Tool: Every Album Ranked From Worst To Best
4. 10,000 Days
2006's 10,000 Days (Tool's most recent album) marked the band's second straight album to debut at number one on the Billboard 200, and would sell over 2.5 million copies worldwide by the end of 2007. It was another hit for the band, though not as beloved as their previous outings, mainly due to the similarity between it and its predecessor.
The album was not paint by numbers by any stretch of the imagination, but it did follow the footprint of that previous effort, Lateralus - a similar mix of melodic and heavy tunes, and a bit of ambient filler, now a Tool trademark. It has its strong points, however. Right in Two and Rosetta Stoned are the highlights of the album; both are epic musical journeys clocking in at over eight minutes each (Rosetta Stoned is just north of eleven minutes in length). These are tracks that perfectly illustrate the progressive nature of Tool - the complexity, the musicianship, the lyrical proficiency - while remaining catchy tunes that, were they not so incredibly "huge" in scope, could easily be mainstream hits. Particularly Right in Two, a view of humanity from the perspective of Angels, which contains lines like "Silly monkeys give them thumbs, they make a club/And beat their brother down."
The album's lead single, Vicarious, deals with the idea of people living vicariously through the media, and the thrill they receive from it. If you're new to Tool, it's also a great starting point.