Metal Reviews

Back from Tool...

We missed Isis because the people at GM place are stupid.

They only played one (Lateralus)) of the four songs I really wanted to hear. (Reflection, Wings For Marie/10,000 Days and Parabol/Parabola were the others). Adam Jones pretty much never moved except to use a keyboard or fiddle with his distortion pedals.

They were awesome.

I think the breakdown in Jambi broke my brain. So did Schism, and the climax of Parabola. and hearing 10,000 people yelling the quiet part of Sober.

And they played Faep de Oead.

+ KLC was the only person in a white studded belt, what a trendwhore.

OMG

lawl.

k here's a lengthier review:

To say I went into this show with high expectations would be an understatement. Seeing as how Tool are responsible for the highest amount of godly music to have graced my ears, I wanted something soul-thumping from their live act. My only doubts were that I'd heard that Tool shows come in the two extremes - boring enough to induce sleep from their even their biggest fans, or religious experiences from such an engulphing sound - not to mention their notoriously minimalistic stage prescense, with the main action being Maynard's twisting and jerking, Danny Carrey's thumping drums, and a dazzling light show. But my main thoughts were "Fuck that! They'll be awesome beyond belief!", and I prepared, hoping to hear the songs "10,000 Days", "Parabola", "Lateralus", "Flood" and "Reflection" but only really expecting "Lateralus" (I was right!).

Anyways things got off to a shaky start when I missed opener Isis thanks to them starting when I thought the doors were opening, not to mention an hour or so of waiting in line, mostly spent trying to describe Neurosis to someone who had no knowledge of any comparisons I could make and only heard about half of what I said anyways. I think I got across that they were heavy, drawn out and depressing though and that he should really check out The Eye of Every Storm. I'll skip to Tool hitting the stage now since thats what really matters.

After a stage hand brutally murdered a happy little balloon, Tool hit the stage with a gigantic bass rumble accompanied by an eerie blue glow. Then they went into "Stinkfist", and most of the rest is a spiritually pleasant blur to me. I could concocft a list of things that stood out - the pauses added to the intro of "The Pot", the abnormally devastating breakdown of "Jambi", Danny Carrey looking read to explode during the climax of "46 & 2", Justin Chancellor's jerking attempts to headbang along to Tool's irregular rhythms, hearing the crowd chant along to the "You are just a liar..." section of "Sober", the one beat pause added right before the second chorus of "Lateralus" that almost made me choke, and the energy exuded by everyone during the show's climax, "Aenima".

But with all of that the part of the show came from an extremely unexpected moment - the last track of Lateralus "Faep De Oiad" (I don't even know how to spell it). At first I confused it for "Viginiti Trees" because they went into it right after "Right in Two", but that song has a noticeable lack of one of the most jaw-dropping drum solos ever. With Maynard and Justin bowing before their respective instruments, Adam Jones kneeling as he assaulted the crowd with a hellish wail of feedback, and Danny Carrey rifling through the aforementioned drum solo, I truly thought that the world was ending, or at least that my heart would stop from the pure intensity.

In conclusion - umm... wow. I really wish I'd seen them on their tour for Lateralus since my favourite songs of their set were the ones from that album, and "Rosetta Stoned" and "The Pot" were rather boring live.

I have tickets to go see them at PNC Center in NJ in October. I am going with around 7 of my friends. At first i was excited and began listening to a lot of Tool to get in the right mood. The more I listened to them the more I realize that I dont like them. I think I am the only person who just finds them boring. A lot of buildups with very few payoffs. A lot of meandering without finding a destination. I listen to a lot of tech and prog, so it isnt too deep for me, I just cant get into it. The talent is obviously there - its just boring to me. Hopefully seeing them live will change my mind.

I'm seeing them Nov 30th. Hopefully they'll play "Prison Sex" But they probably won't. Boo.

I think it would have been cool to see them during the AEnima or Lateralus tour, because Lateralus is my favourite album by them and/or seeing Third Eye would soooo cool.

I saw them a few years back on the Lateralus tour. It was at Copp's Col. in Hamilton...

Meynard refused to face the crowd, so the whole set was played with us staring at his back.... but it was still awesome.

Sounds like this show was great too.

...he sure is a weird guy.

I've heard of a few other weird things he's done on stage, but I can't remember them now...

Jerked off during "Thinking of You" when he was playing with a perfect circle?

He faced the crowd when I saw him, and pranced around in a cowboy hat like a hillbilly during Rosetta Stoned... otherwise it was just the normal frontman squirming and jerking stuff.

That's just wrong. There are a lot of rumors about Maynard, mostly untrue. Though a read a review of an APC show where Maynard enforced a ton of weird rules.

from tool's website:


*eye twitches angrily*

Mastodon are gonna be opening when I see them!

I never really liked Tool that much until recently. I saw a few vids from YouTube. AND IT WAS GOOD.

I'mma get Lateralus.

Just got tickets to see 'em in Nottingham, december 1st, so I'm kinda at the moment.

Tool is elevator music, at best.

And so it has been decreed!

You know what I love about these forums? I can write lots of new threads about überalbums and beg everyone to check them out - with few replies at best. But as soon as I dislike a major band that everyone knows about, some kind of reply comes just minutes after I posted.

Very good album, indeed.

To Zeth: I do respect your opinion. I think the primary reason of dislike for Tool on these forums is because those people listen to Tool hoping to hear Metal, and are disappointed. The thing is, if you listen to Tool wanting to hear Metal you will only be unstimulated and disappointed. But if you listen to Tool not expecting to hear any particular genre, only Tool, then you may be able to respect them more.
Or you might just not like Tool, which is fine. Personally, I consider them one of my favorite bands of all time, but that is only my opinion.

I don't expect them to metal, and that's just fine. Not everything has to be metal to be good, far from it. But to me, Tool's music is always building up to something, their songs are like long intros where you sit around and wait for something to happen; but it never does. It's so stale.
I think of Korn sometimes when i hear them aswell. And don't tell me you can't hear some kind of resemblance between them, although just some parts of the music.