Various Blurb Reviews of Opiate
Dates: various, 1992
Transcribed by Mike "Shmoo" Smuland (jsmuland@osf1.gmu.edu)
Review originally appeared in JERSEY BEAT issue no.47, Fall 1992. Review written by Tom Brebric, transcribed by Mike "Shmoo" Smuland TOOL Opiate, CD Zoo A combination of live and studio cuts complete with a parental advisory sticker which might have to do with a song about rape (with the line "I want to shoot you in the fuckin' head.") This music, which deals with the darker side of things, maintains a certain level of tension, but never explodes. Acceptable but not memorable. [Shmoo's notes: Oh to be a fanzine writer where opinions are all valid and facts are often forgotten. Horrible review, but interesting.] ===================== Review originally appeared in BLACK MARKET ZINE #10, 1992 Review written by Jam III, transcribed by Mike "Shmoo" Smuland TOOL * * * * * .999999ths [out of 6 stars] "Opiate" Zoo Records Fuck Yeah!! This is it! This is what I've been waiting for, I never gave up hope. I knew something would come along and just blast me in the face like this did. Amongst all the lions being tamed by producers saying "Let's record each guitar string on an individual track" and people trying to overthink and/or read too much into a geographical grunge theory, Tool comes along with a frontal attack of honest ass-thrashing rock n' fucking roll! The whole band comes across with such a good feel. The drums are great, not just keeping time but powerfully accentuating the movement of the music, appropriately! Bassically the basics are bassically basic [sic], but tasteful and full of character. The guitar is furious, when it's not slicing into your soul. It's like a blunt object upside the head, and then the vocals are huge! A big voice belting out some beautifully sarcastic lyrics. [Shmoo's note: A bit of a fanboy review but he got it a bit more right than the helmet who did the review for Jersey Beat. Interesting how a independent-boy zine like Jersey Beat thought it was too week and a full-on death and guts and horror zine such as Black Market thinks it is a slice of hard hitting perfection.] ===================== Review orginally appeared in B-Side Magazine, Jun/Jul 92 Issue Review written by Maureen Odell, transcribed by Mike "Shmoo" Smuland TOOL Opiate (Zoo) The ideal recipe: Take a bit of Jane's Addiction, a touch of Soundgarden, and mindlessly add massive amounts of anger, aggression, passion, violence and power, and you've got the intensely schizophrenic sound of LA's own Tool. Mmm, mmm good! Having burned up the local club scene for the last couple of years with their furious punk/hardcore flavored assault, Tool is now poised and ready to bring their beautifully repulsive rage to the masses in the form of their debut entitled Opiate. Explosive tracks such as `Sweat,' `Hush,' (No, not the Deep Purple classic) and the bass-o-rama brilliance of `Jerk Off' highlight this fierce release of elegant ugliness. Mmm, mmm good! Take a taste of Tool. [Shmoo's notes: Sorry that all these reviews suck. First of all she jumps in with the band comparison shite (always bad news), then she starts throwing around big money words like schizophrenic without justifying them. And what's with the repetition of this mmm, mmm good crap? God when I wrote a review of the Friends sdtk. for a paper and compared it to ice cream at least I used it as a vehicle of description. Does Maureen here want to eat Tool? At least to her credit she actually mentioned a few songs. Of course to me that's what most of the review should be about. Notice how reviews that don't break down song by song are all crap? How can you describe a band by listening to it once through? You can, but not well. The fac that the writer even used the words hardcore and punk to describe Tool means she should be shot behind the barn but that's just my opinion of a crap writer. I think I'll fly out there and get her job.]