Dave Garrison, September 1999

Tool, put quite simply, is one of the most creative, powerful bands around. I wouldn’t normally mention music videos, but if you’ve ever seen one of theirs, you know what I mean. Every one of the videos, done in Claymation, left me feeling odd, with a residual aura of creepiness that followed me for quite some time. The videos are art in every sense of the word, and have their own defining quality that changes the feeling of the music after watching them, unleashing a hidden strength.

However with or without exposure to the videos, you would be doing yourself a disservice by not giving Tool a chance. Their music is dark and brooding, with cynicism that stems into both your conscious and sub-conscious. Musically, Tool is superb. I was lucky enough to see them at Lollapalooza 97, and Their Live act is still one of my favorites to this day. Maynard, the lead singer, is a character within himself (sporting a ponytailed bald head, fake breasts, and a leotard suit split red and blue down the middle) did all of the weird little sounds of their music in a voice box on stage (that’s right boys and girls, no DJ or keyboard for these fine lads, no sir).

Their first CD, Opiate, was a find. They just re-released it and it received nearly no press. That is too bad because every song on this CD is awesome. Like their other CD’s, it contains the pervasive darkness that was the appeal of their later releases. It includes 4 exclusive studio tracks, and 2 live tracks. The namesake of the CD, "Opiate," has a deeply laid haunting feeling, and the lyrics of "Part of Me" are only fit for a bumper sticker (listen and see what I mean).

Undertow, while still a solid CD, tends to lose me after the first couple songs. It is not as memorable as their earlier or later releases, although it is still a very good CD. Songs such as "Prison Sex," and "Sober" have become contemporary classics in their own right. While the rest of the CD is not bad, it just lacks the impact that I’ve come to expect from Tool.

Aenima is perhaps Tool’s most mainstream CD. It contains 15 tracks, although not all of them could be called "songs." There are several songs that are little more than noise (and then there is the damn "baby song," if you’ve listened to the CD all the way through, which I would highly recommend, you know what I mean). My favorites include ‘Eulogy,’ and ‘Anema.’ This CD is their most aggressive by far, and many of the songs have made the radio.

Tool did get some airplay on MTV, although it was short-lived because overall, Tool is a band that exhibits a sense of talent and originality that far surpasses most anything else that you will find on the channel, and many people can’t handle their powerful, attacking music. Tool is much more than the empty attempts at audience shock that are characteristic of teeny-bopper, rebel wanna-be, circus acts like Marilyn Manson, and the music is far deeper and than anything Manson will ever turn out.

Visit their weird-ass website at http://www.toolband.com