this is the first tool album i bought, followed by every other one, and it took me a few listens, but it just blew me away. It's one of those albums that you can listen to from end to end and not get bored of. everything just seems to flow perfectly, a very enjoyable listen. in my opinoin one if not the best tool release yet. Adam is still churning out amaziong riffs and good solos, maynard still has an amazing voice, danny's drumming is still as technical and impossibly hard to play as ever, and the bass presence is still strong and forceful. now to the lengthy track by track review.
1. The Grudge (10/10)
an amazing opening track, powerful from beginning to end, top to bottom. tool has an excellent way of building up momentem and ripping out at the end of songs, and this is no exception. Maynards voice is simply amazing, he pulls off a 30 second scream near the end of it. The guitars, the drumming, the bass-everything falls into place perfectly. The lyrics also, sarturn 1 or 10, has a whole secret message behind it, as does almost every song on the album , which makes things that more interesting. (i suggest The Tool Page for more info)
2. Eon Blue Apocalypse (8/10)
you're sking me now "why 8/10? its just a filler/intro type track"
well, this is my review and i like the song. it just is so melodic and sounds so excellent, and runs perfectly into the patient, i couldn't bring myself to give it anyhting less. also a very cool title (see my user name :thumb: ) little tidbit of info for you-eon blue is also the name of adam's dog. very cool.
3. The Patient (10/10)
one of my favorite tool songs of all time, easily one of the most melodic. the guitar work in this is some of adam's best in my opinoin, the multi-layered melodies work perfectly with maynards voice, the bass is flawless, and the drumming is friggin increadible. this is one of those songs where absolutely everything works into place with another, just a simply amazing song. every riff in this is great, as are the lyrics, and maynard's stab at singing melodically through the whole song works in beautifully.
4. Mantra (5/10)
sorta a non-track, intro to schism. interesting point-the sounds on this song is a slowed down and processed sample of a cat being squeezed by maynard. it sounded so weird that he recorded it and put it on the cd. also, mantra means "sounds/music that enhance meditation"
5. Schism (9.5/10)
i would love to give this song a 10/10, but the only flaw is it's repeditive-ness and extremely long mid section. other then that it is flawless. even though the opening riff that is repeated throughout the entire song is indefinatly one of the best sounding tool has ever came out with, they play it over and over again. also 2 minutes of the second riff with bass effects on the backround can become tedious, but pays off in the breakdown-more high energy and simply amazing guitar/bass work. an awesome song, also probably the most played song through media sources.
6. Parabol (6/10)
this song would be better if it was easier to hear. everything is sorta just blurred together and in the backround, but once again it's an intro track to that of parabola. it has a good leadup to parabola, with the slowly hightening distortion.
7. Parabola (9/10)
the second single off the album, another great song. its more straightforward then most of the other songs on this cd, more rock less prog, has a great solo in it as well as excellent and catchy riffs. very accessable and easy to listen to, well structured and played by the members.
8. Ticks and Leeches (10/10)
this is reminicent of undertow era angst and rage not seen since aenema's hooker with a *****. a very powerful track, with more great and memorable riffs by adam (as always), the bass having a little less presence then on other tracks. Maynard also busts out the screams that we can only remeber from opiate, a very nice touch to the anger ridden song. (they don't perform the song live however, becuase when maynard sung it for the studio cut, he threw out his voice for nearly 3 weeks.) another gem for tool.
9. Lateralus (10/10)
one word-masterpiece. this is the most definative tool song since third eye. everything in this song is amazing. the guitar into is great, the riffing throughout the whole song is awesome, the soloing is unparalled to anything else off this album, the song structure works great....easily one of if not the highlight of the album. this also ties in with the fibbonacci sequence theory with lateralus, every line of the lyrics follow the pattern with syllibles. (1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13) a great, great tool song, that digs deeper then most others.
10. Disposition (10/10)
even though it isn't really a centerpiece for the album, i frekaing love this song. its the single most calming piece of music i've ever listened to. i could be wishing nueclear holocaust upon all of you, and listen to this song, and i'd be fine. its the most beautiful and melodic song tool has ever done in my opinoin. adam uses multi-layered guitar work again, and the bass line is also amazing. a different style of drumming also comes into play here. a very underrated tool song.
11. Reflection (8/10)
a very good song if you have the patience to sit through it. the only things that stand out is maynard's great voice, danny's incredible opening drum sequence, and it has a great chorus melody, interesting effects and instruments. enjoyable to those who like the more prog less rock type tool. nonetheless a very good track.
12. triad (7/10)
all guitars here, nothing special. just 6 and a half minutes of adam riffing with power chords, (something to do with the fs i believe). more info for the reader-disposition, reflection and triad were origionally supposed to be 1 track, why they changed it, i don't know.
13. Faaip de Oiad (5/10)
a sorta creepy track, just staticy noise and drums over a phone call sample of maynard claiming to be from area 51 and discussing aliens, government conspiracy, so on and so forth. very creepy to listen to. more info-faaip de oiad means "the voice of god" in enochian.
this is one of my all time favorite albums, not only from tool , but from all artists ever. this is in my opinoin a masterpiece, a true work of art in this day and age. you can also read into the album a lot more with theories about the fibbonacci sequence and such, which make the album a helluva a lot more interesting. i suggest the tool page (fansite) if you choose to look into anything tool.
simply amazing. 10/10
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