Tool "10,000 Days"
I sometimes lament the sorry state of rock. It seems to me that I grew up surrounded by great rock from bands like KISS, Led Zeppelin, Van Halen, The Scorpions, Mötley Crüe, Rush, and so on. What I love about rock is the energy and the role of thunderous guitar and aggressive bass. At some point in the 1990s I realized rock had largely vanished from the landscape. What was left were bands where the guitar was a visual prop dragged around by a fashionably aloof lead singer. Nobody was rocking out! At that point I had been playing professionally for over a decade, and actively (and loudly) wondered what the heck was going on with rock. Dang. I had already become one of those fist-waving curmudgeons who scolded disaffected teens because back in MY DAY we had REAL rock and we were THANKFUL.
Bands like Tool and A Perfect Circle give me some hope that rock is not quite dead. Last week I picked up a copy of Tool’s new CD 10,000 Days. This month’s Bass Player magazine has a great interview with bassist Justin Chancellor, and it reminded me of how much I’ve enjoyed their earlier releases. For one thing, this CD easily has the coolest packaging of any musical product I own. It’s very inventive. And the music is everything rock should be… dark, complex, driving, and delivered just seriously enough that you can believe the people behind it are having fun. The band is well worth seeing live if the opportunity should present itself. Dig the crazy time signatures, admire the machine-gun kick drum, behold the majestic grind of a Mesa / Boogie Triple Rectifier. Tool delivers an industrial rock crossover with freshness and vitality.
It gives me hope that we’ll be able to reverse the trend toward global musical lukewarming, so our childrens’ children will still be able to enjoy a good moshpit.
Thus spake the great (and oft-eloquent) brethren of KISS:
I know life sometimes can get tough! and I know life sometimes can be a drag!
But people, we have been given a gift, we have been given a road
And that road’s name is… rock and roll!
God gave rock and roll to you, gave rock and roll to you
Gave rock and roll to everyone
God gave rock and roll to you, gave rock and roll to you
Put it in the soul…
Mate, this is funny and well said. Thanks for the nod.