty…as much as many think they’re continuing to “cash in” on 10K Days tours or being lazy/uninspired/writer’s block, in the end touring sounds at least partially necessary to pay legal bills as well as making ends meet, at least on their overall comfortable scale. Great to hear some insight and for them to let us all in on the holdup(s), beyond Adam’s leaked kanaduh meet-and-greet, which hinted that new/old/ongoing legal woes were and continue to be part of the slow progress on the new CD. It’s very unfortunate. The artist that the original suit was filed by, Cam _________… Read more »
Tool_rules. you are not OGT.
Yeah I’m sure you’ve been through legal ‘biz’ in your parent’s basement big time hotshot.
Why the juvenile hate? I’ve been sued in my business multiple times, and always prevailed. They will, too. And Maynerd, you’ve always been quite the negative douche on here, your useless comments notwithstanding. Smithers, not sure what you mean. Been with ’em since ’92. Peace!
Cam is not holding up their careers (see MJK….). I LOL’d big time at your post….
Sorry Tool_rules. But you are not OGT.
If that lawsuit actually does to to trial, they should sell VIP tickets to the courtroom. LMAO!
My heart bleeds for them. Bullshit excuses all the while when they were happily snapping for photos at wrestling events and monthly visits to the Bahamas.
it is a BS excuse. the guys in tool arent in the court room, or filing paper work, or whatever. they have paid “millions and millions and millions” for a legal team to do this for them so they can get on with their life. adam is holding up the train
2015 it is (hopefully). Maynard will be “in the bunker” doing his wine thing for three months starting the first of August.
I keep typing these long winded responses to some of the comments in here but then I proof read them and realize I’m doing/saying too much. I’ll sum it all up as best I can… YOU CAN’T RUSH ART… if this legal excuse is legit or not at least Adam felt a need to address our concerns as fans and that’s really all we need to know. I certainly don’t want a TOOL album if they feel like their creative energy is zapped and can’t produce a solid representation of their true artistic creativity. Some light has been shed here… Read more »
You cant rush art.
I agree, but they are not geting rushed, ten years and one song complete, well kind of complete, with no lyrics…..
We are getting ready to enter Chinese democracy status
What would ever be good enough for US?
I think everyone can agree, a release of a full length album will do. Simple as that
Good enough for me here in the US is a band that I enjoy so much, putting out another album when the creativity is not stymied by external forces which are distracting them from the part that’s fun about writing said album (creation). They are going to come out with a new album. <– Period Sure, they make enough money to live comfortably and for us regular folk that seems like enough breathing room to have creative juices flowing through our veins. However, what seems to not be considered is that there are 4 band members, all living in different… Read more »
That wasn’t long winded at all…
I know… I keep trying to shorten things… never happens…
Dude, just don’t bother. All you end up doing is talking about yourself. It’s weird and gay. Have a think about it…
I’ll bother saying whatever the fuck I want to. That’s the purpose of posting here is to say what you want, just like you have. To talk further about myself, I have an audio engineering degree and have worked in the industry. Along with that audio engineering degree I’ve studied music business at length and understand to some degree that the business side of things really fucking suck. I don’t see what’s weird about applying my real life experience when trying to understand a situation that someone else is going through. Normally that’s a part of being ‘understanding’ is ACTUALLY… Read more »
I personally enjoy your insights Zwerewolf and have a hard time understanding people who needs to be mean when they don’t share a point of view.
@TheGrudge Thanks for the positivity I really do appreciate that. Some people just feel the need to put negative energy out there for a multitude of reasons. If people put half as much positive energy out there as the negtative crap I’m sure positive energy would overcome all because it goes alot further.
Thanks.
Z
Adam looks tired (look at the bags around his eyes)
Mike Patton looks normally silly
Danny looks happy as ususal
Be Patient and spiral out.
