Album Rating: 4.0

“they tried so hard to replicate their old sound.”



no

Was that supposed to be Sharp's revenge? Because that was cold

Album Rating: 4.0

btw I’m far from a big tool fan but what reading this thread has taught me is that what is worse than tool fanboys are the lame antsy contrarians

I like the argument that it's lame for a band that was revered to try to create something similar to their previous work.

I mean, yeah, that's how it works.

Album Rating: 4.0

that literally isn’t what this is though

Debatable.

Okay I made it through this and am gonna to a track by track before I get tempted to review it for real and I do not care how indulgent this is thank you in advance

t/t - Mixed mixed feelings. Constantly changing dynamics are a win, the production is unimaginative, the atmospheric walls of distortion at the start sound phoned in and poorly mixed. Lost my attention fairly early and never regained it 2/5
Pneuma - Liked this one quite a bit. My impression was kinda the inverse of the others - the verses got under my skin pretty easily but the climaxes were dull. Will probably jam this again sometime 3.5/5
Invincible - I never want to hear this song again. Staggeringly boring grooves, one of the most uninspired guitar performances I've heard on any metal track and horseshite lyrics 1/5
Descending - First half of this develops decently and had my attention. Maynard's vocals wear thin around the 6/7 min mark, but the writing is on point (even if the lyrics, as ever, are not). Adam Jones has a guitar hero moment? Lol. The bass tone is fit but the groove is boring, and the guitar replaces it with an even more boring groove. Great. The climax riff feels like it rips off Paranoid and Parabola at the same time. Guitar solo with too much wah >>> shit guitar grooves, but we get so why compare. Shame about this one, strong start but v aptly titled. 2.5/5
Culling Feelings - Opening of this reminded me bizarrely of In Absentia-era Porcupine Tree. 13 years of gestation just to nod to a sound that wasn't all that great to begin with? Very slow start but hooked me around minute #6. The build has a guitar groove I can actually sink my teeth into, even if it is basic bitch pentatonics all over again. Neat climax, shame the dry centre-panned production and shit tone hold things back. As far as guitar pro backing tracks in weird metres go, this is pretty alright. 3/5
Chocolate Chip Trip - Danny Carey is dope and this song actually felt fresh and unpredictable. Sold, but UGH that synth loop. 3.5/5
7empest - This is seriously the one you're all raving about? More energy and intro polyrhythms are nice, but this is basically a Black Label Society song with worse production and even more boring guitars. Drum performance elevates it and the midway guitar solo is kinda lit until it doesn't stop and I remember that Adam Jones cannot/will not play beyond quavers reliably. Song takes forever to finish and I'm not sure where it's supposed to have peaked. Why did this need to be 15 mins long? Is this really the same band that made Parabola and Vicarious? 2.5/5

Sounds like a band that was revered trying to create something similar to their previous work

Album Rating: 3.5

@JohnnyoftheWell Based on the ratings of the individual songs you actually got a 2.5 review there and not a 2.

No one likes a fence sitter

Did you just imply I'd view a Tool album as the sum of its part and not as a holistic unity? Not pissing about here (but even then, Choc Chip's 3.5 doesn't count nearly as much for this as Invincible's 1 does against it)

I thought people liking choco chip trip was a meme

I thought that song title was a joke

Genuinely among the more engaging moments here for me. That synth was bullshit but it was a welcome break from those 15 year old trash guitar riffs/tone (and the drums are tasty).

Album Rating: 4.0

I'm about to hit 5 guys. I need a sponsor, someone stop me please

Tbf the 5 seconds of thumb piano on that one track are the most innovative moments of tools career

Album Rating: 3.5

Then it doesn't make sense to include individual songs ratings if you saw this as a hollistic unity.

@DeadGuy was planning to copy/paste your 5s, but there are so good albums there so I guess don't put this on par with them plz? Feels like an insult to put these riffs and grooves next to Welcome to Sky Valley...

@bananatossing I am extremely bored and mildly salty, please don't demand I make sense on this thread (literally, ask anything else of me).

Makes plenty sense to feel one way about an album as a whole and differently about the songs on a case by case basis