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Tool’s “Vicarious” Will Slap Your Ass and Call You Betty

Tool 10000 days

On Cypress Avenue has posted the new leaked Tool single, “Vicarious.” It starts off sounding like typical Tool, like something right off of Lateralus, but by the end it gets so freaking heavy that space starts to bend around it for God’s sake. Very, very nice.

Pre-order the album 10,000 Days here.

Update: We’re getting hammered from all directions on this post. Thanks to everyone for coming and joining us in our love of music that grinds you into a fine powder, sticks you in a bag, and steeps you for its tea. But enough about tea…stick around and have some coffee!

Update: I’ve been inspired to convert my review of Salival into WordPress out of the archives. Enjoy, amigos.

85 comments

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  • Idk if anyone will read this but the single was released today (april 17th) and saying it will slap your ass and call you betty is one hell of an understatement… Vicarious is one orgasmic song the way Danny Carey tears it up with his off pace drumming just makes you want to cry in joy. Do yourself a favor and cop a listen.

  • I heard the song a few days ago and it is phenominal. this album will definately be worth the 5 years of waiting!!

  • I don’t think it sounds like “typical tool.” Nothing they ever do is typical, so in a sense it is typically like them by being so untypical

  • OH MY GOD! I just heard it! I am sooooooooo excited to see them live this year! How could they possibly top Lateralus! Vicarious ROCKS!

  • Great comments! Just wanted to add some suspicions.
    1. As it was said above – it’s just so untipical
    2. new album cover band title – fool
    3. la-la-la-la sang in vicarious verse
    4. it’s a single (remember Aenema advertising)
    5. reminding: no fucking single. no fucking compromise
    6. this single is not released commercially – guys just stay true
    7. “Vicarious” is just the very first song of the album
    8. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/10,000_Days

  • how can i hear this song some one please tell me if i wait much longer to hear this song my eyes are gonna pop out of my head that might sound pretty cool to you but it will suck for me so let me know thanks.

  • amazing, though elements sound like they were borrowed from previous albums. Vicarious will no doubt get better when i can hear it in the context of the album

  • Son of a bitch! That was awesome! And if the band isn’t pissed off enough, imagine how much anger rock they will release when they realize their 1-day old song is so easily obtainable, for FREE.

  • It seems borrowed from previous albums because they always do that with some of their songs. It’s more or less like saying “let’s start the journey again from the same point we finished it the last time”

  • ThirdEye, agreed: it’s one of those things where I figure they want you to get comfortable, familiar, and then they start to really crank things to 11 and take it further. Guys, don’t misconstrue: I think it rocks huge balls. Excited as hell about this album now.

  • Hot damn.

    I have no doubt that this will be a phenomenal album. I can’t wait until it comes out. 8D

  • Although I got this song free off the net, I will GLADLY pay for the CD when it comes out. Not only is it worth it to check out the consistantly phenominal art, but this band deserves every ounce of support we can give them. Even if the band will only see 75 cents from the sale, it’s 75 cents they worked damned hard to earn.
    Not to mention, people taking music from the net is one of the huge reasons rock radio is dying. A large percentage of rock listeners are stealing their songs from the net. The powers that be at radio stations look at album sales as the determining factor to what they decide to play on their play lists.

    All of that B.S. aside, the song PWNS! Tool has delivered the goods yet again. I am creaming my pants in anticipation to hear the rest of the CD.

  • FUCKING AWESOME!!! My heart skipped a beat when I heard this. I can’t wait till May 2. I am positive the album will kick major ass.

  • Awesome song!!! Looks like Tool has outdone themselves again. It is amazing to see these guys progress with every album. There are a lot of miles traveled from Opiate to 10,000 Days. Phenomenal!!!

  • Dreadnaught: Yeah, it’s amazing how when you hear music *worth buying* you WANT to buy it, don’t you? Be nice if the music industry paid attention to that, eh? Hell, I wish I could buy the CD directly from Tool so they could get all my money…

  • This song is a complete masterpiece from beginning to end, with the drumming complexity and undertones of songs such as the grudge, the end part of schism, and the patient. This song is brilliant and i think the album is going to absolutely blow all other tool out of the water, which on its own blows anything else out of the water that i have heard.