KEEP GOING
KEEP GONG
I remember seeing that picture at least 4 years ago. Just sayin
Calling bullshit on this one too. One complete song??? Who are they kidding? Blair said probably over a year ago that his guess was they were half-way finished. Adam said they’ve enough for a full CD, which in turn hopefully means a double CD cuz of the seques and such to be added. That Cam de Leon always struck me as a pompous ass, a fine artist, but pretentious nonetheless. And a lawsuit centered around an artist not getting ‘paid’ his fair share doesn’t cost millions and millions and millions, it ain’t like they invented Phen Phen or something. Yup,… Read more »
We shall see…
Time to boycott this insurance company.
Hmmmm… 4 guys involved in the same lawsuits and yet 1 guy seems to have plenty of time to: – Get a full education on winemaking – Start his own vineyard and wine company – Start a 3rd band/act, put out 2 albums and tour with that – Tour with his 2nd band – And have time to do the mini tours with Tool …while the other 3 guys have had time to do almost nothing because of these lawsuits. I don’t doubt there are lawsuits, and I don’t doubt they suck to go through but to blame the lack… Read more »
That’s true, however I don’t think Tool are trying to say that the lawsuit is entirely to blame.
The rest of the band members have other projects too. Just because they aren’t as big or time consuming and successful as Maynard’s doesn’t mean they aren’t busy. Adam just had a kid and does art projects ALL the time. Danny has Volto and is always at the baked potato. Justin has his other band and god knows what else he’s doing, regardless… they are living their lives on top of whatever else and this lawsuit. I agree with Hellboy, there isn’t a 100% shift of blame on this lawsuit. LIFE is a big part of the pie chart I’m… Read more »
meant to say 20+ and typed 10… wow…
Maynard has a family too. From all the articles I have read, as an outsider, I just get the vibe that if the other 3 guys had half the work ethic that Maynard seems to have that we’d have had 2 new albums by now, regardless of these lawsuits.
It’s just frustrating because these guys have such a rare gift that seems to be wasted. I just wish they could funnel that talent into actual completed works, not all these projects that get started and never finished (album, videos, live DVD, website…).
Certainly not Maynards fault. Dude’s a fuckin workhorse… Not sure who’s to blame but who cares. Not everyone handles their problems in the same fashion. They are 4 different people and some can juggle more than others… The new album will be here and when it’s here… it WILL be glorious.
I agree with you.
“I just get the vibe that if the other 3 guys had half the work ethic that Maynard seems to have that we’d have had 2 new albums by now, regardless of these lawsuits” I agree completely with you sudnshok. interesting point. regardless of all the bullshit and distractions, maynard has been CONSTANTLY doing shit and touring, making albums, wine, etc. and he also has personal/family obligations (and wife/new kid) just like the others. maynard isn’t the reason for the tool delays. IMO. I also don’t think DC has anything to do with it either. and probably not Justin…. you… Read more »
I think we can all agree that the only casualty that time is having any effect on is Maynard’s vocal chords. I saw the band last year in Melbourne and Danny, Adam, Justin destroyed it. That won’t change in many years to come. In my personal opinion Danny in particular has been at his peak of performance skill for over 10 years, he shows no signs of lagging. The drumming on Jambi and Rosetta Stoned is fucking unbelievable. Some of his best stuff. But there shall not be a ‘Grudge’ type scream from Maynard on any new album. And this… Read more »
TOOL were sued twice in the 90s as well. Perhaps it’s more than coincidence? Bad business acumen or worse yet bad business practices?
Bands get sued all the time, so I doubt this phenomena is unique to Tool.
I went to cinquanta, and Maynard sang great and also let out a great scream during the show. He’s still capable.
Agreed. He’s still got it. The undertaker scream at Puscifer last year at coachella gave me fricking goosebumps and he threw down pushit on their last go around on the East Coast. After listening to the SF Third Eye from this year, I am not too concerned about the voice not being up to snuff. Age has changed it, but he still uses it like a beast.
He’s fucking Maynard! Not quite fully human… a celestial being more so… His voice is out of this fucking world. It’s no doubt changing in age but I still think he’s got it. He’s definitely keeping it sharp staying busy with all of his bands.