Metal Sucks have today published a Podcast which contains a 10 minute interview with Justin Chancellor, where he talks about progress on the new Tool album, and their love of playing live. While the interview is short on much concrete information, Justin does mention that he believes the new album is about 90% done. He declined to give any indication of when it would be released though.
It’s an insightful interview, so well worth your time.
now it’s a question of when they can get studio time and do it. Might be early next year still, considering wine season and tours. So if all goes well, perhaps next summer for a tour.
Statements like these have already been made by the band prior to this, so I’d take with a grain of salt.
The more interesting takeaway is the acknowledgment of inner friction between the four of them.
I’d like to believe that if they are still going, despite these conflicts, it’s because they genuinely believe in their craft…otherwise I don’t see the purpose of a new album, besides money which I don’t think they lack.
I don’t remember them saying they were 90% done before. Can you show me where they’ve said that?
Aside from Danny saying outlandish things. They’ve pretty much stated how much they’ve had done all along.
There have been several instances of similar reports, like back in 2010 when one of the boys said the album would drop by 2011 or that time a few years ago, when there was some report from one of the VIP sessions, where Adam allegedly said that the album was 100% done. Now MJK seems to cast some clouds over this latest claim, with a very elaborate tweet. Expected. With all the clickbait going around, I think it’s safe not to take everything at face value, otherwise people get upset, really fast (case in point, the San Bernadino totally unfounded… Read more »
JC is just cool isn’t he?
Down to earth, no bravado, honest and just gets it. Gets life and the band situation.
They all clearly have got their shit together now.
The Pot video, honestly, thought was brilliant from that ToolArchive footage. Reading the recent tour reports, sounds like they have really peaked.
Look forward to all the recording news and for the record HB you have been pretty bang on the predications and called out a lot of bollocks.
Perhaps 10 more newsletters? haha
He is fucking cool man way down to earth. Yeah they have definitely hit a new high that’s for sure. Their show is exponentially better and it has been a pleasure to have seen them enough times to notice. I personally at some point felt like they had plateaued on 10,000 days but after going back and listening to that album several more times and hearing interpretations of it from the band and fans… That was really a great album after all! I still don’t think it had the same importance to me that Lateralus did but I was too… Read more »
10KD is a tough album for many. I connected to it for a few reasons….for one I listened to it for years and really took stock of the musical choices therein and I personally found that the album was an important expression that stated that they, as a band, were improving their CRAFT, and willing to experiment and risk it to get there. This means that it doesn’t always work out and deliver the best product to listen to, or even enjoy on a surface level. You gotta be in a certain mindset, whereas their other albums are more accessible.… Read more »
I’m feeling much more inclined to say the same about 10K Days.
https://youtu.be/GCtrWuRlf_o
I’ve never seen so many positive comments in a thread before. Tool must’ve struck a cord with their latest tour and interviews. I’m glad to see good spirits floating around Fourtheye. Glen Helen show was mind blowing. I’m sure the rest of the tour was great too. Maynard quoted Willy Wonka, “We are the music makers, and we are the dreamer of dreams.” Also made the comment “Everything is gonna work out, or it isn’t, but tonight we dance.” Something along those lines. The band sounded amazing. They always do but it felt like something special was happening and Maynard… Read more »
Dreamers*
For those who went to the shows, there seem to be very few bad reviews. As usual, most of the complaints come from those who didn’t or couldn’t go
Yeah dude I was feeling pretty optimistic with Maynard’s attitude that evening. He was fantastic in Sacramento the night before as well… They are playing incredibly tight man it’s just super impressive. They seem to be very excited and happy.
Adam during the VIP session in Sacramento just had a really positive attitude and I don’t know how to explain it…
Album or not I’m just excited about their seemingly unusual positive attitudes. They are definitely in it all together right now and that’s apparent.
Kabir didnt seem that impressed tho and he was there
Yeah, well, that’s just, like, his opinion, man. 🙂
Anyhow, it was my 11th time seeing Tool, and I thought the guys were focused, the music was tight, the lighting and video work was enthralling, and there was an intense energy throughout the entire set.
The criticism I’ve read about the show is just perplexing.
Yeah man I agree with you. Sacramento and San Bernadino were ridiculously amazing.
That was my 18th TOOL show (that I remember) and it ranks up there in the top 5. Considering I saw them during the undertow days, that is no small thing to say! They were incredibly tight and the energy was off the charts. Maynard game it his all and Danny was an absolute beast. Adam made zero mistakes and they all just nailed it. Most times I see them it is good, but you can see subtle changes through the years. It felt like they were tapping into the core chemistry of the band itself and were AWARE of… Read more »
Sacramento was my 3rd and San Bernadino was my 4th time seeing them… both shows were way way WAY WAY WAY better than the first and second time I had seen them…
The positivity in this thread is off the hook!!
JC’s: “We are ready to go” just says it all really.
Caught show #10 in Nampa, ID and since I saw them there in 2002, I can’t say they’ve been in finer form.
Mix was excellent, performance was excellent and was there, dare I say – improvisation?
If they release another album or not – I’m ambivalent. They’ve written enough awesome material to influence a generation of artists and I’m looking forward to see what the spawn of Tool/Primus sounds like compared to the spawn of Floyd/Black Sabbath.
