That has really been my concern all along, Tool never felt like a band with amazing creative juices or anything. Aenima and Lateralus were amazing, but it became clear on 10K Days that the band was essentially running out of ideas. It had some IMO cool experiments like Jambi, which is definitely a stand out, and the title track felt pretty unique as a really good ballad that eventually explodes. But parts of 10K Days also felt very B-Sides quality, like ideas that were leftover because they weren't good enough for Lateralus, but then when it became time for a new album, they didn't really have anything else, so they used it anyway.
You have certain musicians like Steven Wilson who just keeps putting out albums over the years. Whether it's PT, Blackfield, Bass Communion, No-Man, Solo, he always has ideas and a lot of them are good. I don't love everything he has done, but if he puts out a sub-par album, there is usually a good one to redeem it 12 months later. With Tool, even in their glory days they struggled to come up with a lot of material. Sure, the band is pretty busy now and there are side projects, other interests and so on, but going back to their prime around Aenima/Lateralus when the band was at their peak, even that period is scarse with material. You have one album every five years and they haven't exactly been putting out EPs or B-Side releases either. It's almost like it takes Tool a good 5 years to fill a bucket of ideas that will be just enough for a new album, then the vault is completely drained of ideas and they need another 5 years. But I guess it has been 10 years this time.
Topic: THE Tool Thread (Read 86286 times)
