New Tool Album Coming?

by Kate Harper (CHARTattack)

Tool
have a track record of releasing an album about every five years, as evidenced
by 1996’s AEnima, 2001’s Lateralus and 2006’s 10,000 Days.

But guitarist
Adam Jones recently told Guitar World magazine that he’d been working on new
material with other members of the band, which means a new album could be out
much sooner than 2011 providing that singer Maynard James Keenan can tear
himself away from his wine and organic food products.

“The album’s
been coming along… great!” Jones jokingly told the magazine. “No, we’ve been
on hiatus. I’m writing and Justin Chancellor (bassist) has been writing, but
Maynard has been working on his wine.

“We’ve all just been taking some
time away from each other, which has been nice. I’ve also been working on
producing some comics.”

That makes a 2011 release seem more realistic.

Keenan’s family owns a winery in Arizona, and the singer is also a
partner of Stronghold Vineyards. He produces his own wine and promoted it with a
tour of Whole Foods supermarkets late last year. He told Spinner.com in January
that he plans to open an organic market with a wine-tasting room and a food
court sometime soon.

“I’ve been working with a few chefs around the
Southwest, learning how to make spaghettis and pastas and gnocchis and various
soup stocks,” he said. “We’re going to be packaging our own stuff right here and
serving it fresh with the tastings.”

Keenan’s also been busy with his
Puscifer project. They released their “V” Is For Vagina debut album in 2007 and
followed it with two remix albums last year. He told Blabbermouth.net that he’d
recently been writing material with A Perfect Circle guitarist Billy Howerdel,
but it’s unknown if or when that will surface since A Perfect Circle have been
on hiatus since 2004 and Keenan has repeatedly said there will never be another
album from the band.

“I doubt we’ll if we’ll do any touring or, you
know, do a full album,” said Keenan. “We might do some one-off shows here and
there if the timing’s right and it seems like a good vibe and a smart thing to
do.

“But most likely, we’ll just kind of concentrate on, you know, one
or two songs at a time, rather than investing all the time and money and effort
into making those plastic discs that no one cares about anymore.”

Keenan
told Rolling Stone magazine at last year’s Grammy Awards that Tool would release
another album. Billboard.com reported in 2007 that the band would make a
“surreal movie” with some kind of “narrative story” before their next album was
released, but drummer Danny Carey soon dismissed it as “just talk.”

You
can see Keenan with Puscifer at the Pearl Concert Theater in Las Vegas’ Palms
Casino Resort from Feb. 13 to 15.

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