Undertow is thier darkest album by 2035982390572093750892375982398758923659823 times its really a dark album.

Theyre a prog rock band.:)

i would say that aenima is the closest ur gunna get to mteal whith tool

[QUOTE=Dr. Jake Destructo]Their darkest!?!? I think that their albums decrease in darkness as they have been released. Undertow is almost depressive, Ænima is just angry, and I think that Lateralus is very uplifting. Meh, to each their own. Why do you think Lateralus is their darkest album?[/QUOTE]
I thought that Undertow only had one or two dark songs. The intro are almost all in major or pentatonic keys. Aenima has a more polished overall feel. If I had to give each album a color it would be like this: Lateralus would be dark purple, Aenima would be blue, Opiate would be grey, (I think the Hush music video influenced that) and Undertow would be yellow with black stripes.

If that makes sense........

usually when u think of aenima you thinks is a angry album, but once you take a look at each song there is much anger to be found, just raw emotion.

[QUOTE=letmypeopleho]I thought that Undertow only had one or two dark songs. The intro are almost all in major or pentatonic keys. Aenima has a more polished overall feel. If I had to give each album a color it would be like this: Lateralus would be dark purple, Aenima would be blue, Opiate would be grey, (I think the Hush music video influenced that) and Undertow would be yellow with black stripes.

If that makes sense........[/QUOTE]

ive always thought of aenima to be a mix of dark blue with green.

True, but music isn't just about theory and key sigs. Listen to the lyrics of each album. The songs on Undertow are some of the darkest lyrics I've ever heard. Lateralus on the other hand has songs about letting your grudges go, forgiveness, and astral projection. Granted, Ticks and Leeches is a very agressive and negative song, but the lyrics aren't as depressive as some of the contents of Undertow.

Really the only angry songs on Aenima is the self-titled and Hooker with a ***** IMO.

[QUOTE=Dr. Jake Destructo]True, but music isn't just about theory and key sigs. Listen to the lyrics of each album. The songs on Undertow are some of the darkest lyrics I've ever heard. Lateralus on the other hand has songs about letting your grudges go, forgiveness, and astral projection. Granted, Ticks and Leeches is a very agressive and negative song, but the lyrics aren't as depressive as some of the contents of Undertow.[/QUOTE]
Well a combination of the key sigs. and tone create the atmosphere. As for lyrics, take J-Rock for example. The lyrics are dark and disturbing but the music is like 60's/70's rock.

Also I don't think Ticks and Leeches is even the darkest song on that album. I think the second darkest one is The Patient, minus the part where a little light shines through.

i feel that ticks and leeches wasnt meant to be angry but more of a song directed at the fans. After Aenima we leeched onto the band and begged them for a new album and they gave it to use..."hope this is what you wanted, hope this is what you had in mind, cause this is what your getting" i think that is there way of say here it is guys hope you ****ing like it:)

Porcupine Tree is another good example. Their music is typically not very heavy or forboding, but the songs are also very disturbing. (Some of them, not all)

About Ticks and Leeches- I always thought it was about piracy. "You theiving basta[B][I][/I][/B]rds" is all I can think of off the top of my head, but that was what made me think of people theiving their music. Either that or their whole music label crisis thing with Volcano.

undertow is pure anger on almost all songs. The aenima well. . . had mroe emotions but but sorta sensed anger for it.. and alteralus was just despair along with hope and other emotions

[QUOTE=Dr. Jake Destructo]Porcupine Tree is another good example. Their music is typically not very heavy or forboding, but the songs are also very disturbing. (Some of them, not all)[/QUOTE]
Musically that's the type of dark atmosphere that Lateralus is like to me.

I think the darkest song on Lateralus is Parabol before it goes into Parabola the only atmospherically light song.

[QUOTE=letmypeopleho]Well a combination of the key sigs. and tone create the atmosphere. As for lyrics, take J-Rock for example. The lyrics are dark and disturbing but the music is like 60's/70's rock.

Also I don't think Ticks and Leeches is even the darkest song on that album. I think the darkest one is The Patient, minus the part where a little light shines through.[/QUOTE]
lolol hows the patient the darkest?

Despair with hope, where the fu[B][I][/I][/B]ck do you get this from? :lol:

[QUOTE=herbtones]lolol hows the patient the darkest?[/QUOTE]
Listen to it, it's the saddest song they've done until the climax of the build up.

dunno lol, am not to sure bout wat despaird means, I think its something negative? remebr we speak spanish in puerto rico:)

[QUOTE=Dr. Jake Destructo]Despair with hope, where the fu[B][I][/I][/B]ck do you get this from? :lol:[/QUOTE]
Wait, what are we talking about? :confused:

[QUOTE=Doomed To Crumble]i feel that ticks and leeches wasnt meant to be angry but more of a song directed at the fans. After Aenima we leeched onto the band and begged them for a new album and they gave it to use..."hope this is what you wanted, hope this is what you had in mind, cause this is what your getting" i think that is there way of say here it is guys hope you ****ing like it:)[/QUOTE]

what do you think about this?

