10,000 Days

Infobox Album |
Name = 10,000 Days
Type = studio
Artist = Tool


Released = May 2, 2006
Recorded = August - December 2005 at O'Henry Studios in Burbank, California, The Loft and Grandmaster Studios in Hollywood, California
Genre = Progressive metal
Length = 75:50
Label = Volcano II/Tool Dissectional: U.S.
Producer = Tool
Reviews =
*Allmusic rating|4|5 [http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:bt6fmpca9f7o link]
*"Alternative Press" rating|5|5 [http://altpress.com/reviews/311.htm link]
*"Blender" rating|3|5 [http://www.blender.com/guide/reviews.aspx?id=3970 link]
*Drowned in Sound rating|8|10 [http://www.drownedinsound.com/release/view/7412 link]
*IGN (8.5/10) [http://music.ign.com/articles/704/704337p1.html link]
*Kerrang! rating|5|5
*"NME" rating|8|10 [http://www.musicoutfitter.com/10000-days/p333276.html link]
*PopMatters rating|6|10 [http://www.popmatters.com/pm/music/reviews/tool_10000_days/ link]
*Pitchfork Media (5.9/10) [http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/article/record_review/22623/Tool_10000_Days link]
*"Rolling Stone" rating|3.5|5 [http://www.rollingstone.com/artists/tool/albums/album/10468655/review/10500551/10000_days link]
*"Stylus Magazine" (D+) [http://www.stylusmagazine.com/reviews/tool/10000-days.htm link]
*"The Skinny" rating|4|5 [http://www.skinnymag.co.uk/content/view/1337/141/ link]
Last album = "Lateralus"
(2001)
This album = "10,000 Days"
(2006)
Next album =

"10,000 Days" is the Grammy Award-winning fourth full-length studio album by Tool. It was released on April 28, 2006 in parts of Europe, April 29 in Australia, May 1 in the United Kingdom, and May 2 in North America. By the end of 2006, according to WorldWideAlbums.Net, the album has sold almost 3 million copies worldwide.

ingles

On March 27, 2006 Billboard.com posted an article about "10,000 Days", [cite web | url=http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1002237083 | title="Tool Feeling 'Vicarious' On New Album" | work=Billboard | accessdate=2006-04-28 | author="Jonathan Cohen"] which mentioned that "Vicarious" would be the album's first single. "Vicarious" was officially released to radio on April 17, and entered the Modern Rock Tracks chart at #2. A music video for the song was released on DVD on December 18, 2007. [cite web | title = Tool News, 18 October, 2007 | url=http://www.toolband.com/news/index.html | accessdate = 2007-10-20 ]

The second single from the album was "The Pot", which peaked at #5 on the Modern Rock chart. It was the band's first #1 single on the Mainstream Rock Tracks chart. A video for "The Pot" was scheduled to shoot over the 2006 holiday season. [cite web | url = http://www.therockradio.com/2006/11/tool-finds-pot-of-gold-with-latest.html | title = Tool finds "Pot" of Gold with Latest Single | publisher = The Rock Radio online | date = 2006-11-29 | accessdate = 2007-01-18] "Jambi" was the third radio single and received airtime on both Modern [cite web|url=http://www.fmqb.com/Article.asp?id=16770 |title=Modern Rock - Available for Airplay |accessdate=2006-12-13] and Mainstream Rock [cite web|url=http://www.fmqb.com/Article.asp?id=16697 |title=Mainstream Rock - Available for Airplay |accessdate=2006-12-13] formats.

Recording

The album was recorded at O'Henry Studios in Burbank, California as well as at The Loft and Grandmaster Studios in Hollywood, California. It was mixed at Bay 7 in North Hollywood and mastered at Gateway Mastering Studios in Portland, Maine. The May 2006 issue of "Guitar World" (released April 11, 2006) featured an interview with guitarist Adam Jones discussing the new album. Jones explained that recording techniques for the album involved the use of a "pipe bomb microphone" (a guitar pickup mounted inside a brass cylinder), and a talk box guitar solo on the song "Jambi." Drummer Danny Carey triggered many of the sound effects on the album using electronic drums called "Mandalas". More information about the "pipe bomb microphone" and the making of "10,000" Days can be found in the "MIX Magazine" article [http://mixonline.com/recording/projects/audio_making_tools_days/ "The Making of Tool's "10,000 Days"] , dated July 1, 2006.

