Despite Rumors, Tool Say Their New Album Isn't Complete

Perhaps you've been paying attention to the online chatter — or perhaps not.

Either way, the long and the short of it is Tool's next album is not finished.

Over the weekend, the band issued a statement to Rolling Stone explaining how a misunderstanding between guitarist Adam Jones and a Tool fan led to speculation that the group had completed the album and planned on releasing it this year.

"Last night, Adam Jones, in a private conversation with fans attending the Portland Tool concert, joked that the band's new album was not only finished but coming out the next day," the statement says. "Unfortunately, his off-the-cuff joke was taken out of context. Work on the forthcoming album is ongoing and as soon as it is done, trust me, we will be the first to let everyone know."

Jones even Tweeted this message: "FYI, 'The record's done and it's coming out tomorrow' is what I said yesterday, followed by 'just kidding.'"

Last October, Tool fans were greeted by a lengthy update about the band's in-progress album. The post, which appeared on the band's website, make mention of an "epic" piece that will be included on the album; apparently, it's a track they've been working on for quite a while.

Here's the entire post from toolband.com. Note that it was written by the band's webmaster:

"A couple of weeks ago, I visited the Tool loft to try and get some kind of idea as to how things were progressing with the writing sessions now that the band was back hard at it. Well, I am happy to report that there has indeed been a lot of progress as far as new material goes, especially with the lengthy so-called 'epic' piece that the guys have been arranging for quite some time now.

"Shortly after I arrived, before taking to their respective instruments, Adam suggested that everyone should first have a listen to what they had recorded during the previous session in order to make sure that all were in agreement with certain recently added sections. And listen they did. In fact, to give you some idea — my parking meter expired twice before they were done.Tool are on the first leg of a North American tour that kicked off in Spokane, Washington, earlier this week.