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Tool (band)

American alternative/progressive metal band

Tool is an American progressive metal band from Los Angeles, California.  Formed in 1990, the group's line-up has included drummer Danny Carey, guitarist Adam Jones, and vocalist Maynard James Keenan.  Since 1995, Justin Chancellor has been the band's bassist, replacing their original bassist Paul D'Amour.  Tool has won three Grammy Awards, performed worldwide tours, and produced albums topping the charts in several countries.

Opiate (1992)

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"Sweat"

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See also: "A Dream Within a Dream" by Edgar Allan Poe
 
Seems like I'm slipping into a dream within a dream.
  • Sweating, and breathing
    And staring, and thinking
    Sinking deeper
    And it's almost like I'm swimming
  • I'm trying to remember when, but it makes me dizzy
  • Seems like I've been here before
    Seems so familiar
    Seems like I'm slipping
    Into a dream within a dream
  • And I'm sweating, and breathing
    Staring, thinking
    Sinking deeper
    And it's almost like I'm swimming
  • It's the way you whisper
    Drag me under
    Takes me home

"Hush"

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  • Fuck you!
  • People tell me what to say
    What to think and what to play

"Part of Me"

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  • I know you well, you are part of me
    I know you better than I know myself
  • You are just a part of me

"Cold and Ugly" (live)

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"Jerk-Off" (live)

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"Opiate"

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Choices always were a problem for you.
 
My gods will become me.  When he speaks, he speaks through me.  He has needs like I do; we both want to rape you.

"The Gaping Lotus Experience" (hidden track)

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I had a friend once.  He took some acid.  Now he thinks he's a fire engine.
  • I had a friend once,
    He took some acid
    Now he thinks he's a fire engine.

Undertow (1993)

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"Intolerance"

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I don't want to be hostile, I don't want to be dismal, but I don't want to rot in an apathetic existence, either.

"Prison Sex"

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  • You know it hurt me
    But I'm breathing so I guess I'm still alive
    Even if signs seem to tell me otherwise
  • Do unto others what has been done to you

"Sober"

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Why can't we not be sober?  I just want to start this over.  Why can't we sleep forever?  I just want to start this over.
  • There's a shadow just behind me
    Shrouding every step I take
    Making every promise empty
    Pointing every finger at me
  • Jesus, won't you f****** whistle
    Something but the past and done?
  • 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 centre in you
    I will chew it up and leave
    I will work to elevate you
    Just enough to bring you down
  • Why can't we not be sober?
    I just want to start this over
    Why can't we sleep forever?
    I just want to start this over
  • I want what I want

"Bottom" (feat. Henry Rollins)

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I'm naked and fearless.  And my fear is naked!
  • My compassion is broken now
  • So smell my soul is burning
  • If I let you, you would make me destroy myself.  In order to survive you, I must first survive myself.  And I can sink no further.  And I cannot forgive you.  There's no choice but to confront you, to engage you, to erase you.  I've gone to great lengths to expand my threshold of pain.  I will use my mistakes against you; there's no other choice.  Shameless, now.  Nameless, now.  I'm nothing, now.  I'm no one, now.  But my soul must be iron 'cause my fear is naked.  I'm naked and fearless.  And my fear is naked!
    • These lines constitute Henry Rollins's spoken-word portion of the song; Maynard resumes singing while Rollins is speaking the last three words.
  • Dead inside!

"Swamp Song"

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You're dancing in quicksand.

"Undertow"

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  • Twice as clear as heaven
    Twice as loud as reason
  • How could I let this bring me back to my knees?
  • I'm helpless and I'm awake

"4°"

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"Flood"

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"Disgustipated"

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Let the rabbits wear glasses!

Ænima (1996)

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"Stinkfist"

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Constant over stimulation numbs me.
  • Constant over stimulation numbs me
    But I would not want you any other way
  • I said, "I don't want it.  I just need it.
    "To breathe, to feel, to know I'm alive."
  • I'll keep digging
    Until I feel something.

"Eulogy"

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Not all martyrs see divinity.

