Tool - Aenima
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Free Music Notes for Aenima
Free Music Review: One of the greatest albums of the 90's, or ever
Hit: 5 Stars
What separates Tool from the rest of the bands out there is the fact that they are very down to earth. Or are they? The lyrics are metaphorically put and the lead singer, Maynard James Keenan, has made it very clear not to take anything the band says worth a grain of salt. What he does say is that you should think for yourself. This album will help you. I've bought many CDs in my life time. Some I keep around just for an occaisonal listen. Some i pawn two days after buying it. And then there are those that I will keep till the day I die. Aenima is one of them. You just can't go wrong with this album.
1. Stinkfist - This song is so amazing. I love the intro to it because it sets the tone for the rest of the CD. Stinkfist was one of their biggest hits and Rolling Stone says (after ranking this album as #27 of the 100 most essential albums) that Stinkfist is the stand out track. I agree that it is an incredible track. I beleive however, that it is the second best track on here. 10/10
2. Eulogy - A very confusing song. With the lyrics here, many woudl assume that Maynard is making reference to Jesus Christ. However, it is spoken metaphorically (key word there) and can be taken anyway. As with all music that is written for the listener.... When you listen to this album, absorb it. This is one of the best Tool songs in my opinion only b/c it is so powerful. 10/10
3. h. - A silent hit with Tool fans. A very good song. Its hard to describe what the song is about b/c you'd have to listen to it. Then you'll understand and hopefully write a review on this record. 10/10
4. filler
5. Forty-Six & Two - Awesome track. Step into your shadow and realize what this song is all about. I'm listening to it write now. Teh drums make it all that much more powerful. This is probably one of the greatest and most recognizable Tool songs out there. It should have been one of their hits, but they had label problems. Still though, this is one of the best Tool songs ever. 10/10
6. filler
7. Hooker w/ a Penis - This is the only downfall to me. This song really is away from the way I see Tool. This is like a Fred Durst song about being macho. Its still a good song. But it brings back memories of "Hush" off of the "Opiate" EP.... still good though .9/10
8. filler
9. Jimmy - Another excellent track. Maynard proves that he can write beautiful music. I love this song because it makes you wonder who Jimmy is. Very good. highly recommended. A little calmer then the rest of hte album. 10/10
10. Filler.
11. Pushit - This right here is the greatest Tool song in my opinion. I've never heard anything so incredible before. When i first heard this song, and it reached the end ot where Maynard unleashes his voice, i just fell in love with the album entirely. Its a very good song and I highly recommend the album just for this song. If you can, look for the live version of this song (which is even mroe incredible) on the Salival DVD/VHS box set or go and download it. Its very good. 11/10
12. filler
13. Aenema - Another highly recongnizable song by Tool. This song here will be one of their classics for a long time. To me, it's one of hte most metaphorically sung tracks by Tool. Just give the disk a spin in yoru CD player. I'm sure you won't be disappointed. 10/10
14. filler
15 Third Eye - This is a very long song. But the haunting repetiion of "Prying open my third eye" just does something to me. It makes me realize just how blind many of us are to the world around us. Thats what this band is all about folks. Its not about selling records and its not about winning awards. Its about releasing yourself and letting go of what you perceive to be reality. Because there is a whole other world out there. 10/10
Please don't just go off of my words when you buy this record. Don't let those that think its a commercial band (far from it) sour your expectations of Tool. True 3 out of 4 records are Parental Advisory CDs, but they are well worth your time. I guarantee that if you are sick of the pop music and sick of the sellouts, then you'll feel right at home when you put Aenima in your discman. It won't click the first time though. Not until you let yourself go and become comfortable. This record will be in my collection till the day I die.
make the right decision. "Pushit" did it for me. now i will always have this record.
thanks
Tim
Free Music Review: Yet Another Opinion
Hit: 5 Stars
I think it would be damn near impossible for me to critique my favorite Tool album, and my favorite album period, Lateralus, because words cannot describe how wonderful it is. Plus, I'm pretty biased, my review would sound pretty bad: ("Lateralus...best...album.....ever!") I will however, try to throw in my own two cents on Aenima, seeing as how some of the opinions I have about it are clearly not expressed by any current reviews. Although I think Lateralus is far superior to Aenima, Aenima is still an amazing album, not by Tool's standards, but by any standards period. I also realize there are people that think that Tool is very overrated and that people this zealous about them must be crazy, I ask one thing? What are they listening to that's SO much better? For me, good music is music that's not only excellently written, but excellently performed. That's what really drew me in to Tool. Each member is a master of his respective instrument. They're a modern day supergroup, seriously.
