page: 58
 title: TOOL
author: Sara Tassione

Cream puffs need not apply.  Tool is an angry, hard and 
confrontational group from Los Angeles way.  They play music 
to eat meat to.  "We have a knack of stirring up shit with 
every group in the world," explains vocalist Maynard James 
Keenan.  "With the feminists, they're like, (his voice raises to 
a snotty whine) 'It's all about man power!' because of our 
wrench logo (that has a not-so-subtle phallic shape).  You 
can interpret it as you will, but our name has more to do with 
using what you have.  I can't play bass or drums.  All I can 
do is scream.  There is too much shit in this world to try and 
change, so all I can do is scream until I feel better.  And 
that's what I'm doing." 
Tool is also about control, something which Keene, who refers 
to himself as a "scatterbrained, caffeine child," admits he 
doesn't have enough of.  T"The reason why most people are 
pissed off is because they dont have the biscuit, in other 
words, whatever they want, whatever it is that those people, 
who are involved in the multinationals who control everything 
have: money, power.  You don't have it, so you want it.  
You're not going to change people, you better beat 'em or 
join 'em.  It's just too big to fight."  The Opiate Ep's title 
track is about control of other people through delusions of a 
higher power - Jesus freaks, evangelists, and the like.  Being 
from the highly Christian state of Michigan, Keenan is 
outspoken in his religious opinions.  " There is no Satan, and 
I don't believe there is a God either.  I think there's a huge 
energy out there that runs things, but I really despise the 
idea of heaven and hell. 
The song "Hush" hits hard on censorship, but the video, with 
Tool's agreement was censored.  "It was our way of 
saying, "Forget it, it's over.  There's no use fighting.  After 
Kennedy and King were shot, we lost.  It was a revolution and 
we lost our civil rights.  I don't consider my attitude a 
pessimist attitude, because you get to that point where you 
realize that just being good and right and righteous isn't 
going to change anything.  Power: we don't have it, so we 
want it.  That's what it's about." 
That need for power and controlcomes screeching through 
Tool's amps at every gig they play.  As the audience is sent 
into a frenzied pit, Tool feeds off the energy --- pulling their 
control from the uncontrolled.  
Like the chaos around them, Tool formed by accident.  The 
members (Adam Jones who was a guitarist, his friend 
Keenan, who sang a little, his neighbor Danny Carey, who 
played drums, and Paul D'Amou, who dabbled on the bass) 
each came from somewhere else, and they ended up in Los 
Angeles, where they all hung out together.  "Adam and I were 
friends, and started makign some noises.  Danny filled 
in, 'cause our drummer never showed up. Paul came to LA to 
work on a movie, that didn't pan out, so he stated playing 
with us.  Then we wrote songs, played a party and got 
trapped into being a band."    ---Sara Tassione
Posted to t.d.n: 03/21/04 15:29:17