10,000 DAYS

Is it a good album? Yes, it is good. Is it as good as Lateralus? No, not at all. The absolutely stunning art inside the album led me to believe that this could be another masterpiece. While not a masterpiece, it is still worth the buy.

A description of the music: "Vicarious" starts the album off in the vein of Lateralus, with Maynard pulling off some great vocal work and Jones showing off some fantastic riffs. "Jambi" has more great riffs from Jones but gets repetitive and is a bit slower than "Vicarious." It also features a talk-box solo about 6 minutes in. The epic of the album then comes in as "Wings For Marie Part 1" starts quietly, then a great clean riff comes in. This song is incredibly slow, very quiet, and Maynard is singing with great emotion as it sounds like he's lost all hope. "10 000 Days (Wings Part 2)" starts out with one of the greatest basslines I've heard and more very quiet singing by Maynard. The song eventually rises to a climactic solo from Jones. After a loud riff, the song descends back to quiet, slow, emotional singing and fades to an end. "The Pot" features some groovy bass work but has a really poppy sound to it. "Lipan Conjuring" is about a minute of what seems to be a native tribe chanting.

"Lost Keys (Blame Hoffman)" is a high-pitched noise with some talking in the background and is sort of a prelude to the next track. "Rosetta Stoned" is the heaviest and loudest track on the album and maybe in Tools discosgraphy. This song contains some pretty awful lyrics though and Maynard sounds absolutely nothing like himself. "Intension" has pretty repetitive verses, but great basswork and awe-inspiring drumming. "Right in Two" contains an odd sounding acoustic riff in the verses and a much louder chorus. The lyrics here are very strong. "Viginti Tres" is just 5 minutes of sounds to end the album.

PROS:

Lyrics: Aside from "Rosetta Stoned," the lyrics in this album are very strong. The "Wings For Marie" suite contains some very heartfelt, yet not cheesy at all lyrics for Keenan's mother. "Right In Two" compares humans to monkeys in a war sense.

Vocals: Maynard is very diverse with his voice and shows it off in this album. He screams, whispers, yells, and sings all masterfully in this album.

Drumming: Danny Carey has some of the most unique sounding drum solos you're ever hear in "Intension" and "Right In Two." He also has some great beats throughout the entire album.

CONS:

Filler Tracks: "Lipan Conjuring," "Lost Keys (Blame Hoffman)," and "Viginti Tres" are all rather meaningless tracks which I don't see the point of. Most people when they make tracks like these, they at least make them somewhat appealing, but here they are rather annoying.

Slightly mainstream: In some tracks, they use the simple verse-chorus-verse-chorus structure and in tracks like "The Pot," the sound is almost completely mainstream.

Boring: Sometimes, listening to the album as a whole can be a bore. Song like "Jambi" and "Intension" get quite repetitive (though the drum solo in Intension makes up in a way). The filler tracks also are annoying.

Song ratings: Vicarious: 8.5/10 Jambi: 6.5/10 Wings For Marie: 10/10 10 000 Days: 10/10 The Pot: 6/10 Lipan Conjuring: N/A Lost Keys: N/A Rosetta Stoned: 6.5/10 Intension: 7.5/10 Right In Two: 10/10 Viginti Tres: N/A

Recommended For: Mainstream metal fans. People who like sound effects and ambient tracks. People looking for a darker sound. People looking for a bit of oddness in their metal.

My rating: 3 stars. I was going to make it 4, but as I was writing the review I decided on 3.

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