# TOOL (band)



## Captainnumber36 (Jan 19, 2017)

Their first three albums are amazing, true works of high art. I feel as if they sold out to hippie psychedelia after Aeinima though.

I need to check out Pucifer!


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## Merl (Jul 28, 2016)

Although 10,000 Days and Fear Inoculum were interesting albums, initially, they soon bored me as they were both formulaic. I know it's a standard pick but Lateralus is still my fave Tool album and, for me, the last one before this formulaic approach took over (but it's where it started). I don't feel they sold out to hippie psychedelia though. Its more a case of being over-obsessed with rhythms, polyrhythms, etc. Although Fear Inoculum *sounds* very nice, recording and mixing-wise, it's a case of style over substance for me and mirrors the sort of self-indulgence that spoils some other progressive rock bands' albums too (no names). What I do know is, even though I loved the earlier albums, I rarely play them now (even though they're sat in the CD rack staring at me). Sad but true.


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## GucciManeIsTheNewWebern (Jul 29, 2020)

I'm not a fan of Fear Inoculum. There's nothing wrong with it necessarily, it's just really overwrought and uninspired. That's one of those albums that make me wonder if a band would have really gotten so popular if that was what they released back in the day. 

I love all the other albums though. I'm not a diehard Tool fan like some other people are but I respect them a lot.


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## progmatist (Apr 3, 2021)

We have a tool closet at work. I suggested naming it the "Maynard James Keenan" closet.


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## Kjetil Heggelund (Jan 4, 2016)

TOOL IS COOL! I kind of got tired of them though, but that might be me. Tool got tired of me...


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## bz3 (Oct 15, 2015)

Always enjoyable band. I like all their albums but their first three LPs were quite a run. Even though I'm more of a prog fan than a metal fan I prefer the more metal elements of Tool. Excellent band for a hybrid of the genres though.


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## SanAntone (May 10, 2020)

Finally a Metal singer who doesn't sound like a character in _The Exorcist_. Refreshing.


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## Red Terror (Dec 10, 2018)

I was somewhat of a fan in my tweens but couldn't bear listening to this crud now.


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## Captainnumber36 (Jan 19, 2017)

Maynard's band A Perfect Circle made my favorite album this singer has been a part of. "Thirteenth Step".


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## Captainnumber36 (Jan 19, 2017)

I think the first three TOOL albums are their most honest. But, I don't find them as enjoyable, too thrashy for my tastes.


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## NoCoPilot (Nov 9, 2020)

Staying power. I was really enamored with _*Ænima*_ when it came out, for about a week. Then it got old, and I couldn't stand listening to it anymore. Not quite sure why, really. Maybe it's all surface, no depth, nothing to discover on the 10th play. Maybe it's too formulaic. Maybe it's too simple.

Generally music that confuses me, music that baffles me for the first 10 plays has better staying power.

"A Perfect Circle" is probably the best Tool album, but I still never spin it anymore.

Try this instead:


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## Captainnumber36 (Jan 19, 2017)

NoCoPilot said:


> Staying power. I was really enamored with _*Ænima*_ when it came out, for about a week. Then it got old, and I couldn't stand listening to it anymore. Not quite sure why, really. Maybe it's all surface, no depth, nothing to discover on the 10th play. Maybe it's too formulaic. Maybe it's too simple.
> 
> Generally music that confuses me, music that baffles me for the first 10 plays has better staying power.
> 
> ...


A Perfect Circle is the name of a different band with the same lead singer as Tool. They made my favorite album Maynard has been a part of, "Thirteenth Step". Which album were you referencing when you said your favorite TOOL album is A Perfect Circle?


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## NoCoPilot (Nov 9, 2020)

I was referring to A Perfect Circle's "Mer de Noms" which I file under Tool because it has some (one?) Tool personnel and sounds just like Tool.


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## Eva Yojimbo (Jan 30, 2016)

SanAntone said:


> Finally a Metal singer who doesn't sound like a character in _The Exorcist_. Refreshing.


