History

Formation, Neidermeyer’s Mind demo, Korn (1993–1995)

Korn formed after the group L.A.P.D. folded, due to singer Richard Morrill’s drug addiction. Musicians Reginald Arvizu, James Shaffer, and David Silveria wanted to continue, and recruited guitarist Brian Welch and started a new band called Creep.

In early 1993, the band took notice of vocalist Jonathan Davis after seeing his band Sexart and attempted to get him to join Creep. Davis initially did not want to join the band, but after consulting a psychic he decided to audition and then joined the band, as mentioned by Jonathan Davis himself in interview in the DVD Who Then Now?. After Jonathan was recruited, they decided to get a new name. Soon, they later changed their name to “Korn”. Jonathan suggested Korn as just a brainstorm, but everyone else enjoyed it. So Jonathan got a Crayola crayon and wrote their logo in a child’s handwriting, with a “K” instead of “C” and a backwards upper-case “Я”^{[citation needed]}.

In April that year, the band began a working relationship with producer Ross Robinson, which led to their first demo tape entitled Neidermeyer’s Mind. The band had problems getting signed during its first year, due to the 1990s rock scene, which was primarily grunge. After many attempts at a record deal, Paul Pontius from Immortal/Epic Records heard the band in a nightclub and was so impressed, he signed them on the spot.^[4] With a producer and a label, Korn started work on their self-titled debut album.

Musically, the album was a mix of alternative metal, grunge, hip hop, and funk the latter elements encompassed in the rhythmic approach to the band’s compositions. “Blind” was the first single from the album, which got a decent amount of airplay and attention. Once Korn saw a release on October 11, 1994, the band toured incessantly with no support from radio or video stations. The band solely on their intense live shows which created a large cultlike following of dedicated fans. It was through the effort of this fanbase that helped push Korn onto the Billboard 200, eventually peaking at #72 in 1996,^[1] with “Shoots and Ladders” being their first Grammy nomination for Best Metal Performance.^[5]On their first large tour, Korn opened for Danzig alongside Marilyn Manson. Other bands for which Korn opened in 1995 included Megadeth, 311, Fear Factory, Flotsam and Jetsam, and KMFDM. However, the first tour that widely exposed the band was opening for Ozzy Osbourne alongside the Deftones. After opening for lesser-known bands such as Dimestore Hoods, Sugar Ray (at the time), and Life of Agony, Korn returned to the studio to record a second album.

Life Is Peachy (1996–1997)

Korn teamed up with Robinson once again for their second album, Life Is Peachy, released on October 15, 1996. Musically, it was similar to the first album, but also showed more of a funk influence on tracks like “Porno Creep” and “Swallow”. The album included two covers, War‘s “Low Rider“, with Davis’ bagpipes and Welch on vocals, and Ice Cube‘s “Wicked“, with guest vocalist Chino Moreno of Deftones. To help promote their new album, Korn opened for Metallica, and utilized the Internet. Life Is Peachy sold more than 106,000 copies in its first week and reached #3 on the Billboard 200.^[1] The first single, “No Place to Hide“, spawned a Grammy nomination for Best Metal Performance.^[5] “A.D.I.D.A.S.” was the second single and only music video, which also did well. The band gained more popularity after co-headlining the Lollapalooza music festival in 1997 with Tool. However, Korn was forced to drop off the bill after Shaffer was diagnosed with viral meningitis.^[6] Also that year, Korn augmented their growing crossover appeal by collaborating with Los Angeles-based production and remix duo the Dust Brothers on the track “Kick the P.A.”. This track appeared on the motion picture soundtrack of the film Spawn.

In late 1997, Korn formed their own record label, Elementree Records. The first signing was Videodrone,^[7] whose singer, Ty Elam, is credited for giving Jonathan Davis singing lessons.^[8] Orgy, however, released their debut album prior to Videodrone’s, giving Elementree its first Platinum certification.^[9] Orgy’s guitarist, Ryan Shuck, is known for playing alongside Davis and Elam in the band Sexart. Over the next few years, Korn signed other acts like rapper Marz and Deadsy.

Follow the Leader, mainstream success (1998–1999)

Prior to the release of the band’s third album, Korn produced a weekly online TV show, KornTV,^[10] which documented the making of the record and featured special guests such as porn star Ron Jeremy, Limp Bizkit, and 311. The project also gave fans the chance to call in and ask the band questions, an approach that represented one of the first times a band utilized the Internet in such a way. Korn released their third album, Follow the Leader, on August 18, 1998, which featured a number of guest vocalists such as Ice Cube, Tre Hardson from the Pharcyde, Fred Durst of Limp Bizkit and actor Cheech Marin on the hidden track “Earache My Eye” (written by Marin himself).

Korn launched a political campaign-style tour to promote the release of Follow the Leader.^[11] The tour took the group, on a chartered jet, all over North America to help promote Follow the Leader. They talked to fans and answered questions during special “fan conferences”, which were organized at every stop along the tour route, and signed autographs. Jim Rose hosted the entire “Kampaign” tour.

The album was a complete success, debuting at #1 on Billboard with 268,000 copies sold,^[12] and spawning the singles “Got the Life” and “Freak on a Leash“. They both exposed Korn to a wider, mainstream audience, with the music videos being mainstays on MTV‘s Total Request Live. “Got the Life” was the show’s very first “retired” video, with “Freak on a Leash” reaching that same success months later.^[13] The singles also fared well on Billboard, with “Freak on a Leash” peaking in the top 10 of both Mainstream Rock and Modern Rock, the latter of which it spent 27 weeks on—more than any other Korn single to date.^[14]

“Freak on a Leash” won a Grammy for Best Music Video, Short Form, and received a nomination for Best Hard Rock Performance.^[15] The video also earned nine MTV Video Music Awards nominations for Video of the Year, Best Rock Video, Breakthrough Video, Best Direction, Best Special Effects, Best Art Direction, Best Cinematography, Best Editing, and Viewer’s Choice.^[16] It eventually won two, for Best Rock Video and Best Editing. Follow the Leader is the band’s most commercially-successful album, being certified 5x Platinum by the RIAA and having sold almost ten million copies worldwide.

The same year Follow the Leader was released, Korn started their own annual tour called the Family Values Tour. Korn headlined the highly-successful tour along with Incubus, Orgy, Limp Bizkit, Ice Cube, and the German industrial band, Rammstein. A live CD and DVD were released and earned Gold and Platinum certifications, respectively. In 1999, Limp Bizkit headlined, along with Primus, Staind, The Crystal Method, Method Man & Redman, and Filter. Korn were not featured on the bill and instead only made surprise appearances at a few of the stops to perform “Falling Away From Me” from “Issues”. The tour took a break in 2000.

Issues (1999–2001)

The band’s fourth album, Issues, produced by Brendan O’Brien, was released on November 16, 1999, featuring cover art designed by Alfredo Carlos, who won a contest held for the fans by MTV.^[17] Issues was released during a week of many highly-anticipated records. It debuted at #1 on the Billboard 200 with more than 573,000 copies sold,^[18] keeping Dr. Dre‘s long-awaited album 2001 and Celine Dion’s greatest hits album from hitting #1.

To celebrate the album’s release, the band performed the record in its entirety in front of a live audience at New York‘s historic Apollo Theater and broadcast the concert simultaneously across many radio stations.^[19] This performance made Korn the first rock band, and only the second predominantly white musical group, to ever perform at The Apollo, after the legendary Buddy Holly in the late 1950s. This special event featured the NYPD marching drum and bagpipe band conducted by Richard Gibbs as well as a group of back-up singers to enhance the more melodic choruses Davis used on the album.

Earlier that year, Korn had appeared on an episode of South Park, titled Korn’s Groovy Pirate Ghost Mystery, in which the first single from Issues, “Falling Away from Me“, was premiered.^[20] Korn released two more singles from Issues, “Make Me Bad” and “Somebody Someone“, both of which fared well on Billboard. Videos were shot for all three singles, with long time friend Fred Durst directing “Falling Away from Me”, and Martin Weisz directing a concept video for “Make Me Bad”, as well as a performance video for “Somebody Someone”, which featured the use of CGI effects. Every video was a staple on Total Request Live, two of which made it to retirement.^[13] Issues is considered by some critics to be less hip hop-influenced and closer to alternative metal than nu metal.^[21] It was certified 3x Platinum, following up the success of Follow the Leader.

Untouchables (2002–2003)

On June 11, 2002, after a year and a half of hard work and a long creative process, Korn re-emerged into the media spotlight with their fifth album, Untouchables. It debuted at number 2 on the Billboard 200 with 434,000 in sales.^[22] Sales were disappointing in comparison to the first four albums, as Untouchables has only been certified Platinum once. The band has blamed Internet piracy for the drop in sales, as an unmastered version of the album had leaked three months prior to its official release date.^[23]

The release of this album was preceded by a show at the Hammerstein Ballroom in New York, a day prior to the album’s release, broadcast digitally throughout U.S. movie theatres.^[24] Untouchables featured electronic beats, strings and various guitar effects the band had never used in an album before. The overall feel was drastically different from previous efforts, particularly tracks like “Alone I Break,” “Hating,” and “Hollow Life,” which singer Jonathan Davis claims is one of his favorite Korn songs to this day.

The first two videos from Untouchables were directed by the Hughes Brothers (best known for their films, Menace II Society and From Hell). The first video, “Here to Stay,” has the band playing inside a TV with a static background along with controversial news stories and world issues being presented. The song itself earned Korn a Grammy for Best Metal Performance,^[5] and would become their highest-peaking single on Billboard’s Modern Rock chart.^[14] The second video, “Thoughtless“, was a nod back to Davis’ childhood as the character in the video (previously featured in the first Vanilla Coke commercial) is picked on and constantly beaten. The third video for Untouchables, “Alone I Break,” was directed by Sean Dack, who won the honor of directing the video through an MTV contest.

Take a Look in the Mirror, Greatest Hits: Volume 1, Head’s departure (2003–2005)

Prior to their next album, Korn released a new single, “Did My Time” on July 22, 2003,^[25] which was used to promote the film but did not appear on the soundtrack to Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life. Angelina Jolie appeared in the Dave Meyers-directed video. “Did My Time” also gave Korn yet another Grammy nomination in the Best Metal Performance category.^[5] Take a Look in the Mirror marks Korn’s attempt to return to a more aggressive sound as featured on their earlier albums and brings back the classic rap style on songs “Play Me” and a Live Version of Metallica’s “One” as a Hidden track, making it the first album since Follow The Leader to feature such attributes. The album peaked at #9 and has been certified Platinum by the RIAA. It Spawned 4 singles “Did My Time“, “Right Now“, “Y’All Want a Single“, and “Everything I’ve Known” charting on Billboards Mainstream Rock Tracks at #12, #11, #23, and #30 respectively.

Korn released their greatest hits album, Greatest Hits Vol.1, on October 5, 2004. The album debuted at #4 on Billboard, selling more than 129,000 copies.^[26] It featured two cover songs as singles, and a compilation of the band’s hits from the past 10 years. The first single was a cover of the song “Word Up!“, which was originally made popular by the group Cameo. The second single was a medley of all three parts of Pink Floyd‘s “Another Brick in the Wall“. A remix of their hit single “Freak on a Leash” was also included as a bonus track. Special editions of the album included a DVD titled Korn: Live at CBGB featuring seven select songs from their November 24, 2003 show at CBGB.

