Tool

I wanted to post a thread about the band, Tool, and to be honest I wasn't sure which category I should post under. I remember seeing a "History of Metal" special on vh1 (you know, the channel that considers Scott Ian from Anthrax the end all be all authority concerning anything metal) and noticed Tool was listed under the "alternative metal" category. What the fuck does that mean, anyways? ...anywho, I figured the metal category would suffice, although I think that over the years they have evolved into something other than what is considered the classical definition of what constitutes a "metal" band. Personally, I would classify them as "melodic metal", relatively comparable to bands like System of a Down and Deftones, but for the sake of settling, I decided not to scrutinize over labels and sub-catagorization any further.

I looked over the existing threads in the category, and noticed a thread a page and a half back with the name of the new album (10,000 days) as the subject. I was hoping to get some reviews of the latest album, and maybe some insight into the many obscure references to the very abstract subject material that often accompanies Tool's music. What I found was 8 pages of juvenile squabbling that my 11 year old brother would consider immature.

So instead of slinging my shit at the monkeys that contributed to fecal-esque (if it's not a word, I just invented it) nature of the existing thread, I figured it would be best to start a new one, that will *hopefully* serve as a means to discuss the various elements of the band, their albums (both old and new), and maybe some personal insights.

In my opinion, all of Tool's albums focus on the idea of persuading their listeners to think for themselves, not becoming a slave to the masses, a sheep in the flock... which, if you really think about it is pretty ironic - the idea of someone telling you not to listen to anyone but yourself. Damn you Maynard, now I'm confused lol.

Some of Tool's songs are pretty straight forward in their meaning [10,000 days is a song about Maynard's mother and her death following her 27 year (roughly 10,000 days) paralysis], but most are very abstract and open to a high degree of interpretation. Eulogy, for example, is obviously written about a martyr of some sort, but to say who the song is referring to specifically would be pure speculation. Some suggest that the song is about L. Ron Hubbard, some believe it refers to Christ. The truth is, and this holds true for most Tool songs, Eulogy is vague enough that it can be interpreted to be about anyone or anything. Another example is the song Stinkfist. On the one hand, it could be taken literally, to be about fisting (hence all the penetration). It could also be taken more as a song about penetrating on another level, about one letting another in. One interesting take on the song came from Jody Westmoreland, saying: "It is using a fist up the ass metaphor for the desensitizing of the public. Saying that when (in the 50's for example) there was nothing shocking, in order for the public to be shocked / stimulated, they had to see something new. It was uncomfortable at first but soon we grew used to it. The process continues so that now it takes the whole damn arm for us to feel / be stimulated by something. The speaker would have it 'no other way' ...stressing that we must be stimulated...never allowing the mind to rest."

I would be interested in hearing anybody else's ideas / theories / interpretations regarding Tool's music, imagery, or just the band itself. If you have an hour to kill, you may want to check out the official <a href="http://toolshed.down.net/faq/faq.html">Tool FAQ</a>, it has a lot of good info about the band and cuts through alot of the bullshit regarding the myths and speculation that has followed the band, most of which, interestingly enough, was a product of the band's (Maynard in particular) imagination in the first place. Keep in mind, however, that it was written back in 2001 so it doesn't contain any info on the latest album. If anyone knows where to find an updated version, please feel free to post the link here. Otherwise, discuss, learn, enlighten, and have fun! :]
-S.S.


"To be shaken out of the ruts of ordinary perception, to be shown for a few timeless hours the outer and inner world, not as they appear to an animal obsessed with survival or to a human being obsessed with words and notions, but as they are apprehended, directly and unconditionally, by Mind at Large— this is an experience of inestimable value to everyone and especially to the intellectual." - Aldous Huxley

 

i like tool alright.

 

Tool is wonderful, but if I hear Vicarious played one more time, then I swear... I shalt hunt them down and give them super-aids!

 

Haaahahaha yeah, I hear ya.... funny thing is, Vicarious isn't even one of the better songs on the album. They also play The Pot on the radio, which is pretty good. I wish they would play 10,000 days (the song), but its like 11:00 minutes long, so I doubt corporate radio will allow that to happen any time soon. If you wanna hear it, it's on my MySpace page located here: http://myspace.com/slightlyst00pid

 

I like the new album but im more of a lateralis fan.

 

good shit
personnally each TooL cd that i have(i have all of them)
is a different experience, depending on where my head is at

 

Id rather hear vicarus played on the radio..... not "the pot" I cringe everytime I hear the freekin pot.....