Artwork

The CD packaging for "10,000 Days" consists of a thick cardboard-bound booklet partly covered by a flap holding a pair of stereoscopic eyeglasses, which can be used to view a series of images inside (including, for the first time since "Undertow", an individual portrait of each band member). Viewed with the glasses, the artwork produces an illusion of depth and three-dimensionality. Alex Grey, who created a majority of the album art for "Lateralus" and its accompanying video "Parabola", reprised his role for "10,000 Days". The CD face itself is decorated with stylized eyes, arranged in a seemingly logarithmic spiral towards the center (adapted from a previous Alex Grey painting, "Collective Vision"). As with Tool's other albums, the lyrics are not printed within the artwork; vocalist Maynard James Keenan has instead released lyrics for previous Tool albums online following their respective releases; however, it is unknown if this trend will continue. As of August 2008, the official lyrics of only seven of the songs have been released: "Jambi", "Rosetta Stoned", "The Pot", "Wings For Marie (Part 1)", "10,000 Days (Wings Part 2)", "Vicarious" and "Right In Two". [ [http://toolshed.down.net/lyrics/10kdayslyrics.php lyrics to "10,000 days"] ]

On May 5, 2006, the band's official webmaster hinted that "the four individual photos [of the band members] can be used as the pieces of a kind of puzzle", but the puzzle and its meaning "will just be another nut to crack." [cite web | url=http://www.toolband.com/news|accessdate=2006-05-10|title=Puzzle?|work=Billboard |author="Blair Mackenzie Blake"]

On February 11, 2007, Adam Jones, art director and guitarist for the band, received the Grammy Award for Best Recording Package for his work on the "10,000 Days" packaging.

Internet leak

On April 14, 2006, a 30-second clip from "Vicarious" aired on Pittsburgh radio station "105.9 The X". Subsequently, the entire song was leaked in WAV format when a private FTP server (used to distribute the song to radio stations) was left open without password protection for a few minutes. [cite web | url=http://toolshed.down.net/news/ | title="Vicarious Leaked | Minneapolis Confirmed" | work="Toolshed" | accessdate=2006-04-28 | author="Kabir Akhtar"] The entire album was later leaked to the Internet, despite heavy security and strict conditions regarding media previews. Exactly how the album came to be leaked is unknown. Some rumors had led fans to believe that the band leaked it to spite their record company, [cite web | url=http://blogcritics.org/archives/2006/04/19/083102.php | title="Tool's New Album 10,000 Days Leaked to Internet." | work="BlogCritics.org" | accessdate=2006-04-30 | author="Jessa Kay">] yet statements from Keenan in interviews expressing his distaste for internet leaks seem to contradict this.Fact|date=December 2007

Critical reception

On average, "10,000 Days" received generally favorable critical reception, albeit with less enthusiasm than previous Tool albums. Most critics praised the album as another example of Tool's musicianship. [ [http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:nmklu3edan6k~T1 AllMusicGuide review by Rob Theakston] ] Critics who gave "10,000 Days" a relatively low score questioned the merits of its ambient interludes, which Tool have also used on their previous releases. In addition, the song "Vicarious" was nominated for the "Best Hard Rock Performance" Grammy. "Rolling Stone" magazine named it the 38th Best Album of 2006. [cite web|title=The Top 50 albums of 2006| publisher = "Rolling Stone"| url= http://www.rollingstone.com/news/coverstory/50albums/page/8| date=2006-12-29 |accessdate=2008-01-24] The album (as aforementioned) also received a Grammy in 2006 for Best Recording Package. In 2008, "10,000 Days" garnered another Grammy nod when "The Pot" was nominated for "Best Hard Rock Performance".

Track listing

#"Vicarious" – 7:06
#"Jambi" – 7:28
#"Wings for Marie (Pt 1)" – 6:11
#"10,000 Days (Wings, Pt 2)" – 11:13
#"The Pot" – 6:21
#"Lipan Conjuring" – 1:11
#"Lost Keys (Blame Hofmann)" – 3:46
#"Rosetta Stoned" – 11:11
#"Intension" – 7:21
#"Right in Two" – 8:55
#"Viginti Tres" – 5:02

