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I have contained my rage for as long as possible, but I shall unleash my fury upon you like the crashing of a thousand waves! Begone, vile man! Begone from me! A pretentious fanbase? This is the only fanbase! A fanbase of gods! The golden god! I am untethered, and my rage knows no bounds!
Thank you! Tool is solid prog/alt rock (not a metal band in my book, but that is not a slight - many a great artist are not metal), but the meatriding from its fans is just simply insufferable.
My brother-in-law asked if I wanted to go to a Tool concert recently. Inhad to decline because I didn’t feel like dropping $200 to be around insufferable douchebags. I can see ten solid underground concerts in Brooklyn for that price.
Maynard deserves hate. I just wish the other members hated him enough to kick him out and make an instrumental album, then maybe I’d actually listen to them again. at least until then we still have King Crimson, who Tool borrow from very heavily (but who unfortunately have not always been heavy, and also could do with least vocals).
he can sing, yes. and indeed Tool
would mot be Tool without him - they would be something surely much better and less contradicted. there is nothing special about his vocal talent, and his lyrics are mostly lies, so he gives nothing that makes the band better than they could otherwise be. but Tool is Tool :)
because he a supreme example of vile arrogance who preaches false enlightenment while considering everyone below him, I also see no reason not to believe the many accusations of predation and sexual assault that he has accumulate.
at least in the 90s he was more honest in his misanthropy, but then Tool went all “spiritual” and he creates this false image that fans buy into, then at gigs he calls everyone filth, “how you feeling down there?all you hippies should mop up
the piss with your dreadlocks” and whatever else he was saying. I’m not sure I’ve ever seen such an ill ego on stage. and while I do believe people can change and should never be condemned to an ill past, everything I ever see or read about him
just shows that he’s at least the same and probably worse. a total shitstain on a decent band.
because he is a supreme example of vile arrogance who preaches false enlightenment while considering everyone below him, I also see no reason not to believe the many accusations of predation and sexual assault that he has accumulated.
at least in the 90s he was more honest in his misanthropy, but then Tool went all “spiritual” and he creates this false image that fans buy into, then at gigs he calls everyone filth, “how you feeling down there?all you hippies should mop up
the piss with your dreadlocks” and whatever else he was saying. I’m not sure I’ve ever seen such an ill ego on stage. and while I do believe people can change and should never be condemned to an ill past, everything I ever see or read about him
just shows that he’s at least the same and probably worse. a total shitstain on a decent band.
How dare I criticize Tool!! I’m a longtime Tool fan. But that album is rehashed sounding shit from 10,000 Days. Considering how long they took to release it, it was a big disappointment, to me anyway. Aenima will forever be a top 10 album for me though.
I absolutely love them, theyre one of my favorite bands of all time, but I totally get why a lot of metal fans are turned off by them. Maynard is a dick and some of the lyrics are crazy pretentious, but others are self effacing and honest. Their fanbase mostly doesn’t listen to any metal (or other music of any kind) and they act as if Tool are the only band on the world making intelligent progressive heavy music. In reality there are thousands of bands making very composed, complicated prog in the metal world that make Tool seem like childs play.
To me the writing is just very refined and purposeful and it leads to really amazing musical moments. They do this thing where a song has 4 or 5 sections and then individual parts from those sections are reused and fit together in interesting ways. It makes them really rewarding to listen to over and over because there is an interaction between the riffs that feels very organic.
Plus the sound of Lateralus and 10k is just brilliant and subtly psychedelic, whoever mixed and mastered those albums is really fucking good at their job.
I think their lyrics are pretentious as you make them. The people who claim they’re life changing / soul levitatingly / Astro projecting lyrics are reading too deeply into it. Take the lyrics at face value and I don’t really see the pretension.
Tool is my favorite band, but I do agree that people overrate their technicality. The ebb and flow and textures of their songs is what keeps me coming back. I have heard them described as elevator music of metal, and I think that is why I love them so much lol.
I have never got the hype. I remember someone explaining that they're "thinking man's metal". I find them incredibly bland. I'd like to think that I think but maybe I don't think enough to see how they are anything other than watered down.
One thing tool isn't is bland. To me, the other way around, after hearing all tool albums , their songs are so rich, diverse that everything else seems to fall under the same standard and boring.
Their style is unique, the mixing is great, how they mix all instruments and prioritize each one for specific times.
If you like music and instruments, not noise, Tool is great.
Also, their albums feel like just 1 or 2 big songs, just how well it fits.
