author: Jeremy Chunn


If you bought/heard Tool's Opiate EP then you know these guys crank 
maximum articulated aggression better than so many of the posers heaped 
on us in '93.  Their secret weapon is drummer Danny Carey and the surly, 
unpretentious vocals of Maynard James Keenan.  There is joy to be derived 
from hearing this all-powerful machine spit out a line that's better than 
98.7 per cent of things in (my) life.  But in a way Opiate was too good 
for Undertow to follow.  The songs and production are fierce but not as 
fierce as their first mind-bending advance scout.  But fuck, if Tool 
don't buy it in an air disaster this week, just imagine where they could 
push the envelope of modern music.  Indeed, where the Rollins Band 
faltered on End Of Silence, Tool have taken over and are somehow, 
somewhere, nailing that beast to the ground.  I've become a major fan of 
Maynard, because he's the guy who told the jocks at school to go fuck 
themselves, regardless of the consequences.  This must be admired.  This 
is an excellent album.



Mark's useless comments:  He then went on to give the album four skulls 
out of a maximum five, about two less than it should be.  Thanks for the 
understatement in the last sentence, too.

I found it a little cheesy, actually (the review, not Undertow).  I don't 
know about "pushing envelopes" and "nailing beasts to the ground"...