10,000 Days is fantastic, but my favorite will always be Aenima. The sheer, raw power of that album is incredible.

I've been hooked on the band's music, though, since I first heard "Lateralus."

Yeah all releases from Tool have been pretty good. A Perfect Cirle is a pretty good band. I have listened to the new Tool album several times but I still have to buy it.

Written by [user id=16828] on 02.10.2006 at 04:55

10,000 Days is fantastic, but my favorite will always be Aenima. The sheer, raw power of that album is incredible.

I agree, Aenima is (for me, obviously) still their best release, totally awesome. Tool will come in Italy on November 13th and I will go to see their FORTY ? show :p

I just recently got into their music; now I know what all the fuss is about. I've only heard "Lateralus" and "10,000 Days" and I believe "Lateralus" is the better of the two. I completely agree with Jupitreas' review of the new album: it has great moments but on the whole is boring and self-indulgent. My favorite tracks from "Lateralus" are "Parabol" + "Parabola", and "Reflection" (I know there are more I liked but I can't remember which ones offhand), and from "10,000 Days" my favorites are 'Vicarious", "Jambi", "Rosetta Stoned", "Intension", and especially "Right In Two" (great message in that song).

I did hear the "Die Eier Von Satan" song off of "Aenima". I'm guessing most of you already knew this but just in case you didn't, its actually a recipe for baking cookies, except instead of eggs you use hashish.

for me every tool album is better or as good as the previos. i recently bought 10,000 days and am really enjoying it though 'Lateralus' and 'Aenima' are definantly the best...Seing them at BDO!!!

I saw them here in Gothenburg this summer. Never heard them before, my Canadian friend insisted that we'd go see them.

Cool show, effects and so on. But they were a little to... "punkish" for me, judging from their album covers I thought they would play a little more psychadelic type of music.

Musically great band, some of the songs far too drawn out for me though (being a fairly big thrash & black metal fan). but the musicianship is incredibly, especially danny carey, probably one of the most skilled drummers in the business.

I just came across this today: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2-xsr-t0vR8

I had no idea that Maynard knew Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu...

Written by [user id=2084] on 16.11.2006 at 21:08

I just came across this today: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2-xsr-t0vR8

I had no idea that Maynard knew Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu...

But it's only Jiu jitsu... Not Capoeira...

@?{Reinhardt}?: That's the one where they say that they're fighting as a competition to the government but they're actually training to take back what is theirs right?

oh as it has already been posted, 10,000 days is UNBELIEVABLE, I had heard Maynard had some kind of andropausic attack haha and that he had left tool for like... 15 minutes, then he returned and honestly, I was afraid they would never release another album, I have followed their discography for YEARS and it is one of my favorite bands, I don't think I could live without Tool for a week, and 10,000 days just... overcame my expectations.

My favorite album though is Lateralus, that album is just perfect in every way, including the artwork, seriously... pff imo it was even better than the whole 3D 10,000 days but that's just me, has anyone noticed that on the last page of the booklet, in Lateralus of course, in the brain of the dude, there's the word 'GOD' written between all the gushy brain folds? pure genius, so kabala! or however you spell that

Ah well, Aenima was unbelievable too, I wish this post was a poll or so, I'm actually curious on which album is favorite of MS members ^^ bleh all albums rule actually, and the live performances! omfg... a friend of mine just saw them in LA and he said they put on an AMAZING show, not just the performance, but well, the walls, floor, ceiling, equipment and staff clothes were all pure white, and they started projecting some cool Tool (^^') animations on the walls, ceiling and floor, that is just too crazy for me, it is one of my greatest wishes to see Tool live one day, and since that is unlikely to happen in Mexico (they have never been here that I know) I guess I'll just have to catch them someplace else when I move abroad, oh well, yaay Tool

well 'Ænima' is my favorite
i am not particularly a huge Tool fan at all - but i do own a couple of their albums and have for quite a while now

i listened to 'Ænima' again yesterday or something like that because i remember i really liked it before
i cnt say i really liked it this time, but i did still enjoy it
i just really like the two songs on there that they have videos for. the songs and the videos are both fantastic

Tool is a brilliant band. My favorite song is Parabola and my favorite album is Lateralus. The best of Tool is the videos, really amazing.

Written by [user id=2084] on 19.11.2006 at 06:25

@?{Reinhardt}?: That's the one where they say that they're fighting as a competition to the government but they're actually training to take back what is theirs right?

Yes, you're completely right. Sorry for the late post, I'havent' been here in a while.

Very Unique and Talented band. Tool is awesome.

Written by Bitch Boy on 25.11.2006 at 06:37

The best of Tool is the videos, really amazing.

Oh yeah, Tool's videos are all an artwork unto their own. Maybe everyone else already knew this, but Adam Jones (the guitarist) is largely responsible for their videos. Believe it or not, prior to joining Tool he had a career in Hollywood working in makeup and set design. Among the big films he has worked on have been "Jurassic Park", "Terminator 2: Judgment Day", and "Dances with Wolves"!

I didn't know that Adam worked in Hollywood but his work in the videos is amazing.

Does anybody know when the next video will be released, or if it ever will? I'm anxious on see a new one really soon, all their videos are great.

I could write many about Tool but what for?
Tool music is something that must to be listened... Talk about it is not enough.
They are beyond words... Their music is beyond any logical expositions. Maybe not any... But feelings which are "locked" in Tool tones are so human. Variety of humans passions and desires. It is so physical and spiritual at the same time - amazing!
Pure genius...

I highly agree with Ulven i Manded. tool's music is dense, complex, amazing, it's sio human, so perfect, so... Tool!