"Forty Six & 2"

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Hoping I can clear the way by stepping through my shadow, coming out the other side.
  • I've been wallowing in my own confused and insecure delusions
  • I've been wallowing in my own chaotic, insecure delusions
  • I wanna feel the change consume me
  • Hoping I can clear the way
    By stepping through my shadow
    Coming out the other side
    Step into the shadow

"Hooker with a Penis"

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  • I sold out long before you ever even heard my name
  • All you read and wear and see or hear on TV
    is a product begging for your fat-ass dirty dollar
  • Shut up and buy my new record
    send more money
    fuck you, buddy

"Jimmy"

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  • What was it like to see
    The face of your own stability
    Suddenly look away,
    Leaving you with the dead and hopeless?
  • Dreams are fading
    Carry my ancient soul
    Carry me into the light

"Die Eier von Satan"

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  • Bei zweihundert grad für fünfzehn minuten backen und keine eier

"Pushit"

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Saw the gap again today.
  • Saw the gap again today
  • Take care not to make me enter
    If I do, we both may disappear
  • What is this but my reflection?
    Who am I to judge or strike you down?
  • Yeah, I'm slipping back into the gap again
    I'm alive when you are touching me
    Alive when you are shoving me down
    But I'd trade it all
    For just a little
    Peace of mind
  • If when I say I might fade like a sigh if I stay
    You minimise my movement, anyway
    I must persuade you another way
  • There's no love in fear
  • I'm staring down the hole again

"Ænema"

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"Third Eye"

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Today, a man on acid realised that all matter is merely energy condensed to a slow vibration, that we are all one consciousness experiencing itself subjectively, there's no such thing as death, life is only a dream, and we are the imagination of ourselves.  Here's Tom with the weather. ~ Bill Hicks
 
It's not a war on drugs, it's a war on personal freedom is what it is, okay?  Keep that in mind at all times, thank you. ~ Bill Hicks

Salival (2000)

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"Third Eye" (live)

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Think for yourself.  Question authority. ~ Timothy Leary

"Part of Me" (live)

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  • I know you well, you are a part of me
    I know you better than I know myself

"Pushit" (live)

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What are you but my reflection?
 
And I'm slipping back into the gap again.  I feel alive when you touch me.  I feel alive when you hold me…down.  Slipping back into—slipping back into you.
  • So, we need you to find a comfortable space that's not only comfortable, but vulnerable.  I want you to shut your eyes and go there, and we'll meet you on the other side.
    • Maynard's spoken-word introduction
  • What are you but my reflection?
    Who am I to judge or strike you down?
  • But you're pushing
    And I'm shoving you
    And you're pushing me
    And I'm shoving you
  • And I'm slipping back into the gap again
    I feel alive when you touch me
    I feel alive when you hold me…down
    Slipping back into
    Slipping back into you

"You Lied" (live Peach cover)

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  • Painless hours of wasted motion
    • The original Peach line was "Painless hours of endless motion"

"Merkaba" (live)

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It's some kind of psychedelic experience.

"No Quarter" (Led Zeppelin cover)

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  • Locked in a place where no one goes
    • The original Led Zeppelin line was "They choose the path where no one goes"

"L.A.M.C."

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  • If you are calling from a secret spy phone, please press 5.

"Maynard's Dick" (hidden track)

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There's a shyness found in reason.  Apprehensive influence swallow away.

Lateralus (2001)

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"The Grudge"

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Desperate to control all and everything.

"The Patient"

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  • But I'm still right here
    Giving blood, keeping faith
    And I'm still right here
  • And if there were no rewards to heal
    No loving embrace to see me through
    This tedious path I've chosen here
    I certainly would've walked away by now
    And I still may

"Schism"

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I know the pieces fit 'cause I watched them fall away.
 
Cold silence has a tendency to atrophy any sense of compassion.
  • I know the pieces fit 'cause I watched them fall away

  • Disintegrating as it goes, testing our communication
    The light that fueled our fire then has burned a hole between us so
    We cannot seem to reach an end, crippling our communication

    I know the pieces fit 'cause I watched them tumble down
    No fault, none to blame—it doesn't mean I don't desire
    To point the finger, blame the other, watch the temple topple over
    To bring the pieces back together, rediscover communication

    The poetry that comes from the squaring off between
    And the circling is worth it, finding beauty in the dissonance

    There was a time that the pieces fit, but I watched them fall away

  • Cold silence has a tendency to atrophy any sense of compassion

"Parabol"

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"Parabola"

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Stay inside of this holy reality, this holy experience.
 
This body holding me reminds me of my own mortality.  Embrace this moment, remember: we are eternal, all this pain is an illusion.

"Ticks & Leeches"

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"Lateralus"

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See also Fibonacci numbers.
 
Black then white are all I see in my infancy.  Red and yellow then came to be, reaching out to me, lets me see.  There is so much more and beckons me to look through to these iInfinite possibilities.
 
