Think the new Tool album is getting close now? Suspect they might be in the studio? Maynard hoses it all down in his usual fashion:
@JackEchann @JanuarySeraph No. Lyricist is still waiting for music. Pay attention.
— Maynard J Keenan (@mjkeenan) May 13, 2015
Maynard will also be appearing on Comedy Bang! Bang! in an episode to be broadcast on May 15. Check your local TV guides!
can’t believe that guy didn’t pay attention
Obviously not a Fourtheye reader!
i think this is the curveball… no new music this year.
sprial out.
Yep, no one expected that!
ha! that’s a good one HB
Posted this over at toolnavy: I almost hate to get this started, but I believe there is a message encoded in the toolband post regarding Danny’s synth. Note how the ivory keys to the left are darkened. There are 15 white keys to the right. Assuming that refers to 2015. Danny reference likely alludes to the pic of Danny in Maine with the dude who masters the albums. I’m guessing there may be a month and day encoded in there as well. Followed by: For a first stab I’m gonna go with a message from all the white elements. 7… Read more »
And yeah, not thinking it’s the new album but rather a live or Salival 2 type release to tide us over.
Maybe, but I think the reason the keys are darkened is because that’s how they actually look, rather than some arcane clue as to when something is being released.
You’re right HB. Just Google imaged it and the keys are colored like that. Damn, thought the timing made sense if they just finished mastering.
Occam’s Razor.
Don’t feel bad though. People used to study the 10,000 artwork to figure out that “puzzle” too.
All part of the schtick. And I love every minute of it.
@ out…
Stinkfist
is this tool news or puscifer news? doesn’t really specify now does it.
If you follow the link to Twitter and follow the whole conversation, you’ll see that it’s about Tool.
Hopefully he means he has finished lyrics on the handful of tracks that they have completed, but is waiting to hear the rest of the tracks that they are still working on.
If they genuinely haven’t given him any music yet to work with… Da fuq???
At least Maynard is once again honest and straight forward. I don’t understand why people here believe the new album is “close”…. I remember Adam or Maynard saying that once they enter the studio, we will be the first to know! I actually believe them.
how any one can be surprised at mjk not getting any music yet is beyond me. there wont be album this year, how hard is that to understand?
It’s still possible, but yes it’s quite unlikely.
Do you read the newsletters?
“We also found out recently that Maynard has been working on adding vocals to the new arrangements from a special section in the loft that was constructed for this very purpose.” – March 2015
“the members of the band will be taking a break from their writing/arranging sessions next week WHILE Aaron Harris (“ISISâ€, PALMSâ€) sets up an area in the Loft for Maynard to be able to work on vocal melodies as the others play (loudly) their completed tunes.” – Feb 2015
so…just a thought but maynard could be working on added vocals to arrangments and still be waiting on other music… he might have been just speaking to the fact that the album isnt waiting on him
this.
Just wanted to point this comment out one more time as it is most likely the case whilst everyone’s panties are firmly in a bunch.
oh well. I don’t expect I’ll actually hear new Tool music ever again at this point.
In fairness to Maynard,maybe you could leave the ? off the title for this blog post.
They’re probably putting all their songs together with joe barresi to then give to Maynard to listen to & add vocals.. I remember awhile ago in an interview Maynard said he’d been asking for a cd with new music for awhile. They put together a sort of rough draft for him to add to, and then all record again in a much more detailed process when they’ve all finished & worked things out. It makes sense that we’ve seen Adam with joe barresi. Especially if all the curveball is the opiate video.
Pay attention to what?
TOOL doesn’t communicate with their listeners.
Well, they communicate so sporadically and cryptically that I believe it is starting to wear thin on even the most devout fans. Every month and year that goes by without new music some of their fan base whittles away and lots of TOOL fans are starting to believe there never will be another piece of music put out by my favorite band. There’s too much material being put together and too many hurdles that have been cleared for me to think it won’t actually happen. But as far as time frames, no way this year and we’ve all been saying… Read more »
Yeah I don’t think they are happy with what they are writing. Maybe it’s just not good enough.
