Lateralus

Tool | Format: Audio Cassette

Product Details

• Audio Cassette (May 15, 2001)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Volcano
• ASIN: B00005B36I
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Audio Cassette  |  Vinyl
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1,667 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #402,691 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. Grudge

2. Eon Blue Apocalypse

3. The Patient

4. Mantra

5. Schism

6. Parabol

7. Parabola

8. Ticks & Leeches

9. Lateralus

10. Disposition

11. Reflection

12. Triad

13. Faaip de Oiad

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com's Best of 2001

Everything about Tool's fourth album is an experience, starting with the packaging, which consists of liner credits printed on a translucent plastic sleeve over the CD and a booklet that layers anatomical representations atop one another--the first page pictures musculature and blood vessels; the next, bones; the third, internal organs; and so on. It's worth describing the packaging of Lateralus because it says much about the astonishing music within. Maynard James Keenan and company understand the expectations riding on this much-anticipated release and they've delivered the goods! While it remains in the Tool tradition of trance-inducing progressive metal, Lateralus is tighter, clearer, crisper, and all around a notch above their admirable previous releases. Aenima was marred by muddy production and a certain predictability. Undertow had a cleaner sound but wasn't as confident or adventurous. With Lateralus, Tool have raised an already lofty bar still higher by coming up with a collection that kicks major ass. --Genevieve Williams

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

503 of 518 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars THE progressive masterpiece to kick off the 21st century., April 3, 2002

By 

Lord Chimp (Monkey World) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Lateralus (Audio CD)

You do not listen to this album...you surrender yourself to it. The experience of Lateralus penetrates deeper than the brain -- it is deeply spiritual and uplifting. Sonically, the dark sound works powerfully with MJ Keenan's dynamic, unique vocals and lyrical messages. Whether he's questioning emotional dichotomies ("Schism") or reflecting on a difficult spiritual sojourn ("The Grudge"), there is a dark, brutal beauty to this music.

Few bands have a collegiality that matches that of Tool. With the exception of drummer Danny Carey, this is not a band of virtuoso musicians. What separates them from the rest is their united, progressive artistic vision and originality. Danny Carey's drumming is octopus-like, modulating every passage with rhythms I can't begin to understand. Put together with rest of the crew, the opaque instrumentation creates music of endless shades and layers, with time signature changes a supercomputer couldn't crack. There is magic here. Powerful, crunching riffs are foiled often by placid, narcotic passages, generating an album that only rarely "rocks." Instead, it's heavily cerebral, dark, beautiful...and ultimately indefinable. For a band that's selling millions of albums and getting mainstream recognition, they still carry an uncompromising progressive aesthetic.

Ignore those who make the asinine comment that "Tool sold out." All other factors being equal, this is Tool's _least_ commercially viable album. Frankly, I think it's fairly remarkable that they passed off a 7-minute music video ("Schism") onto MTV. (Credit the amusingly surreal video, I guess.) I guess when a band like this becomes popular, the so-called fans dismiss quality for the sake of remaining "hardcore." With lots of 8-minute songs, numerous melody shifts, texturally complex movements, world influences, enigmatic lyrics, this is not an album that can be easily digested. Aenima was complex in its own right, but is was nothing like _this_. I've had Lateralus for almost a year (at the time of this writing), and it remains as arresting as ever. It's so deep, I'm not sure I'll ever see the bottom; it's so high, I might never reach it. (Yes, I like that book.)

And yet in telling you all of this, I've told you nothing. I think the best music is the hardest to describe. Lateralus comfortably lands in that category.

We often hear, in a denigrating tone, "Yeah, that Lateralus is so self-indulgent." Quite. Tool made the album they wanted to make, with commercial considerations thrown out the window. Of course it's self-indulgent -- this isn't commercial pabulum. Clearly, Tool's objective wasn't to make _you_ happy, it was to make _themselves_ happy. This is what separates art from products.

Tool, strangely, managed to produce high art that remains a viable product. We expect mainstream rock to be dominated by bands like Creed, Nickelback, and Staind...not Tool. None of this matters, though. Whether it sells 10 million copies or 10 thousand, great music is great music. We don't need Rolling Stone or MTV to tell us that.