For all the people that claim that Tool are just mediocre musicians and writers, what's your basis for comparison? Just download a live Tool video (preferably from the Lateralus tour), and I dare you to find a tighter, more talented live band. Tool are even better in concert than in the studio (yes, I have seen them, I speak only the truth). I dare you to find a drummer, living or dead, than Danny Carrey. The man is a machine on the drums, he may as well have invented them.
A very big point I should make is that Adam Jones is very underrated and unfairly critized because he doesn't solo in every song or sound like EVERY OTHER GUITARIST out there. His riffs sound easy and simple....sure, but if you actually know anything about playing the guitar, you'll know that they're pretty complex, and YOU try to play them as good as him. He's just a very good guitarist, and the very good ones make it seem easy. Justin Chancellor is by far one of the best bassists I've ever heard, and I can't think of a band where the bass and guitar are so perfectly complemented (46+2!!!!! Schism!!!). And last but not least, Maynard James Keenan, one of rock's best singers and lyricists. In my own opinion (I stress that!) MJK is rock's best singer ever. Not only does he have a magnificent voice, he's a very intellectual, well-read man. No doubt you've heard of theories behind the meaning of Tool's music. (46+2! I keep coming back to it because I think it's one of the greatest songs ever) 'Nuff said. If you think that's impressive, check deeper into Lateralus and it'll make "Cesaro Summability" look like high school algebra comparitively. Also check out A Perfect Circle, which is more mythology based than mathematical.
Alright. Aenima, the album, many people say that it's a much more scattered album than Lateralus. I disagree, I think Aenima has a stronger theme than Lateralus, although Lateralus does have one, a strong one too. If you really pay attention to each song's meanings, you will notice that they all have the same theme - individualism, becoming more aware of what's around you, questioning things - opening your third eye, if you will. Third Eye would've been a more appropriate title for the album, because that's what the album, and Tool, is really about. I'd also reccomend checking out the Salival version of Third Eye, because I believe it to be way better than the Aenima version, plus the Timothy Leary intro perfecty sums up Tool's musical motivation.
One very last thing, and I think a very important point to make. People will like anything if you tell them it's good, regardless of whether it is or not. I disliked Tool for a long time until I actually bought Lateralus on a whim because I wanted to try something different. It wasn't until I really got into Tool that I became aware of the massive fanbase of fans. There are thousands of people that will tell you that Tool is the best band of all time, I'm now one of them. But before that, I didn't know what to make of Tool. I formed my own opinion of them, and you should too. Don't believe people right off the bat that Tool is the greatest band ever. Because you'll have such lofty ideas of them, you'll no doubt fail to see what everyone else does. Decide for yourself if they're worthy of all the accolades you hear them getting. Maybe you will, maybe you won't. If you do, you're in for some great listening.
Free Music Review: A modern milestone.
Hit: 5 Stars
Tool is one of the few bands that can indulge in artistic excesses and still retain tremendous commercial success, which I think is kind of strange. And while I say "excesses," a term usually chained to denigrating interpretations, I must emphasize that Tool's artistic nature is perhaps their most striking quality. Combining an alterna-metal aesthetic with more progressive, explorative tendencies, they are decidedly unique. And they aren't just being esoteric and weird. For music fans who like a challenge, Tool presents a worthwhile package. Before discovering Tool, I was among the many who disdainfully rejected them as a lame "grunge" or "alternative metal" band, but their mosaic of musical textures creates something that dodges pigeonholing. I strongly encourage those with a liking for heavy music to check them out, because they probably aren't what you expect.Aenima is full of surprises and ingenious, progressive songcraft. It explores progressive rock territory with a tone that sometimes evokes King Crimson, but never sounding like them. AEnima is all very fresh. The hard-hitting opener "Stinkfist" pulls the listener in with a collection of hard rock trappings: mammoth, distorted riffs, devastating drums, and fierce vocals. But the band throws you off when they change gears with "Eulogy," an eight-minute piece blending monstrous heaviness with some compelling, wistfully dreamy textures (that beginning!). The musical sojourn continues with some other difficult tracks, like "Pushit" and the mesmerizing "Third Eye." Contrary to popular opinion, I actually enjoy the "pointless" interludes and think the album is so much more with them included. I find that they add to sense of suspense before a real song rolls in. "Useful Idiot" -- nothing more than 40 seconds of static -- is stupid on its own, but as a precursor to "Forty-Six & Two" it serves as an interesting segue that teases you, leaving you almost begging for a song to start, as it grows louder and stronger, sort of creating a sense of tension with the listener. Especially teasing is the playful organ jam "Intermission" and the spooky "(-) Ions," which slides smoothly into "Third Eye," one of Aenima's most important songs.