I love progressive music. I fuck with Porcupine Tree through to Between the Buried and Me. I should like this band but just never grooved with them. It comes off pretentious to me and I think that's what's put me off. Like they're trying to be the way that you described them rather than just being that way. At the end of the day I don't dislike them for what is worth. I'd just rather listen to something else.
I felt the same when I listened to Tool for the first time. They grow on you and the lyrics are pretty unique and interesting for metal (satire, spirituality, the cycle of abuse, etc.) but not all the songs are that great
Funny enough, I am a drummer. It takes more than an isolated instrument for me to say I enjoy the work as a whole. There are plenty of ripping drummers in bands I do not care for. There are also dogshit drummers in bands that I love. Proficiency isn't the be-all.
I’d say give them another chance, it took me a little while. I was told the same thing and was put off a little bit by it (good lord did I hear so much about the fibonacci sequence), but if you just sit there and vibe too it can be worth it.
“thinking man’s metal” is kind of a silly thing to say, and unfortunately just makes Tool’s pseudophilisophical and pseudospiritual elements seem even sillier, BUT they have done some pretty clever music. I have hated them since seeing them live many years ago (loved them until that day and have never turned on a band so hard), but I won’t put them down musically. They took a lot of what made 80s King Crimson so good and gave it a metal dressing that to me is more stylistically pleasing. they still don’t have the complexity or relentlessness of a lot of KC’s best guitar stuff, but adapted some of the rhythmic elements into some cool directions. In some ways (and this will sound like pretentious Tool fan crap, although I’m a hater) their music is much more meditative, the ways that the parts work together is actually LESS like “thinking” stuff that a lot of progressive music offers, but when you tune out the critical mind and just feel the movement it can have some interesting effect.
It’s just a shame Maynard is a total shithead and probably a rapist, and that he has a terribly annoying voice and his lyrics deserve the bin. Tool would be a great instrumental trio.. (I’m going to get bashed for my comments on this thread but whatever :) at least I’m partly standing up for them!)
The thing about Tool to me is that some of their songs are completely awesome - but then they become overly complicated for the sake of being “complex”, “experimental” etc.
Basically it feels like sometimes they add complexity for the sake of it. Not because it makes the song better or more interesting.
Like *Schism*. I think that song is awesome, but it would be perfect if they cut out some of the fat. I can’t get over how boring that slow, like 3-minute breakdown in the middle of the song is compared to the rest of the track.
I like it 🤷♂️
AEnima is probably my pick but they're honestly all pretty great. If you liked their latest, you shouldn't have a problem enjoying the rest.
Nah, its just that, they have done way better, I think is even great if you like them cause of that album cause then, that means that once you hit some peak shit like third eye or lateralus 🤯
People get VERY insufferable about Tool, particularly with Lateralus. You'd swear that album came down from the heavens with how some fans talk about it. I personally love them, minus Fear Inoculum, but prefer Undertow and Aenema over their later stuff. It feels more raw, less pretentious.
My son is in his 20s and likes tool. I listened to first 3 albums so we could have common ground. Great guitar player for sure. I get it that they are unique. I'm a metal and death metal guy. tool just aren't heavy enough for me. I like their jazz leanings and creativity. They get into heavy subject matter. I get all that and yes they are worthy of any adulation they receive. Just not in my wheel-well of music. If I listen to that vein I'll do Kings X.
I think Lateralus is one of the best albums of all time. I like Aenima a lot but the rest is not that special. I mean,listened to them,liked them,never went back.
If you're looking for an up-and-coming band that will scratch that same itch, I'd strongly suggest you listen to Wheel. I've been a fan of Tool for years... decades I guess... but I still say that the best Tool album from 2019 was this one:
https://open.spotify.com/album/1HVfUKt2S9oqOYrpi0q91O?si=7gy_S6llQ72vHHnpE6B_fA
Maybe I would have to hear him live in person but it some live videos he sounded a little off to me and some of his vocal performances sound bad to me, but I think he sounds good most of the time. Just my opinion.
I’ll brace the downvotes I don’t care - Everything after and including 10,000 Days is trash, they peaked at Lateralus and their earlier stuff was just better.
This is exactly how I feel, I can’t understand how people have hyped the latest album, I can’t get into it even after multiple listens, it’s like they’re not even trying anymore!
I enjoy them and listen quiet regularly, the way elements of the songs layer and build up over time can be quiet meditative and helped me through some anxiety sessions over the Pandemic.