Prior to Korn starting work on See You On The Other Side, Brian “Head” Welch announced that he had “…chosen the Lord Jesus Christ as his savior, and will be dedicating his musical pursuits to that end,”^[27] and was formally leaving Korn. Initial speculations that this was a hoax or practical joke were proven wrong; he has become highly spiritual, even being baptized in the Jordan River and speaking openly about his faith and conversion. This was the band’s first official line-up change in their history.

See You on the Other Side, EMI/Virgin, Return of Family Values Tour (2005–2006)

Upon completing their record deal with Sony, Korn partnered with EMI and signed to Virgin Records. As part of this innovative arrangement, Virgin paid Korn $25 million upfront in exchange for a share in the profits of their next two studio albums, including tours and merchandising. Virgin also received a 30 percent stake in the band’s licensing, ticket sales and other revenue sources.

The band’s first album for Virgin, See You on the Other Side, was released on December 6, 2005, and debuted on #3 on the Billboard 200, scanning close to 221,000 copies.^[28] The album managed to stay in the top 100 of the Billboard 200 for 34 consecutive weeks. The first single from the album, “Twisted Transistor“, was accompanied by a comedic video directed by Dave Meyers in which rap stars Xzibit, Lil’ Jon, Snoop Dogg, and David Banner portray Korn. The single itself peaked at #3 on Billboard’s Mainstream Rock Tracks, Korn’s highest entry thus far, and #9 on Modern Rock.^[14] The second single, “Coming Undone“, had its performance-based video directed by Little X, who previously helmed only hip hop and R&B videos. See You on the Other Side is certified Platinum, and has sold over two million copies worldwide.

Korn held a press conference at the Hollywood Forever Cemetery on January 13, 2006, announcing the See You on the Other Side Tour.^[29] 10 Years and Mudvayne were selected to open all dates of the trek, which kicked off in their hometown of Bakersfield, on what Mayor Harvey Hall officially declared as “Korn Day”, February 26.^[30] The resurrection of their Family Values Tour was announced on April 18, 2006, which featured co-headliners Deftones, Stone Sour, Flyleaf, and the Japanese metal group, Dir en grey on the main stage.^[31] Korn and Evanescence co-headlined the 2007 edition, with Atreyu, 2006 alumni Flyleaf, Hellyeah, and Trivium rounding out the main stage.^[32]

While promoting See You on the Other Side in Europe, Jonathan Davis was diagnosed with idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura, a blood platelet disorder that hospitalized him for the weekend and prevented him from performing at the renowned Download Festival.^[33] The band still performed, with guest singers including Corey Taylor of Slipknot/Stone Sour fame, Skindred‘s Benji Webbe, and Avenged Sevenfold‘s M. Shadows. This led to Korn canceling the rest of their European bill for 2006,^[34] including the Hellfest Summer Open Air. It was originally unknown to the public what his ailment was, but the singer revealed in a letter to fans that he was “dangerously low on blood platelets and at a high risk of death from a hemorrhage if the problem was not treated”.^[35] His illness did not affect the 2006 Family Values Tour.

Untitled album, MTV Unplugged, David Silveria’s departure (2006–2008)

In early December it was announced that founding drummer David Silveria would be taking an indefinite “hiatus” from the band. Korn then performed at the MTV studios in Times Square on December 9, 2006, for the MTV Unplugged series, which was broadcast on February 23, 2007, through MTV.com and on March 2, 2007, across North American, South American, European and Asian MTV stations. In front of a crowd of approximately 50 people, Korn played a 14-song acoustic set complete with guest appearances by The Cure and Amy Lee of Evanescence. The performance was eventually cut down to 11 songs for the album, two of which did not air on MTV. Sales of nearly 51,000 brought MTV Unplugged: Korn to #9 in its first week out.^[36]

Korn’s untitled eighth album was released on July 31, 2007, debuting at #2 with 123,000 copies in its first week.^[37] The album has been certified Gold for shipments in excess of 500,000 copies.^{[citation needed]} It also concludes Korn’s unique deal with Virgin Records, and features touring keyboardist Zac Baird, giving the tracks a deeper, atmospheric sound.^[38] Drumming duties were left up to Terry Bozzio, and Bad Religion‘s Brooks Wackerman, as David Silveria went on a hiatus.^[39] Joey Jordison from Slipknot played drums during Korn’s live shows until the permanent addition of Ray Luzier. “Evolution” and “Hold On” were released as singles to promote the album, charting on Billboard’s Mainstream Rock Tracks at #4 and #9, respectively.^[14] A third single, “Kiss”, had a limited release in April 2008,^[40] being pulled from radio stations over a month after its release.

Ninth studio album and recent events (2008–present)

Ubisoft reported in October that “Korn has written and recorded an original song inspired by Ubisoft’s Haze video game“, simply entitled “Haze“,^[41] which was released on April 22, 2008. As a first in the video game industry, “Haze” will be released and promoted as a full-fledged single and music video, not just as an exclusive download with the video game.

Korn also released a new live DVD, Korn: Live in Montreux 2004, one of their performances with former guitarist Brian Welch on May 12, 2008. Additionally, a second greatest hits compilation titled, “Playlist: The Very Best of Korn” was released on April 29, 2008.

On February 12, 2009, Korn announced they were playing at the Rock Fest in Cadott, Wisconsin, as well as the 3rd annual Rock on the Range in Columbus, Ohio. Later on, the band were confirmed for the Download Festival taking place in the UK, sub-headlining to Faith No More, as well as the simultaneous German festivals Rock am Ring and Rock im Park.

In 2009, Korn (Jonathan Davis playing drums, Fieldy on bass and Munky on guitar) appeared in Lil Wayne‘s Prom Queen music video.

It was also revealed that drummer Ray Luzier was now an official full time member of Korn, and that he is writing for the new album also.^[42]

In a recent Interview with Ross Robinson, he stated that this will be his third Korn album and that the album was going to be ruthless and remind everyone who can kill them. Also in response to the question “Will Korn be returning to their roots” Robinson replied: “What roots? They have Bakersfield and I have Barstow – we really don’t want to go back there. If ‘roots’ is to destroy and wake people from sleep walking through life, then yes.”^{[citation needed]} Ross also mentioned that if he had to sign any unsigned band to his record label it would be Korn, since they are unsigned right now.^{[citation needed]} It has also been revealed by Ross that Munky and Fieldy are already in the studio writing material for the new album.

In a YouTube video in May, Fieldy talked about the “Chi Song” project he was putting together (released as A Song for Chi) which was released recently to raise money for Deftones bassist Chi Cheng who was in a car crash in late 2008, which resulted in him falling into a coma. Fieldy revealed that Slipknot guitarist Jim Root, Clint Lowery of Sevendust, drummer Dave McClain of Machine Head and former Korn guitarist Brian “Head” Welch, would be one of the many musicians playing on the song. This was the first time Head has played with any of his former bandmates since his departure in 2005.^[43]

Jonathan has recently stated that after the band finish the “Escape from the Studio Tour” in the fall of 2009, he will be able to go into the studio and start writing and recording on the songs fellow members Fieldy, Munky, and Ray have already written. He went on to state after that the band can pretty much add to the songs and fix the cracks then let Ross go through them, and the album will start coming together fast and should be aiming for an early 2010 release date. Korn have recently used a teaser for their new 2010 album release on their website.

Ross recently revealed via Twitter that “I just finished up recording two new tracks with Korn with the band back underway on work for their next album.^[44] Tracked two korn songs and now watching Repeater play- I feel so cool seeing them rip it so hard! Why is life so good?”^[45]

Controversy with Former Band Members

In September 2009, Korn guitarist Munky, in an interview with Altitude TV, alledged that the band had denied a request by Welch to rejoin the outfit. In the interview, Munky claimed:

“Brian (‘Head’ Welch) actually contacted us recently and wanted to come back to the band. And it was not the right time… for us. We’re doing well, and it’s kind of like… It’s kind of like if you divorced your wife and she went on and she stayed successful and her career flourished, and you go back and [say], ‘My gosh, she’s still hot.’ ‘Baby, can we get back together?’ ‘Wait a minute… All the stuff’s been divided, and it’s like…’ I don’t see it happening right now. It’s not gonna happen right now.” ^[46]

Shortly after, Welch responded to the statement via his Myspace, denying the claims:

“I recently learned of an interview that Munky gave where he said that I came to Korn and asked to be taken back in the band. That’s definitely not a complete and accurate picture. The full truth is that for about a year, ever since Jonathan publicly said he wanted me back in Korn, Korn’s managers have been requesting my manager to work on getting me back into Korn. The calls were initiated by Korn’s managers, not my manager. I shut the door on their requests many, many times over the last several months, through my manager. However, Fieldy personally called me during Korn’s last tour in Europe and we talked as friends for a long time. He also told me if I ever wanted to rejoin Korn, or open for Korn as a solo artist, the door was always open. Since Fieldy is sober now and a christian like me, I thought it may be a good idea to visit with Fieldy, a friend of mine, to see what he was up to and what it was all about. I had a great time re-connecting with Fieldy. I mainly went to his house to connect with an old friend. The Korn stuff we talked about was secondary, but It was discussed. Fieldy thought that Jonathan, Munky, and I should all meet AS FRIENDS; re-connect; and maybe discuss the possibilities. Both Jonathan and Munky refused that meeting. I learned a lot visiting with fieldy. I learned that I love and miss my friends, but the visit confirmed to me that I have a different calling in life than to reconnect musically/professionally. As far as Munky’s comment that “everything has been divided already” that is also not accurate. In fact, from January 2005 when I left, and for the next 4 years, Korn failed to pay to me royalties that were due me on records that I did with them. However, I don’t believe this was done intentionally. We are trying to be patient and work with their management to get the financial issues resolved so that “everything can be divided as we agreed long ago in our contracts.” I am optimistic that we can resolve it as friends. I continue to wish nothing but the best for Korn, and that includes all of my friends there–Fieldy, Jonathan and Munky.” ^[47]

Weeks later Jonathan stated in an interview with pulseoftheradio that:

“Davis said that the essence of KORN is intact. “I’ll lay it down to you right now: all the writing was done by Fieldy and Munky,” he said. Head [ex-guitarist Brian Welch] wasn’t really there for any of it, because he was so jacked up on drugs and worrying about other things. So the core of KORN is there. Davis also mentioned david saying; “David [Silveria, ex-drummer] was there to write beats, but he wasn’t really there. And adding Ray [Luzier] as the drummer — he loves playing drums and he plays just like David did. We’re excited that we found someone that fits that mold. So I think we got the three that’s the core of what KORN is.”^[48]

Musical style and influences

Please help improve this section by expanding it. Further information might be found on the talk page. (September 2008)

According to Stephen Thomas Erlewine, Korn borrows elements from such acts as Pantera, Jane’s Addiction, Rage Against the Machine, Primus, Helmet, Faith No More, Mr.Bungle, as well as other Mike Patton projects, Anthrax, Public Enemy and N.W.A.^[49] According to author Cheryl Lynette Keyes, Korn’s sound originates from the acid rap style of Esham.^[50]

Although Korn is considered to be the pioneer of the nu-metal genre, the band members themselves have mixed ideas on the genre, with Jonathan Davis looking at it as a neologism (as noted below), and Fieldy accepting it as a functional term for the band’s sound.