Just as the interludes create a sense of expectancy, the songs themselves also possess that quality. "Forty-Six & Two" is a gripping progression of texture, essentially relying on one big riff but gradually upping the intensity by stacking the arrangement with denser sonics as it goes. "Third Eye," lasting more than 13 minutes and spanning enough musical ideas to fill an entire record, similarly summons a sense of tension with surprising tempo changes and long washes of instrumentation. Lengthy, explorative instrumental passages speckle the album thickly, but Tool's impossibly tight instrumental interplay, sense of detail, and precision keeps it from being boring, although it may take a serious listener to really pay attention to depth of each segment.
I must confess I was not initially impressed by the album's lyrical content, being turned off by reams of profanity and what was ostensibly punk-ish vitriol and juvenilia. But, as Keenan writes in "AEnema," "Try and read between the lines," I found that careful attention revealed that Tool possesses as much lyrical intuitivism as musical insight. Some interesting themes include genetics and false martyrs. There are also shades of philosophy that set the tone for Tool's next album Lateralus, where Keenan gets into Eastern philosophies in a big way. Even the lyric in "Hooker with..." is whimsical in its irony (though the song's real merit is just rocking out). Even better than the lyrics is Keenan's incredible voice. It's not his singing ability that impresses me, but his voice possesses such a gamut of qualities that it makes him unforgettable. He can sound broken and weak, ferocious and violent, or anything in between.
I'm new to Tool, but I can tell this is an album that offers enough depth that I'll still be listening regularly in five years...maybe longer. Are you not yet a Tool fan? Buy this and Lateralus and prepare to be blown away.
Free Music Review: Life Altering- let's just cap it at that
Hit: 5 Stars
I don't usually write album reviews, as I spend more of my time perusing the reviews of albums I have not yet heard to see if they are worth the money. I did, however, drop by Tool's selections to see if any of them received the full 5 star ratings they deserve. As "Aenima" is my personal favorite, I could not help but be shocked to learn it had a paltry rating of 4.5 stars. Good for most, certianly. Satisfactory for such an incredible, thought-provoking, complex, virtuosity-filled album? Simply put: NO.Aenima is an album I have listened to so many times, I have almost the entire record learned by heart. Perhaps the best thing to say about it, and Tool themselves, is the sheer amount of skill all of these individual performers possess, and how brilliantly they coalese into one. Danny Carey is perhaps the most skilled drummer of the 90s, even though his talent is most fully exhibited (in my opinion) on the sonic "Lateralus". One would not be unfulfilled to listen to this album instrument by individual instrument, of course counting Maynard James Keenan's voice as an instrument all its own, and only afterwards listening to the songs as a sum of their parts. The balance is perfect- what Adam Jones's guitar perhaps lacks in virtuousity he makes up in sheer perfection: the parts are unleashed, perhaps more so than played, as the perfect foils to the absolutely jaw dropping rhythms of Carey's impeccable drumwork.
Certainly in a class all his own is my favorite, Maynard James Keenan. Let's face it, this man can SING. Damn, can he sing. Just attempt, in the quiet of your own home, to hold the final "Goodbye" of Eulogy as long as he can. If you master that, attempt it once more: but at the pitch and volume that he almost effortlessly does. Lyrically, the album is pure poetry. From songs like 46&2, which speak of a desire to approach a more evolved human being, with an extra set of chromosomes to our present 44&2, to Eulogy, a scathing critique of Christianity lurking just behind the obviousness of Opiate (track 6 on "Opiate"), to allusians to chakras in Third Eye, to "shadows shedding skin" in H. Yet for every outcry that this album is "too dark", Tool fire back by naming a crack at all of their elitist, hypocritical fans (sporting "OGT" tattoes, yet drinking mass marketed and commercialized soda) Hooker, a tongue in cheek way of reminding us that many who wish to be seen one way may, in fact, have something more lurking under the proverbial skirt.
