Review Summary: Tool’s sound isn’t at its best in this debut album, but it's easy to see Tool begin to polish off they're sound compared to "Opiate". I’d recommend it for any Tool fan, and even more so for metal and hard rock fans.
Tool's lineup at the release of "Undertow"
Maynard James Keenan- Vocals
Adam Jones- Guitar
Danny Carey- Drums
Paul D' Armor- Bass
The year was 1993, and the previous year the band launched its first EP “Opiate”. “Opiate” was one LSD filled adventure, and not really what Tool is usually capable of. The band at that point was not what most fans of Tool are used to, loud very harsh vocals, almost heavy metal sounding songs, and full throttle speedy songs throughout. I obviously don’t have to go out of my way to tell you that Tool are a mix of different genres from progressive, to psychedelic, to metal, to just about anything. But at this time they were trying to find some kind of sound. They we’re crossing the border from metal to just something different, something you don’t see in every ordinary band. And in “Undertow” they began that transition.
Now it’s easy to tell that this record was no exceptional success, or else it would be put in the class of Tool’s best albums such as “Aenima” and “Lateralus”, but it did start to send the band into platinum status. “Undertow” you can tell right away is very different from “Opiate”. The opening track “Intolerance” starts off heavy, but it has something different, it’s slower, sludgy, and almost Sabbath-like. You can also tell the difference in Maynard’s vocal style; instead of screaming every couple of words he has an angry yet controlled singing voice. It violently moves from quiet to loud in a very aggressive manner. Now “Intolerance” is no progressive track, but it’s a start, and shows similarities of future tracks to come. The hard rock sounding guitar riff pulses through the listeners ears throughout, and is one of my favorites from the album. This very dark opening track sets the tone for the rest of Tool’s debut album “Undertow”. 7/10
The next track is “Prison Sex”. “Prison Sex” starts off with the soft clanging of metal ropes (you can tell from the video) and keeps the dark and eerie tone from “Intolerance” going. This is something Tool has done in almost all they’re albums, they keep a darker mood in most of they’re songs, which makes they’re sound different, and unique. It gives a mystique to they’re sound, just a dark aura so-to-speak, and that isn’t found often in music. It is one part of Tool’s sound that makes it hard for people to put a finger on just exactly what kind of genre they are. Anyway “Prison Sex” has the same sort of feel to it that “Intolerance” does. Right away the same type of hard rock/metal guitar riff opens up the song, keeping the listener very interested. Maynard’s vocals aren’t as similar though, they are faster, louder, but still shift from loud to soft very quickly, and often. The bass riff is heard too, but not how Tool listeners are used to it. The bassist on “Opiate” and “Undertow” is Paul D’ Armor, his style is a bit different than Justin Chancellor’s, who is Tool’s current bassist. True Armor is a talented bassist, but his role is not the same as Chancellor’s. At this point Tool’s sound was more guitar oriented compared to they’re other albums. The bass was still a backbone to they’re sound, but it wasn’t as bold, and Armor didn’t take charge. Adam Jones (the guitarist) had the intro riffs, his play was louder during the choruses, and only at times did Armor’s play stand out. Whereas with Chancellor it’s different, the bass is used more, and has a bigger role in the songs, just take “Jambi” for instance on Tool’s latest album “10,000 Days). Tool’s style isn’t as guitar oriented, but not at this point. “Prison Sex” is a great track, it doesn’t change much but it doesn’t have to, the guitar and bass riffs are good enough to keep any listener interested and the vocals never trail off or get worse. 7/10
Next up is “Sober”, now this is one track that could be the biggest success of “Undertow”. The intro is more of what Tool is like today, with a very overpowering bass line that is repeated throughout the song. The guitar is mainly a darker more distortion-like riff, the stays in the background. Then the chorus kicks in, and the guitar riff goes from dark and mainly in the background to heavy and out in front, grabbing the listener’s attention. Maynard’s voice sounds very angry, and his yell is a more controlled, louder, almost meaner sounding yell that can send chills down your spine. From verse to chorus Jones and Armor go back and forth for face time, each one repeating the riffs from the intro and first chorus. The song doesn’t change much, but has a little break after the middle of the song, with Danny Carrey just softly hitting the cymbals and backed by strange distortion from Jones in the background. Then the verses and choruses go back and forth and finally Jones plays a very heavy riff to end the song with a bang. Don’t skip this track. 9/10
“Bottom” begins heavy right away; Jones picks up right where he left off at the end of “Sober” with another heavy hard rock riff. Then Jones’ riff turns to choppy, and Armor plays a nice bass line to keep the heavy backbone of the song. “Bottom” also keeps something going that a lot of tracks from “Undertow” include. That is a fast heavy intro, in later albums Tool drags the song along and builds up longer and longer until they play they’re heaviest at the apex of the song, but on “Undertow” Tool plays they’re heaviest right away. For some listeners that could be a good or bad thing, but that’s just a difference in they’re style on “Undertow”. On “Bottom” about 2 minutes in the more progressive side of Tool’s play stands out. A different darker voice than Maynard sings for a minute or two with a soft background similar to the break in “Sober”, with light hitting of cymbals and drunken distortion then builds into a loud heavy guitar riff and Maynard yelling “DEAD INSIDE” repeatedly. Then Carrey slams relentlessly on his set followed by heavy guitar and bass riffs to end the song wildly. 6.5/10