“We’ve spawned a lot of clones, but let me explain… Well, I hate the nu-metal term. We have always just been a band that rocks. We didn’t like when people called us a metal band, we are just Korn. People just use these terms when they cannot describe something, but nu-metal… when so many bands started making music that sounded like us, that is when nu-metal was born. We don’t have anything to do with it for real, I feel. I wouldn’t wanna call Red Hot Chili Peppers a funk band, and we are not metal or nu-metal, we are Korn. Nu-metal is just a term that doesn’t mean anything.”

Discography

• 1994: Korn
• 1996: Life Is Peachy
• 1998: Follow the Leader
• 1999: Issues
• 2002: Untouchables
• 2003: Take a Look in the Mirror
• 2005: See You on the Other Side
• 2007: Untitled album
• 2010: Korn’s ninth studio album

He sings and plays keyboard, guitar, bass guitar and drums. Moby became a successful artist on the ambient electronica scene, and achieved eight top 40 singles in the UK during the 1990s. In 1999 he released the album Play, a mix of melancholic chill-out, ambient music, and upbeat electronica, that was critically acclaimed and produced an impressive eight hit singles (including his most popular songs “Porcelain“, “Natural Blues” and “Why Does My Heart Feel So Bad?“). Play became a commercial and cultural phenomenon, selling over 10 million copies worldwide^[2] (the biggest-selling electronica album ever) and with its eighteen songs receiving an unprecedented licensing in films, television and commercial advertisements.

His follow-up album, 18, released in 2002, was also highly successful and critically praised. His next offers, the mostly upbeats Hotel (2005), and Last Night (2008) received lukewarm reviews and poor sales in general. Moby released his most recent album, Wait for Me in 2009, returning to the sad styles of Moby and 18, finding good reviews and moderate sales. AllMusic considered Moby “one of the most important dance music figures of the early ’90s, helping bring the music to a mainstream audience both in the UK and in America“.^[3]

Early life and name

Hall was born in the Harlem neighborhood of New York City, and raised by his mother in Darien, Connecticut.

According to Hall, his middle name and the nickname “Moby” were given to him by his parents because of an ancestral relationship to Moby Dick author Herman Melville: “The basis for Richard Melville Hall – and for Moby – is that supposedly Herman Melville was my great-great-great-granduncle.”^[4]

He has also released music under the names Voodoo Child^[5], Schaumgummi^[6], and as a member of the bands Vatican Commandos, AWOL, Caeli Seoul and Gin Train^[1]. He often performs at New York club events known as “Degenerates”.^[7]

Music career

Early years

Moby started playing music when he was nine years old, originally studying classical guitar and music theory, and eventually learning piano and drums.

From 1982 to 1985 Moby was in a hardcore punk band called the Vatican Commandos, who released an EP called Hit Squad for God. He was also in a Joy Division-inspired post-punk group called AWOL, who released an eponymous album in 1983.

After years of pursuing a record deal he signed a recording contract with Instinct Records in 1989. During this time, Instinct Records “did not actually exist,” Moby stated in his 2005 iTunes Originals interviews. When he was signed, the company did not have a logo, name, or an office.

Go & Rise to Fame (1991–1993)

His first single for Instinct was “Mobility,” but it was the second single, “Go,” a progressive house track using the string line from “Laura Palmer’s Theme” from the TV drama Twin Peaks, which reached the UK top ten in October 1991 and earned him his first appearance on Top of the Pops. Some of his other singles in 1992 and 1993 were “Next Is The E”, “Thousand” and “Voodoo Child.”^[1]

In 1991 and 1992, he remixed the The B-52′s, The Prodigy, Orbital, Erasure, Michael Jackson, and Ten City.

In 1992 he toured with The Prodigy, Richie Hawtin, and John Acquaviva.

Everything Is Wrong, Animal Rights & I Like to Score (1993–1998)

In 1993 Moby signed with Mute Records and released an EP entitled Move. This became his second appearance on Top of the Pops. During this time he also went on tour with Orbital and Aphex Twin in North America.

He then released his first album, Everything Is Wrong, on Mute Records in 1995. Early copies (in the UK and Germany at least) came with a special bonus CD called Underwater. This was a 43-minute five-track instrumental ambient CD. Everything Is Wrong earned early critical praise (Spin Magazine named it Album of The Year) and some commercial success. He followed this up in early 1996 with the double album Everything Is Wrong—Mixed and Remixed. In 1995 Moby also headlined the second stage at Lollapalooza, playing alongside Beck, Sonic Youth, and Pavement.

In 1996 he released a punk rock album called Animal Rights and toured Europe with the Red Hot Chili Peppers and Soundgarden. Moby usually writes all his own music, occasionally with collaborators, but Animal Rights included a cover version of Mission of Burma‘s “That’s When I Reach for My Revolver“. The single “Come on Baby” from Animal Rights was Moby’s third Top of the Pops performance. It was notable for its very aggressive look and sound.

In 1997, he released I Like to Score, a collection of his music that had been used in movies. Among those tracks were an updated version of the James Bond Theme used for the James Bond film Tomorrow Never Dies, and a cover of “New Dawn Fades” by Joy Division which had appeared (without vocals) in Michael Mann‘s Heat.

Moby performs a rare DJ set at NASA Rewind 04-03-2004 in NYC

Play, 18 and Worldwide Success (1999–2004)

In 1999 Moby released the album Play. The album had moderate sales after its release, but eventually went on to sell over ten million records worldwide a year later.^[8] Every song on the album was licensed internationally to various films, advertisements, and TV shows, as well as independent films and non-profit groups. Moby performed three times on Top of the Pops with singles from the album. One of the collaborations on the album was “South Side“, featuring Gwen Stefani. Play mixes songs from Alan Lomax‘s 1993 Atlantic recording “Sounds of the South: A Musical Journey From the Georgia Sea Islands to the Mississippi Delta.” For the song “Natural Blues”, Moby mixes “Trouble So Hard” from the Alan Lomax, Sounds of the South compilation.^{[9] [10]}

In July 2001 Moby: PlaytheDVD was released. Produced by Moby and Jeff Rogers (Swell) the DVD was nominated for a 2002 Grammy award. The DVD included various sections: Live on TV, most of the videos (excluding Southside w/Gwen Stefani), Give An Idiot a Camcorder (Moby was given a camcorder and the tape was later edited by Tara Bethune-Leaman) and an 88 minute Moby MegaMix of all the remixes created for the album Play. The Mega Mix was accompanied by visuals created in Toronto at Crush led by director Kathi Prosser.

In 2002 Moby released the follow up to Play, 18, which earned gold and platinum awards in over 30 countries, and sold more than four million copies. Moby toured extensively for both Play and 18, playing well over 500 shows in the course of four years.

He founded the Area:One Festival in 2001, a popular touring festival that features an eclectic range of musical genres. The Area:One tour featured: Outkast, Moby, New Order, Incubus, Nelly Furtado, and Paul Oakenfold. Area2 tour (2002) featured David Bowie, Moby, Blue Man Group, Busta Rhymes, and Carl Cox.

In 2001, Moby also earned the ire of rapper Eminem after Moby called Eminem’s music misogynist and homophobic; Eminem later satirized Moby (among others) in “Without Me“, declaring “Nobody listens to techno!” The two got into a confrontation at the 2002 MTV Video Music Awards, along with Triumph the Insult Comic Dog.^[11]

In the next few years, Moby co-wrote “Is It Any Wonder” with Sophie Ellis-Bextor, remixed the Beastie Boys, David Bowie, Nas and Metallica, produced and co-wrote the track “Early Mornin’” for Britney Spears‘ fourth studio album In the Zone, and collaborated with Public Enemy on “Make Love, Fuck War”, which was released prior to the 2004 U.S. presidential election. Moby also had his song “Extreme Ways” used in the Jason Bourne movies. Although not a hit when it was released, “Extreme Ways” has gone on to become Moby’s most downloaded song.

In 2003 Moby headlined the Pyramid stage at Glastonbury. In 2004 Moby worked on the John Kerry presidential campaign, and also worked extensively with liberal group moveon.org.

Hotel, Last Night and The Little Death (2005–2008)

In 2005 Moby released Hotel. Instead of his relying on samples for vocals, all of the vocals and instruments were performed live in the studio, by Moby and vocalist Laura Dawn.

Hotel spawned two of Moby’s biggest European hits, “Lift Me Up” and “Slipping Away,” both of which were #1 European singles. Hotel went on to earn gold and platinum awards in over twenty countries, with global sales of over two million copies.

In the UK ITV used a specially remixed version of “Lift Me Up” as its Formula 1 shows theme music.

In 2006 Moby also acted in the movie Pittsburgh, with Jeff Goldblum and Illeana Douglas.

In 2006 He accepted an offer to score the soundtrack for Richard Kelly‘s 2007 movie Southland Tales because he was a fan of Kelly’s previous film, Donnie Darko.

In 2007 he produced and performed on The Bongos‘ remake of “The Bulrushes,” for the special edition re-issue of their debut album, Drums Along The Hudson (Cooking Vinyl Records), and appeared in the promo video of the song.

In 2007 Moby launched a website entitled mobygratis.com. mobygratis provides free music for film students and independent and non-profit filmmakers. It is a non-profit venture, with any/all revenue earned by mobygratis.com going to the Humane Society/HSUS.

In 2007 Moby also started a rock band, The Little Death, NYC, with his friends Laura Dawn, Daron Murphy, and Aaron Brooks.

In 2008 Moby released Last Night, an eclectic album of electronic dance music inspired by a night out in his New York neighborhood (the Lower East Side). The singles from Last Night include “Alice,” “Disco Lies,” “I Love To Move In Here,” and “Ooh Yeah.” ^[12]

In collaboration with The Sunday Times, Moby released an exclusive mix album titled “A Night in NYC” which appeared on the newspaper’s cover. It was a compilation of Moby tracks spanning his career and included video from his new album Last Night.

Wait for Me (2009–present)

In a November 2008 interview Moby spoke about the follow up album to Last Night, which he is currently working on. “I want to make a really emotional, beautiful record. I don’t know if I will succeed, but my goal is to make something very personal, very melodic, very beautiful.”^[13] The album, titled Wait for Me, was expected to be released in June 2009.^{[14] [15]}

On the 14th of April, Moby confirmed that the album would be released on the 30th of June .^[16] “I recorded the album here in my studio on the lower east side (although ‘studio’ always seems like an overly grand word for a bunch of equipment set up in a small bedroom). In the past I’ve worked in large and small studios, but for this record I wanted to record everything at home by myself,” said Moby on his journal.^[16] “I started working on the album about a year ago, and the creative impetus behind the record was hearing a David Lynch speech at BAFTA, in the UK. David was talking about creativity, and to paraphrase, about how creativity in and of itself, and without market pressures, is fine and good. It seems as if too often an artists or musicians or writers creative output is judged by how well it accommodates the marketplace, and how much market share it commands and how much money it generates. In making this record I wanted to focus on making something that I loved, without really being concerned about how it might be received by the marketplace. As a result it’s a quieter and more melodic and more mournful and more personal record than some of the records I’ve made in the past.”^[16]

Moby and David Lynch discussed the recording process of the album on Lynch’s online channel, David Lynch Foundation Television Beta. The entire interview can be viewed for free here.

