For those of you who know me well, you know that Tool and King Crimson are among my very favorite bands…as in ever. I’ve seen both bands several times and would barely hesitate to see either again when given the opportunity. Imagine then my excitement – in 2001, while I was still living in Seattle – when it was announced that King Crimson were going to be supporting Tool for the west coast portion of their Lateralus tour. I bought my tickets immediately. At about the same time, I was laid off along with 192 other people from Real Networks, the company where I had worked for the previous two and a half years. The economy was in about as bad of shape as it is now, and many of us were finding it impossible to land any paying jobs, but I bought my ticket anyway.

The night of the show I ended up selling the tickets, as I was feeling particularly panicky about my financial situation, so I never got to see that particular pair-up. Looking back, I still regret that decision. Yesterday however, I became aware of the rumor that Adam Jones (creative mastermind and guitarist for Tool) and Robert Fripp (King Crimson founder and creative mastermind in his own right) may resume collaboration on a record that they apparently started 5-6 years ago. Tool’s last record, 10,000 Days came out in 2006. They have always been a slow working band, but between Maynard’s current project, Puscifer, and the possibility of this collaboration finally coming to fruition, one has to wonder if Tool has another album somewhere in their future. Either way, the thought of Fripp and Jones releasing a collaborative work is one that I would happily shell out for.