Customer Reviews

Vol. 2-String Quart Tribute to Tool

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

 

 

I wasn't very impressed with the first String Tribute to Tool ("Third Eye Open"), albeit its ambitious attempt to translate Tool into an orchestral setting. Only every other song really seemed to catch the original groove and keep me interested.

This time however, things seem a lot more in place--and, perhaps, a lot more dedicated. I felt like Third Eye Open was perhaps rushed out of the studio from the way it sounded, whereas here, efforts are made to convey the SAME feeling as the original recordings from musical geniuses Tool.

Not to mention, the track listing couldn't be better. I was disappointed that Third Eye Open seemed to hand pick certain parts from each album; here, however, you'll probably find anything you were missing. Personally, the inclusion of Prison Sex alone makes it worth buying, as well as Disposition and Stinkfist.

Tool's music has often been described as "orchestral." It can evoke so many different emotions. My mother even enjoys listens to them. In fact, she says she can almost visualize a ballet to some of their songs. That being said, classical music can sometimes have EVERYTHING to do with a band's music, which would make it obvious to do a string quartet tribute album. I study classical music at a collegiate level, and I applaud these groups' efforts. However, a tribute doesn't necessarily sound good by just playing the same notes as was written. Classical music is played with a different style, and is meant to evoke emotion (just as Tool does). This CD in particular sounds like someone plugged in a Tool recording into a MIDI file. No emotion whatsoever. A lot of the songs chosen don't translate well to a quartet of strings, and the ones that do are so incredibly bland. This idea is great, but I have yet to run accross a SQT with nice arrangements and professional performers.

I would like to say in the defense of the producers of these String Quartet Tribute albums that they have honored me and my band with their efforts. This Sipperley guy (or girl) obviously doesn't understand that:

1. We as artists give the String Quartet Tribute producers the right to put these CDs out.
2. It provides our songs the opportunity to be heard and played in venues that would otherwise not play our music.
3. We get paid for every single CD that is manufactured.

There is nothing "shameless" about their efforts, it is the music business and it only helps extend the life of our songs by having new releases of them available for our current fans and the new ones we gain from the different versions.

I'm not writing this as a debate, I actually have bought every String Quartet Tribute CD I could find to support the efforts of this great series after I was given a copy of the one which pays tribute to my band; Dashboard Confessional.

This is a great album as are the others. I believe that it is a great investment for any fan and each copy that you buy actually pays the artist because these products are licensed.

Hopefully both of these tribute releases will bring Tool fans to the wonderful world of the string quartet, and maybe some classical music fans will get curious enough to give the originals a listen or two.
As an experiment or as a novelty item it works great, although some of the passages sound a bit dull and repetitive, being Tool's music much more rhythmic than melodic.
Tool fans, dare to check a bit of the String quartet world. A good recomendation would be Dmitri Shostakovich's String Quartet No. 8, which has a similar dark mood with the plus of having a nice harmonic development.
String Quartet aficionados, go ahead and delight yourselves with Aenima or Lateralus, and enjoy what's missing in these tributes.

I am a major tool fanatic. I love this band, and I have always told people that their compositions are head and shoulders above those of most other metal bands. I have no problem saying that Tool is the greatest Metal band of all time. It's nice to lift these ultra-high quality compositions out of the heavy distortion framework and give friends who doubt Tool's tallent a chance to hear just how great these compositions are in form that they find more accessible. The string players have a little trouble keeping up with Adam Jones' phenominal speed and dexteriy, but they do a nice job overall. I've spun this CD over and over again, and enjoyed it every time. Sweat and Jimmy are the two best performed tracks. This album is guarenteed to enhance your opinion of who and what Tool is. This is a great album.

This album, the follow up to "Third Eye Open: String Tribute to Tool", is simply great. Each song melds beautifully with the others for a trully relaxing experience. Though some tracks have slight flaws in the rythms, most capture the darkness and beauty that is TOOL. I gave it only four stars because of the afformentioned flaws, but the cd is great none-the-less. If you are a fan of Tool, then it is worth your while to check this album out.

Wish I had stolen this album before buying it. I've heard various tracks from these guys and really liked it but there were no stand out tracks on this album.

I think who ever wrote " Dont give thease people your money " should think into it more. All of thease tribute bring a different light to all of the groups that they cover. Every one loves to listen to there favorite bands and what this does is it lets you hear songs that you love in a different way. Witch i found verry interesting. I enjoyed this tool cover cd since that day i heard it in my friends car. i imidietly went out a bought it because i thought it was amazing that somone out there had enough guts to cover todays music with an orchastra. I also thought that it was verry acurate to what tool actualy did with the music. I enjoyed it.
Thank you.

Though I haven't heard the full album yet, what I have heard sounds to be great. This cd has all the songs I wanted to be on the last String Tribute to TOOL: stinkfist, disposition, jimmy, and especially eulogy. Most TOOL covers I've heard I don't like, but this is great. My mom even likes this. Watch out for RAVENNA.

Let me put it short and sweet:

Tool - kicka**
Metamorphic - kicka**

Mix them together - holy f***ing s***!!!!

That's right... mix the original Tool song with the tribute song, and the song explodes like a 20,000 megaton nuclear warhead! Now THAT... is power!