The secret to Tool's "Lateralus"

You know it.

A Perfect Circle WERE much better than Tool. They were more straightforward, without the pretentious 'artsy' lyrics and atonal, sludgy, claptrap in back. Tool's best songs are songs that avoid this.

Undertow was quite crisp, and had pounding guitars and like the alternative/grunge bands of the day. Aenema traded that for muddiness and Korn-type riffage. What a waste. Not to mention Undertow had straightforward songtopics without any meandering bullshit(except for Disgustipated, but hey, it's Tool--can't be perfect), like Sober, which was about alcoholism, or Intolerance, about intolerance, or Prison Sex, about child abuse.

The only song since then with a somewhat linear sound is Parabola, but the lyrics suck ass.

Oh well.
 
no such thing as a bass teacher?? anyway.... chancellor is better in my opinion, and anonymous.. we'll just have to agree to disagree here, because i really love lateralus as a whole album. not everything has to be super straightforward to be good. parabola is sweet, but lateralus, the song, is amazing, i dont know how anyone that likes metal couldnt like it. people are gonna flame me for calling tool metal because some people dont think they are, but whatever. theyre fucking metal
 
I agree to disagree.

You don't seem like the nerdy loser art-fag that shits their pants every time anyone says "Tooooooooool" or "Maaaaayyyynard".
 
ElectricWiz said:
But I did think it was interesting to note, because of all the mentioning of the number 13, that the new Perfect Circle CD is called "The 13th Step." My friend actually thinks that the 13th step is suicide. There are 12 tracks on the CD, which he tells me become more dreary as the cd progresses. At track 12, the 'protagonist,' if you will, appears to be at his wit's end. After the Cd completes it's 12 steps(tracks), the 13th step is taking your own life. He supported this theory by pointing out that on the back of the CD, there are numbers running down the arm of a woman. 1 begins at about the shoulder and the 13 is placed on the wrist. Of course, a popular method of suicide is to slash the wrists. Seems credible, although I haven't actually heard the CD myself. Comments?

Thirteenth Step analysis

Go. here. now. :D

My opinion of Tool: I think Tool is brilliant. Yes, I do think there is a tendency to over-analyze much of their music, but with the lack of interviews and clarification given by Maynard, this is surely inevitable. Therefore, a certain level of subjectiveness is required. There will obviously be alot of debate and confusion as to the original intention of Maynard's lyrics, mainly because they could function on so many different levels: religious metaphors, Maynard's personal relationships, the state of society, obscure literature references, (see The Grudge's brilliant reference to The Scarlet Letter) etc.

Whether you like Tool or not, I think that they should at least be appreciated... they're on a constantly-evolving spiritual journey, directly tied into their music - something that few bands understand. Research into their lyrics can provide valuable insight into philosophy, religion, spirituality, which, by my book, rocks.
 
foulwing said:
and you are a very gullible, artistic man.

GO YOU!
Ouch, I am crying. So hurtful...

You are just giving a knee-jerk reaction because you simply do not have the mental capacity to understand what is going on. So you, like so many others, denounce without giving any reasonings behind your opinions. Thereby, your opinions are nothing more than jealously towards your intellectual superiors.
 
Siberia said:
religious metaphors, Maynard's personal relationships, the state of society, obscure literature references, (see The Grudge's brilliant reference to The Scarlet Letter) etc.
Whether you like Tool or not, I think that they should at least be appreciated... they're on a constantly-evolving spiritual journey, directly tied into their music - something that few bands understand. Research into their lyrics can provide valuable insight into philosophy, religion, spirituality, which, by my book, rocks.
for one, this is the reason why i dont understand much of tool's fans: they are usually hooked on trying to find out all the possible meanings tied to the band members' relationships and lives. go outside and live your own life. enjoy the music; stop giving a damn about the members of tool and their artistic facade.

second, research into their lyrics provide valuable insight into all the philosophy and religious crap that you've learned in grade school. ive heard all of that stuff once already, and im not gonna take a recommendation into consideration from some kid who just stumbled upon this.
 
Abou said:
You are just giving a knee-jerk reaction because you simply do not have the mental capacity to understand what is going on. So you, like so many others, denounce without giving any reasonings behind your opinions. Thereby, your opinions are nothing more than jealously towards your intellectual superiors.
Intellectual superiors? Hold on, Eager Beaver...that's a little pretentious, no?