Any Tool fans? I need advice.

[meruizh]

A friend of mine just showed me two Tool songs, Schism and Sober. I was amazed, brilliant songs, specially Schism, that just gets your from the first seconds. So I want to get into them. What could be the best album to get introduced to them? And what album should I listen next?
Any information about the band that is interesting could be helpful.

Thanks
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[Mercury]

They're pretty cool. Very art-Prog metal like with cool and unique vocals from Maynard James Keenan.

I'd recommend

1. Aenema
2. Undertow
3. Opiate
4. Laterallus
5. 10,000 Days


In that order. Those first 2 are especially good.

"Opiate" is their debut and is very intense and hateful. Less arty. Still cool. Laterallus
Is the opposite end of the spectrum, very drawn out and conceptual. I never fell in love with it, but many did.

The first 2 albums I named are the 2 albums in between the 2 extremes. Undertow and Aenema balance Prog stuff and crazy time signatures and intros and shit with some in your face and heavy songs.

If you like them also check out King Crimson albums like "Red" and you will also maybe like A Perfect Circle's debut album "Mer De Noms" (I think it's called tht, I can't fully recall.)

All in all, they are a band which isn't given much love here with the regulars, but I personally really like.
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[19loveless91]

TBH I think Lateralus (the song that Schism is on) and especially Aenima are a step above the rest of their discography. So I'd go with these two (Aenima first), and then go from there.

They get a lot of shit from certain regulars here, but I find them to be one of rare metal acts that I really enjoy. Great at building heavy, dark atmosphere, often using complex song structures and playing with odd time signatures. Schism is definitely one of my favourite songs, along with Aenema, Stinkfist, Jimmy, Lateralus etc.

[ShaneSpear]

[Guest]

10,000 Days > Lateralus > Ænima > Undertow > Opiate

Apparently they get better with time, so hopefully they'll drop a new album at some point

[Guest]

Their albums get boring but the songs themselves are really really nice.

[Hayden]

This thread could have just stopped at the thread title.
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[lightmyway]

Aenima is a good jumping on point. Lateralus is more diverse though and is almost as good. It might also be fun to start at Undertow and go forward in chronological order, all their albums are good and you'll get a sense of their progression that way. (Opiate kind of sucks)

[soundguardian]

[soundguardian]

to answer your question, a lot of people have given good suggestions, like maybe listening to their best-received record Aenima first, or starting at Undertow, and going in chronological order. That makes a lot of sense to me, because although Tool always retains some distinct characteristics that embody Tool, the band's sound never stays static from album to album, and to hear how that sound metamorphoses from release to release is really intriguing.

I'd say start out by listening to a couple more of the really steller singles, then try listening to the discography in order from Undertow. Perhaps a couple of the most accessible or generally-favored ones, so you'll be more ready to fully immerse yourself into the experience. "Parabol"/"Parabola" is a perfect example. Everything about that piece (which I essentially consider one song because they're so related and so seamlessly set together) screams production value perfection and musical virtuosity. "46 & 2" and "Stinkfist", "Eulogy", or even "H." make for pretty impressive listening. Maybe "Prison Sex".

Then listen to "Lateralus". Listen to the melody line.

"Black
and
white are
all I see
in my infancy
red and yellow then came to be
reaching out to me
lets me see"

Do some syllable-counting throughout the song, think what the sequence reminds you of... you'll have a deeper appreciation for Tool and Keenan on both a musical and intellectual level.
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