Customer Reviews

String Quart Tribute to Tool

5 star:		(0)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

First, let me say that I'm a huge Tool fan, and I don't even like "heavy" music that much. I really enjoy their music and I think Maynard is the best vocalist in rock today. Now, on to these CDs. I didn't like them for the most part. The only reason I'm giving them three stars is because they have a great concept and their are a few pretty good sections in them. The songs just don't represent the darkness of Tool's music. If you want to see what I'm talking about, preview Schism. I think the reason this doesn't work is it's going to be impossible to recreate Tool's sound with a violin. A group like Apocalyptica (four cellos re-creating Metallica if you are unfamiliar) would be different, because it would allow Tool's darkness to come through. Furthermore, Danny Carey on drums is probably half the reason Tool is so wonderful. Put any other drummer in Danny's place, and Tool will not be nearly as good as they are. Once again, a string quartet can't replace a great drummer with their instruments. Overall, if you want to check these out, go ahead, but I'm just saying that you're not going to get nearly the same impact as you will when listening to Tool.

Just a few days ago I was driving to work listening to Lateralus in my car and I was thinking how interesting it would sound to arrange some of the songs for a string quartet, so I was greatly suprised when I came across this very album at Barnes & Noble.

While I think it's an excellent idea and I can think of few bands that would work better in this format, I was very disappointed in the execution. There just seemed to be very little... intensity. Listen to Ticks & Leeches for example, or the end of Schism--not to mention they skip my favorite section of The Patient. If you want to hear how much sonic ass a string quartet can kick, check out recordings by the Kronos Quartet. I would love to see what they could have done with this material.

I first learned about classical tribute albums for metal bands when I heard about the Estonian group Rondellus and bought their magnificent tribute to Black Sabbath, called Sabbatum.

Sabbatum was such a brilliant album that, when I heard about Anotomica, I listened to it and bought the album. Bear in mind, I know nothing of Tool's music. But I do know classical music, and I love this album. The renditions of the Tool songs sound fantastic to me. The music is well-played, and I love feeling the textures of the music and the interweaving of the instrument voices.

The only reason I don't give this album five stars is because of the song "Rampant" on the second CD. It is total crap and not at all enjoyable to listen to if you like classical music; it is disharmonious and disorganized-sounding. It's jarring and unpleasing to the ear. It was also not written by Tool, so I'm rather annoyed that its composer tacked it onto this tribute album.

My advice--Copy all of these songs except "Rampant" onto your iPod and bliss out!

This cd set is an amazing orchestral transposition of one of the greatest melodic bands of the current era. The cd is not for everyone. Obviously the metalheads that only appreciate repetitieve basal tones in their ears that will eventually lead to deafness, will not find this set to be to their musical expectations. Those of us who appreciate Tool for their melodic qualities, as well as appreciate 'classical music,' should find these discs to meet their expectations. Obviously, being a string tribute, these discs are instrumental, not rock/industrial covers with vocals. Overall, these discs are refreshing, especially considering most tribute albums these days. After all, the core purpose of a tribute album is to make make money off of someone elses artistic ability. I give this recording 4 out of 5 stars due to the fact that it is a cover album, and it didn't amaze me as much as some classical music does, the first time that i heard it. Overall, it is a very enjoyable listen.

First a heads up for those who are looking at this any other string quartet tool cover albums, Anotomica is a 2 disc set which is really just a combination of "Third Eye Open" (String Tribute to Tool) and "Metamorphic" (Metamorphic: The String Quartet Tribute to Tool, Vol. 2), two earlier releases by Vitamin Records. I have not seen this identified anywhere, and discovered this by comparing track lists, artists, and listening to samples before making my purchase.

As of now, if you want the physical CD, buying Anotomica is the cheapest option, but if you are looking for the MP3s, you will have to download the other two albums as Amazon doesn't offer an MP3 version of Anotomica.

As for the music itself. I'm really enjoying both albums. Some of the songs are harder to identify than I thought they would be, and I find myself looking at the track list more often than I would expect for an album of cover songs for a single band but the translation to the string quartet are well done.

As others have said, the bonus original composition Rampant on the second disc is a little out there but honestly, it also has the feel of one of Tool's more off-the-wall compositions to me.