you choose!) on The Grudge, and stays similarly obtuse for much of the album. This album goes through almost every time signature in the book! The album kicks off in 5/8 (or 3/4 subdivided into quintuplets. There's a fair bit of stuff that sounds like A Perfect Circle, but there's also some viscious distorted screaming that sounds harsher than anything I can recall on Aenima.
![tool ænima album art guy blowing himself tool ænima album art guy blowing himself](https://i.imgur.com/qpWzGyg.jpg)
In the same way that his vocals changed between Undertow and Aenima, they've shifted again here. I have to admit, "lovely" was never a word I'd previously associated with Tool and bass. The drum sound is superb, and the variety of lovely bass tones on the album are a nice surprise. Adam Jones' guitar is still huge and crunchy, but it doesn't obscure the rhythm section in the way that it used to. But Lateralus has cleaner sounds, generally. Not suggesting that Aenima was badly produced, the sound worked great for the music. The things that immediately hit me: 1) Production. It's very hard to give an in-depth review of something that's only been in your posession for 24 hours, but I feel that I've got enough of a grip now to write a bit. And for all of you people worried that Lateralus might just be a re-tread of old territory. Each new release, sparse as they are, moves the sound and approach of the band on in a new direction. Thankfully, Tool aren't one of the bands that you expect to make the same album again and again. LATERALUS is yet another art-metal tour de force displaying the collective mastery of Tool. The best examples of said phenomenon are found in "The Grudge" and "Reflection." Drummer Danny Carey slips easily into the pocket, fearlessly tackling odd time signatures and tasty percussion like few contemporary metal percussionists (best evidenced in "The Patient.") Lyrically, LATERALUS crawls through the cerebral catacombs of vocalist Maynard James Keenan, exploring themes such as the fallout from failed communication ("Schism") and clutching to past pain in a desperate attempt at control ("Grudge"). Standing out as one of the defining traits of the Tool sound is Justin Chancellor's hauntingly melodic bass playing, which often launches into a role reversal with the mountainous guitar work of Adam Jones.
![tool ænima album art guy blowing himself tool ænima album art guy blowing himself](https://justinnplummer.files.wordpress.com/2015/01/tool_aenima_1996_retail_cd-back.jpg)
The sheer magnitude of the musical and emotional textures is as heady as it is primal. Description : Tool: Maynard James Keenan (vocals) Adam Jones (guitar) Justin Chancellor (bass) Danny Carey (drums).Recorded at Cello Studios, Hollywood, California, The Hook, Big Empty Space and The Lodge, North Hollywood, California."Schism" won the 2002 Grammy Award for Best Metal Performance.Approaching Tool's LATERALUS with a casual ear would be a careless endeavor, to say the least.