Every band fails at some point.
Hahahaha I really hope some of you are just trolling..
Do you people really feel that down or indifferent about the making/release of the new Tool album?
I’ve got the album along with my golden ticket, plus I already watched the opiate video on my USB that came with the 21st anniversary..
I guess if all you people haven’t figured it out I’ll have yall know it’s pretty damn good!
Outing that spiral
Opiate video?
Didn’t Blair say Maynard had the “goods in hand” not too long ago or something to that effect, referring, if I remember correctly, to some type of somewhat finished music?
STEEE-RIIIIKE!
What the hell is going on here? Ah, the curve ball. Hmm… I wouldn’t be surprised if they are all telling truths, just referring to different things technically speaking.
STEEE-RIIIIIKE! II
Damn curve ball giving me the whiffs… All I hear is “stay tuned”.
STEEEE_RIIIIIIKE!!! III
I’m out. Who’s up next?
A lot of us are REALLY grasping for straws here. Lets be real…the album is a long ways off. No time frames or anything concrete. I can’t believe how some of you guys read into things and try to turn something into something it’s not. This is actually the first time that the band is being very transparent…bottom line is: things are moving along, but at a snail’s pace. We all know they are in no hurry, but when it is finished, we will get what we are expecting. A NEW TOOL ALBUM. Nothing more and nothing less. It is… Read more »
ah man, you guys need to calm down. relax. live your life! f them! haha. something will happen sometime. getting tied in knots over it wont help.
It’s official… We all have an addiction… This site is now a support group… We better start pairing up for sponsorship of each other. Hi… My name is Zwerewolf and I’m addicted to TOOL… My friends keep saying that there are other bands out there that are just as good but I just can’t let it go… Sometimes I feel alone with my addiction but that’s actually a good thing because I hate when people talk to me while I’m listening to TOOL, it ruins the moment for me…
Someone’s excited!!!!!
I like the idea that Maynard is awaiting the music from the band, before they finalize the songs are record them for release. The music will come, or not. Either way, we’ll always have the music TOOL has already made.
Adam says “smoke on the horizon” at least 6 months ago. LOL…
Tool needs to change their name to Troll and just embrace what they have become.
We’ve been hearing about this curveball thing for a very long time. If it’s a video, a f’n video to an old song no less, then that would just be pathetic. I keep expecting some sort of tangible news every month but it never seems to come. It’s gotta happen at some point, right? Right?
Well we know Adam was in the recording studio recently and Danny was in Maine with Bob Luwig, who masters Tool’s albums. I do believe that it’s about a month from mastering that an album can be released. I do expect a live or Salival 2 type album in June or July.
I’ve been a fan since 1993 and they are just BRUTAL to follow now. It is almost halfway through 2015 and Maynard still doesn’t have music? I thought they were just polishing stuff at this point. I think we are going on 5 years for this curveball now, they shot video for a live DVD like 10 years ago and the paid fan website (TA) has been broken for 3-4 years now. Now that this lawsuit is cleared up, I can’t wait to hear what the new excuse will be when the calendar flips to 2016 and there is still… Read more »
I too, I have been a fan since the early days. I still remember my brother giving me the Undertow cd because he bought it and ended up not really liking it. It was probably spring of 93. I was instantly in-love. I must have played that CD 400 times front to back and falling into lucid sleep to Flood each night. Those were the days. But…let’s be honest. The band has missed their window. IMHO their peak was around 2001 with Lateralus, and they could have struck while the iron was hot. Not that they aren’t successful, God only… Read more »
Writing for 10,000 Days began somewhere in the later half of 2004 per newsletters (save for the fact that Danny claimed that a lot, or at least some of the songs on 10KDays got their start from ideas left over from Lateralus sessions. Wings, notably) and ended more or less by the end of 2005. A year and some change, to write the album is about as good as any of us can deduce. Not 5 (or 6, or nearly 7 now for THIS album). And I think it’s an overstep to say that they didn’t love what they had… Read more »
10000 Days may or may not be a majority of fan’s favorite album; same with Lateralus, and all the others. Personally, I know people who enjoy each album in a different way, a different mood, and a different light. Was 10000 Days my favorite? Nope. (That is and always will be reserved for Ænima.) Does it have some of their best songs ever? Yes. Wings 1 + 2, Rosetta Stoned, and Right in Two, I’d argue are some of their best work. I’d expect their future work to continue this trend, as in, they’ll release an album that some fans… Read more »
^^^ regardless of whether agree or not, that was a well thought out response that I enjoyed reading Mr. Utah.
