One year following the release of their debut EP, Tool released their debut full-length on what was then called Zoo Records. Like their debut,
Undertow is part of the heavier side of the band, though this time focusing less on being heavy for the sake of being heavy. That's not to say that this is easy stuff, though. It is, in fact, quite dark sounding and still possible to headbang to. It features ten songs and some stellar drum work and vocals along with some great string strummin' and bass thumpin'.
The album kicks off with
Intolerance, which begins with about ten seconds of what sounds like either a giant bong hit or a motorboat. Then the band kicks in and Adam Jones bring the dark sounding riff. The vocals come in with "See, I want to believe you/And I want to trust you/And I wanna have faith to put away the dagger." This leads into the chorus with deep bass in the background and chunky guitar accents beneath the lyrics of "But you lie, cheat, and steal/And yet I tolerate you." The next verse is much like the first, except Maynard's voice is slightly higher. Danny's hi-hats sizzle on occasion with bass thumping away. Another chorus follows, with a break that follows that features lyrics of "Our guilt, our blame/I've been far too sympathetic." The guitar goes high pitch while Maynard half shouts "I am not innocent/You are not innocent/No one is innocent!!" A momentary break with lone, deep guitar, and then back into chorus. This one features Danny's great tom work and some guitar twiddling. "I will not tolerate you!" follows the same music of the chorus. The same little guitar break occurs and then goes to some jamming. Instruments flail around as Carey bashes skins, Jones half solos, and D'Amour thumps his bass. After that, the song fades out on a guitar note.
Prison Sex is next, and begins with some pick scratching noises and string humming. This goes into the main riff as drums come in with interesting hat use. Bass takes over as vocals join the mix. "I'm breathin' so I guess I'm still alive/Even if signs seem to tell me otherse" leads into a chorus of "Got my hands bound and my head down/And my eyes closed/I'm forced wide open" obviously referencing, well.. prison sex. But this isn't just singing about what Bubba did to you. It's all used as a metaphor for the cycle of abuse. After the chorus, it goes back to the verse with "Do onto others/What has been done to you." This leads into a bit before the chorus with lines of "Won't you come on/Up closer/Close enough so I can smell you." A break follows with instrumentation that opened the song. This is short-lived and goes into another verse. A chorus follows directly after with "I need you feel this/I need this to make me whole/Release in sodomy.." A break occurs, before another of the beginning choruses. The music changes now, with a good bassline. Guitar and drums follow and they play a bit. This is ended with the rather disturbing line of "I have found some kind of temporary sanity in this shit, blood, and cum on my hands." A bit of bass with hat work on top leads into some high-pitched twiddling of guitar strings. Everything mellows out with "My lamb and martyr/This will be over soon/You look so precious now" and is followed by a few tom hits to end the track.
Sober enters with a great bassline, a tom roll, and then gets into the guitar wailing. Danny's hats hiss and sizzle as the bass rumbles underneath with guitar accents. The lyrics here are top notch, with the first verse featuring "There's a shadow just behind me/Shrouding every step I take/Making every promise empty/Pointing every finger at me." Another line being "Jesus won't you fucking whistle something but the past and done?" which leads into the chorus of "Why can't we not be sober?/I just want to start this over/Why can't we drink forever?" This whips right back into the verse, with the great bassline and drum work. "I am just a worthless liar/I am just an imbecile/I will only complicate you/Trust in me and fall as well" is a good bit of vocal work. A break in the shape of the first one but with slightly altered lyrics occurs here, and leads into the chorus that's sang angrier. The instruments soften up with some cymbal tinking. The "I am just a worthless liar" line is repeated, but quieter this time and then he repeats "Trust me" until it launches into the chorus. The music changes as Maynard repeats "I want what I want" and then it goes back to the great bassline, though this time it's slightly altered but just as enjoyable. This marks one of my favorite tracks of the album, though not
the favorite.