Over thinking, over analysing separates the body from the mind, withering my intuition, leaving all these opportunities behind.
 
May just go where no one's been, we'll ride the spiral to the end.

  • Black
    Then
    White are
    All I see
    In my infancy
    Red and yellow then came to be
    Reaching out to me
    Lets me see

    There is
    So
    Much
    More and
    Beckons me
    To look through to these
    Infinite possibilities
    As below, so above and beyond, I imagine
    Drawn outside the lines of reason
    Push the envelope
    Watch it bend

    Over-thinking, over-analysing separates the body from the mind
    Withering my intuition, leaving all these opportunities behind

  • I embrace my
    Desire to
    I embrace my
    Desire to
    I embrace my
    Desire to
    Feel the rhythm, to
    Feel connected
    Enough to step aside and
    Weep like a widow, to
    Feel inspired, to
    Fathom the power, to
    Witness the beauty, to
    Bathe in the fountain, to
    Swing on the spiral, to
    Swing on the spiral, to
    To swing on the spiral of
    Our divinity and
    Still be a human

    With my feet upon the ground I
    Lose myself between the sounds and
    Open wide to suck it in, I
    Feel it move across my skin, I'm
    Reaching up and reaching out, I'm
    Reaching for the random or what-
    Ever will bewilder me, what-
    Ever will bewilder me, and
    Following our will and wind we
    May just go where no one's been, we'll
    Ride the spiral to the end and
    May just go where no one's been
    Spiral out, keep going…

"Reflection"

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I may find peace within the emptiness.

"Faaip de Oiad"

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According to Danny Carey, the voice in this song is a person who called the Art Bell syndicated radio programme on 11 September 1997.[1]  However, a YouTube video containing the original transmission can be found with an upload date predating the date provided by Carey.[2]  A caller admitted some point later that he was the caller and that his original call was fraudulent.[3]
 
What we're thinking of as—as aliens, uh—they're—th-they're extradimensional beings that an earlier precursor of the, um, the space program made contact with.  Uh, they-they are not what they claim to be. ~ Recording from the Art Bell syndicated radio programme
 
The government knows about them.  And, th-there's a lot of safe areas in this world that they could begin moving the population to now.  They are not!  They want those major population centres wiped out so that the—the few that are left will be more easily controllable. ~ Recording from the Art Bell syndicated radio programme
  • I'm a former employee of Area 51.  I-I was let go on a medical discharge about a week ago and, and...
  • What we're thinking of as—as aliens, uh—they're—th-they're extradimensional beings that an earlier precursor of the, um, the space programme made contact with.  Uh, they-they are not what they claim to be.
  • The government knows about them.  And, th-there's a lot of safe areas in this world that they could begin moving the population to now.  They are not!  They want those major population centres wiped out so that the—the few that are left will be more easily controllable.

10,000 Days (2006)

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"Vicarious"

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"Jambi"

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Shine on forever.

"Wings for Marie, Pt. 1"

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A passionate spirit, uncompromised, boundless and open.  …  Who could deny you were the one who illuminated your little piece of the divine?

"10,000 Days (Wings, Pt. 2)"

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  • Listen to the tales as we all rationalise
    Our way into the arms of the savior
  • Who could deny
    You were the one who illuminated your little piece of the divine?
  • Ten thousand days in the fire is long enough
    you're going home
  • You're the only one who could hold your head up high
    shake your fist at the gate saying, "I have come home now"
    Fetch me the Spirit, the Son and Father
    Tell them their pillar of faith has ascended
    It's time now
    My time now
    Give me my
    Give me my wings
  • Set as I am in my ways and my arrogance
    Burden of proof tossed upon the believers
    You were my witness, my eyes, my evidence
    Judith Marie, unconditional one
    • Judith Marie Keenan (22 November 1943 – 18 June 2003) was Maynard James Keenan's mother

"The Pot"

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He's guilty as the government.

"Rosetta Stoned"

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It was so real, like I woke up in Wonderland.  All sort of terrifying.
  • Ten to two a.m., X, Yogi DMT, and a box of Krispy Kremes
  • E.T. revealed to me his singular purpose.  He said, "You are the Chosen One, the One who will deliver the message.  A message of hope for those who choose to hear it and a warning for those who do not."
  • This is so real
  • It was so real
    Like I woke up in Wonderland
    All sort of terrifying
  • You believe me, don't you?
    Please believe what I just said
    See the Dead ain't touring
    And this wasn't all in my head
  • I can't remember what they said to me

"Intension"

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Pure as we begin.