Ah yes everybody's favorite fan-boy worshipped band. This post will seem awkward as it is among mostly praises. I despise this band, try as I might, I could never get into them, and constantly I wondered what was so special about this band. Danny Carey is an excellent drummer dont get me wrong but the other members are average at best. There are many other bands who create more complex and darker music.This band is nothing more than an alternative metal/rock band with darker tones. This band has never evolved throughout their career, and it seems to me have only released one song in their career. Its a wonder why it takes so long to create music that is exactly like the last album. It almost seems as if the fans are brainwashed...

Perhaps there is more to it than you caught at first listen?

Hidden depth and messages, such as the complete reordering of "Lateralus" based on the Fibonacci sequence... and finding that, as MJK sings, "the pieces fit."

Frankly, I like their scope, I like their production, I like the sound, I like the structure, I like the intelligence, I like the vagueness of their music.

Perhaps you dislike Tool so much because they are, as you put it, "everybody's favorite fan-boy worshipped (sic) band." - and your dislike of "fan-boys" furthers your dislike of the band?

Written by [user id=823] on 13.02.2007 at 02:18

This band has never evolved throughout their career, and it seems to me have only released one song in their career. Its a wonder why it takes so long to create music that is exactly like the last album. It almost seems as if the fans are brainwashed...

Tool hasn't evolved? You clearly have no idea what you're talking about because there is an abvious progression from Opiate through 10,000 Days.

@pyroleprechaun: I'm going to stand up for my friend here and say that everyone on Metalstorm has the right to an opinion. If Shawn wants to say that they have only released material that sounds like one song, then respect his opinion and don't tell him that he doesn't know what he's talking about...I actually agree with him because I had this conversation with him...when I was listening to 10,000 days, I too felt as if I was being brainwashed, especially in the middle of the album where it goes into those droning timbres of sound...it's like Maynard is using Tool to control the masses to listen to Tool's music over and over again and become extremely religious about the band as a whole and what they have to say and stand for...many die-hard Tool fans don't care that a lot of their songs sound the same and that they use certain effects and timbres that can control a weak mind...

Certainly everyone has the right to express their opinions on these forums - which doubly includes the right to criticize a band, or to counter a criticism from another poster.

I have about zero idea what you are talking about in regards to using their music to exercise some form of sonic mind control to turn their listeners into tool-worshiping sheep.

Frankly, I have listened to their latest release a bunch of times. I have listened to it in all sorts of various states... at my desk at the office, hopped up on caffeine, dulled by alcohol, or towards the end of an evening when I am semi-conscious and half-asleep.

At no point has their dastardly Karl Rovian' mind control device lulled me into a Tool worshiping zealot. Maybe it is because I possess an extraordinarily powerful mind, id, ego, super ego, and sport an internal tower of iron will (that ego-stroking was all posted in sarcasm rather than self-worship), but I'm only moderately entertained by 10,000 days when compared to their prior works. I've posted and voted as such on these boards.

Maybe the use of various effects and timbres lulls the listener into a pleasant state of mind... I listen to plenty of music for that express purpose.

Maybe many of their songs sound alike because they use similar methods of song construction, similar production within each album, and are, well, ultimately committed to each release having some sort of string which connects an album from just a collection of songs into a coherent story/point/structure. (see my previous post and the reordering of Lateralus).

I could point out that MANY artists follow the same patterns within their own albums. A Darkthrone album is a Darkthrone album. A Ramones album is a Ramones album. An AC/DC album is an AC/DC album. A Bolt Thrower album is a Bolt Thrower album. Some bands have styles that define them.

If you think, for some reason, Tool fans are overly zealous and religious in their following, I suggest you take a step back and just take a look at other fans of other bands (or the super-genre of Metal itself) on this very forum.

Many of the responses on the prior site's "Why do people hate metal" thread were what I would characterize as funda"metal"ist hyperbole and overdramatic reaction with absurd suggestions about the lineage, intelligence, sanity,etc of people who don't like metal.

Some people reacted like children on the Immortal thread where all those photoshopped pics of Horgh and Abbath in zany scenarios (i.e. surfing) were posted - pics that Abbath himself admitted to being amused with - as if they were blasphemy...

Every genre inspires almost fanatical support from 'weak minded' people. It just always makes me laugh when someone from within the metal community projects that outwards to another group/genre... after all, metal heads got stuck with the WORST stereotypical depiction of them all: Beavis and Butthead.

Written by [user id=2084] on 16.02.2007 at 21:26

...when I was listening to 10,000 days, I too felt as if I was being brainwashed, especially in the middle of the album where it goes into those droning timbres of sound...

Their "droning" sound is a key attribute to their progression. Their early works didn't have anything like that.

I actually don't really like 10,000 Days. I found it extremely boring and it has way too much filler. However, it is without a doubt the next step in Tool's progression and who knows what Maynard will come up with next.

@pyroleprechaun: That would mean that their progressive droning sound is allowing their fans to progress along with the band in their pursuit to become more and more progressively drawn into the possessive quality of their music

I thought 10,000 days was an amazing album. I didn't like everything on the album, but "Vicarious" and "The Pot" are two amazing songs.

I'm completely baffled as to why anyone thinks Tool are brainwashing their fans. How on earth can that be justified?
10,000 Days is a pleasure to listen to and to emerse ones self in. Lateralus, for me, is Tool's greatest album.

Everyone speaks with the greatest word for Tool. I cannot actually understand them.. 10000 days was good but I cannot say I ve been listening to it for days as other alboums. Lateralus was a little bit better IMO.