Tool

Most bands would kill for the fan base and rep of a band like Tool. How does Tool do it? Probably not like you’d imagine. While most bands release new material and tour annually, Tool has released only three LPs in 16 years, with its fourth album (and first in five years), 10,000 Days, hitting stores this week. The band also tours when it wants to; it’s been three years since Tool’s last Phoenix appearance. So how exactly does Tool succeed with an approach that would bury most other bands? Bottom line, Tool isn’t like most bands. With ultra-polyrhythmic time signatures, crushing guitars, and haunting, whisper-to-a-scream vocals, Tool delivers geometric rock with the force of an atom bomb. At least it didn’t take the 27 years that 10,000 days would actually add up to for a new release — that might be a bit much to ask, even from a Tool fan.