Third Eye Open: String Tribute to Tool

Tribute to Tool (Artist) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (September 11, 2001)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Vitamin Records
• ASIN: B00005ORCW
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (58 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #154,939 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Really interesting..., October 15, 2001

By 

Jason Clements (MD, USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Third Eye Open: String Tribute to Tool (Audio CD)

I like all kinds of music, but Tool is my favorite band by far. When I heard of this string tribute, I pre-ordered it with high hopes. Well, after listening to it today, I think it's pretty good. It is a *very* good interpretation of Tool's songs (if you ask me), and it is a good listen. It certainly gives all the songs a new ring to them.

However, I think they may have interpreted Tool's obscurity a little too closely in some cases. Sometimes it almost seems like the song is unbalanced. Additionally, some songs seem a bit choppy, but that again may be more of the interpretation.

There's no doubt that the creators of Third Eye Open had a challenge, and while this album can be a little awkward at times, overall it is interesting and I'm sure one of those things that grows on you. I wouldn't recommend it to the typical metal-head who is looking for intense guitar riffs and tortured vocals, but if you enjoy the intellectual qualities of Tool's music and expressions, you may find Third Eye Open an entrancing listen, as it puts those intellectual qualities under a whole new light.

Oh, and Aenema could have done without the "hey" sounds. :)

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Oddly Addictive, October 23, 2001

By 

Jennifer Counts (Houston, TX United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Third Eye Open: String Tribute to Tool (Audio CD)

Tool is one of my favorite bands, so I decided I had to have this CD. I bought it primarily out of curiosity, wanting to see how Tool songs work as string arrangements. I think the musicians did a very good job interpreting Tool's music. The string arrangements give the songs a new feel. It brings a more melancholy note to some of the songs. The album has its awkward moments, but I think that is simply a problem of strings trying to duplicate a rock band--it doesn't always work as well as one might hope. However, these moments are far outweighed by the truly beautiful music that comprises the rest of the album. Tool's music is artistically strong enough that it translates well most of the time. I thought it a bit odd that they included "Ticks and Leeches", since that song is so percussion-dominated, but the arrangement was actually interesting, if for the most part unrecognizable. I would have like to see more from "Lateralus" on the CD, and maybe not so much from "Opiate", since the "Lateralus" work is more intellectually and musically complex than that from "Opiate". However, this is only a very minor gripe. On the whole, this album is a really interesting listen that has proven to be addictive.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Rich, beautiful, visceral, Tool., April 10, 2006

By 

Joshua Chandler (Springfield, MO USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Third Eye Open: String Tribute to Tool (Audio CD)

Most people who encounter the String Tribute to Tool (also referred to as Third Eye Open) will be crossover fans from Tool's original work, as opposed to fans of experimental string quartet music seeking out Tool for the first time (although this is theoretically possible). And as this CD is essentally a tribute to Tool, this makes sense, and it is not incorrect to want to judge this album in light of Tool's original recordings, which have a vastly different texture of sound. Thus, those seeking complete sonic replicants of the originals are bound to be disappointed, but so shall those who are looking for exploratory arrangements that obliterate much or all of the initial structure of Tool's songs in favor of even more abstraction. Rather, this album lays somewhere in between.

With the powerful opener "Sober", it's hard to see how anyone could discredit this CD. Each instrument really lays into the arrangement like a hot knife into butter. As the cello and bass come in on the song's ubiquitous bass root with a viola adding eerie structure behind, an articulate violin comes in to match Adam Jones' original guitar part with its own frenetic melody. The song continues to be a faithful, creative, and sonically rich interpretation of the original "Sober" for each second after and ends with a sense of true accomplishment, both for the listener and (surely) for the performers.

What fascinates me the most about this CD, though, is how difficult it must be to arrange small string sections to Tool's complex music and that in spite of that each of these arrangements seems to fit almost perfectly. Some songs certainly shine greater than others: the aforementioned "Sober" is one of the best, blooming with energy and sensation. "?nema" is another, featuring slight altercations and juxtapositions in the rhythm and groove as the song continues, as well as a headlong commitment to the grandiosity of the original in spite of the immense difficulty. And besides adding some new solos and phrasings throughout the songs, the performers also took time to include their interpretations of some of the original non-instrumental intros to Tool's music, as on "Intolerance" and "?nema".

While the CD waxes intense for many of the tracks in another display of faith to the original recordings, the mood here is actually somewhat diverse. My personal favorite, "Pushit", is a beautifully melancholic performance that perfectly captures the mood and intent of the original song. "Ticks and Leeches" broods quietly, spending much of its time in the interlude section of the original. Even "Hush", which one might guess would be rendered much less meaningful without lyrics, seems to have retained all of the cynical humor of the 1992 recording.

The flip side of this is that non-Tool fans are sometimes attracted to the band through this CD. While this is certainly not the rule, hearing the Tool's music in such an unusual format often allows people to judge them more objectively. Only a few years after its release, I already know a handful of people who say that they would never have listened to Tool were it not for this CD or its companion (Metamorphic, or Volume 2).

For some, this CD will take just as much of an open mind to understand as Tool's music alone does for so many others. But it is completely worth the adjustment: each interpretation is a rich, poetic blend that can stand amazingly (read: surprisingly) close to the original in musical strength.