@ out…
Stinkfist
10KD was 5 years after Lateralus, not 6.
Music shouldn’t need endless revisions to get it right. It’s too bad they are taking this long. At some point you really DO miss the boat. If the album is a masterpiece, then nobody will mind the wait, but it kinda feels like they hit a snag again somewhere.
You had the update of them building a place for Maynard to sing in the loft and now nothing but bad news from Maynard in months. Oh well.
I like it when people comment like they know exactly what goes on during writing sessions in the Loft.
The feeling I got from the 2014 tour is that these guys are definitely ‘in it’……..and the VIP experience explained a whole lot more….you just have to see it to believe it I guess.
The change in Maynard’s vocals may factor into the extended and lengthy writing of their fifth album – writing to suit Maynard’s vocals for live performances. I bet they would love to change up the set lists a lot more and perform the new material to the standard in which they used to in the earlier days. And I doubt this classifies as writing in spite of themselves, but more so writing to present their own evolved vision of what Tool is to them in a way that can be accurately translated to a live setting. If that is a… Read more »
@ Godzilla, I agree w/ most everything you said with the exception of the below quote –but Im not 100% sold you understood my point at all. “And to say that Tool could have been better is completely unrealistic in my opinion. They are what they are and that’s what you’ve got, just like any other band.” I’m not sure “better” was the right word for it, but T00L could & should have been more than they are. Their art is far superior to any band of the 90s, and 2000s, but IMO, they didn’t push the envelope. They didn’t… Read more »
I don’t imagine the delay is due to them trying to write music to fit Maynard’s current vocal range. Maynard writes the vocal melodies, so he’s the only one that really needs to be concerned with writing stuff that he can sing. I also recall reading an interview with Adam where he talks about how Maynard writes his melodies really quickly and how he always goes in a different direction than the other members anticipate. So, I imagine they don’t spend a lot of time considering what he’s going to do for a song.
God damn it. This was meant as a reply to God-Zilla.
“Their art is far superior to any band of the 90s”
lol
lol indeed. I think its fair to say the fact a new album may never happen is the reason we all come here. They could have called it quits years back but have kept the carrot dangling. without it we would have lost interest like we have in all those other less superior 90s bands like Soundgarden, Faith No More, Alice In Chains…
I think it’s fair to say the reason we all come here (well, most of us) is because we’ve had good experiences with their art and are interested in what’s next!
@ Joelsy agree 100%. If they called it quits 9 years ago, we wouldn’t even be having this conversation. And quite possibly this is the greatest aspect of the band we overlook. Maybe the carrot is what keeps us in line…Keeping us faithfully coming back, like a drug addiction. To be fair – I never had quite the interest in any other band, besides possibly Metallica as a kid. Unfortunately they did quite the same thing IMO as T00L, after the black album. They waited too long (5 years I think) to create another and lost their mojo. In 1991… Read more »
I see where you’re coming from but I don’t think Tool are really capable of pulling out something out that we can’t relate to. In fact that is one thing that helps separate them from the rest. Always exploring sounds which trigger a familiar yet sometimes indistinct thought or feeling. Whatever they release may take a few listens to ‘get’ but I’m confident it will resonate with listeners the way it does for themselves.
September 10th – Robot
Maybe Tool are like James Joyce: they have something, however, the hard part is putting it in the right place.
Brand new newsletter is up. Festival date? Rance Q Spartley mentions. A new thick Brooklyn accented emailer…..and the curveball is upon us????