The first single off the album is Shot in the Back of the Head, and the video for which was aptly directed by Moby’s muse, David Lynch himself.^[16] The single is available for free download from Moby’s website, Moby.com.

Ken Thomas (Sigur Rós) mixed Wait for Me.^[16] According to Moby, “mixing the record with him (Thomas) was really nice, as he’s creatively open to trying anything (like recording an old broken bakelite radio and running it through some broken old effects pedals to see what it would sound like. It’s on the record as a 45 second long track called “Stock Radio”). And as a geeky technical aside, we mixed the record using purely analog equipment in true stereo, akin to how records were mixed in the late ’60s(some of the songs sound pretty amazing in headphones, if I do say so myself…”^[16]

Moby plans to tour for the new album with a full band again, something that occurred rarely during Moby’s Last Night promotion, except for selected festival performances.^[17]

Moby expects to raise between $75,000 and $100,000 to help those affected by domestic violence^[18] after all funding for the state’s domestic violence programme was cut in July. To do this he is to donate the profits from his upcoming shows in California (San Diego, San Francisco and Los Angeles).

Collaborations

Moby has collaborated live with many of his heroes while on tour or at fundraisers. He has performed “Walk on the Wild Side” with Lou Reed, “Me and Bobby McGee” with Kris Kristofferson, “Heroes” and “Cactus” with David Bowie, “Helpless” with Bono and Michael Stipe, “New Dawn Fades” with New Order, “Make Love, Fuck War” with Public Enemy, “Whole Lotta Love” with Slash, and “That’s When I Reach For My Revolver” with Mission Of Burma, and made two duets with the french singer Mylène Farmer (the one “Slipping Away (Crier La vie) in 2006 and the other “Looking For My Name” in 2008).

In 2007, he became one of the few well-known commercial artists to produce work for a video game, collaborating with DJ Oscar the Punk on all three tracks of The Bioshock EP, included with limited edition copies of the Xbox 360 game Bioshock.

RIAA Criticism

On June 20, 2009, Moby posted on his blog in response to the RIAA‘s decision to sue Minnesota suburban mom Jammie Thomas-Rasset for $2,000,000 for illegally downloading music. He called this “utter nonsense” and stated “the RIAA needs to be disbanded.”^[19]

Personal life and faith

He lives in New York City’s Little Italy, where he has lived for a decade in a small apartment in a five-story building across the street from David Bowie. Until recently he co-owned a small restaurant and tea shop called TeaNY, where he occasionally waited tables. He also organized the Little Idiot Collective, a group of artists.

In an interview with Psychology Today, Moby stated that when he was 19, he tried LSD and began suffering from panic attacks. He claims that he no longer experiences them as frequently as he used to, but occasionally he will “have too much caffeine, be stressed out about work and be in a relationship that’s not going well, and it will happen again.” He is very open about this in an attempt to help fans who suffer from similar panic disorders.^[20]

When asked about drugs, he responded: “I’m sort of a libertarian. People should be able to do what they want. I ultimately defer the wisdom to an adult to make their own choices. If someone wants to do drugs, I think it’s their own business and not the business of the state.”^[21]

In a 2003 BBC interview, Moby spoke about his encounter with the Gospels, “In about 1985 I read the teachings of Christ and was instantly struck by the idea that Christ was somehow divine. When I say I love Christ and love the teachings of Christ I mean that in the most simple and naïve and subjective way. I’m not saying I’m right, and I certainly wouldn’t criticize anyone else’s beliefs.”^[22]

In a September 20, 2006 audio interview with Sojourners Magazine, he says, “I read the New Testament, specifically the gospels and I was struck at their divinity, feeling that humans could not have figured this out on their own. We’re just not bright enough.”^[23] He also discusses his faith on his own weblog. On January 19, 2007, in his reaction to seeing Alexandra Pelosi‘s Friends of God, a film about evangelism in the United States, Moby writes, “The movie reminded me just how utterly disconnected the agenda of the evangelical Christian right is from the teachings of Christ.”^[24]

Charity

Moby is an advocate for a variety of causes, working with MoveOn and The Humane Society, among others. His MobyGratis.com website, which licenses film music for free for non-profit and independent films, funnels proceeds ^[25] from films which do go on to produce revenue to The Humane Society. He created MoveOn Voter Fund’s Bush in 30 Seconds contest along with singer/ MoveOn Cultural Director Laura Dawn and MoveOn Executive Director Eli Pariser. The music video for the song “Disco Lies” from From Last Night has heavy anti-meat industrial themes.

He also actively engages in nonpartisan activism, and serves on the Board of Directors of Amend.org^[26], a nonprofit that implements injury prevention programs in Africa.

Moby is a member of the Board of Directors of the Institute for Music and Neurologic Function (IMNF), a not-for-profit organization dedicated to advancing scientific inquiry on music and the brain and to developing clinical treatments to benefit people of all ages^[27]. He has also performed on various benefit concerts to help increase awareness for music therapy and raise funds for the Institute. In 2004, he was honored with the IMNF’s “Music Has Power Award” for his advocacy of music therapy and for his dedication and support to its recording studio program.

He is an advocate of network neutrality and he testified before United States House of Representatives committee debating the issue in 2006.^[28][29]

In 2008 he participated in a music album called Songs for Tibet, to support Tibet and the current Dalai Lama Tenzin Gyatso.

In 2009 after hearing about California cutting its funding to domestic violence programs, Moby decided to donate the fees from his tour shows in L.A. and San Fransisco to the California Partnership to End Domestic Violence.

Essays

Many Moby albums include essays that he has written himself in the inlay card. Everything Is Wrong had essays on over-consumption (“We use toxic chlorine bleach to keep our underpants white”) and U.S. religious leaders (“Why doesn’t the Christian right go out and spread mercy, compassion and selflessness?”), and The End of Everything discussed being a vegan (“Could you look an animal in the eyes and say to it, ‘My appetite is more important than your suffering’?”).

He was interviewed by Lucy Walker for a chapter in Sound Unbound: Sampling Digital Music and Culture (The MIT Press, 2008) edited by Paul D. Miller a.k.a. DJ Spooky.

Style

Massive Attack’s style is often thought of as being experimental. The duo have talked of their ethos as being to have a very different creative approach to each album and to “avoid the obvious”. Some of their most noted songs have been without choruses and have featured dramatically atmospheric dynamics, conveyed through either epic distorted guitar crescendos, lavish orchestral arrangements (like swelling, sustained strings or flourishes of grand piano) or prominent, looped/shifting basslines, often underpinned by high and exacting production values, involving sometimes painstaking digital editing and mixing.^[4] The pace of their music has often been slower than prevalent British dance music at the time. These and other psychedelic, soundtrack-like and DJist sonic techniques, formed a much-emulated style journalists began to dub “trip hop” from the mid-nineties onwards,^[5] though in an interview in 2006, G said, “‘We used to hate that terminology [trip-hop] so bad,’ (laughs) ‘You know, as far we were concerned, Massive Attack music was unique, so to put it in a box was to pigeonhole it and to say, “Right, we know where you guys are coming from.”‘”^[6]

Career summary

Their debut album, Blue Lines (1991), was co-produced by Jonny Dollar and Cameron McVey, who also became their first manager.^[7] Geoff Barrow, who went on to form Portishead, was a tea-boy and tape operator at Bristol’s Coach House studio when the album was recorded.^[8] McVey (credited at the time as ‘Booga Bear’) and his wife, Neneh Cherry provided crucial financial support and in-kind help to the early careers of Massive Attack, Portishead and Tricky during this period, even paying regular wages to them through their Cherry Bear Organisation.^[9] Massive Attack went on to critical acclaim for their ever-changing line-up of distinctive, often ‘ethereal’ or whispery guest vocalists, interspersed with Del Naja and Marshall’s (initially Tricky’s) own, similarly hushed, sprechgesang stylings, on top of, what became regarded as, quintessentially British, creative sampling production; a trademark sound that fused down-tempo hip hop, soul, reggae and other eclectic references, musical and lyrical.^[1]

With the coffee-table chill-out of Protection in 1994, a rather heavier, guitar-upgraded Mezzanine in 1998, and then the denser, more clinical soundscaping of Robert Del Naja‘s essentially solo 100th Window in 2003, Massive’s overall sound grew persistently more experimental and melancholy, having a greater degree of gothic post-punk texture and moodily cinematic electronica integrated into it. The trio became known for often not being able to easily get along with one another and working increasingly separately. Andrew Vowles, aka Mushroom, reluctantly and acrimoniously left Massive Attack altogether in late 1999, at the behest of his colleagues. Daddy G had also effectively left by 2001, but returned to a studio role with greater commitment in 2005, having joined the touring line-up of 2003/4,^[10] though he did not produce “Live With Me”, with Terry Callier, the one new track from [Disc 1 of] 2006′s Collected. A record label, Melankolic, was started back in 1995 (as an imprint of Virgin [EMI]), but had completely folded by 2003. Over the decades, the Bristol collective have collaborated with Neneh Cherry, Madonna, David Bowie, Mos Def and Sinéad O’Connor amongst many others. Roots reggae veteran, Horace Andy has featured on all of their studio LP’s, each one being slower to emerge than the last by taking an increasingly long number of years to be finished.

Currently, producer Neil Davidge and Massive Attack spend time in Del Naja and Davidge’s 100 Suns studio, in Bristol, final-mixing their, as yet untitled, long-awaited, fifth studio album (a process which has involved renowned mix engineer, Mark “Spike” Stent). Davidge is steering the project towards mastering and completion as soon as possible.^[11]

In the meantime a new EP, Splitting The Atom, has leaked and was released for sale on October 5. It previews the still untitled, “LP5″. A tour of UK and European dates is underway. Other tracks are to be uploaded to the duo’s revamped website from time to time in the lead up to the much-postponed new album’s release.

History

1988-1989: Any Love era (with Smith & Mighty)

Unsigned, Mushroom (Andy Vowles), Daddy G (Grant Marshall) and 3D (Robert Del Naja) put out “Any Love” as a single,^[12] co-produced by Bristolian double-act Smith and Mighty. Through The Wild Bunch they met Cameron McVey and Neneh Cherry.