 

I agree. "The Pot" is truly not the best song in the world.

 

I've been trying to figure out what, or more specifically who "The Pot" is about. The basic premise of the song seems to refer to a specific incident pertaining to "the pot" calling the proverbial kettle black... which is, essentially, a form of hypocrisy... but at whom the song directly refers to I haven't a clue.

Oh well, maybe one of these days Kurt Loder or one of the other naive Mtv "news reporters" (term used very loosely) will interview Maynard and ask about the meaning behind the song, and in doing so will facilitate the birth of an overly-elaborate, well-spun web of wildly imaginative "facts" about its origins... which will most likely include at least one reference to L. Ron Hubbard, Jesus, or someone of equal cultural and social importance.

Actually, when I heard it and read the lyrics for the first time, it almost sounded to me like the target of the song could have been a judge... which makes me wonder if Maynard wasn't in traffic court for like, speeding tickets or something, and as the judge is sentencing Mr. Keenan to a $500 fine and community service, Maynard is coming up with the lyrics to "The Pot" in his head, probably thinking to himself, "Screw this guy, I'm gonna write a song about this and bash this asshole, who does he think he is? Doesn't he know that I'm JAMES "MAYNARD" KEENAN??!?" (quotations added for sarcastic and dramatical purposes) hehehe...

 

I find the vocalist sounds a bit like the dude from staind, that aspect bothers me, but aside from that they're great songwriters.

Alt metal is a combination of prog rock and metal. They fit such a genre quite well.

 

Tool= my FAVORITE band.

 

Funny you should say that, because Aaron Lewis (the whiney crybaby that fronts Staind) listed Tool as one of his major influences. I never really got that, and If I were Maynard (or any other member of Tool for that matter) I would be extremely disheartened at the fact that my music inspired such attrocious ear pollution.

Okay, I wasn't aware that there was actually an established definition of the word "alternative" when pertaining to the various sub-genres of music (i.e. alternative-metal/country/polka music, etc.), which can become extremely tedious to someone like myself who grew up in an era when the expression "alternative" was coined to describe punk rock-inspired bands on independent record labels that didn't fit into any of the mainstream genres that existed in those days... and judging by the literal context of the word "alternative", I was under the impression that Tool was being described as non-Metal, like you can listen to Metal... or, you can listen to an ALTERNATIVE to Metal, Tool... but then why classify Tool as a Metal band in the first place?? Just to FUCK with me?!? ...yeah, thanks for clearing that up for me, that's one less conspiracy theory floating around in my head.

 

I would not consider Tool metal but Im not the queen of music genres.

 

Nor would I, but they're also a far cry from what would be considered alternative... see that's why, like I mentioned in my initial post, I had trouble deciding which category to even create this thread in. The funny thing is, and I think I read this in an interview somewhere, that Maynard finds it irritating when people try to lump Tool's music into a single, autonomous genre because it tends to focus the listener on one simple element while completely detracting from the unique, multifarious sound that has steadily become Tool's signature brand of music. I think it's fucking hilarious when people say "Oh I don't like... *insert broad genre of music here*", whether it's metal, rap, country... whatever. A buddy of mine heard a song off of Snot's album "Get Some", for the sake of curiosity I believe it was the title song, "Get Some" (great fuckin song btw). So we cruise over to the record store so he can pick it up, he starts searching through the metal section but can't find it. He goes up to the front and asks the clerk at the checkout desk. The guy tells my friend it's in the punk rock section, to which my friend replies "Oh fuck that, nevermind, I HATE punk!" ...and we left. My jaw almost hit the floor, I was so stunned at the sheer stupidity of the situation, and my friend. I should probably mention that I wasn't friends with him much longer after this little incident lol

The same thing that holds true regarding musical classification for Tool is also overly-prevalent in another one of my favorite bands - Sublime. If you placed a Sublime CD in each one of the musical categories that manifests itself in any given Sublime album (Robbin' the Hood in particular) in a record shop and placed you at any random spot in the store, you wouldn't need to walk more than 3 feet in any direction to find a Sublime record. Speaking of Sublime, I finally finished ripping all my bootleg albums to the computer, and am currently in the process of uploading them to my server. I'll post the link here when I'm all finished so whoever wants can download them. If you're a hardcore Sublime fan you'll definately appreciate this - it's a little over $1,000 and a decade of searching hole-in-the-wall record shops worth of the rarest of the rare Sublime recordings. Oh, and don't think you're gonna burn copies of the CD's and sell 'em for $1,000, the ones I bought are first presses and OG copies, that's what makes them worth the money. But the music is still the same and that's all that really matters :]

 

Yeah, that's the thing... I dont know what to catagorize Tool as really and honestly I dont think about it because they dont really need to be catagorized.

