Publication: www.hollywoodjesus.com
Date: September, 2001
Transcribed by
Joe the Article Transcriber (golf_guy26@hotmail.com)
Joe the Article Transcriber (golf_guy26@hotmail.com)
page: title: Tool-Lateralus author: Bob Messer Every once in a while art and progression collide and emerge into pop culture. Tool’s Lateralus is one of those collisions. Tool definitely shows their maturity with an emotional rollercoaster ride of energetic and often long in length songs. Upon listening to this album I knew that my review would be centered more on the music than the message. Being a musician and appreciating progressive rock music can have that effect on you. But I will still try to interpret the best I can. First of all, Danny Carey rapidly gains my attention as a drummer to be noticed and respected. Having said this, let’s begin… ‘The Grudge’ introduces the CD with a rhythmic drive. It slithers its way through the speakers occasionally erupting with hard guitar and bass driven riffs. Over eight minutes long, it compares a grudge to dragging a heavy stone behind you. (Genesis 27:41, Leviticus 19:18) Justin Chancellor delivers some interesting bass fret tapping here. It also sounds as if Danny has taken the snares down on his snare drum. Track two is a short guitar based instrumental that leads into number three. ‘The Patient’ displays some soft yet effective guitar work from Adam Jones. The song ascends into a melodic power ballad like mood. Breaking with off timing rhythms throughout. The song speaks of having extreme patience with one’s choice in life. The first collection of verses tells of a vampire’s victim. “This paranoid, paralyzed vampire act's a little old. But I'm still right here. Giving blood, keeping faith. And I'm still right here.” But look past the gothic reference and to a choice that everyone must make. (Mathew 7:13) Have patience and faith in that choice. ‘Schism’ is the CD’s first radio single. Schism is also a real word too. DEFINITION: A separation or division into factions, especially within a religious body. The definition and the words of the song go hand in hand. If singer Maynard James Keenan is singing about the Christian church today, then unfortunately he is dead on. He also reminds me of the seven churches in Revelations. (Revelations 1:4,11) Schism begins with an off tempo bass pull off riff and continues this with light to heavy guitar and drums. Danny shows us some incredible off timing here. ‘Parabol’ is a somber dreamscape of sorts. Few words here. They seem to echo a moment in time shared by two people. “We barely remember what came before this precious moment, choosing to be here right now.” Transcends into… ‘Parabola’ which is also a real word. DEFINITION: A plane curve formed by the locust of points equidistant from a fixed line and a fixed point not on the line. Lets hope the song makes more sense. “Recognize this as a holy gift and celebrate this chance to be alive and breathing. This body holding me reminds me of my own mortality. Embrace this moment. Remember. We are eternal.” Seems to state that we all live in a mortal shell and that our spirit within is eternal. Maynard has the basic idea. (John 6:63) Parabola is also the first to really rock on this CD. ‘Ticks And Leeches’ is another hard rocker that produces some melodic guitar chords. This style also take us back to Tool’s underground metal roots. It is very well written about someone who has been wronged greatly by somebody else. The anger here is orchestrated beautifully with overtones of bass and drum beats. Toward the end the music completely explodes in rapid drumming and fast guitar chord strumming. ‘Lateralus’ is the ninth track and third time I've had to look up a word. The closet I could come was the word Lateralis, which is Latin for lateral, which then lead me to the term lateral pass; A football pass thrown sideways or backwards. All sports aside, Lateralus saturates us with sublime like lyrics that reflects the poetic styling of Jim Morrison. “I embrace my desire to feel the rhythm, to feel connected enough to step aside and weep like a widow to feel inspired, to fathom the power, to witness the beauty, to bathe in the fountain, to swing on the spiral of our divinity and still be a human.” The proverbial mind trip. ‘Disposition’ brings in the ten spot with almost five minutes of music and only thirteen words. “Mention this to me. Mention something, mention anything ... and watch the weather change.” There you have it. Jungle bongo beats and other percussion wrap around the guitar and bass. Vocals are arranged in an almost middle eastern style. ‘Reflection’ speeds up the percussive rhythm and intros a very solid bass line. Wait, is that a sitar I hear? Reflection deals with finding hope when all is dark. (Proverbs 24:14) ‘Triad’ is a very long instrumental. Very well done. It keeps your attention. ‘Faaip De Oiad’ is a sci-fi masterpiece. It is an actual transcripts of the Art Bell AM radio show set behind music. Lateralus has debuted at number one on the Billboard album chart. Tool will be touring this summer with King Crimson as well. King Crimson is one of the chief pioneers of progressive rock music. If you want to read more about bands that play progressive music, then you can visit the new Prog Page on http://www.jawbonemusic.com/prog.html Lifting shadows off a dream once broken, Bob
Posted to t.d.n: 02/14/03 00:34:33