Tool is an American rock band formed in Los Angeles in 1990. The group consists of vocalist Maynard James Keenan, guitarist Adam Jones, drummer Danny Carey and bassist Justin Chancellor, who replaced founding member Paul D'Amour in 1995. Tool has won four Grammy Awards, performed worldwide tours, and produced albums topping charts in several countries.

The band has released five studio albums, one EP and one box set. They emerged with a more classic heavy metal sound on their first studio album,<!--Undertow was Tool's first full-length album; Opiate was only an EP, and does not need mention here--> Undertow (1993), before shifting and becoming a dominant act in the alternative metal and progressive metal movement with the release of their follow-up album Ænima in 1996. The group's efforts to combine musical experimentation, visual arts, and a message of personal evolution continued with Lateralus (2001) and 10,000 Days (2006), gaining critical acclaim and international commercial success. Their fifth studio album Fear Inoculum was released on August 30, 2019, to widespread critical acclaim. Prior to its release, the band had sold more than 13 million albums in the US alone.

Due to Tool's incorporation of visual arts and very long and complex releases, the band has been described as a style-transcending act and part of progressive rock, psychedelic rock, and art rock. The relationship between the band and the music industry is ambivalent, at times marked by censorship, and the band's insistence on privacy.

History

Formation and Opiate (1989–1992)

thumb|left|Tool logo, 2006

During the 1980s, each of the future members of Tool moved to Los Angeles. Both Paul D'Amour and Adam Jones wanted to enter the film industry, while Maynard James Keenan, who had studied visual arts in Michigan, worked as a pet store remodeler. to positive responses, which Janiss Garza of RIP Magazine summarized in September 1992 as a "buzz" and "a strong start". The band enlisted the help of producer David Bottrill, who had produced some of King Crimson's albums, while Jones collaborated with Cam de Leon to create Ænimas Grammy-nominated artwork. The band accepted on the condition that Melvins had to join it as well because, as stated by its frontman Buzz Osborne, they "wanted at least one band on the tour that they liked", despite the dissuasions from the tour organizers.

Two legal battles then began that interfered with the band's working on another release. Volcano Entertainment—the successor of Tool's by-then defunct label Zoo Entertainment—alleged contract violations by Tool and filed a lawsuit. According to Volcano, Tool had violated their contract when the band looked at offers from other record labels. After Tool filed a counter-suit stating that Volcano had failed to use a renewal option in their contract, the parties settled out of court. In December 1998 Tool agreed to a new contract, a three-record joint venture deal. Carey said to the music publication that one untitled track is "pretty much done". He said that he hoped the album would be finished before the end of 2015 but emphasized that the band would not rush their work to meet an arbitrary deadline. While it was reported in February 2017 that Keenan had entered the studio to work on vocals for the fifth Tool album, it was later reported that the album was not scheduled for release in 2017. Still, the band announced a North American tour starting in May. A month later, Chancellor revealed that the new Tool album was "about 90-percent there", while Carey claimed in separate interviews that it would "definitely" be released in 2018. In February 2018, Jones revealed that Keenan was working on lyrics for the album, and that the band would begin recording in March. In June 2018, during his acceptance speech for the Icon Award at the Metal Hammer Golden Gods Awards, Keenan stated "I'll go on record now saying you're gonna see some new music next year."

thumb|Tool performing at Welcome to Rockville 2023 On September 11, 2018, Keenan announced via Twitter that production on the record was progressing and that vocals had been written, before suggesting a 2019 release. In January 2019, Keenan announced that he had completed recording his vocals for the album "months ago." While Carey mentioned aiming for a mid-April release date, Keenan later explained that between May and July was a more realistic time frame to wrap up production and release the album. On May 5, 2019, the band debuted two new songs live at the Welcome to Rockville Festival in Jacksonville, Florida called "Descending" and "Invincible". Three days later, it was confirmed that the band's new album is scheduled to be released on August 30, 2019. On July 29, 2019, Keenan confirmed the album would be titled Fear Inoculum. The title track was released as a single on August 7, the band's first release in 13 years.