  • I was a bit disappointed. Of course, the song was rhythmically and harmonically perfect; I have no complaints there, but that was never a concern. Maynard, of all people, threw me a curve. His lyrics seemed to step down from Lateralus, and his voice seemed what you’d expect from a ‘rock band’. Tool should not be a band! The Tool I know is a machine. However, I need to hear the rest of the album and the song, for that matter, many more times to make an accurate judgement.

  • Man, was that good or WAS THAT GOOD?!? Fuck! they’ve outdone themselves! I just can’t wait till the 2nd… BTW, The ending just kicks so much of ASSSSS!!!!

  • This was better than sex. Spine tingling stuff, especially when maynard lets loose.

  • These guys really are somthing special!! fucken amazing!!!! no words can sum up there ability to make such mind blowing music time and time again!! the new single gives me that feeling inside my gut that i only get when im listining to tool! Cant wait for the album to come out!is the shit!!!

  • ok i have to say its good! very good! but he sounds like hes still in apc,that kinda annoys me and the meshuggah infuence IS strong, thats ok…. but did anyone else get this really strange feeling towards the end of the song where u jsut cannot relax at all anymore and u kinda feel all your muscles tightening for no reason other than the music? shiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiit!!!!!!
    tooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooool!

  • when they say “Vicarious” they mean it! I was air drumming until I felt like my arms were gonna fly off! They my body went into spasms just like Barry pointed out! lol Haven’t been this excited for new music in years. This is what I save my pennies to buy and support!

  • Holy shit! I have to admit that although i love Tool and have every one of their cds and their EP, my fav has always been Aenima, hopefully the rest of this album will sound more like it than Lateralus, although i will love them no matter what. The ending kicked ass and the whole song took me on a journey, man i cant wait till the album comes out, im gonna get stoned as shit and listen to it like 50 times YYYYYYYYYYEEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!

  • By the way, Lateralus was great too, it was just that there weren’t any special songs like Stinkfist, Hooker with a Penis, Aenima, and Third Eye, Aenima is my favorite song ever ANY FUCKING TIME ANY FUCKING DAY LEARN TO SWIM SEE YOU DOWN IN ARIZONA BAY!!!!!!!

  • Okay, everyone’s talking about this new song, but I can’t find it anywhere…how are you all hearing it?

  • I was just in Denver. Go to http://www.area93.com/main.html. Follow the Tool link at the top of the page. You need to take a customer survey in order to have access to the online stream of Vicarious: then you can listen as often as you like! Enjoy!

  • Also, did anyone else think his voice was under-mixed?
    Yep, although I think that MJK doesn’t want to be ‘the leadsinger’ of a band, everybody is equal in a band…his voice is far away. Only in the last verse it breaks out and leaves you flapping your ears…still, great song.
    Dirk

  • i’m not too wild about maynard’s vocals here. i just hope he doesn’t maintain that voice for the whole album. also i love the song but i still feel like it’s trying to go somewhere that the band repeatedly prevents it from going, seems like it has some points where there’s a huge build up of energy that is waiting to explode but the band just kills it instead..even at the end.

  • Man, I just love Tool.

    Jethro Tool.

    I used to change his light bulbs or some shit…

  • song kicks ass, i hate the part where it sounds like disturbed though, the constant breaking of guitar and short stacatto notes. it’s just not their style. BRING BACK THE CHORUS AND PHASER ADAM!!!!!!!!!!!!

    I’m still suspicious about it, i mean it’s that tool but they always talk about how they dont like mainstream and things like that, so why would they produce a song even significantly mainstream, but if it is then i stand corrected.

  • I listened to it last night. My man tried to keep Vicarious from me but I stole his IPod. I’ve been listening to it since yesterday! I am SO excited for the CD release!!!!! Fuck yeah!

  • When I first heard it, I’d admit…I wasn’t as excited as I was after listening for the 2-3-4-5-6-7 and so on and so on. Its a typical tool song, you have to listen to it till you want it more! Tool is a band sent by god!

