As I was poking around Fourtheye today, I noticed that we’ve actually passed the 10th Anniversary of this site, back on June 8th 2005. It’s been a long and fruitful journey, and hopefully one that will continue for some time yet.
Over the years I’ve made 2,124 posts (2125 including this one) which have gathered over 31,000 comments. We’ve worn out a couple of forums, and even shifted servers over the years.
The site, which started as a way to help Toolarmy members get news via new fangled (at the time) RSS-feed technology, which was something that wasn’t available from the official Tool sites, nor any of the Tool fansites at the time. Facebook was hardly even a thing, with Myspace just starting to make it’s brief rise to the top. Toolshed was being infrequently updated, and a number of other Tool sites vanished into the ether. I even read Usenet posts in alt.music.tool, which may or may not still exist. I decided since I wanted a central place for Tool news, that there would be others, and Fourtheye was the result. It should be noted that since Fourtheye came into existence, Toolband has never been updated, and it still doesn’t have an RSS feed. Toolarmy sadly still remains a shadow of it’s former self.
Fourtheye doesn’t survive without the support of many. Dan from Toolnavy and CamelCamelCamel offers frequent support with hosting. Blair from Toolband has always been there clarifying Tool news for me, and answering questions from both myself and Tool fans. Thanks to our many sources out there, some that can be named, and others that can’t that have provided Tool news over the years. Kudos to Kittaan, Kat and others over on the forum. Kat helps fun the popular Facebook Tool Army Members page which no doubt many of you are familiar with.
And of course the hundreds, if not thousands of Fourtheye readers out there. Many of you I know from comments on the site or the forum. Some I’ve even met in the flesh at Tool shows. There are others who have provided me with much friendship over the years, and I’m sure will continue to do so as time moves forward. Of course there are silent, non-commenting readers out there as well. Sometimes the wisest opinion is the one left unexpressed.
Many of you (perhaps not the RSS readers) will have noticed a new theme applied to Fourtheye today. It’s one that is still a work in progress, but I believe offers a good range of features, a modern look, and, increasingly importantly these days – a responsive design to allow better use on mobile devices. Feedback on these changes are always welcome. Simply leave a comment below or get in touch with me privately via the contact form.
Finally, I’ll make a couple of predictions, some of which may or may not be based in information collected over the last few months:
- Don’t get your hopes up for the 2015 release, but you should be somewhat confident that you’ll see a new Tool album in 2016, hopefully before the 10th Anniversary of 10,000 Days.
- The curveball will see the light of day in the next couple of months. It will be a surprise to many, and a disappointment to some.
- European fans will be happy to see Tool doing the rounds in summer next year.
- Don’t be surprised if another show or two happens this year.
- Toolband will be updated in the next 6 months. It still won’t include an RSS feed
- We’ll see a change of direction in Tool art on the next album. Think of the work done by Adi Granov on the Opiate reissue.