On August 2, 2019, Tool's discography (with the exception of Salival) became available on music streaming platforms. Tool was one of the last major holdouts to release their music digitally, as their record deal was signed before the rise in streaming and not revisited until before Fear Inoculum. The release resulted in every Tool release entering several international charts, breaking several Billboard chart records. Keenan later said he regretted not moving to streaming platforms sooner, as it reduced Tool's exposure to new audiences.

Fear Inoculum was launched on August 30 and became Tool's third U.S. number one. On January 26, 2020, the band won the Best Metal Performance for their song "7empest" at the 62nd Grammy Awards Their other nomination, "Fear Inoculum", lost the Best Rock Song category to Gary Clark Jr.

In June 2020, Tool canceled its upcoming North American tour after postponing a handful of dates due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The following August, Carey noted that the band had entered a hiatus, but that he still hoped they would reconvene in the future to record an EP, which the band would have more freedom in releasing due to no longer being signed to a record label. On October 27, 2020, an instrumental song titled "The Witness" was released featuring Jones, Chancellor, and Carey, and featuring production from Barresi, though the song was credited to Jones, not the band itself.

"Opiate" was re-recorded and released as "Opiate²" or "Opiate Squared" on March 1, 2022. It is almost twice as long as the original and includes the same lyrics as the live version, plus the extended instrumental midsection. A music video directed by Dominic Hailstone was released on March 18, 2022, to commemorate the EP's 30th anniversary.

Upcoming sixth studio album (2022–present)

In March 2022, Carey announced they were working on new material for their sixth studio album, noting that "..it won't take us this long for the next one. We even had some stuff left over from the last one that we'll develop. We have head starts on three or four new songs." In October 2023, Chancellor reiterated this, and noted he hoped the band would enter the studio to record in 2024 after finishing touring. In January 2024, Carey mentioned the new album has the possibility of having a shorter track lengths, noting that "we could just go back to doing an Undertow [type of] record. That's kind of appealing to me." In February 2025, Chancellor stated that Tool would "dedicate the next three months" in the studio to "organizing [their] ideas" for new music. In September 2025, Keenan said the band's plans for 2026 would be "Writing, I guess", while Jones mentioned having "lots of riffs" and plans to do a "dive deep soon" into the writing process for album six. In early 2026, Carey stated that the band is "working on a lot of new Tool songs now, hopefully [for release in] 2027, that’s the goal", in hopes of releasing it in tandem with a possible residency at the Sphere in Las Vegas. Jones later revealed that they were asked to be the first band to open the venue in 2023, but band politics prevented it from happening, and U2 was the first band instead.

Tool is scheduled to be one of the headlining acts for the Louder Than Life festival taking place in Louisville in September, along with Iron Maiden, My Chemical Romance and Limp Bizkit.

Artistry

Musical style and instrumentation

Tool's musical style has been described as alternative metal, art rock, and heavy metal. In a 1993 interview, Adam Jones mentioned Joni Mitchell, King Crimson, Depeche Mode, and country music as being among their inspirations. In 1997, Maynard James Keenan named Hejira by Joni Mitchell, Holy Money/Greed by Swans, Physical Graffiti by Led Zeppelin, Red by King Crimson, and Passion by Peter Gabriel as his five favorite records. Danny Carey cited Neil Peart from Rush, Bill Bruford and Alan White of Yes as his biggest rock influences, in addition to Bruford's adventurousness in electronic drums. In the same way, Jones stated that Robert Fripp's performances with King Crimson caused him to "wake up" to music as a teen. Furthermore, he acknowledged the other King Crimson guitarists, Adrian Belew and Trey Gunn, along with Buzz Osborne from the Melvins, as his biggest influences.

Tool have constantly expressed the massive impact that progressive rock pioneers King Crimson have had on their music; on a 2001 tour with them, Keenan joked: "Now you know who we ripped off. Just don't tell anyone, especially the members of King Crimson." In 1997, Keenan explained how the composition process of Tool reflected that of King Crimson: "They're very much into listening to each other; even though they might have a basic structure that they're following, it's about fitting themselves in with each other."

