10,000 DAYS

10,000 Days is Tool's fourth full-length studio album, being released in 2006. The album's sound is very similar to the sound the band had created on Lateralus, though it is more eclectic and the band explores some territories on it they didn't on Lateralus. The band combines the modern style of Lateralus, which is full of triplets and grunge-like riffs, with exotic sounding drums and some of Tool's most emotional and ambitious pieces ever.

Some examples of this unique musical style are songs like the powerful "Right In Two", the softer "Intension" and the epic "Wings For Marie/10,000 Days" suite. The album does feature some more conventional Tool songs though, like "Vicarious" and "The Pot", which are both more accesible than most of the other songs on the album, but are some of the best songs Tool has ever created. Not all music on the album is as fantastic as those songs. The Psychedelic "Rosetta Stoned" for example is not one of the band's best I think.

The album focuses less on atmosphere than Ænima, though it does feature some typical songs meant to create a certain mood. One of them being the closing track of the album, "Viginti Tres", which might sound like a somewhat dull ending but serves a much more interesting function. This means combining it with some other music on the album. I won't be too specific on it, as I don't want to spoil anything.

Also worth being mentioned is the very original artwork. The digipack contains three-dimensional pictures of the band members, artwork by Alex Grey, and other pictures. Really something that was a pleasant surprise when I bought the album.

Overall a very solid album and arguably the bands best. I rate it with four stars, as I think it is a fantastic album, but lacks that final touch to make it worth five stars.