1990-1992: Blue Lines era (with Jonny Dollar)

3D co-wrote (the rap verses of) Neneh Cherry’s “Manchild”,^[13] which went to number one. Cameron McVey and Neneh Cherry helped them to record their first LP, “Blue Lines“, partly in their house, and the album was released in 1991 on Virgin Records.^[14]

The album was critically acclaimed across the board. It encompassed a range of different vocalists, normal practice for an eclectic soundsystem but quite unusual for a high-profile album at that time. The singers included Horace Andy, a reggae legend as well as Shara Nelson, a former Wild Bunch cohort. MC’s Tricky and Willie Wee, also once part of The Wild Bunch, featured, as well as Daddy G’s voice on “Five Man Army”. Neneh Cherry sang backing vocals on environmentalist anthem, “Hymn of the Big Wheel”.^[14]

That year they released “Unfinished Sympathy” as a single (an obvious pun on Unfinished Symphony), a grandiosely string-arranged track at Abbey Road studio, scored by Will Malone,^[15] that would go on to be voted the 10th greatest of all time,^[16] with a one-take video that also became iconic and much-imitated (by The Verve amongst others). The group shortened their name, on the advice of McVey to avoid controversy relating to the Gulf War.^[17] They go back to being Massive Attack for their next single, “Safe From Harm“.

They undertook a relatively brief tour, including the United States, as a DJs & MCs, hip hop-type setup, with only turntables and microphones. The tour was not particularly well received, spurring the decision to make Massive Attack into a more traditional live entity for the following tour.^[18]

1993-1996: Protection era (with Nellee Hooper) and the Melankolic label

After falling out with Shara Nelson over wages and her decision to make a solo record, the band brought in Everything But The Girl‘s Tracey Thorn as a new vocalist.^[1] Cameron McVey abandoned his role as Massive Attack’s manager and Daddy G asked Marc Picken to represent the band.^[19] Picken found Nicolette to be the other female vocalist on the album that would become their second studio release, Protection.

With McVey out of the picture, Massive, returning to their roots in some respects, enlisted the production talents of Wild Bunch alumnus, Nellee Hooper to co-produce the record, or rather co-produce some songs on it, with Mushroom. Other tracks were co-produced by The Insects and 3D.

The album was successful. A dub version, “No Protection“, was released the following year by Mad Professor. Protection won a Brit award for Best Dance Act^[20] and 3D joked, on receiving it, that none of them could dance. It was more chilled out and overtly electronic than Blue Lines and ends with a lighthearted cover of the Doors classic, “Light My Fire”, sung by Horace Andy, often thought of now as an ill-chosen reference to their live soundsystem past. The other collaborators on Protection were Marius de Vries, Craig Armstrong,^[10] a virtuoso Scottish classical pianist and Tricky. Tricky’s solo career was taking off at this time and he decided not to collaborate with Massive anymore after this, having never been very happy with Massive Attack’s creative direction or in his relationships with Del Naja and Daddy G.^[1]

1994-5 was also the period of Portishead‘s Dummy and Tricky‘s Maxinquaye albums and the term, “trip hop” was coined.^[21] Massive Attack bitterly opposed its use, wanting to not be pigeonholed. The media started to refer to the “Bristol scene”,^[22] although this would be spurious to some extent as Tricky based himself in London (and later in the States) and there was not a great deal of camaraderie between the three entities (although they could be related in that the protagonists were all connected to Blue Lines studio sessions and their wages being initially paid by Neneh Cherry and Cameron McVey’s “Cherry Bear Organisation”).

In 1995, Massive Attack started a label under EMI, Melankolic, an obvious reference to their interest in elegiac music, and signed Craig Armstrong, as well as a number of other artists: Horace Andy, Alpha, Sunna and Day One. The trio espoused a non-interference philosophy that allowed the artists to make their albums in the way they wanted.^[23]

The same year, The Insects became unavailable for co-production and having parted ways with Nellee Hooper, the band were introduced to Neil Davidge,^[24] a relatively unknown producer whose main claim to fame thus far had been an association with anonymous dance/pop outfit, DNA. The first track they worked on was “The Hunter Gets Captured By The Game”, a cover version sung by Tracey Thorn for the Batman Forever soundtrack, foretelling ever greater forays into film music. Initially, Davidge was brought in as engineer, but soon became de facto producer.

The trio increasingly fractured in the lead up to the third album, Davidge having to co-produce the three producers ideas separately. Mushroom was reported to be unhappy with the degree of the post-punk direction, Del Naja, increasingly filling the production vacuum, was taking the band in.^[24]

In 1997, the group contributed to the movie soundtrack of The Jackal, recording “Superpredators (Metal Postcard)”, a number containing a sample of Siouxsie and the Banshees^[25] and “Dissolved Girl”, a new song with vocals by Sarah Jay (which would later be remixed in a longer, darker form for the next album).

Later that year they delivered a comeback single, “Risingson” (from what would be their third album, Mezzanine) released to sate the fans’ appetite for new material.^[26]

1997-2001: Mezzanine era (with Neil Davidge) and the split from Mushroom

3D at Barcelona 2007

Mezzanine was darker, heavier sounding and more guitar-driven, the album came out initially to rather mixed reviews and a perception that it was not a commercial record, although it went on to be their most commercial. The record marked Massive Attack becoming a live band and incorporated more fresh, recorded live music as well as samples. Angelo Bruschini would become their permanent lead guitarist both in recording and live.^[26]

The lead single, after “Risingson” was “Teardrop“, perhaps the most accessible track on the album, sung by Cocteau Twin, Elizabeth Fraser. (It was accompanied by what would become a very memorable video directed by Walter Stern, of an animatronic singing foetus.) Mushroom and Del Naja met Fraser in Safeway (a British supermarket) her collaboration on three songs came about as the relationship with Tracey Thorn fell by the wayside. Horace Andy was invited back to sing on three songs, including the epic, “Angel” and a track the band made for the movie The Jackal, “Dissolved Girl”, sung by Sara Jay, was remixed longer and darker for inclusion on the record.

Mezzanine went on to be critically acclaimed, winning a Q Award for Best Album^[27] (Q magazine initially only having given it 3/5 stars) as well as being nominated for a Mercury. The record eschewed hip-hop to some extent in favour of more experimental, gothic and post-punk-like music, resulting from Del Naja’s influence. Most of the songs were started and co-written by Neil Davidge, but Davidge did not receive any writing credit on the record. The artwork for the album is a beetle, made out of parts of a Volkswagen beetle car.

Touring extensively, friction between Mushroom and the others came to a head. Mushroom was unhappy with the direction of the group, Del Naja’s dominating role and having to appear on tour.^[11] He is thought to have leaked Massive Attack material to Madonna in an effort to have her involved on an album and to have been refusing to allow anyone else in the band to modify his material (seen to be against the collaborative spirit of the group). Finding his behaviour intolerable to deal with, the other two suggested he would need to leave or the band would have to end. Mushroom acrimoniously split from Massive Attack officially in the autumn of 1999. It is rumoured that he privately blamed his subsequent severe health problems on the strain of the acrimony. It was widely reported in subsequent years that he would produce a solo album, but no such material has ever appeared in the ten years since.

In 2000, Del Naja and Daddy G released a highly publicized webcast on the state of the band and future plans, which was perceived by some to be a show of unity following divorce from Mushroom.

Around this time, Del Naja, with Davidge decanted into Ridge Farm studio with friends and band members of Lupine Howl (itself made up of sacked members of the band Spiritualized, including Damon Reece who would go on to be Massive Attack’s permanent drummer and one of two live drummers) towards a fourth Massive Attack LP, taking things even further into an experimental, psychedelic rock direction.^[7]

Daddy G became increasingly disillusioned with this approach, despite having supported the direction up until the point of Mezzanine, and stayed away from the studio from around 2001, effectively leaving Massive Attack as a producer.

Robert Del Naja and Davidge eventually conceded that the separate elements of the Lupine Howl sessions did not make for great music and this material is almost entirely discarded in favour of a more cinematic and busily electronic sound.

It was around this point that their label, Melankolic started to dwindle. There were no releases from after 2002 and the company dissolved in 2003. Del Naja later suggested in interviews that it was in part due to the artists “taking the piss” in spending too much money and Daddy G cited Virgin records’ lack of infrastructural support as a reason for the downfall.

2001 also saw the release of Eleven Promos, a DVD of all Massive Attack’s 11 music videos thus far (including Angel, a £100,000+ promo that they initially withdrew from fear of inflaming unhelpful speculation about the relationships in the band at the time, even though it was Daddy G, and not Mushroom who is depicted running away.)^[28]

2002-2005: 100th Window era (with 3D solo) and Danny the Dog

With Daddy G no longer involved in the studio, Davidge and Del Naja steered “LP4″ on their own. Enlisting the vocals of a flu-ridden Sinéad O’Connor and perennial favourite Horace Andy, 100th Window was mastered in August 2002 and released in February 2003.^[29]

More sonically conceptual than the other records and featuring no samples of other artists or cover versions, 100th Window, a reference to a book about internet security used as a metaphor apropos ‘no man is an island’. It was not as critically well received in Britain as the other records, although the album received a warmer reception internationally; scoring a 75 outof 100 on review aggregation site Metacritic ^[30]

Also in 2003, Del Naja was arrested on child porn allegations, which were reported very widely in all media outlets, thanks to the UK police and The Sun newspaper.^[31] The allegations resulted from his having entered his credit card details into a website in 1999 that was connected to other material which he did not view. Del Naja was soon eliminated as a suspect^[32] (although he was charged with Ecstasy possession and unable to get a US visa for a while) and Daddy G and fans offer support. The arrest affected the beginning of the 100th Window tour schedule.

The tour did not include the United States and was very elaborate in terms of its light show, collaborating again with UVA (United Visual Artists).

Despite the difficulties of 2003, 100th Window sold over a million copies and was toured extensively (including Queen Square, Bristol – a one-off free concert set up in the city centre park, which was seen as a homecoming).^[33] Daddy G was fully involved as a member of the tour. It was rumoured that the tour of 2003 was so expensive, it sent Massive Attack into the red, with the group unable to fully pay the roadies at the time. A less ambitious tour took place in 2004.

Afterwards, Del Naja and Davidge agreed to an offer from director Louis Leterrier, to score the entire soundtrack for Danny The Dog, starring Jet Li. It was off the back of this lucrative job that they would have the funding to buy their own ’100 Suns’ studio. Dot Allison, who had sung with the band on the 100th Window tour, sang the end titles track, “Aftersun”. Davidge also scored the soundtrack for the more critically well-received Bullet Boy film, with Del Naja on the end titles.

In 2005, Daddy G started coming into the studio, although little came of the material. He decided to instead work with a production duo, Robot Club, in another studio, feeling that he would be more free to develop tracks in the way he wanted. Meanwhile, Del Naja and Davidge recorded with a number of different singers as well as creating a track named “Twilight”, for UNKLE‘s War Stories album. Later that year, Massive Attack decided to release their contractually-obliged, Best Of, “Collected” in 2006. To make things more interesting they released it with a second disc, made up of previously released non-album songs and unreleased sketches.^[29]

2006-present: Collected, the Meltdown festival, “LP5″‘s slow progress and the Splitting The Atom EP

Massive Attack toured their greatest hits record, including North America for the first time in nearly eight years. It sold well and was critically well-received for the most part. The artwork is an echo of the concept of Mezzanine, depicting four wreath-looking flowers as if they were made out of weapons. The justification given for the “Best Of” was that the record buys the band more time with the record company to develop “LP5″ in the way that they want.

