Tool – Aenima

Going w/Eulogy, which I just learned is about L. Ron. lols!

46&2 i think

"Aenema" for the video.

I've never seen the "Ænima" video, but it's definitely the best song on the album. Destroys live, too.

Huge part of my adolescence - I miss when they had an overt sense of humour. Trying to decide between "Eulogy" or the almost-title track.

H, mostly for the memories of one of my ex-roommates who used to talk for hours on end about how every single lyric mirrored his life

maynard sings real purty in it too

x-p0st -- What is David Cross like in person, anyway.

tough call. imma go with "hooker with a penis." it's a relatively simple song for them, but boy does it ever get the point across well.

46&2

yeah this a giant album of my adolsecence too

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v216/sexymollusk/aweshorrormovieke6.gif

*adolescence

hahaha Ned do you hate L.A.?

This album is responsible for me getting into Bill Hicks. That painting of him & Maynard on the inside is fantastic.

All you know about me is what I've sold you,
Dumb fuck.
I sold out long before you ever heard my name.

I sold my soul to make a record,
Dip shit,
And you bought one.

So I've got some
Advice for you, little buddy.
Before you point your finger
You should know that
I'm the man,

If I'm the fuckin' man
Then you're the fuckin' man as well
So you can
Point that fuckin' finger up your ass.

This is the only Tool album I can stomach. Everything they did after was humourless noodly bollocks, but Aenima was full of fun little surprises. I went for H.W.A.P.

^this. Though I don't really need to ever hear it again. Thank you FM radio for ruining Aenima, Back in Black, etc.

This is the only Tool album I can stomach.

Really? I've tired of this one but Undertow is still palatable.

hahaha Ned do you hate L.A.?

Oh lord no. But everybody needs a song about the place they're in which expresses frustration. (See also Supernova's "Costa Mesa Hates Me" for a more specific example in my case.)

ach well to be honest i've only heard this one and the one they did after, which a lot of people liked, but I thought was really boring.

"Aenema" for me. I never got into this album though I tried. Actually met someone in college-- a rather intelligent guy too-- who told me that it's literally all he listened to for 2 years and he kept finding new layers and deeper meanings... it really made me want to undercover it all, but every time I tried, I was always let down by the songs. I just didn't think most of them were that good.

I am annoyed to discover that for some reason I no longer own this, and yet DO have the far inferior Lateralus - an OK record with some nice moments here and there, but boy are Maynard's "spiritual" lyrics tiresome. I much prefer his angry cynic mode (aka the first two records.)

yup - they started turning in on themselves after aenima. something about the knowing mysteriousness of the band giving way to them becoming dream fucking theatre or whatever.

Undertow is still their best album AFAIC.

These last three posts sadden me a bit. (Signed, the guy who thinks Lateralus is their best CD.)

My favorite song by them is still "Opiate"!

(or "Swamp Song", depending on mood)

46+2 for the FANTASTIC live drum solo

and I HATE drum solos!

Undertow and Opiate have great moments too, but Ænima feels like the most complete statement the band ever made - it creates its own, ugly little universe (it's the Dark City of rock).

Melody Maker had a great review of this when it came out, by Neil Kulkarni, where he tied it into stuff like Slint and June of '44 - lol indie etc but my limited knowledge of Tool at the time had them down as a fairly workaday alt-metal band and this really (a) piqued my interest and (b) was a valid point of connection that no-one else jumped on enough (and still don't)

I realize another reason I love this album (and I guess Tool in general but here & Undertow esp.) is it's fucking FUN to sing along with. Sounds good, hit all the right notes (in a difft octave of course, boss as it wld be to have Jarboe's range).

My bachelorette's party was basically me & my 3 bestest galpals from HS eating hot wings & going karaoke. The guy in charge of it at the bar was wearing some lol embroidered Tool jacket. It was his first night, he was doing a lovely job of humoring us ('okay all they want to sing is Heart and Kate Bush, this isn't going over so hot with the whole crowd'). Anyway, we all did SOBER together as a 'this goes out to you first night karaoke machine dude.' I know this is getting my brag on but four girls harmonizing on that song sounds FUCKING COOL. And I think that was the main reason we all liked Tool in HS, they were just so damn good to sing along with in the car. (Sorry Andrew Eldritch but girls can't really sing along to 'Marian' near as well or you & yr gang would've had top rank in the cassette player.)

I mean we tried to sing the '90s 'Temple of Love' together & it just sounded like the B-52s.

