An OGT once told me to "Learn how to put yourself in a state of vulnerable, open-mindedness; Chaotic, confused, vulnerability to inform yourself".
This is always hard to do with the first listen to a TOOL album... it's has been this way with every album of theirs.
I am always shocked and a little disappointed that it's not the same album as before..... expectations are high and nostalgia runs deep with these guys...
So during that first listen, my monkey brain is thinking about what it isn't, this is not Aenima, not 10,000 Days, definitely not Undertow, etc.. It does however remind me of Salival alot!!! I love that album, but not the first time I heard it, lol!!!
That second listen man...I really start listening to what it is.... And of course it hits me hard this time, these m'fers did it again!!!!!
I am writing this as I am finishing the 3rd go through the album and man.... It is an incredible composition that drags me through the memories of my adolescence, the highs and lows of life, to what lies in the future!!!! I feel like I can do anything when TOOL is my soundtrack. Now we have this new album to be the soundscape for our new chapter in life!!!
Well done and well worth the wait!
Thank you Adam, Danny, Justin and Maynard.... And all those behind the scenes!!! 10 out of 10.