10,000 DAYS

An excellent heavy and atmospheric album. This is my first Tool album and I've had it for about 5 months. Originally I was skeptical of Tool because I knew about their alternative and angry tendencies. However, this album is excellent in every respect.

I originally was not a fan of the vocals on this album at all, as I'm more of a James Labrie and Geddy lee fan. After listening to this album several times, I have began to enjoy the vocals quite a bit. Many passages are heavily distorted, while many others are higher and contain a softer legato type of vocal approach. Songs such as "Rosetta Stoned" really show off James Maynard Keenan's vocal capabilities.

I am also amazed at the drumming on this album. Danny Carey is a fantastic drummer with a rhythmic almost eastern approach that focus more on the toms than cymbals and drum fills. His drumming fits very well with the dark atmosphere of this album. In my opinion his performance is equal to the studio performance of Mike Portnoy on several albums.

Being a bass player, Justin Chancellor is amazing to me. His bright mid-ranged Wal bass tone is fantastic as is his playing, which is clearly audible throughout the album unlike many metal bass performances. His mellow but sharp playing on songs such as "10,000 days" is very good.

Adam Jones' guitar performance is also great on this album. His tone and playing is very unique and dark. His heavy passages are filled with distorted guitar with a uniquely bright tone. The soft sections are very mood driven and rhythmic at the same time.

Some people think that the spacey passages and whole songs are a waste of time and are pointless noise. I think they are meditative sections that are almost like deep breaths between the heavy, complex and angry passages throughout the album.

Overall this album is highly recommended, but takes time to get into. If you like dark atmospheric progressive metal and don't mind long spacey sections and slight alternative tendencies, then you should get this album.