In 2007, Del Naja and Davidge scored three soundtracks, In Prison My Whole Life (which featured a track called “Calling Mumia” with vocals by American rapper Snoop Dogg), Battle In Seattle and Trouble the Water (which received an Oscar nomination for the music). All of this soundtrack work was either credited as Neil Davidge and Robert Del Naja or under the guise of 100 Suns, in an effort to differentiate the soundtrack/film scoring work from the brand name of Massive Attack.

It became apparent in 2007, through the band’s MySpace, that they were working with Stephanie Dosen and she later became part of the touring line-up, Elizabeth Fraser having returned to the live repertoire initially.

In February 2007, Massive Attack hosted a charity benefit for the Hoping Foundation, a charity for Palestinian children, cementing their reputation as one of Britain’s most obviously political bands. A year afterwards, in 2008, it was announced that Massive Attack were to curate the UK’s Southbank Meltdown, a week long event encompassing numerous bands Massive Attack like and relate to. It was suggested in interviews that this event would inspire Massive back into action, having spent several years drifting towards the completion of their fifth studio album.^[34] Later on the same year, the band picked up a Q award for Innovation.

Later that year, Del Naja and Daddy G headed to Damon Albarn‘s studios for some writing and jamming. Around this time, Davidge scored the soundtrack for a Paul McGuigan movie, Push and in December, Del Naja completed the score for 44 Inch Chest with The Insects and Angelo Badalamenti.

Davidge and Del Naja then got back together in 2009 with Daddy G to concertedly finish the fifth album, incorporating bits of the Albarn material. It had been widely suggested that “LP5″ (formerly known as Weather Underground) would be released in September 2009 (even as specifically as 22 September 2009 on the official forum). Massive Attack have claimed the album will be released in 2004, 2005, 2007 and 2008 and now 2009, but recent indications have been given for January 2010, though if Massive Attack finish mastering their record at the end of August once EMI’s 6-month promotional lead-time is added that takes the likely release date to earliest March 2010.^{[citation needed]}

Later it was announced that the band are to headline the 2009 Bestival festival and soon after that they are to tour the UK^[35] and Europe,^[36] which has led to speculation that “LP5″ is imminent, along with two strange and typically caps-locked blog entries by 3D on the official site, one being entitled “SUMMER OF SUBMISSION”.^[37]

In May, Robert Del Naja’s instrumental ‘Herculaneum’, featured in the movie Gomorra, won the Italian version of the Oscar for Best Song.

Later that month, Del Naja and Marshall picked up a special Ivor Novello award for Outstanding Contribution to British Music. ^[38]

In June of 2009, it was announced that, on May 29, Jonny Dollar, aged 45, lost his battle against cancer, survived by his wife and 4 children. Dollar was the programmer and hands-on producer behind Blue Lines, writing the melody that was the basis for Unfinished Sympathy. ^[39]

On August 25th their new EP, “Splitting the Atom“, was announced. The other new tracks off of the EP were revealed to be, Tunde Adebimpe‘s “Pray For Rain”, Martina Topley-Bird‘s “Psyche” and Guy Garvey‘s “Bulletproof Love”. The latter two tracks appear as remixes of the intended album versions and none of “LP5″‘s tracks are expected to resemble the versions that were played on the previous tour, with some songs, such as “Dobro”, dropped altogether.

“LP5” speculation

peculation surrounding the next album was addressed by D in a recent interview (at the Ivor Novello awards), where he mooted a release date of October 2009 for “LP5″.^[40]

However, it turned out that only a previewing EP will be released then and “LP5″‘s release date is to be put back yet again, for a fourth year of delay, now to Spring 2010, to the frustration of some fans.^[41]

The line up of guest vocalists for the next album from Massive Attack (in addition to Horace Andy) are now thought to be:^[42]

• Tunde Adebimpe of TV on the Radio
• Damon Albarn of Blur, Gorillaz [as "2D"], Monkey: Journey To The West and The Good, the Bad & The Queen (co-writer)
• Guy Garvey of Elbow (co-writer)
• Hope Sandoval of Hope Sandoval & The Warm Inventions^[43]
• Martina Topley-Bird

Other vocalists who have recorded sessions during the era but are thought not to have made the cut are:^[44]

• Jhelisa Anderson (also recorded unreleased material in 2002)
• Stephanie Dosen
• Yolanda Quarty of Phantom Limb
• Aku Orraca-Tetteh of Dragons of Zynth
• Elizabeth Fraser
• Dot Allison
• Debbie Clare
• Mike Patton
• Fredo Viola
• Beth Orton

Backing tracks were sent to Alice Russell, Patti Smith and David Bowie respectively that did not develop further and past discussions also had with Tom Waits and Tricky respectively, in terms of being guest vocalists, have not, to date, worked out.

Some websites refer to Sia having worked with Massive in the past. Keith Levine has been pictured playing guitar during sessions of this era. Also, fellow post-punk icon Mark Stewart announced in April 2009 that he would be collaborating with Massive Attack. It is not thought his contribution, if any to “LP5″, will be vocal. ^[45]

The new EP, “Splitting The Atom”, is thought to serve as a preview taste of the new album.

Massive Attack are expected to officially announce more details on “LP5″ itself, later in the year, and are confident of a February 8 release, despite Virgin/EMI’s usually long promotional lead-time requirement, it still not having been yet final-mixed or mastered and a major tour taking place at the same time.

Hottest 100 of all time in Australia

In July 2009 Massive Attack had two songs in Triple J Hottest 100 of all time, #22 “Teardrop” and #93 “Unfinished Sympathy”, voted by the Australian public. ^[46]

Notably, they are the only two songs in the entire 100 list sung by women. ^[47]

Discography

Studio albums

• Blue Lines (1991)
• Protection (1994)
• Mezzanine (1998)
• 100th Window (2003)
• “LP5″ ^[48] (2010)

Other

• No Protection (1995) (A remix album by Mad Professor)
• Singles 90/98 (1998) (An 11-disc box set)
• Danny the Dog/Unleashed (2004) (A soundtrack by Robert Del Naja / Neil Davidge ±)
• Collected (2006) (A best-of compilation 2xCD and DVD)

± Credited as a Massive Attack album, due to insistence from the film’s producers, but regarded as a Del Naja/Davidge score rather than a proper Massive Attack studio LP as such, hence “LP5″ as a reference for the next studio album, rather than “LP6″

Tool emerged with a heavy metal sound on their first studio album, Undertow, at a time when the genre was dominated by thrash metal; and later became a dominant act in the alternative metal movement with the release of their second effort, Ænima, in 1996. Their efforts to unify musical experimentation, visual arts, and a message of personal evolution continued with their third album, Lateralus, in 2001; and their most recent album, 10,000 Days, released in 2006, gained the band critical acclaim and success around the world.

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

History

Early years (1988–1992)

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 found employment remodeling pet stores after having studied visual arts in Michigan.^[3] Danny Carey performed as a drummer for Wild Blue Yonder, Green Jellÿ,^[3] and Carole King, and played in the Los Angeles area with Pigmy Love Circus.^[4]

Keenan and Jones met through a common friend in 1989.^[5] After Keenan played a tape recording for Jones of his previous band project, Jones was so impressed by his voice that he eventually talked his friend into forming their own band.^[5] They started jamming together and were on the lookout for a drummer and a bass player. Danny Carey happened to live above Keenan and was introduced to Jones by Tom Morello, an old high school friend of Jones and former bandmate of Electric Sheep.^[6] Carey began playing in their sessions because he “felt kinda sorry for them”, as other invited musicians were not showing up.^[7] Tool’s lineup was completed when a friend of Jones introduced them to bassist D’Amour.^[8] Early on, the band fabricated the story that they formed because of the pseudophilosophy “lachrymology”.^[9] Although “lachrymology” was also explained to be an inspiration for the band’s name, Keenan later explained their intentions differently: “Tool is exactly what it sounds like: It’s a big dick. It’s a wrench…. we are… your tool; use us as a catalyst in your process of finding out whatever it is you need to find out, or whatever it is you’re trying to achieve.”^[10]

After only a few gigs, the band was approached by record companies,^[5] and only three months into their career they signed a record deal with Zoo Entertainment.^[8] In March 1992, Zoo published the band’s first effort, Opiate. Described by the band as “slam and bang” heavy metal^[11] and the “hardest sounding” six songs they had written to that point,^[12] the EP included the singles “Hush” and “Opiate”. The band’s first music video, “Hush”, promoted their dissenting views about the then-prominent Parents Music Resource Center and its advocacy of the censorship of music. The video featured the band members naked with their genitalia covered by parental advisory stickers and their mouths covered by duct tape.^[13] The band began touring with Rollins Band, Fishbone, and Rage Against the Machine^[14] to positive responses which Janiss Garza of RIP Magazine summarized in September 1992 as a “buzz” and “a strong start”.^[15]

Undertow (1993–1995)

The following year, at a time when alternative rock was at its height, Tool released their first full-length album, Undertow (1993). It expressed more diverse dynamics than Opiate and included songs the band had chosen not to publish on their previous release, when they had opted for a heavier sound.^[12] The band began touring again as planned, with an exception in May 1993. Tool was scheduled to play at the Garden Pavilion in Hollywood but learned at the last minute that the Garden Pavilion belonged to L. Ron Hubbard‘s Church of Scientology, which the band felt clashed with “the band’s ethics about how a person should not follow a belief system that constricts their development as a human being”.^[14] Keenan “spent most of the show baa-ing like a sheep at the audience”.^[16]

Tool later played several concerts during the Lollapalooza festival tour, and were moved from the second stage to the main stage by their manager and the festival co-founder Ted Gardner.^[17] At the last concert of Lollapalooza in Tool’s hometown Los Angeles, comedian Bill Hicks introduced the band. Hicks had become a friend of the band members and an influence on them after being mentioned in Undertow’s liner notes.^[18] He jokingly asked the audience of 60,000 people to stand still and help him look for a lost contact lens.^[19] The boost in popularity gained from these concerts led Undertow to be certified gold by the RIAA in September 1993 and to achieve platinum status in 1995,^[20] despite being sold with a censored album cover by distributors such as Wal-Mart.^[21][22] The single “Sober” became a hit single by March 1994 and won the band Billboard’s “Best Video By A New Artist” award for the accompanying stop motion music video.^[12]

	“Prison Sex” “Prison Sex” was removed from the MTV playlist and deemed too graphic and offensive by MuchMusic.[14][23] In this sample, Keenan begins his metaphorical treatment of child abuse.
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With the release of Tool’s follow-up single “Prison Sex“, the band again became the target of censorship. The song’s lyrics and video dealt with child abuse, which sparked controversial reactions; Keenan’s lyrics begin with: “It took so long to remember just what happened. I was so young and vestal then, you know it hurt me, but I’m breathing so I guess I’m still alive.” The video was created primarily by guitarist Adam Jones, who saw it as his “surrealistic interpretation” of the subject matter.^[24] And while some contemporary journalists again praised the video and described the lyrics as “metaphoric”,^[13][23] the American branch of MuchMusic asked Keenan to represent the band in a hearing. It deemed the respective music video too graphic and obscene,^[14] and MTV stopped airing it after a few viewings.^[23]

In September 1995, the band started writing and recording their second studio album. At that time Tool experienced its only lineup change to date, with bassist D’Amour leaving the band amicably to pursue other projects. Justin Chancellor, a member of former tourmates Peach, eventually replaced D’Amour, having been chosen over competitors such as Kyuss‘ Scott Reeder, Filter‘s Frank Cavanaugh, Pigmy Love Circus‘s E. Shepherd Stevenson and ZAUM‘s Marco Fox.^[25]

Ænima (1996–2000)

On October 1, 1996, Tool released their second full-length album, Ænima (pronounced /ˈɒnɪmə/)^[26] in Compact Disc format and in vinyl format on October 15, 1996. The album was recorded and cut at Ocean Way, Hollywood, California and The Hook, North Hollywood, California from 1995 to 1996. It was certified triple platinum by the RIAA on March 4, 2003.^[27]

The title Ænima (pronounced ON-ima) is a combination of the words ‘anima‘ (Latin for ‘soul’ associated with the ideas of “life force” and a term often used by psychologist Carl Jung) and ‘enema‘ the medical procedure.^[28]

After Paul D’Amour left Tool, Justin Chancellor came on board, and the recording of the already-begun Ænima continued. 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 Ænima’s Grammy-nominated artwork.

