Yeah I listened out of curiosity because they were my favorite band from 7th-8th grade and meant a ton to me as I was introduced to them by my uncle who died a few years ago but this isn’t great and MJK is most definitely a terrible person. I’m good on not listening to them again.
I'm going to keep the thread open because I like it when people get dunked on for having bad takes on sexual assault. If you want to ignore all of that shit, feel free to go to their reddit or Ronald McDonald's YouTube comments.
might as well mention that Melon's allegations of being alt-right(? lol) turned out to be utter bullshit
Was excited about listening to this, and am listening now. First time reading about the allegations and now I feel bad. Also song isn’t all that special
I was really underwhelmed on first listen, but that was inevitable. I've probably listened 10x now and it's clicked to the point of worthiness in their catalog. It's a bit funny reading some of the negative reactions elsewhere that are completely contradictory... it's totally derivative, it's too big a departure from their sound, the vocals suck, the vocals are the only good part, on and on. What I can compare it to directly is Vicarious dropping as the first single for 10k Days, and in my opinion, this is far more intriguing and new than that was. Vicarious is a banger, but it's undeniably derivative of Schism and other stuff on Lateralus. This track takes melodic directions that feel very new for Tool. I'm not convinced it will be something I return to often years in the future, but it makes me optimistic that the LP will try harder to form its own identity than its predecessor did.
This is where I'm at except they were my favorite band for yeearrssss. Objectively it's such a meh song. Adam's stuff is never really impressive. Justin's bass sounds great but it's nothing flashy and the tone is the same as always. Danny is a god at drums but even the middle part of the song sounds straight lifted from Reflection. Maynard sounds like he's singing on a Puscifer album. The song doesn't really go anywhere towards the end, the payoff is not worth it. But yeah he's a rapist and this song sucks and it pains me to see so many people in this thread just gloss over that
I remember a girl I liked on my freshman dorm floor said that she got approached by MJK after A Perfect Circle concert in Cleveland. He was in his late 30s, she was 18 and she said he approached her about coming to his hotel room, but she turned it down. I only recall it because it was less enlightened, more idiotic days for me where I was like “How could you turn him down? He’s a genius,” as if that was a good reason. Thank God she did. I haven’t talk to her in years, but that always struck as weird behavior for someone and is a reason why these allegations, besides just believing women when they say they’ve been assaulted, rang true for me.
Bumping this just to say Danny Carey's drumming has always been the best part about this band imo. Their rapist singer isn't even that good at it.
There’s some really great stuff. Pneuma and 7empest are my favorites from the first couple listens. Chocolate Chip Trip was pretty awesome and unexpected.
I've listened four times all the way through and by the last time basically had to admit to myself that most of it was boring the hell out of me. It feels like Tool doing Tool nowhere near as well as they used to.
I've seen some other takes like this elsewhere but the solid majority seem to be really impressed. Personally, I feel like your description rings more true of 10k Days than FI. This seems more like a direct follow up to Lateralus, albeit one that's not revolutionary or boundary pushing. With their catalog likely complete, I really draw a bright line between Lateralus and 10k: before that, they reinvented themselves every album. After that, they stayed in their wheelhouse and didn't rock the boat too much, even though it still produced some of the best songs of their career.
winter tour is being announced Friday at noon Leaked dates are Indy November 2nd and Chicago United center November 3rd
This album sounded pretty much like I thought it would: Less direct, stretched out and really satisfying. Not sure if it will ever be above Aenema or Lateralus for me but still might be my favorite release of the year.