Rock epic of the month: "Lost Keys (Blame Hofmann)/Rosetta Stoned" (Tool) 2006

Rock epics of the month is a series of posts where I'll look back on classic examples of what I think is the greatest excess of rock and roll - the rock epic.

Get a few blokes drunk at a party, and inevitably the conversation will veer over to who is the greatest rock drummer going at the moment. I know this bloke who will maintain until his dying day that John Stanier (Helmet, The Mark Of Cain, Tomahawk, Battles) is "the hardest working drummer in rock and roll".

For me though, there really is only one choice: Danny Carey.

There is something truly amazing about this guy's precision. And unlike Stanier, the guy can swing a bit, too. Not swing, as in the genre, although I don't doubt for a moment that given half a go, he'd probably be able to have a crack at Gene Krupa's wildest work, but swing, as in fall off the beat and back on again in the blink of an eye.

Kinda like what a good jazz drummer is said to be able to do.

10,000 Days was Tool's fourth album, and in one of my rare album reviews, I wrote about being awestruck by not only Carey's stickswork, but by how well him and bassplayer Justin Chancellor work as a team. Tool's sound is very much built from the ground up, and you could probably release an album with just Carey and Chancellor on it - guitarist Adam Jones and vocalist Maynard James Keenan effectively become the flesh around Carey and Chancellor's bones.

I also wrote about being seriously blown away by this tune: I rightly described it as the "piece de resistance" of the whole CD.

Well, a year and several months later, and I'm no less over it. At 14:55, it's still an almighty bitch-slap of a tune, and anyone who says otherwise either hasn't got it, or hasn't listened the whole way through.

It's listed as two separate tunes on the CD, but they're really rammed together as one. "Lost Keys" starts with some eerie air raid guitar and a plaintive lament on Jones' guitar. Meanwhile, after about two and a half minutes, there's some trouble in ER:

Nurse: Excuse me Doctor? If you have a moment?

Doctor: A moment? What's the question?

Nurse: More of a situation. A gentleman in exam 3.

Doctor: What's the problem?

Nurse: That is the problem. We're not sure.

Doctor: Do you have the chart?

Nurse: Right here.

Doctor: Not much here, is there?

Nurse: No doctor. No obvious physical trauma. Vitals are stable.

Doctor: Name?

Nurse: No sir.

Doctor: Did someone drop him off? Maybe we can speak to them. Let's get some background on this fellow.

Nurse: No ID. Nothing. And he won't speak to anyone.

Doctor: Well then. Let's say hello.

Doctor, to patient: Good morning, I'm Doctor Watson. How are you today?

No response

Doctor, to patient: How are you today?

No response

Doctor, to patient: Look son. You're in a safe place. We wanna help you in whatever way we can. But you need to talk to us, we can't help you otherwise. Now, what's happened? Tell me everything.

Which is where it segues into "Rosetta Stoned". And this is where the fun begins to truly heat up.

We now return you to the action in Act 2. The video is just fantastic, just like all Tool's videos. (My apologies about the last minute of the tune or so being cut off)

Edit 16/09/2008: As regular commenter Taj points out, this is not an official Tool video. Not surprising really - who would normally film a video to a fifteen minute rock epic? It's still good:

Tool: 10,000 Days

It's been a long time since I last did a record review. Who knows, I might just do it again.

But finally I did get around to listening to this, and for the two of you who read my blog who might be interested, I thought I'd reveal my thoughts on it, hopefully without boring you all too much.

For those who don't know, Tool are a prog (metal?) act from Los Angeles. They've been around for years, and their album Ænima is rightly regarded as a classic.

But that's not all. Tool are a full-blown multimedia experience.

Their videos are (mostly) fully illustrated/animated by guitarist Adam Jones and vary from stop-motion animation to straightforward marionation and animation.

Their live show is usually a colourful affair as well.

As Taj wrote in a previous comment, this particular CD has been influenced by the likes of Meshuggah and Fantomas, and certainly, they're excellent places to start if you want to get a feel for where Tool are going with this.

And while I've never really got Meshuggah, I get Fantomas.

(Don't worry, Taj. One day Meshuggah will make sense to me.)

King Crimson are another good reference point.

The first thing you have to notice about this CD is that it is encased in what has to be the greatest packaging for a CD ever. It is a cardboard pack with two lenses that operate in conjunction with the booklet as a fully-functioning stereoscope. Jones and Alex Grey were responsible for this.

(Note - Tool have refused to have this CD go out via iTunes. Not surprised - if you get this CD without the packaging, you are being seriously ripped off)

But where Lateralus caught them going in a "song" direction, 10,000 Days sees them going back in a majorly prog direction.

First track Vicarious is in 5/4 before a few time changes.

Second track Jambi has a talk-box guitar solo - yes, I also mentally envisaged Peter Frampton on The Simpsons.

You have to wonder just how good is the rhythm section of Justin Chancellor and Danny Carey as they are rock solid throughout the whole thing. In fact, Carey's drumming is superb throughout - not a single fill and paradiddle is wasted, and there are a whole stack of them.

Time changes abound all over the place. Not a single song clocks in at under seven minutes - well, a couple do, but they're there to build for actual songs.

It doesn't have the moodiness of Ænima or the Eastern feel of Lateralus, but each song makes sense in the broader context.

The whole thing builds up until the two-parter Lost keys (blame Hofmann)/Rosetta stoned which is the piece de resistance of the whole CD. Rosetta stoned steals the whole show, in fact - the climax to the tune kicks in at the 8.20 mark or thereabouts. What's that I hear - some nice programming?

Oh yes, and vocalist Maynard James Keenan is singing about a bad trip. Did Chancellor (who's British) play the doctor in Lost keys?

Unfortunately they nearly ruin this with a bolt on bit at the end. And after this, they do get moody - a bit like Lateralus' closing moments.

The programming in Intension is a nice touch as well.

You know, if they'd stopped the CD after Rosetta stoned, you'd still have a 54 minute album of amazing music, climaxing with this tune at the end.

But anyway, I'll give it 4 stars. It is a truly bloody amazing package.