The album was dedicated to satirist Bill Hicks, who had died two and a half years earlier.^[14] The band intended to raise awareness about Hicks’s material and ideas, because they felt that Tool and Hicks “were resonating similar concepts”.^[29] In particular, Ænima’s final track “Third Eye” is preceded by a clip of Hicks’ performances, and both the lenticular casing of the Ænima album packaging as well as the chorus of the title track “Ænema” make reference to a sketch from Hicks’s Arizona Bay, in which he contemplates the idea of Los Angeles falling into the Pacific Ocean.^[29][30]

	“Ænema” This Bill Hicks inspired song won the 1998 Grammy Award for Best Metal Performance.
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The first single, “Stinkfist“, garnered limited and imperfect airplay: It was shortened by radio programmers, MTV (U.S.) renamed the music video of “Stinkfist” to “Track #1″ due to offensive connotations,^[31] and the lyrics of the song were altered.^[32] Responding to fan complaints about censorship, Matt Pinfield of MTV’s 120 Minutes expressed regret on air by waving his fist in front of his face while introducing the video and explaining the name change.^[31]

A tour began in October 1996, only two weeks after Ænima’s release. Following numerous appearances in the United States and Europe, Tool headed for Australia and New Zealand in late March 1997. April 1 of that year saw the first of several April Fools’ pranks related to the band. Kabir Akhtar, webmaster of the band’s semi-official fanpage, The Tool Page, wrote that “at least three of the band are listed in critical condition” after a tour bus accident on a highway.^[33] This hoax gained wide attention and was eventually exposed on radio and MTV. Akhtar later posted an apology, claiming that The Tool Page “will not indulge itself in such outlandish pranks in the future”—a claim that would be belied by later April Fools’ pranks.^[33] The tour continued the next day as originally announced.

Eventually returning to the United States, Tool appeared at Lollapalooza ’97 in July, this time as a headliner, where they gained critical praise from The New York Times:

“Tool was returning in triumph to Lollapalooza after appearing among the obscure bands on the festival’s smaller stage in 1993. Now Tool is the prime attraction for a festival that’s struggling to maintain its purpose… Tool uses taboo-breaking imagery for hellfire moralizing in songs that swerve from bitter reproach to nihilistic condemnation. Its music has refined all the troubled majesty of grunge.”^[34]

Notwithstanding a decline in popularity of alternative rock music during the mid-90s in the United States, Ænima eventually matched Tool’s successful debut in sales.^[35] The progressive-influenced Ænima landed the band at the head of the alternative metal genre: It featured the Grammy Award-winning “Ænema”^[36] and appeared on several “Best Albums of 1996″ lists,^[37] with notable examples being those of Kerrang!^[38] and Terrorizer.^[39]

A legal battle that began the same year 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 suit. According to Volcano, Tool had violated their contract when the band looked at offers from other record labels. After Tool filed a countersuit 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.^[40][41] In 2000, the band dismissed their long-time manager Ted Gardner, who then sued the band over his commission on this lucrative agreement.^[42]

During this time, Keenan joined the band A Perfect Circle which was founded by long-time Tool guitar tech Billy Howerdel, while Jones joined The Melvins’ Buzz Osborne and Carey drummed with Dead Kennedys’ Jello Biafra on other side projects.^[43] Although there were rumors that Tool were breaking up,^[44] Chancellor, Jones, and Carey were working on new material while waiting for Keenan to return.^[45] In 2000, the Salival box set (CD/VHS or CD/DVD) was released, effectively putting an end to the rumors.^[46] The CD contained one new original track, a cover of Led Zeppelin’s “No Quarter“, a live version of Peach’s “You Lied“, and revised versions of old songs. The VHS and the DVD each contained four music videos, plus a bonus music video for “Hush” on the DVD. Although Salival did not yield any singles, the hidden track “Maynard’s Dick” (which dates back to the Opiate era) briefly found its way to FM radio when several DJs chose to play it on air under the title “Maynard’s Dead”.^[47]

Lateralus (2001–2005)

In January 2001, Tool announced a new album, Systema Encéphale, along with a 12-song tracklist containing titles such as “Riverchrist”, “Numbereft”, “Encephatalis”, “Musick”, and “Coeliacus”.^[48] File-sharing networks such as Napster were flooded with bogus files bearing the titles’ names.^[48] At the time, Tool members were outspokenly critical of file-sharing networks in general due to the negative impact on artists that are dependent on success in record sales to continue their career. Keenan had this to say during an interview with NY Rock in 2000, “I think there are a lot of other industries out there that might deserve being destroyed. The ones who get hurt by MP3s are not so much companies or the business, but the artists, people who are trying to write songs.”^[49]

	“Schism” “Schism” is the Grammy awarded first single off Lateralus. With its abstract lyrics and multi-sectioned, odd-metered structure it has since become a signature song of the band.
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A month later, the band revealed that the new album was actually titled Lateralus and that the name Systema Encéphale and the tracklist had been a ruse.^[50] Lateralus and the corresponding tours would take Tool a step further toward Art rock^[51][52][53] and progressive rock^[54][55][56] territory. Rolling Stone wrote in an attempt to summarize the album that “Drums, bass and guitars move in jarring cycles of hyperhowl and near-silent death march… The prolonged running times of most of Lateralus’ thirteen tracks are misleading; the entire album rolls and stomps with suitelike purpose.”^[55] Joshua Klein of The A.V. Club in turn expressed his opinion that Lateralus, with its 79 minutes and relatively complex and long songs—topped by the ten-and-a-half minute music video for “Parabola“—posed a challenge to fans and music programming alike.^[57]

The album became a worldwide success, reaching #1 on the U.S. Billboard 200 albums chart in its debut week.^[58] Tool received their second Grammy Award for the best metal performance of 2001 for the song “Schism“.^[59] During the band’s acceptance speech, drummer Carey stated that he would like to thank his parents (for putting up with him) and Satan, and bassist Chancellor concluded: “I want to thank my dad for doing my mom.”^[60]

Extensive touring throughout 2001 and 2002 supported Lateralus and included a personal highlight for the band: a 10-show joint mini-tour with King Crimson in August 2001. Comparisons between the two were made, MTV describing the bands as “the once and future kings of progressive rock”. Keenan stated of the minitour: “For me, being on stage with King Crimson is like Lenny Kravitz playing with Led Zeppelin, or Britney Spears onstage with Debbie Gibson.”^[52]

Although the end of the tour in November 2002 seemed to signal the start of another dormancy for the band, they did not become completely inactive. While Keenan recorded and toured with A Perfect Circle, the other band members released an interview and a recording of new material, both exclusive to the fan club. On April 1, 2005, the official Tool website announced that “Maynard has found Jesus” and would be abandoning the recording of the new Tool album temporarily and possibly permanently.^[61] Kurt Loder of MTV contacted Keenan via email to ask for a confirmation and received a nonchalant confirmation. When Loder asked again, Keenan’s response was simply “heh heh.”^[62] However, on April 7 the official site explained, “Good news, April fools fans. The writing and recording is back under way.”^[63]

The writing and recording proceeded for the follow-up to Lateralus; meanwhile, a Lateralus vinyl edition and two DVD singles were released, and the band’s official website received a new splash intro by artist Joshua Davis.^[64] The “double vinyl four-picture disc” edition of Lateralus was first released as a limited autographed edition exclusively available to fan club members and publicly released on August 23, 2005. On December 20, 2005, the two DVDs were released, one containing the single “Schism” and the other “Parabola“, a remix by Lustmord, and the music video with a dual-commentary by David Yow and Jello Biafra, respectively.

10,000 Days (2006 onward)

Fifteen years into the band’s career, Tool had acquired what Dan Epstein of Revolver described as a devoted “cult” following,^[65] and as details about the band’s next album emerged, such as the influence of Lateralus tourmates Fantômas and Meshuggah,^[66] controversy surrounding the new Tool surfaced with speculation over song titles and pre-release rumors of leaked songs.^[67] Speculation over possible album titles was dismissed with a news item on the official Tool website, announcing that the new album’s name was 10,000 Days. Nevertheless, speculation continued with allegations that 10,000 Days was merely a “decoy” album to fool audiences until the day of its actual release,^[67] which eventually proved false when a leaked copy of the album was distributed via filesharing networks a week prior to its official release.^[68]

Tool appeared at many big festivals during their 10,000 Days tour. Here, they play the orange stage (main stage) at the 2006 edition of Roskilde Festival.

The album opener, “Vicarious“, premiered on U.S. radio stations on April 17. The record followed on May 2, 2006 in the U.S. and debuted at the top spots of various international charts. 10,000 Days sold 564,000 copies in its opening week in the U.S. and was number one on the Billboard 200 charts, doubling the sales of Pearl Jam‘s self-titled album, its closest competitor.^[69] However, 10,000 Days was received less favorably by critics than its predecessor Lateralus had been.^[70]

After the release of 10,000 Days, a tour kicked off at Coachella on April 30, 2006. The touring schedule was similar to the Lateralus tour of 2001; supporting acts were Isis and Mastodon. During a short break early the next year, after touring Australia and New Zealand, drummer Danny Carey suffered a biceps tear during a skirmish with his girlfriend’s dog, casting uncertainty on the band’s upcoming concerts in North America.^[71] Carey underwent surgery on February 21, and several gigs had to be postponed. Back on tour by April, Tool appeared on June 15 as a headliner at the Bonnaroo Music Festival with a guest appearance from Rage Against the Machine‘s Tom Morello on “Lateralus“.^[72]

Meanwhile, “Vicarious” was a nominee for Best Hard Rock Performance and 10,000 Days won Best Recording Package at the 49th Grammy Awards.^[73] The music video for “Vicarious” was released on DVD on December 18.

