Notable Artists... V

The erraticness of this blog is definitely a defining aspect of its character in my eyes, but then that's implied by the name. After all this blog is meant to be a "Malfunctioning" guide to the world of music. Anyway, I feel that an article that praised the majesty and talent of one of my favourite bands was long overdue.

Tool are an American rock band who specialise in a type of metal that is as unique as it is astonishing. Forming in 1990 they have so far released four full albums:

• Undertow- 1994
• Aenima- 1996
• Lateralus- 2001
• 10,000 Days- 2006

As well as these four albums they also released an EP in 1992 entitled Opiate. In my opinion each of these albums is phenomenal and choosing a favourite was tough. It was always going to be a contest between Lateralus and 10,000 Days.

Lateralus:

A smorgasbord of fantastic tracks that, as with all Tool's albums, contribute towards an overall piece that is greater than the sum of its parts. The title track Lateralus is definitely the best track on the album for me, the introduction's buildup is masterful before leading into a crushing riff. However Lateralus is by no means the only good song on the album; the tracks Parabol and Parabola. These tracks cannot be played individually as the former leads seamlessly into the latter, the slight pause in between the two placing emphasis on the power of the riff that follows. There are so many great tracks on this album, it's impossible to pick any to be described as "filler".

10,000 Days:

As with Lateralus this album is full of amazing songs which form an overall album that is greater than all its individual elements. The album kicks off with the sheer might of Vicarious with lyrics that really speak to the listener, drawing them in. If I'm forced to pick a highlight from the album, which I admit is very difficult, I'd have to say that Vicarious is one of my two favourite tracks from the album. Following this the listener is then thrown into the powerful introduction to Jambi another track that adds a dose of sheer power to the album. My other highlight is the title song: 10,000 Days (Wings Part 2). This song speaks of suffering and this is brought strongly across by the intensity of Maynard James Keenan's vocals. The reason that it has the suffix (Wings Part 2) is that if played at exactly the same time as the song that comes before it in the album (Wings for Marie (Part 1)) a whole new track is formed. I could go on about this album for a very long time; talking about tracks like Lost Keys (Blame Hoffman) and Rosetta Stoned and even if I mentioned those two I'd be skipping out others that deserve a mention. In short this album is a masterpiece.

So overall I finally managed to ascertain that by a tiny amount 10,000 Days takes the title as my favourite Tool album, but I cannot stress enough how difficult that decision was to make. Lateralus is a phenomenal piece of artistic creation and the others are the same. Tool are definitely in my top 5 bands (a decision made by me, how novel) and are very near the top of my "Bands to see" list.

Cheers,

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