Not a Downer: Tool's Adam Jones Talks 'Opiate' Reissue, New Material
... it instead of just this one guy. I feel like Spielberg or Lucas updating their movies. It's me thanking the fans, giving them something special. The new artwork features illustrations by Iron Man artist Adi Granov. How did you hook with him? He sent me a Facebook request, and I accepted it. He's a huge
Tool fan and I'm a huge fan of his artwork. He does this very uncanny perspective that looks like it's done with a computer but it's not. Originally we talked about doing comics projects together. I've been developing comics ideas, and we'll get to that when I finish the
Tool record and he gets through his ...
[ read more ]Tool's 21st Anniversary Reissue Of "Opiate" Presales Go Live, Pictures And Hefty Price Tag Revealed
... Pre-sales of
Tool's 21st anniversary "Opiate" reissue have been launched via the bands Toolarmy.com club. At the time of posting, the sets are retailing for $150 a piece. You can get a good look at the variants being offered over at Fourtheye.net. You may also recall that five lucky fans will randomly find a "Seal Of Xatanitos" in their package. The group did not specify just what the 'golden ticket' style promotion would entail; merely offering that the resulting prize would only be disclosed to those lucky enough to win it. Public sales of the reissue are set to launch on March 26th.
Tool's 21st ...
[ read more ]Tool Plan Willy Wonka Like Surprise For Five Lucky Fans
...
Tool will be pulling a Willy Wonka move with their upcoming special limited edition anniversary reissue of the "Opiate EP." The band announced that they will be including five "Seal of Xatanitos" certificates in random copies of the EP and they will only disclose the prize to the lucky fans that find the "golden tickets." The EP will be released in a various limited run of 5,000 copies total with 5 different 1,000 piece runs featuring different graphics and bonus material. They will only be sold via the band's website on March 26th. The reissues will feature art direction by Adam Jones, illustrations by legendary artist Adi Granov and design packaging by Mackie Osborne. The bonus material will include a new stereoscopic image from the 10,000 Days packaging for fans to use with their glasses. The special reissue campaign marks the 21st anniversary of the release of "Opiate," which was their debut EP.
Tool Tour Dates/Tickets
Tool CDs, DVDs and MP3s
Tool T-shirts and Posters
Tool CDs, vinyl and rarities . ...end .News Reports
Tool Plan Willy Wonka Like Surprise For Five Lucky Fans ...
[ read more ]
Tool
(1990-)
Maynard James Keenan (vocals)
Adam Jones (guitar)
Paul D'Amour (bass) -1995
Justin Chancellor (bass) 1995-
Danny Carey (drums)
Artistfacts®: You can leave comments about the artist/band at the bottom of the page.
A Tool is a term used at West Point Military Academy to describe someone who follows rules and regulations to the letter, simply because they are rules. Tools do not think for themselves and as a result, are often manipulated into doing the dirty work of others. Keenan spent 2 years at West Point. (thanks, Bob - Tokyo, Japan)
Jones has worked on the make-up effects in Jurassic Park (1993) and Men in Black (1997). He has also has worked in special effects on several movies including Terminator. He's applied his talents in this area to their unique music videos, most of which he directed.
Chancellor replaced D'Amour after their first full-length album, Undertow (1993). Chancellor had been a member of the British art metal band Peach, which had toured with Tool several times.
Carey began taking snare drum lessons when he was 13. He continued to study percussion, among other things, at the University of Missouri at Kansas City. (thanks Joel - Vernon, TX for all above)
D'Amour has since gone on to work with bands like the Replicants and Lusk.
They gained lots of publicity when they got a spot on the Lollapalooza '93 tour. They co-headlined the tour with Korn in 1997.
Keenan formed a side project, A Perfect Circle, which released an album in 2000 to favorable reviews and much commercial success.
Jones began studying the violin, then gradually moved to the guitar.
Danny Carey has a passion for learning about the occult, and has also written a book.
Keenan had a small role in the obscure movie Bikini Bandits Go To Hell, in which he played Satan.
Carey was neighbors with Keenan and would often fill in for them on drums because nobody was turning up for their auditions. The rest is history.
Jones was good friends with Tom Morello (of Rage Against The Machine) in High School where they were in a band together. Their band was named Electric Sheep. (thanks, Aimee - Auckland, New Zealand, for above 4)
On their Undertow CD, If you detach the black trey which holds the CD from the jewel case, you will find a nice surprise... you have to do it to find out what it is. (thanks, Damon - san jose, CA)
Carey is very into occultism and collecting antique synthesizers (www.danneycarey.org).
Maynard has a son named Devo.
All the stuff that the band says about lachrymology (the study of crying) is false. (thanks, Joel - Vernon, TX, for above 3)
The band appears in only 2 of their videos. They are in their first video for "Hush" (very rare) as well as a very fast part in "Sober" near the end. (thanks, Max - Edmonton, Canada)
The 2002 motion picture The Powerpuff Girls Movie (2002) features an unnamed character who speaks extensively using the titles and lyrics from Van Halen songs. (thanks, Jeff - Haltom City, TX)
Maynard is a wine connoisseur. He owns over 2000 bottles and owns a vineyard in Arizona, outside of Sedona called Merkin Vineyards. (thanks, steph - Richmond, VA)
In 1994, Danny Carey said the band name stands for how they want their music to be a "tool" to aid in understanding lachrymology. Lachrymology is the art of crying as a type of therapy. However, this was just another rumor they started (as many bands do) to keep us (or them) entertained. Part of Danny's statement is true. They do want their music to be a tool, but a tool to aid in helping others understand an alternative way of thinking. (thanks, Opiate - Tucson, AZ)
They never write the lyrics in the CD sleeve (it's the same with Maynard's newer band A Perfect Circle). In an interview with MTV, Maynard said this is "Because I think reading is a thinking process, and I would prefer that people FEEL the album first, and just let it sink in because you might get something out of the music that you might not get from thinking about it, and watching the words go by." Maynard puts the lyrics online a month or so after the release of the album for this reason.