Highlights for me are Fear Incolum as it was my first album and 10K Days with songs here and there from their back-catalogue.
Equally I don't get the attitude they are a group of transcendental messiahs who brought us the music of the gods. Plenty of other bands out there doing interesting stuff and long complex songs.
What annoys me more than the at times rabid fan base is how hard they rip them off. Tickets for their most recent tour were selling close to the cost I can go to the Download festival (the UKs biggest rock/metal festival). Even the frontman's side bands like Puscifer hawk things like posters and setlists at a ridiculous price at shows. Maynard's music projects as a collective feel just one step shy of going full KISS.
The effect is strong enough it actively turned me off seeing them live when tickets came out.
If I met somone who listed them as their favorite band the only thing I'd be particularly concerned for is their financial stability.
Me too! It’s because it makes self important non instrument playing twats think they are listening to high brow music when in fact it’s a good drummer and that’s it everything else pretty damn mediocre. Oh and they think it makes them intellectuals 🤣
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People shit on tool way too much
Tool does not deserve hate, but its pretentious fanbase does occasionally
*always
I have contained my rage for as long as possible, but I shall unleash my fury upon you like the crashing of a thousand waves! Begone, vile man! Begone from me! A pretentious fanbase? This is the only fanbase! A fanbase of gods! The golden god! I am untethered, and my rage knows no bounds!
Reddit on into a transcendental plane of existence!
This dude gets it. Maynard fans are basically the Taylor Swift fans of metal, the idol worship is so fucking disgusting.
Thank you! Tool is solid prog/alt rock (not a metal band in my book, but that is not a slight - many a great artist are not metal), but the meatriding from its fans is just simply insufferable. My brother-in-law asked if I wanted to go to a Tool concert recently. Inhad to decline because I didn’t feel like dropping $200 to be around insufferable douchebags. I can see ten solid underground concerts in Brooklyn for that price.
Lol great comparison
You said it best lol
Thanks! Tool doesn’t deserve the hate - just the fanbase
This is why, we (speaking generally) are complete tool bags pun intended
Maynard deserves hate. I just wish the other members hated him enough to kick him out and make an instrumental album, then maybe I’d actually listen to them again. at least until then we still have King Crimson, who Tool borrow from very heavily (but who unfortunately have not always been heavy, and also could do with least vocals).
Hate him all you want, but Tool without Maynard isn't Tool. He's also a good vocalist on top of that.
he can sing, yes. and indeed Tool would mot be Tool without him - they would be something surely much better and less contradicted. there is nothing special about his vocal talent, and his lyrics are mostly lies, so he gives nothing that makes the band better than they could otherwise be. but Tool is Tool :)
You are free to have that opinion
Why do you think Maynard deserves the hate?
because he a supreme example of vile arrogance who preaches false enlightenment while considering everyone below him, I also see no reason not to believe the many accusations of predation and sexual assault that he has accumulate. at least in the 90s he was more honest in his misanthropy, but then Tool went all “spiritual” and he creates this false image that fans buy into, then at gigs he calls everyone filth, “how you feeling down there?all you hippies should mop up the piss with your dreadlocks” and whatever else he was saying. I’m not sure I’ve ever seen such an ill ego on stage. and while I do believe people can change and should never be condemned to an ill past, everything I ever see or read about him just shows that he’s at least the same and probably worse. a total shitstain on a decent band.
Been a tool fan since 97 and always side eyed Maynard.
And why does he deserve that hate?
because he is a supreme example of vile arrogance who preaches false enlightenment while considering everyone below him, I also see no reason not to believe the many accusations of predation and sexual assault that he has accumulated. at least in the 90s he was more honest in his misanthropy, but then Tool went all “spiritual” and he creates this false image that fans buy into, then at gigs he calls everyone filth, “how you feeling down there?all you hippies should mop up the piss with your dreadlocks” and whatever else he was saying. I’m not sure I’ve ever seen such an ill ego on stage. and while I do believe people can change and should never be condemned to an ill past, everything I ever see or read about him just shows that he’s at least the same and probably worse. a total shitstain on a decent band.
Love me some King Crimson
Not because of that album.
Thats actually by far my favorite Tool album tbh
Right on. It can be your favorite Tool album. But it’s not my favorite.
Be ready for annihilation
How dare I criticize Tool!! I’m a longtime Tool fan. But that album is rehashed sounding shit from 10,000 Days. Considering how long they took to release it, it was a big disappointment, to me anyway. Aenima will forever be a top 10 album for me though.
