Album: Lateralus
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As some of you may know, I am a huge fan of Tool. After being unable to find this album, i caved and listened to the songs on YouTube, and was blown away. This 78 minute 58 second album is shit-your-pants-tastic. I listened to The Grudge roughly 8 times in a row simply to here the line "Saturn ascends, the one the ten". The way he sings it is crazy. Now, let's get a little more in-depth than "this is some crazy shit right here".
Vocals: MJK pulls off some crazy vocals, from the intense volume swivels in Parabol and Reflection, to the intense screaming on Ticks & Leeches. This album is pretty much the middle of his sound development. You can hear the circa-10 000 Days voice emerging, but some bits are still reminiscent of Aenima. All in all, another vocal masterpiece
Vocals Rating: 5/5
Guitars: Adam Jones may be hard on himself, but what comes out of that Les Paul is melodically and rhythmically awesome. From the simple yet overpoweringly awesome intro of The Grudge to the swing-8th note bends mixed with super crunchy chords outro to Parabola, its one crazy ride.
Guitars Rating: 5/5
Bass: Justin Chancellor is one mad bass-playing Englishman. The mind that brought to life the rolling snowball that is the main riff of Schism is somehow the same mind that brought up the uber-melodic little interludes in The Grudge. As well as the super swinging bass harmonics in the intro to Disposition.
Bass Rating: 4.5/10
Drums: Not much can be said for Danny Carey that hasn't already been said. Bluntly put, he's fucking awesome. At one point in the title track Lateralus, he plays a 2-3 minute section in 5/4, while the guitars, bass, and vocals are going in 4/4. Also, there's the little mind-fucking solo that is the intro to Ticks & Leeches. It's just one of four parts that make up one of my favorite albums.
Drums Rating: 5/5
Time to review/summarize all 13 tracks!
The Grudge:
It starts off with the sound of a huge switch getting flipped, then some high-pitched winding up sound, then the death-march opening riff. The song itself is about a Grudge between 2 people, with some alchemy references tossed in.
5/5
Eon Blue Apocalypse/The Patient:
These 2 sort of tie into each other. They're sort of melodically related.
Eon Blue Apocalypse starts off with a fading in D-string being tremolo picked, the a little guitar riff, then the palm-muted little melody of The Patient. A bass with some crazy effect mimics the guitar, and the haunting singing starts. The Patient is about, you guessed it (maybe), patience. The ordeal being waited out? Open for interpretation.
5/5
Mantra:
Apparently the slowed-down sound of MJK gently squeezing one of his cats.
5/5, for pure "wtf"-ness
Schism:
About the separation of 2 people, the losing of communication. It starts with some bass chords, then a bass riff, then every comes in and a few minutes after that blow the roof off the fucking weird video that will drive you insane.
5/5
Parabol/Parabola:
Unlike Eon Blue Apocalypse/The Patient, these 2 flow seamlessly together, and are probably my 2 favourite songs from the album. These 2 also play host to a fucking weird video. Not quite sure, but the chorus-ish part is pretty cool.
5/5
Ticks & Leeches:
A "slight" deviation from the style of the album. Slightly reminiscent of Hush from Opiate, it's about how a lot of people are parasitic like ticks (or leeches, teehee). An 8 1/2 minute long crazy shit-ness ball, with a break for a few minutes in the middle, for a clean guitar part.
5/5
Lateralus:
This title track does not fail to deliver. About how we should live laterally, like the Fibbonnacci sequence. Always expanding our horizons and embracing new things. The guitars are super-melodic all the way through the song, which is partly why I like it so much. the part between the the intro and about halfway through is impossible to mosh to because it changes time signature each bar. 9/8, 8/8, 7/8 repeated over and over.
5/5
Disposition/Reflection/Triad:
These three are together beacause the apparently form a 23-minute sequence, that i could experience if I had the CD. Reflection and Disposition are the only one with lyrics. All it says in Disposition is "Mention this to me, watch the weather change". Reflection is about not letting your ego overcome you. The vocals are crazy, haunting, insanely melodic and stuck with me forever. The 23 minutes of instrumentals are pretty amazing.
5/5
Faaip de Oiad:
Apparently Enochian for The Voice Of God, it's a bunch of static, and then that hoax call to that radio station saying that the caller was and ex-Area-51 employee and saying the government was covering up all these aliens and shit and that we were all going to die.
5/5 for scaring stoners since 2001
Overall album rating: 9.5/10
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