Bottom comes next, and it kicks right into the distorted guitar and drums galloping about. The guitar fades and the riff transfers to bass. Guitar returns as the drums change pace a little. Vocals break through with "Passion is broken now/A war has erupted now/Desire is broken now." This goes into the chorus with a line of "Set my head on fire/Smell my soul, it's burning." Another verse is next, followed by a bit of guest vocals by Henry Rollins. This won't be the last we hear from him on this song, either. The music changes while Maynard screams for a while. "Shit adds up at the bottom" leads into another change of pace. Some bass is joined by Danny's hat work and guitar twiddling. It's much slower than the rest of the song, here. Mr. Rollins comes back here, with his spoken monologue of sorts. After a bit, we hear "My soul must be iron/Cuz my fear is naked/I'm naked and fearless/And my fear is naked!" This is where things come back to normal and Maynard returns. Some shouting from Maynard comes next. Some repeating of "Dead inside" and then a final repeat with it being screamed. Things fade for a minute, and it seems the track is going to end, but then it all comes back with a flash. "Hatred keeps me alive/Happiness keeps me alive/Weakness keeps me alive/Guilt keeps me alive at the bottom" is half screamed with bottom being stretched. Next Jones plays a short little solo, and then riffs a bit. Some tom rolls and guitar twiddling end the song.
After nearly twenty seconds of silence,
Crawl Away begins with some high-pitched guitar. Then the heavily distorted riff starts as the drums and bass come in. After a short time, the riff changes and then guitar goes away completely leaving only bass to strum. "Crawl away from me/Slipped away from me" is spoken and then guitar comes back. A chorus starts with "What you're trying to say is you don't wanna play/What you want and what you need don't mean that much to me." The music changes and Maynard sings "I can see your back is turning/If I could I'd stick the knife in" which goes into a bit more jamming. Another verse with similar lyrics as previously sung. The guitar returns and leads into the chorus that's sang a little angrier this time. A break with nothing but hi-hats and Maynard saying "This is love" and some guitar after. "This is my love for you" brings the whole band back and after a scream they fly into metal mode with pounding double bass, crashing cymbals, and speedy guitar. This is one of my favorite moments of the album, and it's good to rock out to. Things calm down with the vocals being nearly shouted. Guitar disappears and returns to the verse structure. "What you trying to say/Is you don't wanna play/What you want and what you need don't mean a fuck to me!" is then shouted by Maynard. Then "I can see your back is turnin'/If I could I'd stick the knife in" with the last word being stretched and screamed ends the song.
Up next is
Swamp Song, and is one of the worst tracks here. It starts with a deep bassline, and soon the rest of the guys join in. "My warning/Meant nothing/You're dancin'/In quicksand." It speeds up a bit with more spoken vocals before the chorus of "This bog is thick and easy to get lost in/Cuz you're a stupid, beligerant fucker/I hope it sucks you down!" Back to the verse with the same lyrics as before but sung a little angrier. Another chorus, which is the same as the last one. Some guitar feedback for a little and then Maynard starts shouting "My warning meant nothing/You're dancing in quicksand." Another verse with a chorus following close behind. "I hope it sucks/I hope it sucks you fucker/I hope it sucks you down!!" is before a break in the song with everyone slowing down. The vocals are whispered here, until the band comes back in, and then they're shouted. A bit of jamming and shouting can't save this track from being repetative and bad. Another chorus that's shouted, and then it returns to a slow soft verse before repeating the chorus for yet another time. "I hope it sucks you" and some feedback end this unneeded, repetetive song. It's the worst real song on here.
The title track,
Undertow, is next. It begins with a distorted guitar line, which is shortly followed by the rest of the band and vocals. After a verse things mellow, with the vocals getting softer and speaking "Twice as clear as heaven/Twice as loud as reason/Keepin' rich like silt on a riverbed." This goes on a bit and then the music changes. It gets more intense with Maynard shouting "Shut up! Shut up!.. How could I let this bring me back to my knees!?" This leads into another verse. The song mellows out again with "Half as high as Heaven/Half as clear as reason/Cool and black like silt on a riverbed." All the while Danny's working his hats like a pro while Paul plucks his bass. Back to the angry part with more shouting of "Shut up!" Then Adam starts playing a deep riff while Danny works his hats some more. Everything slows down, and then vocals come back. They're sort of shouted a bit, and can get a wee bit annoying. Guitar comes back and they start jamming and then end the track.
