Last month, Maynard James Keenan gave us a little hope that Tool was “slowly” making progress on its new album. Now Adam Jones is giving fans further hope about a new Tool album, revealing that the band’s long lasting legal issues have finally come to an end.
Tool admitted last year that a lawsuit going back to 2007 has distracted them from making their long-awaited follow up to 2006’s 10,000 Days. It began when one of Tool’s employees claimed he created artwork for the band and wanted credit. The band assumed its insurance company would take care of the matter, but when the company refused and Tool disputed the legality of their refusal, the company filed its own suit against the band.
However, in an interview with Yahoo Music, Jones revealed that the case settled in the band’s favor during the week of March 2. “I had a real feeling that things were going to go in our favor because the day the trial was supposed to start, the venue was changed on us,” said the guitarist about the trial, which kept getting delayed for years. “We moved over to a North L.A. courthouse and we had a brand-new judge, who was fantastic. You know what his name was? Randy Rhodes! I knew the power of metal, and my appreciation of metal was someday going to be like a guardian angel. But he was great. He came in and took over, and he’s the reason the whole thing is finally over.”
Jones reiterated that the legal issues took its toll on the band’s creativity and drive to make new music. However, Jones also revealed that an undisclosed health scare also played a role in the album’s delay. “I’d rather let the person who dealt with the illness talk about it out of respect,” said Jones. “But one thing was a really scary do-or-die, serious illness and that was really scary. When you’re trying to write music and you have that eating away at you – this person you’re married to and you love and hate at the same time has something they’re dealing with that’s out of their control – it’s distracting.”
So now to the question fans are still awaiting an answer about: when can we expect to hear a new Tool album? Well supposedly Jones, Justin Chancellor, and Danny Carey have finished one yet-untitled track and have more than 10 songs in various stages of completion. And while Keenan still has to come in to lay down his contributions, they’re hoping to have the album finished and ready for release before the end of the year. BUT, Jones emphasized that they “won’t rush anything just to hitting an arbitrary deadline” (a statement heard numerous times). In other words, progress is being made but still don’t hold your breath.