In the mid-'90s, Maynard created the FREE FRANCES BEAN T-shirt in response to the numerous requests for Tool to perform benefit shows with such slogans as "Free Tibet." He said in an interview that "Just watching that tornado that is her mother" (Courtney Love) was his inspiration in this case. Courtney, apparently, hates Maynard too, and once called him a "media whore," to which Maynard responded, "Isn't that great? I have the distinction of being called a media whore by Courtney Love!" (thanks, Indre - Wollongong, Australia, for above 2)
Danney Carey is an avid basketball fan. He had some offers to play at small colleges before moving to Los Angeles and forming Tool. (thanks, Bob - Tokyo, Japan)
In a February 1997 interview with Modern Drummer magazine, Carey said the band got its start when he heard Maynard James Keenan yelling at his neighbors across an alley and thought he would make a good singer. (thanks, Bob - Tokyo, Japan)
Maynard James Keenan is an atheist. This reflects in several songs, especially when his mother is concerned: she was paralyzed from a stroke when Maynard was 11 years old and died 27 years later (almost 10,000 Days later, hence the album title 10,000 Days. In "Wings for Marie" he sings: "10,000 Days in the fire is enough, you're going home"). Maynard struggles to understand why his mother stood by her faith after the stroke. In the A Perfect Circle song "Judith," he sings: "F--k your God. He did this to you. Pray for one who left you broken down and paralyzed. He did it all for you."
Maynard has at several times launched April's Fools jokes. During the recording of the Lateralus album, the band spread a message on their website stating that "Maynard found jesus" and that the recording of the album had been put on hold and may never be finished. This was a joke of course and referred to the conversion of a former KoRn bandmember. However, some people took it seriously. A journalist (who noticed that the message cited jesus without a capital letter, which is very uncommon for newly converted Christians) got suspicious and emailed Maynard to ask if he indeed become a Christian. Maynard gave an unclear response, so the journalist asked again, and Maynard replied to this email with "heh heh." A few days later the band published on their website, "Good news April Fool's fans! The recording of the album is back underway." Maynard, who clearly never converted to Christianity, was asked about his so-called encounter with Jesus, and answered, "that guy's a punk!" (thanks, Gerrit - Belfast, Northern Ireland, for above 2)
Comments:
Don Felder
Don breaks down "Hotel California" and other songs he wrote as a member of the Eagles. Now we know where the "warm smell of colitas" came from.
Dino Cazares of Fear Factory
The guitarist/songwriter explains how he came up with his signature sound, and deconstructs some classic Fear Factory songs.
Mark Arm of Mudhoney
When he was asked to write a song for the
Singles soundtrack, Mark thought the Seattle grunge scene was already overblown, so that's what he wrote about.
Graham Parker
When Judd Apatow needed under-appreciated rockers for his
Knocked Up sequel, he immediately thought of Parker, who just happened to be getting his band The Rumour back together.
2)Maynard James Keenan, vocalist for Tool, was also once a "member" of Green Jellÿ. On the song Three Little Pigs Maynard sang backing vocals (he sings the falsetto "Not by the hair of my chinny-chin-chin.") Maynard is also mentioned in the song "Green Jellö Sucks" in the lyric "Maynard, and Poopie - they're both insane!"
3)The song "Message To Harry Manback" on Tool's Ænima album is an actual message left on Gary Helsinger's (Hotsy Menshot) answering machine by a former friend from Italy, who Gary had just kicked out of his apartment for stealing his roommate's belongings. "Harry Manback" is a reference to routine from the late comedian Bill Hicks. Maynard James Keenan and Danny Carey were both roommates of Bill Manspeaker during Green Jello, and Gary was later roommates with Maynard as well as Billy Howerdel of A Perfect Circle.
4)Tool was signed to the same label as Green Jellÿ, the now-defunct Zoo Entertainment.
5)Tool's first EP had songs recorded live at the Green Jellö loft (which is noted on the cd).
PWNED
Another interesting morsel of information you may have picked up on...Maynard and the rest of Tool never write the lyrics in the CD sleeve (it's the same with A Perfect Circle- the other band Maynard fronts in case you are unaware). In an interview with MTV Maynard says that this is "because I think reading is a thinking process, and I would prefer that people FEEL the album first, and just let it sink in, because you might get something out of the music that you might not get from thinking about it, and watching the words go by." Maynard puts the lyrics online a month or so after the release of the album for this reason. There you go, a good reason not to read into the lyrics too much. Just feel the music dudes...sheer brilliance.
It's been said that Maynard has no particular problem with Christianity itself, but more with blind faith in ANYTHING. Christianity is just a convenient example.
BTW: Maynard has made his religious choices pretty clear. Unfortunately, a major reason for this is that he grew up in a Babtist home and was (reportedly) beaten by his stepfather.
#2 Alex grey did the artwork for tool with adam jones but also contributed to the artwork for Nirvana
#3 The occult relations of the band play a very significant role in the playing and writing of the band . . .