I just voted for Eulogy but it could have just as easily been Stinkfist, H., 46 &2, Ænema, or Hooker With a Penis. This album was huuuge to me around the time it came out. I think I listened to it at least once a day for like 6 months.

Also this was around the time our family got THE INTERNET, so I was one of those dweebs online talking to other dweebs about SONG MEANINGS. Jesus Christ.

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

this is one of those bands where they had some great albums and i still dig a lot of the music but i would never tell people that i'm into them - mostly out of fear of meeting superfans, who all seem to be generally insufferable

what's weird is that i enjoy listening to them now more than i did when i was a teenage superfan.

i don't listen to them very often but when they come on on my ipod, i can actually just enjoy the music without it being a ritualistic act associated with my identity.

when they come on on my ipod, i can actually just enjoy the music without it being a ritualistic act associated with my identity.

― Vokuhila (latebloomer), Wednesday, June 10, 2009 11:05 PM (27 minutes ago) Bookmark

OTM. i'm the same way, also having grown out of my teenage superfanaticism. although i try to listen to them more than just randomly on my ipod.

the only time the superfan comes out is when i realize how long it's been since their last album, and i start to get a bit agitated.

this was like an entire generation's first brush with "art rock" in a way. still a decent album tho pretty juvenile in the end. i'm going with stinkfist cause it's a tight opening track.

this is really tough. "H," "46 & 2" and the title track are in the lead right now

"Eulogy" probably would have been my vote back in the day though

I'll never forget when i first saw the "stinkfist" video. blew my young mind into a million pieces...

They got the guy who produced King Crimson Thrak to produce this record. And that was a very good idea.

"this was like an entire generation's first brush with "art rock" in a way"

certainly was mine. or at least it's in competition with The Downward Spiral. don't regret those years at all.

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

Quite right.

Pretty OTM I think, though I wish H. could've gotten a little more action. Surprised Pushit didn't get a single vote. I seem to remember Tool nerds digging on that one (though I do think it's a bit of a wanky snooze myself).

H. is good, but I forgot that was the name of it. I went 46&2 (just ahead of me).

i'm surprised as well about "pushit," but i think the live version on salival is much better.

10. "Die Eier Von Satan" 1

haha

guuuyyzzz:

http://www.avclub.com/articles/maynard-james-keenan-stars-in-a-documentary-about,29090/

I still need to try some of that.

I've never heard Tool. Should I listen to this? I hate most metal vocals, except for QOTSA

and Rammstein

Can't hurt. Aenima is Tool's "artiest" album, much more experimental heavy rock than metal.

learn to swim imo

Always thought James Maynard Keynan sounds strangely like Tracy Chapman on this record. Maybe it's just me.

yeah i don't hear that at all.

Yeah, just me then. Love how Abbot describes it as a 'little album' - it's kind of the opposite!

this is so Eulogy.

that final "goodbye" at the end.

always enjoyed his little swallows/hums between words in the bridge of the song too.

"You..mm claimed..mm all...mm this...mm time"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xn9UeHhqwfc

wtf of this bad Tool fan Korean-news-footage/student CGI project?? where from? why?

i **love** that Adam Jones has sealed weird stop motion = Toolin fan vid's mind

he definitely found a real niche in the 90s possibilities for rock vocalists and worked it with better taste than most of them

"jimmy" is the best tool song imo

Just read that biography of him that he contributed to -- really good read all around. It's certainly painting him in a good light, for lack of a better term (it is written by a friend of three decades and all) but not I think unduly so -- apparently was quite the horndog after the band kicked in and made an immediate splash. Beyond said rock star cliche, though, the discussion of his pre-fame life is really detailed and interesting -- and less traumatic than a lot of people have assumed. There was certainly some instability with his parents' divorce early on and early life with his mom on their own for some years before her health began to turn, but never anything abusive. (Turns out though that the abuse his mom suffered as a girl was really horrible, and I think explains much of the lyrical focus in the darker shades -- almost like he was speaking for her for years and years.)

I still get chills at this part of "Eulogy" (and the mirror part that ends it):

Yeah, standing above the crowd
He had a voice that was strong and loud and I
Swallowed his facade 'cause I'm so
Eager to identify with
Someone above the ground
Someone who seemed to feel the same
Someone prepared to lead the way
And someone who would die for me
Will you?
Will you now?
Would you die for me?
Don't you fuckin' lie
Don't you step out of line
Don't you step out of line
Don't you step out of line
Don't you fuckin' lie

I grew out of a lot of my high school likes but this song is still on my all-time list. 8 minutes of economical L Ron shredding

also this is still their best in my estimation, though I like all of the eras.