Track interpretations

*Vicarious is about how people watch real-life tragedy on TV and supposedly enjoy it, but are unwilling to admit it.
*Jambi is an Indonesian province in Sumatra, which was once part of the powerful Melayu Kingdom. Legends state that it was ruled by a rich sultan who lived an opulent lifestyle; this legend may be the one referred to in the song's lyrics.cite web | author = "Blair MacKenzie Blake" | title = Tool Newsletter, July 2006 | url=http://www.toolband.com/news/letter/2006_07.php | accessdate = 2006-08-03 ]
*Marie is the middle name of Keenan's deceased mother, Judith Marie Garrison. As Keenan explains in his commentary on A Perfect Circle's "aMOTION" DVD, she suffered a stroke that left her partially paralyzed and wheelchair-bound. The length of time between the paralysis and her death was 27 years, or approximately 10,000 days. [ [http://www.memorialobituaries.com/memorials/memorials.cgi?action=Obit&memid=101490&clientid=toland Online Obituary for Judith Marie Garrison] , MemorialObituaries.com] Prior to her death, during their 2002 tour, the band debuted an instrumental portion of "Wings for Marie"; the finished song contains lyrics referring to a funeral service and the song ends with the sound of a casket closing. Both songs, "Wings for Marie" and "10,000 Days", were written for his mother.
*In a "Guitar World" interview, Jones confirmed that the title of "The Pot" was a reference to an idiomatic term for hypocrisy (i.e., the "pot calling the kettle black").
*The Lipan are an Apachean people, also known as the "tall grass people".
*On April 7, 2006, [http://www.toolband.com/news/index.html the official Tool website] specifically mentioned Albert Hofmann, the "father" of LSD, and stated that he first synthesized the drug on that date in 1938. Past communiques from the same source used the words "blame Hofmann" as a catch phrase, and report that "Lost Keys" was the working title for "Wings for Marie/10,000 Days".
*'Rosetta Stoned' is a play on the Rosetta Stone, an ancient Egyptian tablet that formed the basis of modern hieroglyphic translation. The theme of the song is centered around the main character who, while under the influence of the psychedelic drugs DMT and MDMA, is abducted by extra-dimensional aliens. The aliens give the man a message for all of mankind but he is unable to remember or understand his experience. Contact with alien entities as well as an inability to understand the experience is common with heavy DMT usage.
*'Intension' is commonly defined as 'intensification'; however, it may also mean "a strenuous exertion of the mind or will". In logic, it means "the sum of all possible attributes in a term". In the study of evolution, it can refer to the process of interbreeding. In language, words lose all meaning unless 'intension' of some sort is applied.
*'Viginti tres' means 'twenty-three' in Latin.

Personnel

*Maynard James Keenan - Vocals
*Adam Jones - Art direction, guitar, sitar
*Justin Chancellor - Bass
*Danny Carey - Drums, tabla, percussion

Additional personnel

*Joe Barresi - Engineering and mixing (credited as "Evil Joe Barresi") cite news | url=http://www.mcdman.com/barresi.html | publisher=McDonough Management | title= Joe Barresi]
*Alex Grey - Illustrations
*Bob Ludwig - Mastering
*Lustmord - Weather effects on "10,000 Days (Wings Pt 2)"
*Bill McConnell - Vocals on "Lipan Conjuring"
*Camella Grace - Voice of Nurse on "Lost Keys (Blame Hofmann)" cite news | url=http://www.butcherband.com/butcher/bio.php | publisher=Butcher website| title= Butcher Biography ]

Charting

"10,000 Days" entered the U.S. "Billboard" 200 chart at number one, selling 564,000 copies in its first week. In Australia, "10,000 Days" debuted at #1, selling 39,278 in its first week. In the UK, the album debuted at #4, the highest chart position they have ever managed in that country. It was certified Platinum in the U.S. by the RIAA on June 9, 2006. As of April 2007, "10,000 Days" has sold 2.75 million copies worldwide. As of July 28, 2007, the album has sold 1,526,003 copies in the US. [ [http://www.ukmix.org/forums/viewtopic.php?t=46504&start=0 UKMIX - Forums - View topic - US Billboard Charts (28/07/2007) ] ]

Album

ingles

Notes

succession box
before = "IV" by Godsmack
title = "Billboard" 200 number-one album
years = May 14 2006 - May 20 2006
after = "Stadium Arcadium"
by Red Hot Chili Pepperssuccession box
before = "The Hard Road" by Hilltop Hoods
title = Australian ARIA Albums Chart number-one album
years = May 8 - May 14 2006
after = "Stadium Arcadium"
by Red Hot Chili Peppers