I’ve heard critics describe them as industrial metal, but in my mind, the basis for comparison in the industrial catergory is Nine Inch Nails, and TooL and NIN sound nothing alike. They’re too hard to be grunge and too intelligent to be run-of-the-mill metal. So just what the hell are they?
I think they are grunge, which I see as a subgenre of metal. Grunge can be very heavy, look at earlier Soundgarden.
art-metal or progressive-metal
King Buzzo and the rest of the Melvins will be by to kick your ass shortly.
Why do they have to be grouped with anybody else? THey have their own sound and it’s good. Tool is Tool. Can’t you just leave it at that?
ehh… don’t let any grunge bands hear you say that. well y’know… if there were any. metal is pretentious, look-how-good-my-solos-are, my-music-is-loud-so-hail-satan wank. grunge was a return to basic rock n roll, derived from punk rather than metal (generally).
grunge died around the time pretentious wankers like creed started playing it.
tool… my vote goes to art-metal. maybe hard rock?
mouthbreather, neither Buzzo nor Dale consider themselves the least bit grunge. I agree with them completely. They got that label because Kurt was always mentioning them as his biggest influence in interviews with the press.
As for Tool, they have shifted inside the metal genre. They began as a pretty straight-forward dynamic metal band (they were covering Kiss songs for christsakes) and with Undertow and Aenima started to become more emotionally exploratory. Now, with Lateralus, they have moved into very personal and original (imho) territory.
I used to blast their music at parties and gatherings of friends, but I can’t do this anymore as it has become full of nuances and emotion that must be paid attention to and not left in the background.
They are still metal, but are clearly forging a brand-new subgenre.
I wouldn’t say they’re “Grunge” nowadays, but the fact is that they were a guitar band from Washington in the late 80s/early90s who put out some heavy albums (Ozma, Bullhead, etc.) So take from that what you will.
Becasue they have since moved away from their harsh guitar sound and gotten more experimental and odd doesn’t change the idea that I consider some of their older stuff “Grunge”.
YMMV, as usual.
Progressive rock.
Another vote for art metal.
I’ve always thought of them as a prog-metal band…insanely complex melodies and really cryptic lyrics. I’m gona see them in concert this friday, anybody else going to see them or already has?
Heh, Tool, Soundgarden, and Alice in Chains didn’t mind being called metal when they were getting all their exposure from Headbanger’s Ball in the early '90s. Your definition of metal only fits a few subgenres of the style, and most grunge has far more to do with metal than punk (in fact, much of what is considered metal still today borrows a lot more from punk than grunge does).
Punk = loud, fast, and simple. Few solos, shouted lyrics.
Metal is more varied - it can be 250 BPM speed-metal or slow and low stoner metal grooves. It can be distorted and discordant or melodic ballads. It’s vocals range from Cookie Monster growls to operatic melodies. Tool is VERY metal, there’s nothing about the group that is unlike previous metal bands. Likewise Alice in Chains and Soundgarden. Nirvana does have a lot more of a punk influence, but the pop elements that made it so popular (catchy choruses, songs that go from slow and clean to fast and distorted, melodic lead-guitar breaks) come from metal, not punk.
I saw them on September 14. Absolutley fucking spectacular performance. And the vibe was really good too since the audience was still kind of dealing with the events of the past few days (Maynard did a great job of addressing those issues). They even brought out the two contortionists from the Schism video. I don’t wanna give away too much about their part of the show, but, needless to say, it’s very interesting 
You’re lucky, though, 'cause I hear they’re starting to play Ticks & Leaches (the one I really went to hear) and Sober, whereas they didn’t when I saw them in Columbus. So have fun! And remember; If you’re in the pit, WHERE PANTS THAT FIT!
Heheh…all my pants fit…
Actually…i wasn’t lucky enough to get floor “seats”, so i wound with some killer stadium seating, i’ll try to get down to the floor near the middle of the show and get my mosh on…
Industrial Metal
Grunge
Metal
Art Metal
Progressive Metal
Punk
Hard Rock
Dynamic Metal
Progressive Rock
I know nothing about music or bands, and particularly not metal or punk or grunge. What this thread has started me wondering though, is how long until the point is hit that everything is so sub-genreized that each back gets its own category? (It does remind me, though, of my classification classes back in library school.)
The mutant child of Black Sabbath and Pink Floyd!
I thought I read that they weren’t ever going to play Ticks and Leaches because Manyard couldn’t scream like that without losing his voice.
Oh yea, if I was describing them, I would say a metal version of Radiohead.
Dammit, now I’ll have to check them out. I love Radiohead.
Thanks.
I always wondered if some singers needed, or have, a device that will make them sound like they are shrieking. Surely someone like Trent Reznor can’t really be hollering like that (e.g. “Wish”)? His voice box would sue him. Or at least that’s what I always thought, figuring there was some kind of fuzz box he was singing through. But then I was just speculating.