Under Tool's Vortex

About a month before Tool's debut album came out there was a huge rotation of playing "Sober" on the local Hard Rock/Classic Rock radio station where I live. It was on about every three hours or so and with every listen I became more and more engaged with the song.  Around that same time MTV was playing the video.  I kept it on because it was not a normal video.  It was weird and usual and also gave me the creeps.  Looking back it still kinda does.  It also included intercutting of the band playing.  Even my dad would watch the video with me and shake my head.  He once told me that he nightmares of what was going on in the video.

After the heavy from MTV and from the radio I went to my local record store and bought the cassette.  I still have it too.  With it's unusual red ribs or something like that on the front to the inside photograph of a large nude one women on the side and another one of the same large women engulfing and smothering a man in embrace (both are nude). It was weird but my guess the music matched the artwork.

After the first listen I was really hooked.  It was metal, but not the metal I grew up with or heard the past five years or so.  It was not cut and dry like those bands I heard.  It was wide and expansive and it was it was not play a riff, scream some nonsense about girls or drugs.  The lyrics were odd and different and in a way poetry.  The musicianship was amazing. The thunder of the bass, the screeching almost eardeafening of the guitar parts, the heavy and (better then most) drum parts and fills.  The vocals and lyrics of Maynard were so profound.  It was welcoming and I loved I did not have to hear about tales of sex, drugs and Rock and Roll.

There's a shadow just behind me
Shrouding every breath I take
Making every promise empty
Pointing every finger at me
Waiting like a stalking butler
Who upon the finger rests
Murder now the path called must we
Just before the son has come
Jesus, won't you fucking whistle
Something but the past and done?
Jesus, won't you fucking whistle
Something but the past and done?

Why can't we not be sober?
I just want to start this over
Why can't we drink forever
I just want to start this over

I am just a worthless liar
I am just an imbecile
I will only complicate you
Trust in me and fall as well
I will find a center in you
I will chew it up and leave
I will work to elevate you
Just enough to bring you down

Mother Mary won't you whisper
Something but what's past and done
Mother…

Pretty Powerful words If I do say so myself. Some of these lyrics are way above my head and are hard to figure out. I'm okay with that too.  To be honest most of Tool's lyrics are as complex as their music is. But what draws to this band.  When I mention Tool to friends people are like this band is serious and the musicians in the band are even more serious.  I understand that a band has to have a following for something this "serious" but this band has a cult like following.

When I got the first album I first loved the abrasiveness of the album.  It was not full of that 80's vibe of metal we all know.  It's crunching guitar and bass was awesome.  The drumming was out of this world.  I was like this band must love Progressive Rock or something in that era of music.  There was no two minute ditty about sex, drugs and Rock and Roll.  There was extended crunching guitar solos and the voice of the lead singer did not sound soaked in booze and cigarettes.  Even cooler was the guest vocal by Henry Rollins on the song "Bottom." At that point I knew they were for real and wanted to be taken seriously.

After the album came out in 1993 I went to see the tour.  Not many cult like fans like there is now.  It was a smallish type show and All my friends could talk about is that Tool made Heavy Metal great again and all I could talk about was who were their favorite artists.  I told a friend there had to be a King Crimson fan in their group. At the end of their hour and half set I knew I was going to see a lot more of this band in the future.  They were killer and those riffs got brighter and brighter with every tune they played.  They weren't dumb, they were a breath of fresh air, smart and made me think about what Metal or any other style music is all about.

So, If you are looking for something new or something old then Tool is your band.  They recently put out their first album in thirteen years and still make music that is complex and just as abrasive as Undertow.  It's like most music should be; music to make you think.  The quote from Allmusic below sums it up best.  If your new to Tool, go backwards and try the first.  The roots are strong and you can tell they know exactly what to do.  Oh! Yeah!  Check out their artwork for all their albums.  They not only challenge the listener with their ears, but challenge the with their eyes.  Crank this one up too.  This is an album you will not forget and will thoroughly enjoy.


AllMusic stated "With its technical brilliance, musical complexities, and aggressive overtones, Undertow not only paved the way for several bands to break through to the mainstream adolescent mall-rage demographic, it also proved that metal could be simultaneously intelligent, emotional, and brutal. AMG