Anyways.... That Snot story is funny and yeah, it shows a lot about the mentality of people (well, some people).... Hmmm as for Sublime, yeah, they cant really be catagorized either. I used to hate it when people would say they were "reggae", even though they were obviously influenced some by reggae.

And damn it! what you mean I cant sell those albums for a grand??!?!??! YOU SUCK!



Are you gonna post them in RT'S then?

 

haha.

 

gotta love Wikipedia...

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AJuRi4LjCts

 

I saw Tool on Wednesday... I was right up the front of the pit in the middle,7ft (maybe not even..) away from Adam Jones.

Man,that was a fucking good show. The best night of my life by far,and everything after it is going to be downhill,but I DON'T CARE 'CAUSE I SAW TOOL.

They opened with Stinkfist.. and they played Jambi! And Ænema. They closed with that.. it was crazy. Everyone just exploded with Maynard started the "hey..hey..hey..hey".

Lateralus was the highlight for me,though. Everyone in the place singing "With my feet upon the ground.."

WOW. I'm still amazed. Good thing I wasn't on acid either. Woulda been way too intense.

 

Yeah, I'm gonna post them everywhere. I made a thread about it in like, 5 different music categories because, again, I couldn't decide which style they would be classified under lol they should just have a completely seperate category for Sublime... or "uncategorizable bands" lol that would solve everything. Ya know, and that's the thing... a lot of bands out there put forth a tremendous effort to ensure their relevence in regards to whatever genre they happen to find their niche. For instance... Take Avril Levigne (no seriously... take her, drop her off on a deserted island, then every country with nuclear weapons take turns bombing the bejeezus out of it until there are no more weapons of mass destruction left on the entire planet... *crickets chirping...* ...oh wait, yeah, and NO MORE AVRIL-FUCKING-LEVIGNE!! *ear-piercing, thunderous applause!!* that's my proposal for world peace, in case you're reading this Mr.
Bush... and if you want to know more, just ask your phone-tapping covert mission-monkeys and the ass-bandits at the IRS... they know where to find me.) Oh yeah, right... so Avril Levigne started out singing country-western. Take a minute to think about that, I'll give you time................ okay, done? Pretty fuckin funny, right? Well, little miss punk princess couldn't cut it in Nashville, so her PR people changed her image, flew her out to L.A., put her in front of a band that probably don't even know who the Ramones are, and the rest goes down in teen faux-angst history. So now, in order to maintain her "reputation" as a bona-fide hardcore punk Grrrrl rocksta--*bwaaaaahahahaha!!* (I'm sorry, but I couldn't quite make it through that one)... anyways, so now she has to work even harder than ever to look, act, and sound the part. But hey, if she ever goes "soft" (heaven forbid! hehe) she can always pull the "I'm all grown up now... look, see -- no more marks on my wrists from cutting myself for attention anymore! (I just binge and purge to make sure I'm still every 14 year old boy's wet dream) ..." routine. I'm sure her PR people already have something in the works. Back to the main point. Sublime didn't have anyone telling them what to do, how to dress, what style music to play or anything else, and for a band just starting out, that's HUGE! (trust me, I know.) When they were just starting out, Brad, Eric, and Bud couldn't find a record company that would let Sublime just be, Sublime. That meant no studio time, no album promotion, no radio play... nothing. This is the point in the career where most musicians justify their concession of artistic sovereignty with phrases like "means to an end", or "no one will find out I used to be a country singer" (hehehe)... so what did Sublime do when it came time to sell their soul? Well, first Brad wrote a song about it called "Superstar" which is on the "Lost Tapes disc 1" bootleg which will be ready for download in just a few more hours :] , afterwhich the guys scraped together what little money they had and started Skunk Records. They sold albums out of the back of their touring van (which was basically a white Econo-van style hooride) and at concerts where they toured non-stop (they were firm believers that word-of-mouth is the best PR you can get), and eventually got their songs played on the self-proclaimed "world famous" Southern Calfornia radio station KROQ... and not with the help of big record company suits, but based on listener requests alone. After that, Sublime signed to MCA with complete creative control to produce the album "Robbin' the Hood" (which, after listening to for 15 minutes, you realize they took full advantage of), revealing a more experimental ethic than the well-tuned rage of the SoCal punk revival. Alright, alright... now I'm just rambling, but you get the picture... at least I hope you do because my fingers hurt from trying to explain it all hehe I realize this is a Tool thread, not a Sublime thread, but for those of you that actually took the time to read through this whole damn novel, here's a little treat for ya, and then discussion of Sublime will officially cease... I'm gonna put the links up for a few of the more significant (and rare) Sublime cuts, and explain how they're important, or even if it's just a kick-ass song. And as I explained earlier, a lot of these tracks were never supposed to be swept off the cutting room floor, suffice it to say, the production quality on some of them is not quite good enough for Rick Rubin to wipe his ass with.

