[meatfinger]

Originally Posted by bread man

Obviously it wasn't enough for you to remember the correct spelling of the album title. LOL

I know the album title is Lateralus, but I thought the song was title "Lateralis." Am I mistaken?

[bread man]

I think you are, but I'm feeling a bit too lazy to upstairs and look on the back of the cd.

And don't get me wrong; I'm not saying Tool is amazing. They're not making music that should last into the ages; maybe a few decades. They do a good job of reflecting their new agish wackjobishness, the lyrics aren't terrible, Danny is frickin amazing, and they're fun while having a pretty good amount of depth. They don't come across as overally prog, so their time signatures and other oddities flow fairly nicely (they aren't Dream Theater, switching from 17 to 23 because they can). When they do get wierd (the end of Lateralus, Third Eye in Aenima, the overly long intros to most of their later stuff), I think it's stupid, and I think they're serious. But I usually just find it funny, kind of like listening to Rage Against the Machine. As long as I don't take it seriously, I can have fun. For some reason, Godspeed just goes too far for me, and Tool does a good job of selling their music; their catchier than Mogwai or Pelican. They make you want to take some of their stuff seriously, despite how stupid most of it is.

Fair enough, though I'd say that I often find Mogwai a lot catchier than Tool. But different people find different things catchy, I think.

Anyway, yeah, I'm checking out Mogwai more. Any other little tidbits like that I might be interested in?

What do you have at the moment? Their later stuff is definitely the easiest to get into, but I guess the thing you can possibly do is see them live. The time I saw them was easily the best live show I've seen...the only others that would come close would Joanna Newsom, Converge, Yo La Tengo and maybe Sonic Youth and Brian Wilson.

[Zooropa]

Originally Posted by bread man

Ok, so I've been listening to Lateralus again and I still haven't really changed my mind about it. I really feel like it would be a better album if they got rid of some of the stupid interludes (especially "Mantra"), though "Eon Blue Apocalypse" is fairly cool. I do find some moments on it to be excellent though, especially the delayed guitar that comes in halfway through "Schism" and the transition between "Parabol" and "Parabola". Some of the songs are definitely good songs ("Ticks and Leeches" is great) but others ("Lateralus", "The Patient") way too long and boring (and it's not as if I can't handle long songs, I listen to Godspeed You! Black Emperor and Kayo Dot and heavily enjoy them).

I realise that this is a completely subjective part of my opinion as well, but I hate Maynard's lyrics. Stuff like;

"Wear the grudge like a crown. Desperate to control.
Unable to forgive. And we're sinking deeper."

"This body. This body holding me. Be my reminder here that I am not alone in This body, this body holding me, feeling eternal All this pain is an illusion."

"We'll ride the spiral to the end and may just go where no one's been."

...is just...ugh, bleh. I know they have meaning, but they also manage to be completely dry and boring.

Basically, I just think that if they were to focus on writing good, shorter songs like Schism, they'd have made a decent album. It's clear to me that they aren't really capable of making interesting build ups in their songs. All of that said, I love how the album sounds and I really dig the production.

This may sound extreme, but I believe Maynard's lyrics are better understood by those with drug use experience. I'm not telling you to take mushrooms or acid, but you might "get" his lyrics if you did.

[Mattlock]

If you need drugs to be inspired to write or listen to music, then it's not really inspired.

[jengoesup]

I get his lyrics without drugs, and I find them thought provoking.

[bread man]

This may sound extreme, but I believe Maynard's lyrics are better understood by those with drug use experience. I'm not telling you to take mushrooms or acid, but you might "get" his lyrics if you did.

Yeah...I'd rather just go on thinking they suck.

[thelitguy]

To have to be out of a normal state of mind to appreciate something goes to show how much it blows anyway. If I can't sit down and enjoy without having to pull out the ganja, then I'm certainly not going to bother to listen to (Mainly because I don't pull out the ganja).

That's why so many of those "psychedelic masterpieces" of the 60s sound like dis-jointed garbage (example: Smiley Smile). The Beatles were drug-inspired, but the drugs weren't needed to enjoy the music.

Yet another reason why I think Tool is stoner rock for people who do more LSD than pot. It may be more advanced, but it's still just druggy music.

[Zooropa]

Originally Posted by thelitguy

Yet another reason why I think Tool is stoner rock for people who do more LSD than pot. It may be more advanced, but it's still just druggy music.

Of course it is. Lateralus was one of the biggest psychedelic albums ever made. Tool is totally a drug band. That's why they fit in so well at Bonnaroo. So many kids in that pit were tripping on acid for their set because the music and images Tool display are tailor-made for it.

Guys, I don't think it's fair to bash Tool because certain things Maynard sings about can only be related to by a certain few. It's not like they did it on purpose, it's just the way those things are, and Maynard wanted to write about it. It's still inspired writing, it's just that it's going to go over some heads, and I don't mean that in a negative way.

[+Donny]

Originally Posted by bread man

Yeah...I'd rather just go on thinking they suck.

I can't argue with that.

[bread man]

Guys, I don't think it's fair to bash Tool because certain things Maynard sings about can only be related to by a certain few. It's not like they did it on purpose, it's just the way those things are, and Maynard wanted to write about it. It's still inspired writing, it's just that it's going to go over some heads, and I don't mean that in a negative way.

I dunno man, I'd hardly refer to Tool's fanbase as a "certain few". I guess I also feel like I listen to plenty of music that's weirder and I guess more 'druggy' (Sunn O))), Black Dice) and I don't need to do drugs or to have ever done drugs to get into them.

[akaukal]

I agree with Zooropa to an extent about the whole drug band thing. A friend of mine only listens to Tool when he is stoned. He likes listening to Rosetta Stoned and The Patient the best. Apparently they make perfect sense.

[Micahb]

I could have sworn I have read and posted in a Tool thread, but I searched and couldn't find it.

Anyway - anybody seen a show this tour? I'm going tomorrow and am pretty pumped. I have already seen them twice since 10,000 Days came out so I wasn't going to bother, but then I missed Petty and can't afford a ticket to see Neil Young so I figured I'd go.
Just found a row 7 floor seat on kijiji so I'm pretty jacked.

Third time seeing them, first time seeing them in my city!

EDIT: thanks for the merge

[jengoesup]

Have not yet seen a Tool show this tour cause I'm waiting for the new album in 2011!! Epic win

To the earlier debate about Tool as a drug band: Lateralus made complete sense to me after I broke up with my SO. I feel like Tool songs make the most sense when you're sitting and meditating on them, that is, being still with just the music on. And really, I think that's the best way to experience music in general. Nowadays we listen to music as a background activity, but that is the worst way to get the fullest sense of the music.

I mean...after having read/experienced them, what about Tool's lyrics do you find to not make sense?

[Shift]

Just saw these guys last night... easily the best show I've ever seen. These fifty year old dudes rock harder than any other band I've even seen live.

Just posting to say that they played one quick little song that I didn't recognize... hopefully the new album is dropping sooner rather than later.