Tool Album: “Aenima”

These one-star biased, uneducated 1 star reviews are disgusting. If you dont like it because its "too dark" or "too grim" or whatever, what the hell are you doing listening to Tool? The whole purpose of the Heavy Metal genre is to be like this and Tool does this perfectly. If you want something lighter go listen to your Ashanti or whatever. This CD isnt for everyone!! OR if you need something a LITTLE less abstract, try "undertow" which is great, too. AND let it grow on you. IT DOES TAKE MORE THAN A COUPLE OF TIMES for this CD to grow on you. It didnt start to grow on me until like a month after constant listening. You have to be patient with this CD to notice everything that goes into the craft of these songs (or opuses for that matter). This is undeniably one of the masterpieces of the 90's. Thanks to careless reviews, this CD has gone from its 5-star rating (where it should be) to 4 1/2... to the levels of Backstreet Boys and Michelle Branch. Tool's better than that. YOU CANNOT DENY the raw talent of the instrumental arrangements on this album. you just can't. I wanna see how many people looking at these can actually tell a good CD from a bad CD. click the helpful icon if you have recieved the reward from vast repeated listens of this CD.

Arguably the best rock album of the decade, Aenima is a dark, disturbing journey through the ugly underbelly of the human mind. In short, "Aenima" is Tool's masterpiece. Tool explores the brooding, seething, anguished human psyche better than any band on the planet, and delivers its message of existential dread with utter conviction.

The songs on "Aenima" constantly shift, morph and transform themselves, sometimes raging with fury, sometimes settling into relaxed interludes that still boil with a dark menace underneath their calm surface.

Maynard James Keenan's vocal work is the key to Tool's power, heard to maximum effect in such songs as "Eulogy," "Stinkfist" and the title track. No singer in rock captures the ambivalence and terror of the human experience as well as Keenan. When he and his outstanding bandmates are at full speed, they're untouchable. "Aenima" will bore into your brain with all the subtlety of a jackhammer.

Without this record, your collection can't be considered complete.

One would expect nothing less from a band with such a manifesto: 'Our goal remains to touch our audience on a deep, psychological level'.

This is a truly groundbreaking work for the band, and for 'metal' as a whole, that rather poorly defined musical genre. Yet, Tool create and sustain their own, personal genre.

The album may be dark, with snatches of spite, justified anger and self-depreciation creeping subtely into the lyrics, yet the melancholy tendencies and anger are focused: the sheer intelligence driving these purveyors of rage is unquestionable, while the emotive and cathartic qulaities of the music only serve to entice and excite the listener further.

Of course,the music itself is breathtaking: prominently bass driven song dynamics underpin stellar drumming from one of the best in the business, along with inspirational guitar lines and Maynard's honey coated, steel wrought vocals.

Sadly,it is hard to fully praise this work without mentioning the songs themselves in some detail: loathe as I am to drag up an old cliche, in Aenima's case hearing really is believing.

However, a brief overview of the themes contained can easily differentiate this album from anything else recorded recently, possibly ever recorded: 'Stinkfist' concerns opening up to another person on a previously unexplored level, with the songs meaning delivered to us shrouded in a metaphor rather crudely suggested by the song's title, whilst Eulogy tackles the status of an unnamed friend who 'Had a lot of nothing to say' as a martyr, or otherwise.

Later tracks such as '46&2' and 'Aenima' explore Jungian philosophy and the hypothetical benefits of that 'hopeless hole' LA being 'flushed away' by a cataclysmic earthquake respectively.

In short, the album is a masterpiece of stunning musicianship and lyrical complexity-even incorporating excerpts from the late comedian Bill Hicks and numerous (criminally misunderstood, let alone necessary) segues into its fabric.

Tool not only challenge on a psychological level, they fully justify the price of the album: years on it still spins in my CD player every day.

Essential, compelling, unforgettable.

I looked through a great number of the reviews that there are for this album, and I honestly read the bad reviews more often than the good ones, because I want to see what those few people disliked about Ænima. Very few of them give any reason for disliking it. Those that do, I give you credit for at least taking the time to think it through. I do understand why some of you do not like this album. I have pictures in my head of telling my brother, whom is much older than me and grew up listening to Lynyrd Skynyrd and Leon Russell, to pick this up and give it a listen. He would probably hate it and not listen to more than a few minutes. That is simply a matter of what you listen to and what your ears can stand. I have heard on radio news that we are making captured terrorist types listen to Metallica and Megadeth as a form of torture. I can't understand this... (Unless they are referring to Load, Reload or Megadeth's last couple of albums.{Obviously torture for anyone}) I can think of nothing that I'd like better than to listen to Ride The Lightning and So Far, So Good... So What back to back, except listening to Tool.