55 of 56 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Progress(ive), May 15, 2001

By 

"-finn-" (Auckland, New Zealand) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Lateralus (Audio CD)

Thankfully, Tool aren't one of the bands that you expect to make the same album again and again. Each new release, sparse as they are, moves the sound and approach of the band on in a new direction. And for all of you people worried that Lateralus might just be a re-tread of old territory... It's not. It's very hard to give an in-depth review of something that's only been in your posession for 24 hours, but I feel that I've got enough of a grip now to write a bit. The things that immediately hit me: 1) Production. It's less "mushy" than Aenima. Not suggesting that Aenima was badly produced, the sound worked great for the music. But Lateralus has cleaner sounds, generally. Adam Jones' guitar is still huge and crunchy, but it doesn't obscure the rhythm section in the way that it used to. The drum sound is superb, and the variety of lovely bass tones on the album are a nice surprise. I have to admit, "lovely" was never a word I'd previously associated with Tool and bass. 2) Maynard sounds quite a bit different. In the same way that his vocals changed between Undertow and Aenima, they've shifted again here. There's a fair bit of stuff that sounds like A Perfect Circle, but there's also some viscious distorted screaming that sounds harsher than anything I can recall on Aenima. 3) Rhythm. This album goes through almost every time signature in the book! The album kicks off in 5/8 (or 3/4 subdivided into quintuplets.. you choose!) on The Grudge, and stays similarly obtuse for much of the album. You've got to love a band this popular that releases a single with sections in 13/8! 4) Long songs. Sometimes they hold sections for what seems like a very long time, longer than on any of the previous releases. These tracks worked better for me when I was lying in bed in the dark, with the music up floor-shakingly loud. It's almost like listening to a drum&bass track - you don't expect fast changes, more a hypnotic wash. 5) Great quiet sections! Eon Blue Apocalypse vaguely reminded me of some of Bill Frisell's guitar tones on Grand Guignol (the track, not the album) by John Zorn/Naked City, and the other "segue" tracks (like Mantra) are equally pretty. All in all, a lot to get your ears around. Considering the level of anticipation surrounding this album, the fact that it's not a massive let-down is a vast achievement in itself. And I'm still laughing over the fact that Schism was the #1 new release in terms of radio airplay in the states. Seven minutes long, with some slightly baffling odd time signatures and lyrics that aren't exactly of the "I did it all for the nookie" variety. I love these guys!

36 of 39 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars OH MY GOD, June 12, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Lateralus (Audio CD)

I have been a Tool fan for some time now. The CD that got me into them was, like most other people's, 1996's AEnima. And I thought that was a great album. Little did I know. Their most recent album "Lateralus" is a departure from the more traditional metal sound of bands such as Staind, Cold, and Limp Bizkit. The album's first track, "The Grudge", sets the tone for this mind-expanding record. About nine minutes long, this song will do nothing less than cause a massive coronary heart attack, epileptic seizures, a few tears, and a big smile. The CD continues with both songs and interludes that add to the flow of the album. Among my favorites are "The Grudge", "Schism", "The Patient", and "Ticks and Leeches". If you are a musician and understand time signatures, prepare to be amazed. Danney Carey's drumming will make any prospective or experienced drummer cry. Maynard's voice is much more powerful this time around, pulling off a straight scream at the top of his lungs for 25 seconds straight in "The Grudge". Adam Jones' guitar mastery is both haunting and introspective. As for Justin Chancellor, the bassist, listen to the beginning of "Schism". 'Nuff said. In my opinion, this album far exceeds "AEnima" and "Undertow" because it flows much smoother as an album and is much more musical and imaginative. If you are a fan of Tool, then you should already have this. If you are new to the band, then I would suggest "Undertow" or "AEnima" as first albums simply because they are easier to digest. Simply put, this is an incredible album that should be used as an example of what hard rock music should really be: hard-hitting, musical, and emotional. Bow down to the king.