So without further adieu...

This first track is the one I was talking about earlier, "Superstar Punani", which is Brad's take on the music industry, about artists that blow up and let it go to their heads... oh and using their superstar status to get punani! ;] hehe

1. Superstar (Lost Tapes - Disc 1): http://intraa.net/07_superstar.mp3

Next is Brad jamming out an acoustic set at the Firecracker Lounge in Long Beach. At the time of this performance Brad had just recently become clean from drugs, and it definately came through in his performance. You can hear the desperation in his voice and by the way he strums the guitar. There are some moments where he not so much sings the words as he does shout them, but not like a Serj Tankian from System of a Down shriek, more like a sobriety-is-hitting-me-like-a-ton-of-bricks clamor... hey, I've been there
before. But anyways, his wife Troy is in the audience, and on a few seperate occassions, as a result of his unpredictable (even downright frightening at some points) performance becomes Brad's only cheering section. As anyone who has ever struggled with addiction before knows, the recovery process endures the bad days right along with the oft-elusive good ones. Unfortunately, struggling musicians can't call in a sick day (unless you're Axl Rose) and Brad's bad day was most certainly affecting his performance. At one point during the beginning of this song Brad mentions that he "feels like he should be drinking coffee right now or something". Just a quick bit of Sublime trivia, the word "coffee" is secret Bradley-code for drugs, more specifically ice. After that quick mention you can clearly hear his wife pleading "Noooo" followed by what sounds like Bud Gaugh (the drummer) reassuring him "you don't want that!", afterwhich Brad busts into a Medley of "Boss DJ" and "Wrong Way". About halfway into the song Brad sings the line, "I'm funky not a junkie", followed by his wife "whoooing" in support (is there any better kind? :] ). The next line is supposed to go "No trouble, no fuss", but Brad takes this as an opportunity to let out some frustration by slightly revising the lyrics to include a deliberately-dropped F-bomb. Very nice.

2. Boss DJ / Wrong Way Medley (Bong Hits with Bradley - Live from the Firecracker Lounge): http://intraa.net/02_boss_dj_wrong_way.mp3

Next is a song off the same set, Brad performs a cover of a slightly lesser known Marley tune called "Guava Jelly". If you're familiar with Marley's music (particularly more of the obscure stuff), then you may realize to what extent his music has influenced that of Sublime's. Some songs he does a full-on cover ("Guava Jelly", "This Train", "Trenchtown Rock", etc.), others he makes one line
references pertaining to one of Marley's songs, and he uses it in a way that you know he understood Marley's meaning behind it (like when he mentions the "cornerstone", Babylon, etc.), which in my book puts separates him from all the wannabe bleached hair, white-boy reggae singers *cough*311 sucks*cough* oh damn, excuse me... hehehe, Okay so the great thing about this song, is the very beginning. Brad starts singing and this loud drunk bitch comes barging into the room *probably stumbling* and starts yappin away, loud as fuck and drowning out Brad. She goes on for about 3 seconds until some guy in the audience (if I ever meet him I will shake his hand and tell him job well done sir!) pipes up and tells the chickenhead to "shut up!" It's awesome, and the song is pretty good too. You should check it out.