The fifth track “Crawl Away” is silent until about 20 seconds in. Immediately the guitar intro is heavy yet has a darker feel to it, then builds into a crunching, catchy riff, bringing in the drums and bass. Finally the bass line opens up and is the more audible guitar, and cues in Maynard’s dark vocals. The song mainly builds up and gets heavier during the choruses, like most of the songs on “Undertow”. “Crawl Away” includes more yelling by Maynard, and gets very fast towards the middle of the song, fastest Tool plays on the entire album. The guitar riffs are very catchy, and the bass lines stand out every so often, making this a great track instrumentally, as well as the others. 8/10
“Swamp Song” begins with a low, choppy guitar riff, and Maynard quickly starts singing. In this song Maynard goes from almost talking-singing, to yelling back and forth from verse to chorus. The guitar riff stays mainly the same until about two minutes in, and then a frenzied solo takes place, that brings Maynard into yelling then silence. The second half of the song the choruses die down to a softer, more quiet guitar riff, and same with Maynard’s vocals, but the choruses are much louder, and Maynard comes close to screaming. After a couple of guitar solos Maynard goes into a fit of yelling towards the end, making the listener think the song is over, but right after the chorus from the beginning of the song is played one last time, then the song ends with distortion. “Swamp Song” lyrically seems to be a more angry song, with Maynard repeatedly yelling “I HOPE IT SUCKS YOU F**KER”, which sounds like a line from “Opiate” except Maynard’s yelling/screaming is a lot more controlled and cleaner on “Undertow”. In any case “Swamp Song” is a good song, but nothing groundbreaking and gets somewhat repetitive. 6.5/10
The intro guitar riff for the album title track “Undertow” is amazingly catchy. But Tool tricks you, after a heavy guitar riff and Maynard yelling you’d think Tool wouldn’t let up, but they go back to a very quiet verse. The change is immense, but sounds good, and kind of tricks you the first time you hear it. Then the choruses obviously get a bit louder and heavier, and that infectious intro guitar riff is played every now and then that could keep any listener interested. The bass riff is more audible in the seventh track “Undertow”, but doesn’t grab much attention compared to the intro guitar riff. After about halfway in a choppier heavier guitar riff has Maynard whispering, which changes up the song a bit, this happens for about 30 seconds. Right after Maynard comes in with loud yelling and the drums, bass, and guitar all pick up, making this part of the song very enjoyable. Maynard flexes his vocal cords and goes from loud to soft yelling in and out of this stretch of heavy play and yelling. After that ends the bass and guitar clash with heavy riffs to end out the song with the slamming of Carey’s drums in the background. This is a great song, easily one of the best on “Undertow”. 8/10
Another great intro guitar riff can bring a listener to instantly like a track, and that’s the case with the next track “4 degrees” (couldn’t find the symbol for degrees so I just put that). The intro guitar riff is catchy, and almost alien sounding, and then brings in a heavy bass and drum sequence, with a choppy guitar riff played in the background. Maynard’s vocals teeter from loud to soft flawlessly in this song, but other than that his vocal style doesn’t change much besides a few yells here and there. The choruses make up the best parts of the song, with another really catchy guitar riff, and Maynard’s yelling which sounds close to the best out of any track on “Undertow”. About 4 minutes in the song begins to build up, and goes from very quiet and almost silent to almost the loudest you hear them throughout the song. Then Jones’ has a creepy distortion solo right after, and after a quick yell from Maynard the song ends with distortion, like most do on “Undertow”. This is another great track that transitions from loud to soft early and often. 8.5/10
Dark and eerie distortion, that almost sounds like The Smashing Pumpkins intros, begins the song “Flood”. After a minute of this, loud and punishing bass and guitar riffs give this song a very aggressive, heavy, angry feel without any vocals. Carey smashing on his cymbals combined with the same guitar and bass riffs come in after a few seconds of silence, and keep going from loud to soft for about a minute. There’s a build up of about two minutes, with strange background noise, and the overbearing smashing of Carey’s set that finally goes into Maynard’s vocals and a little guitar solo in the background at about 4 minutes in. If you thought “4 Degrees” went from loud to soft quickly you’ll be amazed at “Flood”, Maynard effortlessly goes from whispering to yelling at the top of his lungs numerous times throughout the song. Same with the rest of the band, they can play soft enough to hear a pin drop, and then go into a loud sequence of play in an instant. This is what makes the song interesting, usually without any vocals on “Undertow” the song would get boring, but this is a sign of Tool’s style that begins to grow and get better. They keep the listener interested without any vocals, for a long stretch of time. Take “Reflection” off “Lateralus” for example. The song doesn’t have any vocals half the time, but is one of Tool’s best of the album because it keeps the listener interested and doesn’t get boring. “Flood” shows definitely a more progressive side of Tool, which continues to get better throughout they’re career, but is just beginning on “Undertow”. “Flood” is a good song, but definitely not the best on “Undertow”. 6.5/10
The last track “Disgustipated” is only a second long so it’s not really considered a track. Same with the last tracks 11-69; it’s just background noise and random stuff that doesn’t last much longer than a few seconds. I don’t know what Tool was trying to do, but that’s how the album is set up. Other than that, that’s Tool’s debut “Undertow”. Fans from “Aenima” and “Lateralus” this is a big step down from those two albums, but you can easily see some techniques Tool uses in “Undertow” that they end up perfecting in later albums. As I said before there are a lot of differences from they’re later albums, compared to “Undertow”, but it’s they’re debut so that’s expected. Carey’s drumming is a lot less noticeable, and a lot less technical, the tracks can get a little more repetitive, and Armor’s bass play is a lot different from Justin Chancellor’s so obviously Tool’s sound isn’t going to be at its best in this debut album. I’d recommend it for any Tool fan, and even more so for metal and hard rock fans.
