10,000 DAYS

Take my review from Lateralus, copy and paste... well, almost. Surely 10000 Days inscribe itself in the continuity of the previous album: sometimes the music is really heavy with crazy time signatures, sometimes it's much slower and darker - and surely the long songs and fillers are still there. However, there are slight differences (except the fancy packaging of course): first, the vocals are often softer and quieter - almost no screaming here, sometimes quasi whispering; second, the production is much better than for the past albums with a clear emphasis on each instrument; finally, the lyrics are *much* darker - death seems the main theme here. Overall, an enjoyable album...

"Vicarious": the track that I sampled before buying the album - simply awesome, with a 5/4 time signature that seems to be the trademark of Tool - blends perfectly heavy and dark passages - 10/10

"Jambi": now that's the real progressive song of the album - time signature is almost impossible to identify, as it seems to change every 20 or 30 seconds - a bit long though, so weaker passages couldn't be avoided - 9/10

"Wings For Marie (Pt 1)": one of the darkest song on the album, very calm except a 20 second burst of flame after 4 minutes or so - 10/10

"10.000 Days (Wings Pt 2)": a haunting song - still calm but with a faster tempo, and the bass totally in front - the song ends with the same mellow part as Wings Pt 1 - 10/10

"The Pot": starts acapella with bass, drums and guitar joining - maybe one of the most simple song on the album, but very catchy - 10/10

"Lipan Conjuring": one minute interlude with some sort of shaman incantations - a filler - 5/10

"Lost Keys (Blame Hofmann)": a soft intro to the next song - basically a clean guitar with some talking on the background - 7/10

"Rosetta Stoned": the heavy song of the album - more aggressive music and vocals, but with still complex elements - a bit long for this type of song though - 6/10

"Intension": a quiet and repetitive song, but very enjoyable - 9/10

"Right In Two": another highlight of this album - this song starts slowly and then builds on heavy riffing before slowing down again at the end - don't miss the "right in your face" lyrics too - 10/10

"Viginti Tres": what to say about this? - every Tool album ends with some kind of freaky pointless track without any music - this one has one or two cool sound effects but that's all - 2/10

Rating: 80/100 (4 stars)