#13.
Up to 13 already? Wow. Seems like not long ago that I even started this list. It's getting on up there to the heavy hitters of my entire collection...
#13
Tool - Lateralus
Released: May 15, 2001
Members:
Maynard James Keenan - vocals
Adam Jones - guitar
Justin Chancellor - bass
Danny Carey - drums/percussion
Personally Acquired: June 2001; downloaded and burned copy. April 2002; bought official copy at Wal Mart
Summary
If I've said it once, I've said it a thousand times, Tool is not a normal band. They don't create mere albums, they create regal, intracate slices of thought-provoking nirvana. Since their first album, which was a good hard rocking album, but not par with the sublime offerings of the later, Tool has become a very album oriented group, taking long gaps in between each of their albums in order to evolve and rediscover their sound in a different fashion, kinda like reincarnation of their sound. You can tell that it's their's, but you can also tell that it's different. Lateralus shows that in great detail. It definitely is the same band that brought you the great sounds from Aenima and Undertow before it, but the whole album is played on a different frequency than both of them. The entire band sounds marvelous, especially in context together. You can easily tell something would be missing if you replaced one of the members with someone different. It's in my opinion that the whole album is a showcase for the amazing drum stylings of Danny Carey. This is one of the most percussion-driven albums I've ever heard since Rush's 2112.
The songs are amazing. Starting with the schizophrenic tom-wrapping stoned smacking of "The Grudge". Great way to get you in the mood for what's yet to come. After a segway, the reclusively dark "The Patient" comes in. It stays in the darkness but calmly grows and grows until it busts out of it's shell to shell out the distortion in the bridge. After another segway track, the infamous bass dribble of arguably Tool's most famous single, "Schism", resonates. The song is great, what else can I say? After that comes the awesome double-track spanning tune "Parabol/Parabola". One of the best written tracks on here, and probably one the best performed they've ever constructed. Adam really shines on this piece with his excessive guitaring. Around the middle of the "Parabola" is when the tempo grinds to a halt, and the song transforms into another, yet equally compelling, form. Great song. Danny flexes his drum muscle in the tom-happy "Ticks and Leeches". All this leads up to the awesome beyond words magnus of the title track. I once claimed that I could make the case that this is the greatest song ever made. And I still stand by that remark. Everything that embodies the definition of Tool and the sanctity of the true spirit of music rests in it. The second-half of the album plays out like a 3 part overture with the drifting sigh "Disposition" into the frivelous "Reflection" and out with the remarkable neo-progressive instrumental "Triad". Amazing, far and beyond the meaning of the word.
Four Good Tracks: "Lateralus", "Parabol/Parabola", "The Grudge", "The Patient"
#13
Tool - Lateralus
Released: May 15, 2001
Members:
Maynard James Keenan - vocals
Adam Jones - guitar
Justin Chancellor - bass
Danny Carey - drums/percussion
Personally Acquired: June 2001; downloaded and burned copy. April 2002; bought official copy at Wal Mart
Summary
If I've said it once, I've said it a thousand times, Tool is not a normal band. They don't create mere albums, they create regal, intracate slices of thought-provoking nirvana. Since their first album, which was a good hard rocking album, but not par with the sublime offerings of the later, Tool has become a very album oriented group, taking long gaps in between each of their albums in order to evolve and rediscover their sound in a different fashion, kinda like reincarnation of their sound. You can tell that it's their's, but you can also tell that it's different. Lateralus shows that in great detail. It definitely is the same band that brought you the great sounds from Aenima and Undertow before it, but the whole album is played on a different frequency than both of them. The entire band sounds marvelous, especially in context together. You can easily tell something would be missing if you replaced one of the members with someone different. It's in my opinion that the whole album is a showcase for the amazing drum stylings of Danny Carey. This is one of the most percussion-driven albums I've ever heard since Rush's 2112.
The songs are amazing. Starting with the schizophrenic tom-wrapping stoned smacking of "The Grudge". Great way to get you in the mood for what's yet to come. After a segway, the reclusively dark "The Patient" comes in. It stays in the darkness but calmly grows and grows until it busts out of it's shell to shell out the distortion in the bridge. After another segway track, the infamous bass dribble of arguably Tool's most famous single, "Schism", resonates. The song is great, what else can I say? After that comes the awesome double-track spanning tune "Parabol/Parabola". One of the best written tracks on here, and probably one the best performed they've ever constructed. Adam really shines on this piece with his excessive guitaring. Around the middle of the "Parabola" is when the tempo grinds to a halt, and the song transforms into another, yet equally compelling, form. Great song. Danny flexes his drum muscle in the tom-happy "Ticks and Leeches". All this leads up to the awesome beyond words magnus of the title track. I once claimed that I could make the case that this is the greatest song ever made. And I still stand by that remark. Everything that embodies the definition of Tool and the sanctity of the true spirit of music rests in it. The second-half of the album plays out like a 3 part overture with the drifting sigh "Disposition" into the frivelous "Reflection" and out with the remarkable neo-progressive instrumental "Triad". Amazing, far and beyond the meaning of the word.
Four Good Tracks: "Lateralus", "Parabol/Parabola", "The Grudge", "The Patient"