I actually was going to give the album 5 stars, but I figure that the lack of a star might get this read more. I justify this by saying that if Undertow is my favorite Tool album, which it is, and it would be my standard for 5 stars, Ænima can be 4. Also, -(ions) starts to make me batty if I listen to it all the way through. We'll just say, I give this album a low 5 stars. ;)

So, I'll conclude this by saying, if you are a huge U2, or Bruce Springsteen fan, you might not like this. If you are into Cher or Mariah Carrey, you might wanna let this slide by. On the other hand, if you like heavy, blistering, scathing music that might shock you on your first listening, you might wanna give this a try... And hey, if you like lighter stuff, you might wanna start with Lateralus. (It's the lighter side of Tool, I'd say, but don't expect the Partridge Family.) A Perfect Circle might be a good intro to Maynard's vocal style too, but remember that they aren't really Tool. They're good though.

I hope this made things clearer for a few people. I'll conclude by saying that I've made some generalizations about people that like certain kinds of music and I mean you no ill will. You are certainly permitted to like what you wish, however, I'd say that everyone, even those that I discluded before might wanna try giving this album a few listens, just in case your tastes are improving. (Sorry, had to get that jibe in there.) I know many people whom hated many of the Beatles albums when they came out, only to end up loving them. Same with Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin and a few other of the greats. This is bound to happen when a band is inventing the genre that they are playing in. Thanks for reading my ranting!

Aenema is the sonic equivalent of descending into a hellishchaos of nightmare conceived emotion, only to be lifted upwards intoan explosion of enlightenment and spiritual growth. The album's cover set this sentiment perfectly for me ... a white flash of light.. a near death experience that one must pursue while delighting in the audio landscapes that these incredible musicians have pulled off. And while the essence of your soul is englufed by its uncomprimising dark melodies, and anger filled exploding guitar riffs... and when its all done, your mind and soul have spiraled off into countless tangents... (the eyes of which emerge from the flash of white light)

This album defies easy categorization, becuase it is trluy original. This is not the death metal of fear factory / sepultura. Nor is it the subdued, compromised metal of the early 90's grunge era. This is tool. say no more. The music is cerebral and spiritual, and concentrates more on mood and emotion rather than just simply pummeling your brains out of your ears.

But as I mentioned before, "Aenema" is MUCH more. Unlike "Undertow", Aenema is constantly elapsing into new and ethereal territory, as each track rolls right off the other. These tracks arent really "songs" per say, but they set the mood for the power of each upcoming track. For those of you who consider these "space fillers", you are COMPLETELY wrong. Great care was taken with respect to the placement of the tracks, so as they could fluctuate the listener's mood as much as possible. If you can't listen to the album all the way through, then you are missing the essence of the album itself.

Be sure to check out the cut "Forty Six and 2" which has the best bassline of all time. The subsequent feel to it rings of early goth bands like Joy Division. "Hooker with A Penis" is consumed by gigantic metal-punk guitar riffs while elapsing into the semi melodic song structure that Tool executes so very well on this album. The title track is a satirical poke at Hollywood and the pop culture life, as Maynard exclaims in one of the best lyrics of all time : "Here in this hopeless f------ hole we call LA The only way to fix it is to flush it all away. Any f------ time. Any f------ day. Learn to swim, I'll see you down in Arizona bay." And last but not least is the stunning, and lengthy masterpiece that is "Eulogy". "Eulogy" is a symphony for heavy metal. The song structure is highly complex, opening with a soft collage of eerie basslines and soft percussion before being pummeled by loud guitars and maynard's screaming. The song quickly morphs into a defiant, hell ridden piece. In all of its 8 minutes, there is not one minute like an other.

But perhaps the best part of this album is Maynard's lyrics. They represent a spiritual journey through darkened realms... whether he yells, sings softly to us, whispers - he is the most dynamic frontman out there today. He is intelligent, as is Tool's music.

Heavy Metal as Mozart would have wrote it. Its beautfiful in its structure and compostion, yet ominous and seething with dark emotion. One of the best albums of all time... from any genre! A brilliantly executed masterpiece. HIGHLY RECCOMENDED!