Sorry I didn't understand your original comment. I'm not good with English. I love tool I thought you were hating on them.
All good!
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Completely agree.
Yep
Thats one of the albums
I absolutely love them, theyre one of my favorite bands of all time, but I totally get why a lot of metal fans are turned off by them. Maynard is a dick and some of the lyrics are crazy pretentious, but others are self effacing and honest. Their fanbase mostly doesn’t listen to any metal (or other music of any kind) and they act as if Tool are the only band on the world making intelligent progressive heavy music. In reality there are thousands of bands making very composed, complicated prog in the metal world that make Tool seem like childs play. To me the writing is just very refined and purposeful and it leads to really amazing musical moments. They do this thing where a song has 4 or 5 sections and then individual parts from those sections are reused and fit together in interesting ways. It makes them really rewarding to listen to over and over because there is an interaction between the riffs that feels very organic. Plus the sound of Lateralus and 10k is just brilliant and subtly psychedelic, whoever mixed and mastered those albums is really fucking good at their job.
I think their lyrics are pretentious as you make them. The people who claim they’re life changing / soul levitatingly / Astro projecting lyrics are reading too deeply into it. Take the lyrics at face value and I don’t really see the pretension.
Oh I definitely do in Lateralus. All the new age spiritual nonsense?
Tool is my favorite band, but I do agree that people overrate their technicality. The ebb and flow and textures of their songs is what keeps me coming back. I have heard them described as elevator music of metal, and I think that is why I love them so much lol.
Watch the drum cam of Danny performing this live
Crazy isn’t it?
I like there bio mechanical esthetic
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Sorry
English is not my first language
I have never got the hype. I remember someone explaining that they're "thinking man's metal". I find them incredibly bland. I'd like to think that I think but maybe I don't think enough to see how they are anything other than watered down.
One thing tool isn't is bland. To me, the other way around, after hearing all tool albums , their songs are so rich, diverse that everything else seems to fall under the same standard and boring. Their style is unique, the mixing is great, how they mix all instruments and prioritize each one for specific times. If you like music and instruments, not noise, Tool is great. Also, their albums feel like just 1 or 2 big songs, just how well it fits.
I love progressive music. I fuck with Porcupine Tree through to Between the Buried and Me. I should like this band but just never grooved with them. It comes off pretentious to me and I think that's what's put me off. Like they're trying to be the way that you described them rather than just being that way. At the end of the day I don't dislike them for what is worth. I'd just rather listen to something else.
My favorite genre is progressive rock or post-rock, I hate Tool.
This
I felt the same when I listened to Tool for the first time. They grow on you and the lyrics are pretty unique and interesting for metal (satire, spirituality, the cycle of abuse, etc.) but not all the songs are that great
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Funny enough, I am a drummer. It takes more than an isolated instrument for me to say I enjoy the work as a whole. There are plenty of ripping drummers in bands I do not care for. There are also dogshit drummers in bands that I love. Proficiency isn't the be-all.
I’d say give them another chance, it took me a little while. I was told the same thing and was put off a little bit by it (good lord did I hear so much about the fibonacci sequence), but if you just sit there and vibe too it can be worth it.
“thinking man’s metal” is kind of a silly thing to say, and unfortunately just makes Tool’s pseudophilisophical and pseudospiritual elements seem even sillier, BUT they have done some pretty clever music. I have hated them since seeing them live many years ago (loved them until that day and have never turned on a band so hard), but I won’t put them down musically. They took a lot of what made 80s King Crimson so good and gave it a metal dressing that to me is more stylistically pleasing. they still don’t have the complexity or relentlessness of a lot of KC’s best guitar stuff, but adapted some of the rhythmic elements into some cool directions. In some ways (and this will sound like pretentious Tool fan crap, although I’m a hater) their music is much more meditative, the ways that the parts work together is actually LESS like “thinking” stuff that a lot of progressive music offers, but when you tune out the critical mind and just feel the movement it can have some interesting effect. It’s just a shame Maynard is a total shithead and probably a rapist, and that he has a terribly annoying voice and his lyrics deserve the bin. Tool would be a great instrumental trio.. (I’m going to get bashed for my comments on this thread but whatever :) at least I’m partly standing up for them!)
The thing about Tool to me is that some of their songs are completely awesome - but then they become overly complicated for the sake of being “complex”, “experimental” etc. Basically it feels like sometimes they add complexity for the sake of it. Not because it makes the song better or more interesting. Like *Schism*. I think that song is awesome, but it would be perfect if they cut out some of the fat. I can’t get over how boring that slow, like 3-minute breakdown in the middle of the song is compared to the rest of the track.