In an interview conducted in May 2007, Justin Chancellor stated that the band would probably continue their tour until early 2008 and then “take some time off”.^[74]

Tool in Paris in 2006.

He qualified this statement by adding that the band has already written new material and would surely release another album at some point down the road. A possible project until a next album is to make a “band movie”, a possibility the band has reportedly considered for a long time. The ideas range from “a narrative story in a surreal fashion with as much money and special effects as possible” to “pockets of all of that or something that’s live or the band playing”.^[75] Although Carey stated that the necessary know-how was at hand due to the many relations to artists working in the movie business, Jones dismissed the idea saying, “It’s just talk right now.”^[75][76] According to Rolling Stone, after the 50th Grammy Awards, while attending a Sony BMG after party at the Beverly Hills Hotel, Keenan also promised another Tool album.^[77] Asked in an early 2009 interview with Guitar World about the new album, Jones replied, “It’s been coming along… great! [laughs] No, we’ve been on hiatus. I’m writing and Justin’s 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.”^[78]

On hiatus since early 2008, Tool is expected to begin writing a new album sometime this year, according to Keenan,^[79] but no details on a possible release date. On March 24, 2009, the band’s official website confirmed a Tool summer tour.^[80] The tour kicks off on July 18 in Commerce City, Colorado, at the Mile High Music Festival. The last confirmed dates are August 7–9 for Lollapalooza 2009 and August 22 for the Epicenter Festival in Pomona, California.^[81] Tool are headliners at both.^[82][83] The last show of the summer tour was August 22, 2009

Musical style and influences

Tool was described by Patrick Donovan of The Age as “the thinking person’s metal band. Cerebral and visceral, soft and heavy, melodic and abrasive, tender and brutal, familiar and strange, western and eastern, beautiful and ugly, taut yet sprawling and epic, they are a tangle of contradictions.”^[67] Tool has gained critical praise from the International Herald Tribune‘s C.B. Liddell for their complex and ever-evolving sound.^[84] Describing their general sound, Allmusic refers to them as “grinding, post-Jane’s Addiction heavy metal”,^[46] and The New York Times sees similarities to “Led Zeppelin‘s heaving, battering guitar riffs and Middle Eastern modes”.^[85] Their 2001 work Lateralus was compared by Allmusic to Pink Floyd‘s Meddle (1971), but thirty years later and altered by “Tool’s impulse to cram every inch of infinity with hard guitar meat and absolute dread”.^[54]

Musical style

A component of Tool’s song repertoire relies on the use of unusual time signatures, or more objectively, time signatures other than the commonplace 4/4. For instance, bassist Justin Chancellor describes the time signature employed on Lateralus’ first single, “Schism“, as 6.5/8, and that it later “goes into all kinds of other times”.^[86] Further examples include the album’s title track, which also displays shifting rhythms,^[86] as does 10,000 Days’ “Wings for Marie (Pt 1)” and “10,000 Days (Wings Pt 2)”.^[87]

Beyond this aspect of the band’s sound, each band member experiments within his musical scope. Bass Player magazine described Chancellor’s bass playing as a “thick midrange tone, guitar-style techniques, and elastic versatility”.^[86] As an example of this, the magazine mentioned the use of a wah effect by hammering “the notes with the left hand and using the bass’s tone controls to get a tone sweep”, such as on the song “The Patient” (Lateralus 2001).^[86]

Completing the band’s rhythm section, drummer Danny Carey uses polyrhythms, tabla-style techniques, and the incorporation of custom electronic drum pads to trigger samples, such as prerecorded tabla and octoban sounds.^[87]

Maynard James Keenan’s ability as a vocalist has been characterized more subjectively by the Seattle Post-Intelligencer: After his performance during an Alice in Chains reunion concert in 2005, freelancer Travis Hay saw him as “a natural fit at replacing Layne Staley“.^[88] Regarding his role in A Perfect Circle and Tool, The New York Times wrote that “both groups rely on Mr. Keenan’s ability to dignify emotions like lust, anger and disgust, the honey in his voice adding a touch of profundity”.^[89]

According to Guitar Player magazine, Adam Jones does not rely on any one particular guitar-playing technique but rather combines many techniques.^[90] For example, Allmusic wrote that he “alternately utiliz[es] power chords, scratchy noise, chiming arpeggios, and a quiet minimalism” in “Sober“.^[91] Additionally, the band uses forms of instrumental experimentation, like the use of a “pipe bomb microphone” (a guitar pickup mounted inside a brass cylinder) and a talk box guitar solo on “Jambi”.^[92]

	“Lateralus” The number of syllables per line in the lyrics to “Lateralus” correspond to an arrangement of the Fibonacci numbers.
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The band puts an emphasis on the sound of their songs and attempts to reduce the effect lyrics can have on the perception of songs by not releasing song lyrics with any album.^[3] Lyrical arrangements are often given special attention, such as in “Lateralus”. The number of syllables per line in the lyrics to “Lateralus” correspond to an arrangement of the fibonacci numbers^[93] and the song “Jambi” uses and makes a reference to the common metrical foot iamb.^[94] The lyrics on Ænima and Lateralus focused on philosophy and spirituality—specific subjects range from organized religion in “Opiate”, to evolution and Jungian psychology in “Forty-Six & 2” and transcendence in “Lateralus“.^[95] On 10,000 Days, Keenan wanted to explore issues more personal to him:^[95] the album name and title track refer to the twenty-seven years during which his mother suffered from complications of a stroke until her death in 2003.^[96]

Influences

The band has named the Melvins^[17] among those that influenced their development, but the most-publicized influence are progressive rock pioneers King Crimson.^[97] Longtime King Crimson member Robert Fripp has downplayed any influence his band had on Tool. In an interview with Tool, he touched briefly on how the two bands relate to each other, stating “Do you hear the influence? There’s just one figure where I hear an influence, just one. It was a piece we were developing that we dropped. And it’s almost exactly the same figure: three note arpeggio with a particular accent from the guitar. So I do not think you could have heard it. That’s the only thing.”^[98] He also revealed, “I happen to be a Tool fan. The members of Tool have been generous enough to suggest that Crimson has been an influence on them. Adam Jones asked me if I could detect it in their music, and I said I couldn’t. I can detect more Tool influence in King Crimson, than I can hear King Crimson in Tool.”^[99]

In turn, Maloof and Newquists attribute to Tool an influence on modern metal in its own right in their book The New Metal Masters.^[6] Sean Richardson of The Boston Phoenix sees System of a Down, Deftones, and Godsmack as examples of Tool’s “towering influence” on the genre.^[100] Moreover, Keenan’s unique style of singing has been repeatedly seen as influencing artists such as Pete Loeffler of Chevelle.^[101][102]

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. In particular, Adam Jones doubles as the band’s art director and director of their music videos.^[103] Another expression of this is an official website “dedicated to the arts and influences” on the band, dissectional.com.

Music videos

The band has released eight music videos but made personal appearances in only the first two, which the band states is to prevent people from “latching onto the personalities involved rather than listening to the music.”^[13] With the exception of “Hush” and “Vicarious“, all of Tool’s music videos feature stop motion animation to some extent. The videos are created primarily by Adam Jones, often in collaboration with artists such as Chet Zar,^[104] Alex Grey,^[104] and Osseus Labyrint.^[105]

The “Sober” music video in particular attracted much attention. Jones explained that it doesn’t contain a storyline, but that his intentions were to summon personal emotions with its imagery.^[12] Rolling Stone described this imagery by stating that, in the video, “evil little men dwell in a dark dungeon with meat coursing through pipes in the wall” and called it a “groundbreaking”, “epic” clip.^[106] Billboard voted it “Best Video By A New Artist”.^[12]

The video for “Vicarious” was released on DVD on December 18, 2007.^[107] The video is also notable because it is the first Tool video to be produced entirely through the use of CGI.

In the April 2009 issue of Guitar World, Adam Jones mentions that the band is working on a video for their song “The Pot”, but since then there have been no updates as to whether or not they have followed through with their plans.

Album artwork

Adam Jones is responsible for most of the band’s artwork concepts. Their first album, Undertow, featured a ribcage sculpture by Jones on its cover and photos contributed by the band members.^[24] Later albums included artwork by collaborating artists: Ænima^[108] and Salival^[109] featured works by Cam de Leon; Lateralus^[110] and 10,000 Days^[103] were created with the help of Alex Grey. The releases garnered positive critical reception, with a music journalist of the Associated Press attributing to the band a reputation for innovative album packaging.^[103]

Both Ænima^[111] and 10,000 Days^[73] were nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Recording Package, but while the former failed to win in 1997, the latter did win in 2006. As art director, Adam Jones created packaging for 10,000 Days that features a pair of stereoscopic lenses for viewing 3-D artwork and photos. Jones has been a lifelong fan of stereoscopic photography and expressed a desire for the packaging to be unique and to reflect the ’70s artwork he appreciates.^[112]

Live shows

Tool performing live in 2006, showcasing an elaborate light show, using 10,000 Days artwork by the painter Alex Grey as backdrop.

Following their first tours in the early nineties, Tool has performed as a headline act in world tours and major festivals such as Lollapalooza (1997 and 2009), Coachella (1999 and 2006), Download Festival (2006), Roskilde (2001 and 2006), Big Day Out (2007), Bonnaroo (2007), 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; Tricky, Robert Fripp, Mike Patton, Dave Lombardo, Brann Dailor of Mastodon, and experimental arts duo Osseus Labyrint^[113] during their 2001–02 Lateralus tour; and Kirk Hammett, Phil Campbell, Serj Tankian, and Tom Morello during their 2006–07 tour. They have covered songs by Led Zeppelin, Ted Nugent,^[114] Peach,^[114] Kyuss,^[114] and the Ramones.^[115]

Live shows on Tool’s headline tour incorporate an unorthodox stage setting and video display.^[116] Singer Maynard James Keenan lines up in the back with himself and drummer Danny Carey on elevated platforms, while guitarist Adam Jones and bassist Justin Chancellor stand in the front toward the side edges of the stage.^[117] Keenan, despite being the vocalist, often faces the backdrop or the sides of the stage rather than the audience.^[118] No followspots or live cameras are used;^[119] instead, the band employs extensive backlighting to direct the focus away from the band members and toward large screens in the back and the crowd.^[116] Breckinridge Haggerty, the band’s live video director, explains that the resulting dark spaces on stage “are… for Maynard. A lot of the songs are a personal journey for him… and he feels more comfortable in the shadows.”^[119] The big screens are used to play back “looped clips that aren’t tracked to a song like a music video. The band has never used any sort of timecode. They’ve always made sure the video can change on-the-fly, in a way that can be improvised… The show is never the same twice.”^[119] During the 10,000 Days tour, the video material consisted of over six hours of material, created by Adam Jones, his wife Camella Grace, Chet Zar, Meats Meier and Breckinridge Haggerty.^[119] Some of the material created by Chet Zar has been released on his DVD Disturb the Normal.