Wonder if everyone from this thread will still be so ‘positive’ this time next year when the band have not entered the studio, and are doing another little tour with the same old songs, once again.
I doubt anyone will be surprised. Nothing wrong with a bit of positivity…
It’s been 11 years. Nothing can phase me anymore.
I’m happy to catch them on tour and when they are playing this well it’s a bonus.
I do want to hear what they’ve been working on. Hopefully we all get that in the next couple years. Who knows.
theres a sucker born every minute…
I’m still baffled by all people who thought the San Berdoo show was some giant artistic rebirth of the band.
Can you give examples of people who thought this?
give examples of who (on this site) though the san berdoo was a rebirth of the band?…. like everyone. ha ha.
i won’t name names. also your site is a very tiny reflection of the tool community at large.
There were many who voiced their excitement for the San Berdoo and the thought of something new (video, music, etc.). But a rebirth?… I don’t even know what that means? Also, hellboy runs a great site that I find generally more helpful than the official Toolband site. Obviously not every Tool fan is a member of this site, but I would be reluctant to say that this community doesn’t represent Tool fans at large. Everyone, well… almost everyone (looking at you buddy), shares their thoughts and any new information in a dignified manner. I find that this community is a… Read more »
Yeah, some people were excited for something different. A very small number (not some many here I think) had an unreasonable expectation of an album debut.
Nothing I’d consider some kind of “rebirth” of the band. I’d go as far as to say 95% expected SB would be just another Tool show + some cool supports.
No point in trying to argue with a cynic. He did not enjoy the show as much as others so he is bitter. For me, only seeing them for the 5th since 2010, I can say they were the tightest I have heard and Maynard vocals were by far the best I have ever heard in a live setting. I think somebody mentioned they have not sounded better since Lateralus. It sounds to me like they have adjusted the mix or the way they play the songs to adapt to the way Maynard’s voice has matured over the years. It… Read more »
I wouldn’t go so far as to call it a rebirth but it certainly was an amazing show. My 4th time seeing them since 2010 and the Sacramento/San Bernadino shows were incredibly tight. You can tell they have been playing together more often and have a new fresh approach to what they are doing. I’d say it’s fair to speculate that they had really hit a stagnant period in creativity and that could also be a contributing factor as to why this next album has taken so long. In 2010 and 2012 they were not this tight and they were… Read more »
Another thought that I am sure a lot of people have on this site about some of the attitudes here and in the world generally for that matter. For many TOOL is one of the last few glimmering lights of hope on Earth. It has become normal to mock others for trying to be an optimist. But really it takes strength and perseverance to maintain a positive outlook in this world. A weak person follows the crowd and gives in to the cynicism that is infecting the minds of the masses. Maynard has been addressing this on this last tour… Read more »
Projecting much? I never thought these shows would reveal anything.
I was surprised how good they sounded and Maynard was in mostly top form, so really it was better than expected.
Positivity is great and i don’t want to shit on anyone’s parade but we’ve heard this all before.
Someone higher on this page said they’ve peaked….cmon bro.
That being said, the recent live shows have sounded the best they have since lateralus tour. MJK sounds great. Some advice for tool: never take sweat off the setlist. Good shit.
It’s ok to be positive and acknowledge that Tool are quite unreliable when it comes to album progress right?
No kidding. Sacramento got RIPPED OFF. They didn’t play Sweat, and completely left off s song in that spot on the set list.
Funny enough, Maynard already shat on this optimism / positivity / information provided by Justin via the Puscifer twitter a little while ago. LOL — guess the fans know as much about what’s going on and/or are as much of assholes as members of the group themselves.
Though to be fair, Maynard’s comment was a cryptic response that is readily interpretable as him misunderstanding the 90% done comment and taking it more literally when he has tours lined up through next year. Or just even a concern that fans will take it to mean a Tool album this year when it obviously will not happen.
Your comment is a strange one, and then followed by a weird apology.
Anyone reading that much into a simple “Yes” very much falls into the category of ” as much of assholes as members of the group themselves”
Your comment is a very strange one as well, given that the statement Maynards “Yup” applied to was, “Standing by for @Puscifer to piss all over Justin’s fire”. How could that be construed (outside the general contrarian attitude toward ‘negative fans’ that is your hallmark) as a positive confirmation of Justin’s statement on album progress? It could be, as I went on to say, if MJK views the music as not ‘90% complete’ without his input, though Justin obviously could’ve meant that music was 90% complete pre-vox (and I’m quite certain that is what he meant).
Again, I conceded that I personally viewed the comment as MJK trying to downplay any hyperbolic reaction to such headlines (ie fans thinking the album was due this year).
The yep was @ both the 90% done comment and “piss all over” one. It seemed pretty non-commital.
Anyway, there’s not many here getting over excited, but there are always a bunch of commentors online here ready to hose down any positivity.
How about we just stay neutral, rather than feeling the need to piss on any opinions?
I’ll join the wave of positivity, at least in part: 90% is a good number, but I think we all know that numbers like that are like the progress bar on your computer when it is updating Windows. It can take half as long to go from 90 to 100 as it took to go from 0 to 90. And almost certainly Justin is referring to the music, not including lyrics. I’ll get really psyched when the news is that they Other Three have given the music to Maynard. Once he’s working on it, I’ll know that it’s about to… Read more »