4° starts off with some eastern sounding strings being strummed, and also happens to be my favorite song on the album. Then it goes back to Adam's distorted sound as the whole band comes back. "Free yourself from yourself" croons Maynard, as it leads into the first verse. It gets a bit heavier with "Lay back and let me show you another way" which leads into the chorus. Afterward the instruments change a little before going back to the slow, deep riff for the verse. Next is another chorus with "Give what you want to/Take what's left and needed." A break happens here with a bit of tom work, which leads into another change of pace. "All the way" is sort of shouted and is the precursor to another chorus. After this one, everything slows down with hi-hat's hissing. "Give in now" is followed by "Let meeeeeeeeeeeeeeee/In." It gets louder now and a little angrier. "It brings us closer than dyin' and cancer and cryin'" leads into another break with what sounds like tablas in the background. A bit of build up and then a scream leads back into the catchy sounding chorus. But this time, it's followed by one Hell of a great sounding guitar solo. My absolute favorite part of the whole album. Despite it being a short solo, I enjoy it enough to listen to the whole song just to make it that much better. What follows is a slow bit with deep bass and thudding toms. Guitar screeches in on occasion with Maynard doing.. something in the background. "Just like that!" is repeated a few times to end the song with feedback.
Up next is
Flood. While not the
worst track here, it's nowhere near the best. It begins with a long intro of nothing more than just some jamming with lots of tom hits and low bass and guitar. A very drawn out, not needed intro it is, at that. Eventually, Maynard's voice comes in the background repeating "Water" and stretching it pretty far several times. Finally, the main bassline comes in and saves me from the intro as they go into some good instrument work. The verse is without guitar and leads into a fairly good chorus. A bit of guitar screeching and then "Runnin' away/And I'm runnin' away" is repeated. This leads into the chorus of "Take what is mine/Hold what is mine/Suffocate what is mine/Bury what's mine/Soon the water will come and claim what is mine/I must leave it behind and climb to a new place now." This is follwed by a short break with "This ground is not the rock I thought it be." Another chorus and then "I was wrong/This changes everything" which is succeeded by a bit of guitar twiddling and the repeating of "Running away." Chorus and a break. Double bass and riff end the song. This one is half bad and half decent. Without the intro, it would fare slightly better.
After sixty tracks of silence, the secret track,
Disgustipated begins. It starts with some sheep, and then a distorted voice rambling about carrots and rabbits wearing glasses. It's very unusual. After that bit of nonsense, a beat starts with Maynard repeating "This is necessary/Life feeds on life." Soon some shotguns start going off and just add to the level or strange. That goes on for a bit and then some strange noise fades away as the sound of chirping crickets begins. This lasts for seven minutes. Seven long, unneccessary minutes. After that, begins a phone message, supposedly left on Maynard's answering machine. Then the phone hangs up as the track and album ends.
Overall, this is a decent album, flawed by sub-par tracks and a very strang bonus track. But, the songs that are good are really good. That's not enough to save this, though, as those bad songs still keep this from being great. If you like Tool, by all means go buy this. Just don't expect another
Lateralus or Heaven forbid, another
Ænima. This is still fairly decent and worth a listen if not for anything else, then just for Sober, Crawl Away, and 4°. As long as you don't expect something extraordinary, then go ahead and give this a go.
[+] Pros
(+)Features some good music
(+)Vocals and lyrics are fairly well done
(+)
Sober
[-] Cons
(-)Songs follow the same formula
(-)A few songs are repetative and not very exciting
(-)
Swamp Song
[?] Perplexing
(?)How many drugs were you guys on when you designed the art for the inside of the liner notes?
Tracklist
1. Intolerance -4:53 (All songs written by Tool)
2. Prison Sex -4:56
3. Sober -5:05
4. Bottom -7:13
5. Crawl Away -5:29
6. Swamp Song -5:31
7. Undertow -5:21
8. 4° -6:02
9. Flood -7:45
69. Disgustipated -15:47
SCRUPLES