"Right in Two"

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Father blessed them all with reason, and this is what they choose?
 
Monkey killing monkey killing monkey over pieces of the ground.  Silly monkeys, give them thumbs, they make a club and beat their brother down.  How they survive so misguided is a mystery.

Fear Inoculum (2019)

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"Fear Inoculum"

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  • The Deceiver says, he says:
    "You belong to me. You don't wanna breathe the light of the others.
    Fear the light. Fear the breath. Fear the others for eternity."
    But I hear them now. Inhale the clarity. I hear the venom, the venom in what you say.
    Inoculated.
    Bless this immunity.

"Pneuma"

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  • Pneuma.
    Reach out and beyond.
    Wake up, remember.
    We are born of One Breath, One Word.
    We are all One Spark, eyes full of wonder.

"Invincible"

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  • Tears in my eyes chasing Ponce de León's phantoms.
    So filled with hope I can taste mythical fountains.
    False hope, perhaps, but the truth never got in my way before now.
    Feel the sting. Feeling time bearing down.

"Descending"

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  • Free fall through our midnight, this epilogue of our own fable.
    Heedless in our slumber.
    Floating nescient we free fall through this boundlessness, this madness of our own making.
    Falling isn't flying. Floating isn't infinite...

"Culling Voices"

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  • Judge, Condemn, and banish any and everyone.
    Without evidence.
    Only the whispers from within.
  • Psychopathy.
    Misleading me over and over and over.

"7empest"

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  • [Keepin it calm. Keep calm. Keepin it calm. Keep calm. Keep calm. FUCK. Here we go again]
  • Control, your delusion. Insane and striking at random.
    Victim of your certainty, and therefore your doubt's not an option.
    Blameless, The 7empest will be just that.
    So try as you may, feeble, your attempt to atone. Your words to erase all the damage cannot.
  • A 7empest must be just that.

Other songs

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"Divorced" (by the Melvins featuring Tool)

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"Revolution" (demo collaboration by Tool and Rage Against the Machine)

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About Tool

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Tool is a fascinating anomaly. ~ Keith P. McManus
 
The music of Tool is the dark slime of a warm, black night.  Tool is an escape, a subtle revolution of sound and perception.  The musical landscape this band crafts…is the fulfilment of life, surreally black and purely haunting. ~ Alexander S. Peak
 