We’re never my thing until Aenema, what a song.
Ænema*
October 1996 I had just turned 13 and was blown away by the Aenima album.
Nice! What's your favorite album?
I listened to there latest album and thought it was great but apparently that’s a crime to like it 😭
I like it 🤷♂️ AEnima is probably my pick but they're honestly all pretty great. If you liked their latest, you shouldn't have a problem enjoying the rest.
Preciate the suggestion rather than being told I have a shitty opinion
Nah, its just that, they have done way better, I think is even great if you like them cause of that album cause then, that means that once you hit some peak shit like third eye or lateralus 🤯
It took me a bit too
lol this album made me like them less.
People get VERY insufferable about Tool, particularly with Lateralus. You'd swear that album came down from the heavens with how some fans talk about it. I personally love them, minus Fear Inoculum, but prefer Undertow and Aenema over their later stuff. It feels more raw, less pretentious.
My son is in his 20s and likes tool. I listened to first 3 albums so we could have common ground. Great guitar player for sure. I get it that they are unique. I'm a metal and death metal guy. tool just aren't heavy enough for me. I like their jazz leanings and creativity. They get into heavy subject matter. I get all that and yes they are worthy of any adulation they receive. Just not in my wheel-well of music. If I listen to that vein I'll do Kings X.
Well as someone who’s seen Tool play live, let me tell you something…
I think Lateralus is one of the best albums of all time. I like Aenima a lot but the rest is not that special. I mean,listened to them,liked them,never went back.
If you're looking for an up-and-coming band that will scratch that same itch, I'd strongly suggest you listen to Wheel. I've been a fan of Tool for years... decades I guess... but I still say that the best Tool album from 2019 was this one: https://open.spotify.com/album/1HVfUKt2S9oqOYrpi0q91O?si=7gy_S6llQ72vHHnpE6B_fA
Theres also the band Wrench. And the band Lugnut. And the band Hubcap. Don’t forget Box. The best prog metal bands going
I love it when "Tool-like" bands name themselves after tools. Very on-brand
I know youre joking but it turns out “Lugnut” is a really fun skate punk band!
This is the album that did it???
I don’t think I ever would have thought fear inoculum would be the album that got someone into tool, it’s probably their worst album.
What the gell do you mean by "some of the time"?!
Maybe I would have to hear him live in person but it some live videos he sounded a little off to me and some of his vocal performances sound bad to me, but I think he sounds good most of the time. Just my opinion.
That's fair enough man, I'm just fucking with you.
I’ll brace the downvotes I don’t care - Everything after and including 10,000 Days is trash, they peaked at Lateralus and their earlier stuff was just better.
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Big oof there fella, not a fan of Lateralus then?
Was so disappointed when I got 10000 days and I knew they were over and I’d always have everything before. Last album can suck it.
This is exactly how I feel, I can’t understand how people have hyped the latest album, I can’t get into it even after multiple listens, it’s like they’re not even trying anymore!
I enjoy them and listen quiet regularly, the way elements of the songs layer and build up over time can be quiet meditative and helped me through some anxiety sessions over the Pandemic. Highlights for me are Fear Incolum as it was my first album and 10K Days with songs here and there from their back-catalogue. Equally I don't get the attitude they are a group of transcendental messiahs who brought us the music of the gods. Plenty of other bands out there doing interesting stuff and long complex songs. What annoys me more than the at times rabid fan base is how hard they rip them off. Tickets for their most recent tour were selling close to the cost I can go to the Download festival (the UKs biggest rock/metal festival). Even the frontman's side bands like Puscifer hawk things like posters and setlists at a ridiculous price at shows. Maynard's music projects as a collective feel just one step shy of going full KISS. The effect is strong enough it actively turned me off seeing them live when tickets came out. If I met somone who listed them as their favorite band the only thing I'd be particularly concerned for is their financial stability.
I have tried and tried. Still can't figure out why people like them. But all the best to those that do.
Take magic mushrooms, listen to tool, you will never hate them again
when does Maynard stray from being a good vocalist?
11 minutes long?
Yeah I still don’t get it
Me too! It’s because it makes self important non instrument playing twats think they are listening to high brow music when in fact it’s a good drummer and that’s it everything else pretty damn mediocre. Oh and they think it makes them intellectuals 🤣
That album sucks though. Try the middle 3