  • Danny Carey – He is the engine behind this unstoppable creative machine in music. Danny’s drums are such a central part of tool’s music it frustrates me to see all the praise directed towards maynard and adam. Every single member in tool could front their own band, they are all virtuoso’s, but Danny..speaking as a drummer who has taken jazz lessons for 11 yrs and plays all styles of music, i can say he is the single greatest drummer in ALL of rock music today. The only drummer who comes close to him technically is Carter Beauford. Danny’s unique tom rythms and intricate hi-hat patterns have such a unique tonal quality that no one can duplicate. He is walking on another plane…I seriously think Danny might be an alien, and the whole band for that matter…they are just too damn talented its unhuman-like.

  • Everyone reserve your judgment … you cant possibly have any attachment to the song at this stage. We can only talk of the superficial observations like the production etc (which is incredible) My advice … take some drugs, sit down with a really good stereo and listen to the intire album before even thinking about your opinion.

  • Brian: In my own defense for praising Maynard, it’s because I was a vocalist and I can understand what he’s doing. So that’s easy for me. It’s hard for me to pick out anybody in the band, though, since they function so well as a unit that I honestly picture them as this infernal machine, just having at it, destroying the countryside. :)

  • Oh man, as the guy said at the top of the page–I too am about to cream my pants. Not only is the single “Vicarious” truly epic–but I know for sure that the entire album will be worth all the money I pay for it and more. I can’t wait for it–I think it was Adam Jones (the guitarist)who said that the album was going different places–it had the angst of the first album, “Opiate”, and the polotical resentment of war and our president (evident in “Vicarious”). I’m going to love the new theme of the album and am anxiously awaiting Maynard’s excellent–no perfect–songwriting and ability to mesmerize you with his singing ability. Rock it hard, Tool. Only 2 weeks till May 2!

  • Tool once again doesn’t dissappoint. Although I had to listen to it a few times (as always) to really grasp most of its effect. But as with all Tool albums, it really has to be heard in context of the album and not just as a single. And as for Maynards vocals and Adam’s playing, you can’t really single out any members of the band playing better or worse, they really are (as someone said) a machine. It’s just a different sound that we’ll all become accustomed to…and then move on from when the next album comes out.

  • I couldn’t get the smile off my face after hearing it. By songs end it was heavy as fuck and as angst ridden as we like it! I’m hoping 10,000 Days gives as good mileage as lateralus, which took me about three years to crack. The new song seems to have eschewed the soft/LOUD dynamic for an increasingly intense blanket assault

  • im just gonna throw this out here, but did anyone feel like they put this song together in ten minutes. seriously, the riff in the beginning sounds exactly the same as the patient. come on, five years, im a huge tool fan, but seriously, their style has changed from album to album; i am simply not hearing the progression i would expect from them, and with the delicacy of the issues maynard is presenting i feel the lyrics are sub-par for tool as well. i enjoyed the song, but after hearing it i am seriously worried about the quality of this long anticipated album.

  • Boy did this song put me in a kick ass mood today when i heard it for the first time. Even better they are stopping by Dallas for a small venue show for me and my 2000 biggest TOOL fans four days after we all hear the new shit!!! Are you kidding me?

  • like the dude above me, I don’t think this single is that great (it still kicks a decent amount of ass). But, I’m still going to buy the album and I’m pretty sure it’ll kick ass. remember a single isn’t the quota for the entire album, well atleast for tool it isn’t. did you predict what aenema sounded like after only hearing the stinkfist single back in 1990something? in short, this album should kick ass

  • I must keep reminding myself that this is only a single.
    I must keeep reminding myself that this is only a single.
    I must keeep reminding myself that this is only a single.
    I must keeep reminding myself that this is only a single.

  • I agree that Aenima has been my favorite, this sounds like it is leaning towards that sound. ..thought it was la la at first, but definitely lies….LOVE TOOL, LOVE Danny Carey

  • The song is certainly not as complex as those on Lateralus (The Grudge, Schism, Lateralus, etc) as far as crazy timings and intricate melodies. This dissapoints me just slightly, but it is just one song from the album (and my brother somehow has the entire album and says “its a total trip”) and truth is I think I’m more into this tune than I have ever been with any Tool song save for maybe stinkfist (one of the greatest songs of all time period) And stinkfist was also about as complex as mary had a little lamb compared to the stuff on lateralus. Its the dynamic power and unique tones, generated by 4 individuals who become absolutely seamless in a musical context, that make Tool the greatest rock band in history.