# Tool **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 21, 2004, 8:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tool/270369 "2004-10-21T08:31:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Cisco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ccd318/32.png) [@Cisco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cisco)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2004, 8:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tool/270369/1 "2004-10-21T08:31:37Z")
I was a really big fan of Tool when _Undertow_ first came out. I picked up a copy of _Opiate_ soon after that and listened to them both for a few years and liked them a lot. Not long before _Aenima_ came out, I was getting a little worn out on the first two albums. It’s not that I didn’t like them anymore, I was just taking a break from having them in my regular rotatation and listening to different things. So when the new album came out, I didn’t buy it right away. Sure, I heard most of it because everyone besides me in the free world owned it, but I never got super intimate with it. Then the rabid fans started multiplying like March hares and I couldn’t handle people screaming at me to go buy the album “NOW!” every time they found out I didn’t have it. The fans of this band, while loyal, seem to be just about the most annoying (not to mention clueless) people on the planet. Just as all this rage was starting to die down and I was about to buy _Aenima_, they went and released _Lateralus_ and Maynard did an album (or was it two albums?) with another group and it started all over again. Now it’s been a couple of years and the waters are calming down again. I found my old _Opiate_ cd and borrowed a copy of _Undertow_ from a friend and I’m really getting into Tool again. I’m pretty familiar with _Aenima_ but I still haven’t bought it to this day. I think I’ve only heard one song from _Lateralus_ and maybe two A Perfect Circle songs. So, after…(has it been a decade since _Undertow_ :eek:?)…ahem, all this time, I think I’m going to try to rediscover this band whose fans have kept me away for the last several years. What do you guys think of them? ---
**Author:** ![Freejooky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ba8739/32.png) [@Freejooky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freejooky)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2004, 8:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tool/270369/2 "2004-10-21T08:42:53Z")
I liked “undertow”, but always thought “opiate” was a bit boring and typical. The reason I like Tool is that they’re artier, more intelligent and more conceptually and sonically creative than other bands in their genre. “Aenima” was brilliant, and really sold me on them. What an album! But “lateralus” was really a mess - the band’s proggish tendencies took over, rather than being a nice garnish. The songs were overlong, pretentious, chorus-less, overconsciously “epic”, and one song in paritcular (i can’t remember the title) actually had a chorus of “suck it!”- the type of mindless, testosterone date-rape metal that Tool were so great for _not_ being. Since then (and especially the fans’ indiscriminate acceptance of that turd of an album), I’ve been soured on them. ---
**Author:** ![paulberserker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c4cdca/32.png) [@paulberserker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/paulberserker)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2004, 8:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tool/270369/3 "2004-10-21T08:50:12Z")
I’m listening to Tool right now - ‘Eulogy’ off Aenima. iTunes random selecta rather than conscious choice, but hey. I only have Aenima. I’ve heard all the others, but its the only one I can listen to still with any enjoyment. I agree with **Freejooky** , Lateralus is a fairly boring mess. I must have listened to it about 8 times and always thought 'meh, it’s not kicking arse like say ‘Hooker with a Penis’ or ‘Aenima’ (the song) does, it just seems to endlessy amble on wthout focus. I prefer the Perfect Circle albums to be honest - I listen to those far more than Aenima these days anyway. I like them, but not in the rabid ‘everything they do is godlike sense’. They seemed to have lost the sense of humour bit too. ---
**Author:** ![interface2x](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/c0e974/32.png) [@interface2x](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/interface2x)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2004, 12:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tool/270369/4 "2004-10-21T12:39:26Z")
I’ll come in defense of **Lateralus**. Admittedly, it’s a bit overlong and the band does get long-winded, but I think it’s really a great album. Basically, what they did was take the really prog-rock tendencies found on their earlier albums and played them up. Sometimes it really works, sometimes it doesn’t work as well. The album is worth the price of admission for “Disposition” and “Reflection” alone, in my opinion. Also, about the “suck it” chorus … well … in the context of the song, it’s not as bad as it sounds. The song itself is called “Ticks and Leeches”, so that tells you right off what the sucking refers to (not sexual). Not one of my favorite tracks, but it’s okay. ---
**Author:** ![ultrafilter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/3d9bf3/32.png) [@ultrafilter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ultrafilter)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2004, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tool/270369/5 "2004-10-21T16:14:12Z")
“Ticks And Leeches” is a song comparing someone to a bloodsucking parasite. That’s immediately obvious from the lyrics. It’s certainly not “mindless date-rape metal”, whatever that is. And even though it’s missing a lot of the vitriol and bloodlust that marked their earlier albums, I’d say it’s the most typical Tool song on _Lateralus_. Speaking of _Lateralus_: I don’ think it’s that bad an album, and it’s certainly not the worst progged-out mess I’ve ever heard (Spiral Architect, here’s looking at you), but I wish it had been Tool’s fourth full-length rather than their third–there should’ve been an album between _Aenima_ and _Lateralus_ to make the transition a little smoother. _Opiate_ certainly wasn’t great, although the title track had hints of what was to come, but as first EPs go, it’s not bad at all. ---
