Tool Lawsuit Delaying New Album; band finally shed light on the reason for their stalled creative output.

It’s been eight (8!!!) long years since Tool released their album ‘10,000 Days’ (for the record, that makes it 3000 days between the 2006 release and today).

To be fair, Tool has always been slow in their recorded output, but nothing to this degree. Fans have bellyached, and Tool frontman Maynard James Keenan blamed his bandmates for the delay, as he can apparently only contribute to the process once the music has been finished. And those bandmates, guitarist Adam Jones, bassist Justin Chancellor and drummer Danny Carey, have been relatively mum on the subject; until today.

In a new interview with Rolling Stone, Jones fessed up to what the holdup has been all about; a lawsuit. “The fans are pissed at us. And while part of me is selfish and goes, ‘I’m not necessarily doing it for them,’ it’s time that they understand what’s going on.”

The lawsuit stems from a former band associate regarding artwork he claims was used without permission. Adding insult to injury, an insurance company the band hired to represent them in the case, turned around and sued the band themselves for technicalities and extensive legal fees. The case will finally go to trial this January.

Carey admits that “The whole thing is really depressing…it’s really time-consuming. As we’ve gotten older and our priorities have changed, it’s hard to get the band on a good, solid schedule as it is. People have kids now…to throw this into the mix, it makes everything that much worse and stresses people out.”

Jones adds”It’s costing millions and millions and millions of dollars to defend us…And the fans are all going, ‘We want a new Tool album…you don’t want to pull people into your problems, because they don’t understand.'”

Jones also contends the lawsuit has drained the band’s creativity, further stalling the output of new music.

Carey is hopeful for an end of the year release, but Jones wouldn’t commit to a 2014 time-frame. But it seems to me making a new album, and a subsequent tour would surely help the band’s finances and mend fences with their fanbase.

More news on this as it develops.

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