Album Rating: 5.0
What astonishes me to this day is that Tool released AEnima and then Lateralus. They are literally polar opposites. AEnima is angry, it’s in your face and hateful. It’s Maynard screaming in the microphone about abolishing mankind from Earth, it’s saying “go fuck yourself you lying fake fucks, you politicians, you priests, you businessmen. Screw you and your objective morality, screw the norm and how I’m supposed to act!”. Lateralus is wholly different on the other hand. The abstract themes, the enlightenment and transcendence, the spiritual projection all cover fundamental Buddhism. In terms of connection, you can argue that AEnima finishes on prying open the third eye- something which is portrayed on the very cover of Lateralus- which starts off with the faint metal clunking of “The Grudge”, the song with little chord progression, a 26 second scream and a message of forgiveness. Similarly, “Reflection”, “Lateralus” and “Disposition” all consist of concepts such as letting go of your ego, accepting death, to stop over analysing, to spiral out and live laterally, to meditate, to find the way to enlightenment. But yeah, completely different vibes on Aenima and Undertow, compared to Lateralus and 10,000 Days.
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