The band jumped into an extremely heavy cover of the Ramones' "Commando," baffling some fans and driving others into an approving fit of screams. ~ Robin A. Rothman
  • Opening strong with their first hit, 1993's "Sober," the crowd - predominantly made up of younger fans, rabid with anticipation - was rushed into a hot frenzy.  Lead singer Maynard James Keenan, as is customary for the enigmatic frontman, loomed in the background with his back facing the audience for most of the show.  And as the first few songs let their last few notes fade away, Keenan disrobed, removing various parts of his ensemble, leaving him with nothing more then black underwear and a stripe of black paint on his face.
  • Tool has the goods and puts on a blinding display of heavy metal energy mixed with cerebral art focus.
  • Keenan…wore an all-black leather outfit, had his face painted black and stood on a spinning platform some distance from the front stage; he never seemed to look at the crowd.
    • Gavin Engler, "TOOL Concert 101," Law Society Gazette (1993).
  • We always try to think of something that's never been done before, you know, as far as album packaging, and I've been a fan of stereoscopic photography my whole life and belong to the Southern California Stereoscopic Club.
  • And we thought if we could get this to work with our budget, you know, and put this out, it'd be really unique and reflecting, you know, a lot of the artwork that I appreciate from the '70s.
  • In an interview with Rolling Stone last July, Jones reiterated how the lawsuit was affecting the band.  "It's costing millions and millions and millions of dollars to defend us.  And the fans are all going, 'We want a new Tool album. What the fuck?'" Jones said.  "But the point is, we're fighting the good fight.  We're going to trial and we want to crush them.  But every time we've gotten close to going to trial, it gets postponed and we've wasted money and time and it has just drained our creative energy.  We bought an insurance policy for peace of mind, but instead we would have been better off if we never had it and just dealt with the original lawsuit."
  • Tool is a fascinating anomaly.
  • The video presentation…offered a stunning visual complement to the band's furious sonic assault.
  • In the popular musical climate of today, which seems to favor the blandness of processed rap metal or the redundancy of uninspired readymade pop outfits, it is refreshing that a band such as Tool exists to add some much-needed freshness to the contemporary musical landscape.
  • Wrath and pain, desire and self-loathing, ferocity and meditation all find a complicated balance in Tool.
  • Avoiding self-glorification, the band played in near-darkness under video screens on Monday.  Maynard James Keenan, Tool's lead singer, stood on a platform behind Adam Jones on guitar and Justin Chancellor on bass, with his face in shadows, while Danny Carey on drums toiled meticulously by his side.
  • Its songs hammer and seethe, melding the lowdown guitars of grunge, the odd meters of progressive rock and the whiplash stops and starts of thrash.  Mr. Keenan's sustained, almost androgynous voice hovers within the music, desolate but impervious to the tumult around him.
  • Tool's songs encompassed sullen calm, rapid-fire onslaughts, spacious chords and nimble-fingered counterpoint.  Standing room sometimes became a mosh pit.  But midway through its two-hour set, Tool chose stasis with a patiently tolling guitar vamp like a mantra.  Its fastest music also had a ritual quality, pounding and repeating like drummers in a trance ceremony.  Songs that rev up and end abruptly on Tool's albums only accelerated further, riffing harder and harder as if, through furious motion, they could somehow break through Tool's perpetual tension to reach a long-denied release.
  • The music of Tool is the dark slime of a warm, black night.  Tool is an escape, a subtle revolution of sound and perception.  The musical landscape this band crafts…is the fulfilment of life, surreally black and purely haunting.
  • "This song goes out to," vocalist and songwriter Maynard James Keenan began slowly.  And then he paused.  And he paused still.  And he finally finished, "Joey and Dee Dee."  The band jumped into an extremely heavy cover of the Ramones' "Commando," baffling some fans and driving others into an approving fit of screams.
  • What can I say about 10,000 Days, really?  It sounds exactly and precisely like a Tool album.  They might as well have not have released it at all, because anyone who's ever heard Tool could simply imagine what a new Tool album would sound like, and this is exactly what they'd imagine.
  • First up, "Vicarious": a Dateline Special Report on violence in the news media featuring guest commentator Maynard James Keenan.  Excellent!  I've been hoping to hear Maynard weigh in on the hottest issue of 1990.
  • Particularly impressed was I with "Lipan Conjuring," which was so thoughtful an addition to the album that I feel as if it were included just for me.  You see, I went to the record store with only fifteen dollars in my pocket, and I had a devil of a time deciding between 10,000 Days and Native Moods: A Pathway to Peace.  On one hand, I love rockin' out to some ten-minute chugging shuffles, but there's another part of my soul that craves the inner harmony that can only be brought on from some high-quality chanting.  It was with a heavy heart that I left the store carrying only one of these two things— or so I thought!  Imagine my immense pleasure when my hard rock album was interrupted— no, that's too harsh a word— when my hard rock album was magnificently bolstered by exactly the sort of stupid fucking crap I might hear on some grocery store counter impulse buy CD of New Age chanting bullshit!  Bravo!  I can have my cake and eat it too, and while I eat my cake I can listen to some total crap!
  • Tool are one of the few bands who have made themselves famous by disregarding all expectations of them.
  • A strangely chatty Maynard James Keenan broke his self-imposed exile and spoke casually to the crowd, inciting them to a cheer of "Yes!" and sometimes sharing his thoughts, most of which were unashamedly eccentric to say the least.
  • With their feet firmly planted on their spot on the stage and their faces obscured by their long hair, the players simply let their instruments communicate, and made no attempt to try it any other way.  Adam Jones in particular was a foreboding figure – his sheer stillness contrasted drastically by the strained and pained sounds he forced from his guitar.
  • [T]he band were as impeccably precise on their instruments as they are on record, with every dynamic, subtlety and thread of power displayed flawlessly.
  • As esoteric and arcane as their music tends to be, there's no doubt that this unique group of musicians weave their magic to everlasting effect.
  • The album art was a unique design created by artist Alex Grey.  The art is different layers of patterns with the different layers of the human body.  In Alex Grey's book "Transfigurations" he says the "saw blade" made of eyes "represents the primordial spirit of emptiness and awareness.  The next layer was a vajra emitting energy, the subtle essence of soul around which the physical body coagulates.  The next several layers detail the physical systems of viscera, skeletal, muscular, nervous, and cardiovascular systems."
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