[QUOTE=letmypeopleho]Listen to it, it's the saddest song they've done until the climax of the build up.[/QUOTE] perhaps but i dunno. The heavy part is jsut emotional. .. maynards vocals are sorta tragic, perhaps your right! :thumb:

[QUOTE=Doomed To Crumble]what do you think about this?[/QUOTE]
It maybe true, with maynard you never know!

Has anybody ever gotten into the meaning behind the grudge, it has alot to do with greek mythology.

Yeah, but its ultimatly about forgivness and related stuff

[QUOTE=Doomed To Crumble]what do you think about this?[/QUOTE]
I think the producer may have asked for a heavier album since nu-metal was still big. So they gave him a song with screaming in it.

I also think the patient is very sad.

Undertow was definitely the darkest. Opiate had the heaviest material. Aenima was angry, but with a lot of raw emotion as opposed to just senseless blaring.

And tool will do what the producer tells em too? perhaps. Their producer certainly dsnt affect the music as much as other producers do. What kind of influence do you peeps think he has on the band?

[QUOTE=Doomed To Crumble]Has anybody ever gotten into the meaning behind the grudge, it has alot to do with greek mythology.[/QUOTE]

The "Saturn Ascends, the one, the ten" is one of the allusions to Roman Mythology in The Grudge. It fits in with the theme because 36 years from the time that you are born, Saturn has does one rotation. This is the time where you are supposed to wipe off any grudges that you have had. "The one, the ten" is a reference to the moons of saturn. The 1st moon, Mimas, represents war, grief and despair. It represents one path that you can take, not giving up your grudges, or you can take the path of Janus, Saturns 10th moon, and also the God/dess of new beginnings. (Hence the name January for the name of the 1st month of a new year)

[QUOTE=herbtones]Yeah, but its ultimatly about forgivness and related stuff[/QUOTE]

It does, and the story in greek mythology gives you a better understanding of were its comming from.

[QUOTE=Dr. Jake Destructo]The "Saturn Ascends, the one, the ten" is one of the allusions to Greek Mythology in The Grudge. It fits in with the theme because 36 years from the time that you are born, Saturn has does one rotation. This is the time where you are supposed to wipe off any grudges that you have had. "The one, the ten" is a reference to the moons of saturn. The 1st moon, Mimas, represents war, grief and despair. It represents one path that you can take, not giving up your grudges, or you can take the path of Janus, Saturns 10th moon, and also the God/dess of new beginnings. (Hence the name January for the name of the 1st month of a new year)[/QUOTE]

i also thought i had to do with the greek god saturn

o well its an sick *** song and the live video i have for it kicks ***

[QUOTE=Dr. Jake Destructo]The "Saturn Ascends, the one, the ten" is one of the allusions to Greek Mythology in The Grudge. It fits in with the theme because 36 years from the time that you are born, Saturn has does one rotation. This is the time where you are supposed to wipe off any grudges that you have had. "The one, the ten" is a reference to the moons of saturn. The 1st moon, Mimas, represents war, grief and despair. It represents one path that you can take, not giving up your grudges, or you can take the path of Janus, Saturns 10th moon, and also the God/dess of new beginnings. (Hence the name January for the name of the 1st month of a new year)[/QUOTE]

you = smart :) me = need to know your sources of info :p

check my new avatar. :D

Toolnavy my friend. :p I actually formulated most of that stuff my self, but the basis for my theory was what I heard on tdn.

EDIT: I have that pic too! :cool:

yes ive also discused storys on tdn concerning the grudge, it had something to do with the god saturn eating his children(zeus,posiden,haydez) then puking them up or something like that. lol

How does that tie in with The Grudge though?

its was i long story and i heard it a while ago, i wish i could explain it but it was to complex for my memory to hold on to. If you were to read it you would understand it much more.

An amazon.com reviewer had something interesting to say about The Grudge's meaning, elaborating on the Saturn thing.

[QUOTE=reviewer from amazon.com]There's not much time or space for me to delve into every single detail, but, hopefully, this will help. Now, I'll discuss the significance of the song "The Grudge" and it's connection with the mythological figure, Saturn. There are references to the number "1" scattered throughout the song. Depending on where you look, number "1" can be a reference to the Sun (the god of life, power and vitality), or to Saturn. But on here, it's obvious that the reference is for Saturn. 1 and 10 represent the same figure: 1, 10, 19, 28 all equal "1" ("10": 1+0=1. "19": 1+9=10=1. "28": 2+8=10=1). In this case, I'm referring to the lyrical references of the song, "The Grudge." Singer Maynard James Keenan says lines like "Saturn ascends/choose 1 or 10"/Saturn ascends/comes around again." In the latter line, Maynard may be referring to an astrological term called "Saturn Return." This is where the planet Saturn takes approximately 29 years to plow through the 12 astrological signs of the zodiacal belt (Note: the planets and astrological signs are supposed to have, more or less, considerable influence on human beings and events on planet earth.) When this happens, everyone supposedly will go through a difficult time in their lives (particularly every 29 years.) And when this happens, we are supposed to learn and grow from this - as Saturn's influence indicates.[/QUOTE]

That's sort of an elaborated version of what I said about Saturn. :p nice work on finding that. :thumb: I don't get the numbers though.

That's cool, the Saturn thing has been bugging me for ages. I like that concept. That whole song is amazing.