It’s been a little while since we’ve had a clear update from the band as to where they are at with recording the new Tool album. We know that Danny & Justin have done their parts, and that Adam is working on his. There has been some speculation as to how when Maynard would be doing his in between A Perfect Circle commitments.
Well today Maynard has offered an update via his Twitter account, which lets us know that progress is good, and that we can still be expecting it to get completed by 2019:
Update- Scratch Vox tracked awhile ago. AJ deep in Guitars now. Final Vox after. Step back. Adjust. Mix. Adjust. Re-Adjust. Master. Adjust. Re-Adjust. Long Way 2 Go But Much Closer. #TOOL #2019
— Maynard J Keenan (@mjkeenan) September 10, 2018
It’s always good to hear some formal update from the band. Hopefully no one is getting excited about a 2018 release, because that seems quite unlikely. I reckon that by the end of the year we should have heard that the album is complete, and possibly even had a chance to pre-order it, and maybe even check out the first track.
Pretty exciting times. I wonder if it’ll be their last. I hope after this one (and maybe after a tour) we get a decent chunk of live material not toooo long after. Would be a nice way to keep things active for them since the chances of another album in the next decade (or ever) are slim.
I wouldn’t rule out another album, I doubt the band are considering this their last. That said, I’m not sure they will have the patience to produce another one if it’s to take 10+ years.
I think they next few years will be pretty telling in regards to the future of the band. I’d obviously love to see them keep going forever, but part of me suspects they might tour this album for the next couple of years, and then probably retire from touring.
Good news Maynard. 6th album,- LOL.
Hellboy some of them would be pushing 70 by the time the next comes out. We’ll get reissues, some live shit, but that’s it.
Only if you assume it will take 10 years or more to do the next album. I don’t see why this necessarily has to be the case.
It does depend on how much material won’t fit onto this LP in my estimate — we could get a Metallica style “Load” and “Re-Load” should this not be a double LP.
It will be their last. This is the retirement album, similar to Clockwork Angels was for Rush. Will get get a graphic novel accompanying it? Probably not. But this is money for their estate and various kids.
Yeah I remember MJK saying he dislikes touring. They could probably do holograms like ABBA or resurrect the movie idea like The Wall. Dont think it will be last album but will release them from their contract so can put out whatever. Only thing is anticipation/expectation will be sky high for this record…
I don’t remember him saying he dislikes touring. Where is this quote?
He said some time ago something along lines of if there is an alternative way of touring im all up for it. Think he said he doesnt like the effect on his body.
Danny Carey is 57, Maynard is 54, Adam is 53 and Justin is 47. If this is their last record on their current contract and their last album overall I am fine with that. If you’re going to take 13 years to get this record right I highly doubt they’ll record another full album after this one. Add 5 to 10 years onto those numbers mentioned above… i think this is it. However, I do think they’ll tour or play occasional live shows for 5 to 10 more years before winding down… Again, I’m cool with that 🙂
I don’t get that “fulfilling the contract thing”. Are there any time limits for that? Also, even if they break this deal, they are rich enough and probably won’t be much impact to their money.
Apart from that. I am excited. 2019 is gonna be epic.
I don’t think Tool are too worried about breaking the contract, nor do they feel pressure to fulfill it. But being released from the contract by getting the last album out could change the way they go about things.
The band has a contract with the record label to release X number of albums. When the new album drops it will fulfill their obligation and then they are completely free to put out whatever they want, however they want, whenever they want.
@ out…
Stinkfist
We need to lock them in a bomb proof shelter with plenty of supplies and just let them finish it. Fingers crossed everything works out smoothly. Very exciting times for us TOOL fans!
I wonder if Maynard will have any time to pop onto the JRE podcast?
Good to hear – sounds like they will likely be at the “Final Vox” point before APC heads out again in late October. They’ve all eluded to making music together until one of them kicks the can. Why speculate what comes after what has yet to happen. Live in the now. Been a long wait so this should be a cool ride just ahead.
Unless Adam wraps up his guitar parts really soon, Maynard won’t have time to record before the APC your, which puts recording vocals out to January, considering the few weeks left in the year is probably family time and break from all that sort of stuff. If he can record vocals THIS YEAR, the timeline is going to be a lot better.
Has Maynard actually done his parts and tweeted that to throw us off the scent? Or is Adam just reeeeeeeeeeeallly fucking slow….
I don’t think slow is the right word, more meticulous. I doubt Maynard will lay down final vocals until all the music is recorded.
Aside from some early comments from danny in 2011 and a few years back, Tool has been pretty upfront about their progress. There will be no “secret†album released early from them. Maynard said exactly where they are at. You don’t plug in a guitar and record every song the same. There are layers upon layers, utilizing different guitars, tunings, pedals, amps, Ect. He will be looking for the best tone for virtually every part of the song. This does take time. For him it is his chance to truly “paint†the soundscape of the songs the best he can,… Read more »
Can any musicians out there explain the rationale behind why Maynard has to wait for Adam to finish sculpting his parts before he can record final vocals?
It’s hard to tell since nobody, except the band, knows how they record, but my guess is that Adam’s sculpting process involves adding harmonic/rythmic counterpoints to the raw backbone of each song, which might narrow MJK’s vocal options. Another explanation might relate to the type of processing on Adam’s guitars, which again could change the whole vibe of a given song, narrowing MJK’s options. From an engineering perspective, it’s always easier to know how the voclas will interact with the rest of the song when you have all the instruments tracked. Finally, it might just be an arbitrary modus operandi… Read more »
My guess is that Adam’s overdubs change the melodic structure of the song so much that MJK would be put in a position to alter the vocal melody as well. That’s just based on their prior formula of song construction; I can’t imagine someone as meticulous as AJ coming in and ad-libbing an overdub in such a way, but it is a speculative explanation.
On the other hand, there might be such a ‘schism’ between the group that AJ hasn’t articulated what his overdubs will be to MJK?
Anyone else noticed its taking tool a while to put this album together?
Yes, but I can’t say I’m surprised.
Lol I was being a little facetious…now are you being sarcastic? I guess this is what we’ve resorted to
No way it feels like 10,000 days came out yesterday! HAHA!
Man, so much time has passed since 2006. Fortunate to have seen them 12-13 times since then and 7-8 times on previous tours, but what is 2019 going to sound like for this amazing band? There was plenty of “hate” to go around when 10K Days was released, it’s a decoy album blah blah, which was never the case before with a TOOL release. After 13 years and what the three LA guys have been cooking up for all this time, there’s just no way it’s going to suck! I just can’t imagine it being a disappointing album to any… Read more »
Is that Blair? MJK?
No, Jethro, just a fan looking forward to new music next year. My comment about limited runs of touring going forward was along the lines of yours about the effects of touring on MJK’s body and what he’s said in the recent past about it. He can’t do long legs of dates with the associated travel anymore. And that’s obviously where they make their money, touring. I expect the face value price of tickets to go up, but not by a lot. Scalpers are still going to make a killing on any dates, as always, which sucks.
I would say as a counter to this that Maynard has done a bunch of touring in the last 12 months with A Perfect Circle. I don’t think he minds long tours as such, just they need to avoid certain key dates for his wine making business.
The guy hits JiuJitsu gyms and sleeps in cushy hotels while he’s on tour I’m sure. I can’t imagine what that could do to one’s body. I’m sure the old way of touring might have been devastating but they have it made in the shade now.
He probably doesn’t like touring now because he’s married.