3. Guava Jelly (Bong Hits with Bradley - Live from the Firecracker Lounge): http://intraa.net/19_guava_jelly.mp3

Next is an in-studio session that Sublime did for a radio station in Boston a while back. They finished up their set (or taking a break), after which they begin to discuss the new album with the prick of a DJ. In the middle of plugging the new album the DJ asks the guys if they can perform "Date Rape", and that he'd "promised them they'd do it" (by "them" I'm assuming he's referring to the station's listeners, or maybe it's the suits up in the corporate office... which reminds me - KILL YOUR RADIO!!) Here's a quick lesson on the history of the song "Date Rape": This was a song that was meant to entertain, to do something different from usual brand of music, tell a funny story, and maybe get a few chuckles in the process... well it succeeded in doing so, to the point that it was starting to get annoying (you know that one uncle you have that tells the same joke every time you see him?). You see, "Date Rape" was the song that put Sublime on the map. The radio station would hear about the song, throw it in their lineup, and everyone who heard it for the first time thought is was the coolest damn thing they ever heard. Hell, I remember almost practically pissing myself the first time I heard it. *Did he just say he got butt-raped by a large inmate?!? BWAHAHAHA!!* and then of course it was a war of bragging rights within my group of friends who could sing the song all the way through without messing up, and come on, admit it, I'm sure it was with alotta others of you guys and girls out there too (that is, if you were old enough to listen to and understand it when they FIRST started playing it on the radio back in '95... which would basically exclude anyone that's now around 22, maybe 21 or younger). But yeah, after a while the joke gets old, which is a damn shame because the talent level musically is insanely good, that guitar solo still gives me trouble, and I've been playing for 13 years! Suddenly, everywhere they played and everywhere they went, all Sublime would hear now was play "Date Rape"! ...are you gonna play "Date Rape"? ...when are you gonna play "Date Rape"? GIVE ME "DATE RAPE" DAMMIT!!" Imagine (if you can, this may be kinda difficult) that Philip Anselmo of Pantera wrote and performed Weird Al Yankovich's (sp?) "White and Nerdy" (see, I told you) and no one had ever heard of Pantera before. Now, all of a sudden "White and Nerdy" is blowin up the airwaves and that's all anybody wants to hear you play. Okay, maybe I took the analogy a bit too far, hopefully nobody ever makes the comparison between Pantera and Weird Al ever again, but at least you get where I'm comin from, it would drive anybody crazy. I think Eric Wilson (Sublime's bass player) paints a perfectly vivid description, when asked what his thoughts were on the song, he fittingly likened it to an "burst hemorrhoid"... not the most pleasant of mental images, but I think it serves the purpose... so anyways, this douchebag DJ asks the guys to play it, and just as Brad is thinking up a good excuse why not too, the prick mentions the fact that he "promised"... what the fuck is that shit?? But I knew they were expecting this to happen, because without missing a beat, Bud snaps his drumsticks (rather loud and angry sounding might I add) and they break into a cover of "Minor Threat" by the band of the same name, complete with F-bombs and the works ("why's everybody in such a fuckin rush!"). But the icing on the cake... NAY, the cherry on TOP! is what Brad throws in at the end... "That's a fuckin promise!" hahaha I bet the DJ crapped his dockers when he got a call from the FCC asking why there's a band on his show throwing out more "fucks" than a prostitute on Christmas Day!

4. Minor Threat (Sensimilla - '86-'96): http://intraa.net/14_minor_threat.mp3

Next is the acoustic version of "Saw Red", which is normally a duet with Brad and Gwen Stefani of No Doubt fame, but she is known to me only as a killer... that's right, a killer of teenage dreams, fantasies, and most recently, my boners. I'm sorry, but my dear sweet innocent Gwennie has completely changed and gone away for good. I useta have the biggest pre-pubescent puppy love for her back in her Tragic Kingdom days, I even stole my older sister's CD to see if there were any pictures of her inside the cover (this was back before the internet revolution), but I SWEAR I never listened to the CD.... *whistles* ...what?? yeah, but then she had to go and marry the ultimate tool-o-tools, the king of all that is douche, the lead singer of Bush (you know, another name for pubes) Gavin "Everything-Zen-my-Ass" Rossdale. Then she started hanging out with creepy dancing asian quintuplets and rapping about bananas or some shit, and I just lost all repsct for her... I'd still do her in the butt, don't get me wrong, but I wouldn't cuddle with her afterwards. If Bradley were only alive to see the soiled maxi-pad she has gone and turned herself into today, he would surely smack some much-needed sense into her. She used to have a really laid-back, natural beauty and style, seeming like the kind of girl you could just kick it with on the beach and might actually go surfing with you, or at least get in the water... but now, referring to my aforementioned observance of the period-pad variety, she would soak up the water, sink to the bottom (or do maxi-pads float?), and pollute the pacific ocean with her vaginal excrement. Nobody wants that. So, if you feel the same way I do, then I'm sure you'll appreciate this lovely little number, sans slut.

5. Saw Red (Sensimilla '86-'96): http://intraa.net/18_saw_red.mp3

To Be Continued... this was as far as I could get before my hands started to violently cramp up, forcing me to take a quick break. There's still another 3 songs I had in mind, so stay tuned for a followup. :]