Most metal singers don't employ fry screaming or false-vocal chord growls. Those are limited to certain sub-genres, which, at least in the "big picture" of metal, aren't terribly common. They've become more common over time, though.


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## Eva Yojimbo (Jan 30, 2016)

Love them. They're in my top 10. Lateralus is one of my all-time favorite albums, but I love Aenima and have to come to lover 10kD over time as well. Still warming to Fear Inoculum, but I inevitably find that Tool gets better as I sit with their albums over time. I understand how some could get bored with them as they do have a rather limited emotional and sonic range/palette, but they're quite unique in what they do and there aren't (m)any bands/artists that do anything similar in remotely the same league. I'll also add that theirs was the best live show I've ever been to. It was a quasi-religious experience. Phenomenal sonics too.


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## Eva Yojimbo (Jan 30, 2016)

Captainnumber36 said:


> I think the first three TOOL albums are their most honest. But, I don't find them as enjoyable, too thrashy for my tastes.


I have no idea what "most honest" could possibly mean here, and there's zero thrash on any Tool album. Tool spawned from the alternative rock/metal movement of the early 90s along with bands like Faith No More and Jane's Addiction. All very different bands with very different takes on metal. Tool has undeniably has the most staying power and have a rabidly obsessive fanbase who feel their music holds the key to the meaning of life and the universe. I don't go that far, but I get it.


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## Captainnumber36 (Jan 19, 2017)

Eva Yojimbo said:


> I have no idea what "most honest" could possibly mean here, and there's zero thrash on any Tool album. Tool spawned from the alternative rock/metal movement of the early 90s along with bands like Faith No More and Jane's Addiction. All very different bands with very different takes on metal. Tool has undeniably has the most staying power and have a rabidly obsessive fanbase who feel their music holds the key to the meaning of life and the universe. I don't go that far, but I get it.



To each their own.


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## starthrower (Dec 11, 2010)

Eva Yojimbo said:


> Most metal singers don't employ fry screaming or false-vocal chord growls. Those are limited to certain sub-genres, which, at least in the "big picture" of metal, aren't terribly common. They've become more common over time, though.


There are an awful lot of metal bands that write very predictable material so there is an awful lot to weed through to find some interesting stuff. I think Voivod is a bit more interesting.


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## Eva Yojimbo (Jan 30, 2016)

starthrower said:


> There are an awful lot of metal bands that write very predictable material so there is an awful lot to weed through to find some interesting stuff. I think Voivod is a bit more interesting.


In any genre the vast majority of artists within that genre are going to be generic, predictable, formulaic, etc. because that's just the nature of human creativity. Those we consider "interesting" will depend upon our tastes and temperaments. I like Voivod too. They were among the pioneers of what could be called "progressive/technical thrash," and certainly the most well-known band of that sub-sub genre. Nothingface, Dimension Hatross, and Killing Technology are all great albums for people who love more technically advanced 80s thrash. Perhaps the best modern band to have adopted that sound (and combined it with a bit of black and death metal styles) is Vektor, and their 2016 Terminal Redux is one of the most acclaimed metal albums of the 2010s. Sadly, they've since broken up.


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## NoCoPilot (Nov 9, 2020)

Eva Yojimbo said:


> I like Voivod too. They were among the pioneers of what could be called "progressive/technical thrash," and certainly the most well-known band of that sub-sub genre. Nothingface, Dimension Hatross, and Killing Technology are all great albums for people who love more technically advanced 80s thrash.


Just curious. Having sampled your recommendations online, what－in your view－makes them "technically advanced"? Is it their cover of a 1967 Pink Floyd song?


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## Eva Yojimbo (Jan 30, 2016)

NoCoPilot said:


> Just curious. Having sampled your recommendations online, what－in your view－makes them "technically advanced"? Is it their cover of a 1967 Pink Floyd song?


It's not really my view since that's just what the sub-genre is called. Typically the "tech" label refers to the technical difficulty of playing the music. I haven't learned to play any Voivod songs so I don't know how difficult they actually are; I just know they're thought of as one of the sub-genre's key early bands.


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