**Author:** ![Ephemera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8baadc/32.png) [@Ephemera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ephemera)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2004, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tool/270369/6 "2004-10-21T16:24:01Z")
I’m a late comer to the game… \*Lateralus \*was actually what got me into Tool – \*Schism \*specifically. I heard it on the radio, fell in love immediately, bought _Lateralus_, and haven’t looked back since. Now they’re my favorite band with A Perfect Circle, Maynard’s other band, a close second. They’re both great bands and while I admit I can be a little enthusiastic in my praise of them, it’s just a gag. People that seriously consider Keenan to be a messiah (and there do seem to be a few) scare the hell out of me. My favorite albums (both bands) are, in order: \*Aenima \*and _Undertow_; _Mer De Noms_; _Lateralus_; and _Opiate_. I’ve not got _Salival_, Tool’s live album, or APC’s _The Thirteenth Step_ yet. ---
**Author:** ![Ephemera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8baadc/32.png) [@Ephemera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ephemera)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2004, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tool/270369/7 "2004-10-21T16:26:46Z")
Oh, and **APC = Tool**. 😃 (This is intended for a specific person. If it isn’t you, don’t let it bother you. If it is, do.) ---
**Author:** ![interface2x](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/c0e974/32.png) [@interface2x](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/interface2x)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2004, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tool/270369/8 "2004-10-21T17:02:25Z")
You should definitely get **The Thirteenth Step** , it’s awesome. A bit of grower, as well. ---
**Author:** ![Ephemera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8baadc/32.png) [@Ephemera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ephemera)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2004, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tool/270369/9 "2004-10-21T17:15:35Z")
I’ve been meaning to and even asked for it for Christmas every year since it came out (two years? three?) but have yet to get around to getting it. Every time I have the money to get it, I’m never thinking about it and when I am, I never have the money. What I really need to do is join BGM and take advantage of their “Buy one CD and get a hundred thousand more for a penny” deals since my CD collection as a whole is really lacking. I sold most of them to finance a move across the country and now only have about two dozen albums. ---
**Author:** ![Uncommon\_Sense](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Uncommon\_Sense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uncommon_Sense)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2004, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tool/270369/10 "2004-10-21T17:25:00Z")
Tool=My fav band. Bought Aenima and then went to see them a couple of times in concert. Aenima is about the only album that isn’t a ‘greatest hits’ album that I can listen to front to back without wanting to skip a song. Extremely creative, awsome drums,- mind numbing. Especially if your mind is halfway numb already. Rates up there with PinkFloyd’s ‘The Wall’ for enjoyability. I’ve probably listened to the cd a hundred times over the years and I still love it. Buy it. APC is pretty good too, 'cept the live show kind of sucked. I can get into any projects that involve Tool. Their sound is unique. ---
**Author:** ![Silver\_Fire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e4f/32.png) [@Silver\_Fire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Silver_Fire)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2004, 6:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tool/270369/11 "2004-10-23T06:20:23Z")
> [@Aesiron](#): > > Oh, and **APC = Tool**. 😃 > > (This is intended for a specific person. If it isn’t you, don’t let it bother you. If it is, do.) I hate you. And I _like_ Lateralus. Undertow’s probably my favorite though. ---
**Author:** ![Scissorjack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c67d28/32.png) [@Scissorjack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scissorjack)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2004, 7:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tool/270369/12 "2004-10-23T07:30:08Z")
> [@Uncommon Sense](#): > > Rates up there with Pink Floyd’s ‘The Wall’ for enjoyability. Agreed, but I see that as a bad thing. I liked Opiate and bits of Undertow, but after that they just got too turgid, proggy and pretentious for me - like you say, a heavy metal Pink Floyd. I got about half-way through Aenima and then sold it the next morning. Give me Ministry any day - or better still, Lard: The Last Temptation Of Reid is still the best neighbour-freaking album ever recorded. Which gives me an idea for a thread… ---
**Author:** ![interface2x](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/c0e974/32.png) [@interface2x](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/interface2x)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2004, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tool/270369/13 "2004-10-23T17:14:18Z")
Also, a little off-topic, but the new single from A Perfect Circle’s Nov 2nd’s new covers/alternate versions album _eMotive_ is available for listening on their webpage if you are interested. It’s a cover of John Lennon’s “Imagine” - a different take on the track and I actually really like it. I’m now excited about the album’s release. ---
**Author:** ![Apos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/838e76/32.png) [@Apos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Apos)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2004, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tool/270369/14 "2004-10-23T22:19:49Z")
Everyone does realize that Opiate came out BEFORE undertow, right? Some people seem to be implying that it came out afterwards. -OGApos.