The band's long build-ups of intensity were largely inspired by the Melvins. The latter's influence on Tool is most explicit in Undertow, and some authors have described Tool's music as a progressive take on Melvins. On the other hand, Keenan's exotic modulations were influenced by world music; in his twenties, the singer was immersed in that type of music, thus when Peter Gabriel reunited several musicians whom Keenan already knew of for The Last Temptation of Christ soundtrack, which mixed their traditional styles with modern ambient music, it became a major revelation for him.

Other reported influences of Tool include Fantômas, Bill Hicks, Helmet, Faith No More, Meshuggah, Mike Patton,

Visual arts

Part of Tool's work as a band is to incorporate influences of other works of art in their music videos, live shows, and album packaging. Adam Jones doubles as the band's art director and director of their music videos.

Live shows

thumb|right|Tool's live performances in 2006 included an elaborate light show using 10,000 Days artwork by painter [[Alex Grey as a backdrop.]]

Following its first tours in the early 1990s, Tool has performed as a headline act in world tours and major festivals such as Lollapalooza (1997 and 2009), Coachella (1999 and 2006), Voodoo Fest (2001 and 2016), Download Festival (2006 and 2019), Roskilde (2001 and 2006), Big Day Out (2007 and 2011), Bonnaroo (2007 and 2022), All Points West Music & Arts Festival (2009), and Epicenter (2009). They have been joined on stage by numerous artists such as Buzz Osborne and Scott Reeder on several occasions; Tom Morello and Zack de la Rocha during their 1991 tour; Layne Staley in Hawaii, 1993; Tricky, Robert Fripp, Mike Patton, Dave Lombardo, Brann Dailor of Mastodon, and experimental arts duo Osseus Labyrint Will Martin of Earshot,

Band members

Current

  • Maynard James Keenan – vocals (1990–present)
  • Adam Jones – guitars (1990–present)
  • Danny Carey – drums, percussion (1990–present), samples (1995–present)
  • Justin Chancellor – bass (1995–present)

Former

  • Paul D'Amour – bass (1990–1995)

Awards and nominations

{| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders"

|-

! scope="col" | Award

! scope="col" | Year

! scope="col" | Nominee(s)

! scope="col" | Category

! scope="col" | Result

! scope="col" class="unsortable"|

|-

! scope="row"|AMFT Awards

| 2019

| "7empest"

| Best Metal Performance

|

|

|-

! scope="row" rowspan=2|Billboard Music Awards

| rowspan=2| 2020

| Fear Inoculum

| Top Rock Album

|

|

|-

| rowspan=2|Tool

| Top Rock Artist

|

|

|-

!scope="row"|Echo Music Prize

| 2007

| Best International Alternative

|

|

|-

! scope="row" rowspan=9|Grammy Awards

| 1997

| Ænima

| Best Recording Package

|

|

|-

| rowspan="2"| 1998

| "Ænema"

| Best Metal Performance

|

|

|-

| "Stinkfist"

| Best Music Video

|

|

|-

| 2002

| "Schism"

| Best Metal Performance

|

|

|-

| "Vicarious"

| rowspan="2" | Best Hard Rock Performance

|

|

|-

| 2008

| "The Pot"

|

|

|-

|"Fear Inoculum"

|Best Rock Song|Best Rock Song

|

|

|-

! scope="row"|iHeartRadio Music Awards

| 2020

| Fear Inoculum

| Top Rock Album

|

|

|-

!scope="row"|MTV Video Music Awards

| 1994

| "Prison Sex"

| Best Special Effects in a Video

|

|

|-

!scope="row"|Music Week Awards

| 2020

| Tool

| PR Campaign

|

|

|-

!scope="row"|Pollstar Concert Industry Awards

| 2002

| Tour

| Most Creative Stage Production

|

|

Discography

<!-- This section is for studio albums only. No EPs (e.g. Opiate) etc... -->

  • Undertow (1993)
  • Ænima (1996)
  • Lateralus (2001)
  • 10,000 Days (2006)
  • Fear Inoculum (2019)

Notes

References

Citations

Sources

  • Art website