Tool, and Aenima more specifically, are, in the most generic sense of the word, metal, but they truly defy classification. Though meatheads more inclined to push each other around than listen to the music thickly populate Tool concerts, I tend to remind myself that they just don't get it. One can hear Tool's music without ever thinking about what it all means and get upset that some songs are "too long" (think 14 minutes) and "out of place" (the catchy interludes that one comes to relish upon devouring the album as a whole), but relish the sheer loudness of pounding, almost anthems like Stinkfist or Aenema (which, with its barrage of profanity and "f**king" a town that can seem quite like your own after hearing its description), but please, if this is you, move on. You will still enjoy it, but it is difficult to think that this genius album will go so unappreciated in your stereo. Let someone whose life will be changed by it, much as mine has been, purchase your copy.
On this record, Maynard chooses to live, learn, grow, cry, love, and do what it takes to move through, and after experiencing Aenima and what that has to offer, you would be a fool not to let him. Aenima is Maynard's outreached hand: offering itself to you to grow and expand with him. It is your decision to accept it. I have, and after doing so, simply very few bands can suffice anymore. Tool has broken the mold.
Free Music Review: Champions of the Underdog
Hit: 5 Stars
"Tool" should be the first thing you see when looking up "Musical artist", these guy's do it naturally perfect, the epitome of cool is tool and this album just starts out with music that becomes embedded in your head because there is something here that is mysterious and catchy and completely different than everything that gets overplayed on the radio in a good way. Tool is music for those people that are searching for depth, talent, and maybe even a way out of the normal.
As innovative as Pink Floyd this proggressive rock style works for them, the band as a whole seems to become one big musical giant that dosent let up and it SHOWS in "AEnima", it is a musical journey into the abyss of the dark side of Tool before Maynard James Keenans' side project "A Perfect Circle" where he projects his more mellow and very talented soft vocal side yet with a few songs that would remind you of Tool.
Other talents in the group are drummer Danny Carrey who ive read has traveled the world and taken peices from many musical cultures and molded them together to make one exciting expereince to listen to, his drumming is unreal and i have not heard better yet! The guitar is matched by no one where Adam Jones plays a unique tune that moves you with the sounds and chords that are chosen. Adam also creates the art work for all the dark unexplainable music videos in which tool never reveals themselves but briefly in their music video "Sober" from their "Undertow" album and the never shown on tv music video for "Hush". And joining the band in '94 Justin Chancellor elite bassist for Tool sets the tracks on which tool rides, and does this with ease.
"AEnima" however happens to be the favorite of 5 (one being an Ep) albums of mine that Tool posseses. All albums are unique in their own way and all are almost completely different from eachother but never loose their legendary sound. They seem to be ripe for the picking on AEnima, it is raw Tool, closer to their fresh beginning days (Opiate and Undertow) that had more of an upbeat tempo than "Lateralus" and "10,000 Days" which seem to be polished up and have a more melodic/euphoric approach.
On "AEnima"(Track13) maynard expresses his feelings about LA, he refers to the city as "a three ring circus sideshow of freaks". But before you go thinking he's a pessimist there is an agreeable aspect about that. "Eulogy" (Track2) starts off slow with guitar and drum then begins to build up after a quick drum pause an injection of guitar is set to a beautiful ride, then ends in a memorable way with high low high guitar riffs and maynard yelling powerfully, one time, "goodbye" for about 10+ seconds straight, which officially introduces you to the vocal talent he has. "Forty Six & 2" (Track5) has a very interesting base line that builds up into proud guitar riffs and rolling intricate drumming in which maynard continues to build his vocals up from deep down. Every track is good to the last drop. Tracks #4,6,8,10 are not muisc but play a role in the albums theme if listened in its entirety.
"AEnima" folks, is an album above all if you are a hard rock fan of quality music this is an album that cannot be re-created, re-invented, or mimicked it is definitely a jewel to have in your collection of whatever it is that you listen to, it cannot be passed up.
"See i think d***s have done some good things for us i really do and if you dont believe d***s have done good things for us do me a favour, go home take all your albums all your tapes and all your cds and burn them, cause you know what? The musicians who made all that great music thats enhanced your lives throughout the years....Rrrrreal f****** high on d***s."
-Bill Hicks