page: 48
 title: The Year In Review: Tool
author: 

     Tool was never content to maintain status quo or to even 
criticize it; they want to change it. For their platinum album 
released last October, Aenima, they aimed to present a different way 
of listening to music. "Our main goal when we're together is to write 
music in a forum where we can involve our subconscious as well as our 
conscious," said drummer Carey.
     The Los Angeles-based band-Carey, vocalist Maynard James Keenan, 
guitarist Adam Jones and new bassist Justin Chancellor-don't express 
their ideology merely through the spoken word. Their arty, advanced 
videos and the state-of-the-art recording methods were used to convey 
these points.
     Preachiness has never been their wont. Tool firmly believe their 
audience would absorb more if it's given to them in a memorable, 
entertaining package. Their visually-intriguing live performances are 
full of stunts that encompass the entertaining rock and roll show-and 
their dense, hard-hitting lyrics and doom metal arrangements easier 
to swallow. The three musicians usually adorn their bodies with 
meticulous patterns of war paint. With as much theatrical 
outrageousness as Peter Gabriel in the 70's, Keenan goes the full 
length with aplomb. On their last tour, the Lollapalooza festival, he 
looked like a Madonna crossed with a mannequin, with a bustier and 
long blonde hairpiece.
     The four members went their separate ways after their last date 
on the Lollapalooza tour in late August, and have taken the rest of 
the year off. No Tool album is scheduled next year, so each of them 
will be doing their own thing until they get back together to come up 
with new ideas for their next project. The band hinted at their 
direction as early as their interviews to promote Aenima. "The band 
is strong right now," said drummer Carey. "All the cylinders are 
firing. There's more focus than there ever was before. The projects 
are going to get bigger and bigger."    
Posted to t.d.n: 01/07/98 19:49:53