Publication: New York Daily News
Date: November 23, 1996
Transcribed by PistolJr2@aol.com
title: Tool's Metal Melts Onstage author: Jim Farber It's not every metal singer who's named Maynard, but the frontman of Tool isn't like the other macho metal players on the planet. Onstage at Roseland on Thursday, Maynard James Keenan appeared nude except for some foul-looking boxer shorts that resembled a soiled diaper. He was also painted entirely blue. Lurching about the stage, ever-hunched and in shadow, Keenan seemed less the usual metal brute than some freak looking for a place to hurl. His character seemed to literalize a common metal theme-the contamination of the individual at the hands of an unjust world. Tool's music worked just as hard at being unsettling- with equally unappetizing results. The L.A. -based foursome first shopt to fame in '94 with a far more exciting sound: a twist on textbook metal. Fashioning more fitful, chunky and unmelodic riffs, Tool joined bands like Helmet and Paw in a new movement to give wheezing old metal a fresh sense of alarm. But at Roseland, Tool went for an artsier style, echoing the new one found in it's disappointing new album, "Aenima" (which last month shot to No. 2 in Billboard it's first week out). Live, the band seemed hellbent on destroying any momentum in the music. By isolating the riffs in curt bursts and setting the drums in lockstep with the guitars, Tool eliminated all syncopation and groove. Instead of staggering chords to push a song ahead, they slammed each chord into the ground. To throw even more monkey wrenches into the evening, the band devoted tortuously long sections to squawking feedback and random noodling. Small wonder even the most dedicated moshers had trouble slam-dancing to the stuff. Still, not every number fell flat. The band's early hit, "Sober", offered a catchier riff and firmer rhythmic structure. But too much of the rest forged some terrible brand of art-metal---like a cross between Pink Floyd at it's most indulgent and horror movie soundtracks at their most dire. ****Notes***** ----I am not Jim Farber! These opinions do not reflect my own. I attended the concert on Nov. 21st ( I didn't meet Kabir though, or Jim Farber for that matter) and it was amazing! ----Accompanying this article was a portion of a band photo (the one w/ the dog) Only one member of the band was shown. The text under it read: "Axeman: Tool's Danny Carey." However, it only took a split second to realize that it was not Danny Carey it was Adam Jones. Jim Farber's credibility crumbled even before I read the article. If you want a real review of this concert and all the others, check them out in the ' 96 Fall Tour Review, written by fans who know who the band members are and who know more than one song by them.