Publication: Beat Magazine
Date: October 16 1996
Transcribed by Dan Steadman (flood@zx.net)
Tool - Aenima Where do my superlatives begin? How abut Aenima is the best album of all time. I'm almost serious. Why do you say? Admittedly, in their singularity, some of the songs are not that special. Then again, there are also classic Tool songs like Stinkfist and 46 & 2 which blow the ears to Rex Hunt's Scheiseinhausen. However, where this album is far superior to it's predecessor, Undertow, is in the overall experience. Songs move rapidly from one extreme to another, clashing in unique (disregarding the Black Sabbath riff in Hooker With A Penis) and always powerful ways. Never before have I actually felt my heartbeat quickening, indeed my entire body pulsating, as it did on Aenema and the stunning epic Third Eye. There are also many more quiet moments than in Undertow and two of the songs reflecting this, Eulogy and H, are among the best tracks on the album. Check out Maynard James Keenan's new-found sensitivity as he proclaims "I could have cried" to the balladic and distinctly unTool-like refrains of H. However, one really does the album a disservice by separating songs since this masterpiece requires uninterrupted listening, preferably in a dark room. Indeed, several tracks could probably not be justifiably called songs, but in terms of the overall sensory effect, they are infinitely important and give the album a feeling of not dissimilar to the genius of a bizarre arthouse movie. The eventual end of the CD also reminded me of the sensation you get when you leave an amazing movie: it takes a fair amouont of time to adjust to the mundanity of ordinary existence. My City Of The Lost Children experience actually comes to mind. And like City Of The Lost Children, you may not necessarily like Aenima, but you cannot help but appreciate it's technical and creative brilliance. Forgive my film references but in Aenima, Tool have created an experience that has never been approached through sound alone. How many bands can claim that? (9.5 / 10) - Jack Reynolds