Customer Reviews

Tool - Schism

5 star:		(28)
4 star:		(16)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(6)

 

 

This is an all-around worthwhile purchase for any Tool fan who appreciated what the band did with the spiritually overt Lateralus. The music video, directed as usual by guitarist Adam Jones and featuring interpretive dance duo Osseus Labyrint, really does enhance the song in many ways and open up many new paths of understanding for the critical eye of a Tool fan or aesthetically appreciative newcomer. Brian Lustmord's remix track is also worthwhile if you have learned to be patient with the music and open your mind to it, rather than covering it up with culturally-reniforced expectations. It is in many ways much more like a prayer than a song; you must surrender yourself to it to understand. Once you do, you will find the reward. (Those of you who have listened to it all the way through will know what I'm saying--it's a feeling perfectly characterized in so many parts of the remix, like the moment when Justin Chancellor's melancholic bass chords, which normally introduce the song, finally resonate on a quieted piano.) The dual commentary, however, is a real nuisance, not because it isn't unflinchingly stoic or compelling, but because the humorous route that was chosen for it simply doesn't work. It might be good for two or three chuckles; you'll never visit it more than once per commentary side. But besides that rather useless appendage, this DVD is a great addition to a Tool fan's collection as a means of further exploring the band's art and ideas.

For $7 bucks, it is well worth it to own this DVD, however I would have gladly paid more for surround sound. The Salival box set videos are enhanced with surround sound and it makes a whole world of difference. The Schism video is a typical TOOL video, mirroring the concept of the song with the struggle of disconnection between the two "beings" and eventually the combining of the two to form one tortured being. The end of the video climaxes with an amazing fire sequence that fits perfectly with the thunderous ending of the song leaving you a bit stunned for a second. The claymation in this video seems a bit weak and out of place, compared to past efforts. Much like the Parabol(a) disc, the commentary is slightly entertaining, but more annoying than anything, however this remix is quite superior to the parabola remix. Lustmord isolates the instruments primarily Justin bass, and it gives a unique spin on the song. Overall it seems as though this was a rushed product, and maybe it was put out to satisfy a contract obligation, which may explain why there were two seperate DVD's released at the same time, when they clearly could have fit both Schism and Parabol(a) on one disc. My true dissapointment lies with the lack of surround sound, which fails to parallel the eye-opening visuals created by Adam Jones and Grey. Visually this rates a 5 and the audio rates a 2.

Not completely satisfied with this DVD. Pakaging and content are great. However, this video along with the Parabola DVD release should have been included in a new 2-DVD set with all the Tool videos and and live DVD. Not that this may not already be in the works for the future but, with 2 non-lp remix tracks that make their first appearance on the DVDs and nowhere else, it leaves fans wanting more.

Rating this doesn't seem like it will make an difference. If you like tool or weird music videos get this!

Tool videos tend to be dark, strange and incredibly ambiguous. This video is absolutely no different. A surround sound setup would definitely have been much cooler and the inane dual commentary is mostly annoying (but the nature of it is 100% Tool). For $7, I'm happy I purchased it. For those of you that bitch about having to pay cash for so little, the band offered the videos for free download on their main web page for a very long time prior to this release. Get over yourselves.

Bottom line; for the price, this is a great DVD and will entertain, and for any Tool fans, definitely a recommendation to get.

The DVD itself is fairly simple, with an animated background menu and three track choices.

1) the album audio track set to the music video which is typical Tool wierdness but just perfect.

2) the same music video with dual channel comical commentary by David Yow from Jesus Lizard which at first is very odd, but it is actually fairly funny and I soon learned to like the comical nonsense on top of the more serious looking video, they do not go together at all!, but maybe that's the point, and it seems to work.

3) a 20 minute remix of the song set to a static background. Nothing extremely great here, but a worthy remix nontheless.

The main drawbacks in my opinion is that the audio is simply stereo. With 5 years in the making and DVD format, it would have been nice to have a surround sound audio track for the song, even if it would mostly be stereo. And how about widescreen? We are in 2005 and this is a DVD, even if the music video won't fit, even some static graphics or simple repetetive animation would be a nice additon to the video.

Ok, seriously man, some of you guys are overreacting and expecting too much out of these dvds. i bought schism, despite what some of the reviews said. i mean sh*t. whats 6 bucks, right? and then i thought about it. so yea, maybe the commentary isnt exactly mind altering stuff, but i mean... what the f*ck do you want in a dvd thats 6 bucks. i bought it cuz its a cool f*ckin video by a cool f*ckin band with some cool artwork to hold the dvd in. tool isnt getting lazy. theyre just giving you a really cool video for your own collection, dont be a d*ck and ask for more than that man. its title reads schism/parabola. thats what you get in the dvd.

Pop the DVD in and all you see is flames and a spooky looking figure from an anatomy book. Three frames on the left as if they were chapters and then this crazy anatomy book dude staring at you as if it were your own reflection minus the skin. So, I start with the first one. After a very crazy and slightly disturbing and very unsettling intro, it goes into the video for Schism. The video is nothing new, and they are again unsettling and disturbing to watch. It is just like any other tool video, so that's a good thing if you are a fan of their previous videos.

Now, this is where it starts to get even weirder. After watching the first video, I selected the 2nd flame from the menu. I have never heard anything like it. It is the same video, only this time with some dude commenting on it. All it is is a guy commenting on a video, but he does it twice. One commentary plays out your left speaker, while a second plays from the right. Played together it is the single most unique experience I have ever heard. It is like getting to hear two slices of an infinite number of parallel universes.

Then there is the third spiral. Doesn't seem to be doing much. Sounds like a loop. Sounds like a loop. Sounds like a loop. Seems to sound like a loop. Seems to sound kind of like a loop. Seems to sound a bit like a loop. Seems to start to sound a bit not like a loop.

Hmm.

Where is the remix track it talks about on the cover?!?

I bought this just so I could add at least one Tool video to my collection. The video for Schism is itself pretty cool. It's just what you expect from a Tool video. It's visually interesting in a nightmarish kind of way. It makes you wonder at the symbolism involved. And the fits well above the actual song. The problem is that I'm not going to be purchasing any more of these at the $10 price tag. Hopefully, there will be a future DVD release that contains all the Tool videos. That would be an outstanding product!!

This is one of my all-time favorite Tool songs, so I'm sure that I'm a little biased. The video is great and does justice to the song. The costuming and make-up work very well and the visuals really do stick with you.

I've read reviews where Maynard says that he writes lyrics based on how the music moves him, while Adam makes the video based on the music as opposed to Maynard's lyrics. I suppose this could be the case, but the images certainly do evoke a sense of struggling within a relationship, as Maynard's lyrics seem to also suggest.

The video is sparse, not much for background, which makes sense because the two characters in relationship are the focal point. Watching the video a few times, then put it away for a while before coming back to it. This is the best way to approach the experience that is Tool. Experience something totally different after you've done some work on yourself and a whole new world will open up.

While I do really enjoy this video, I'm still partial to the videos for Sober and Prison Sex. No, I'm not one of those who clings to the Old Tool, but those videos were amazing, dark and really hit my emotional center more than this one does.