Released just over a year later, Aenima (1994) hears Tool changing its sound, incorporating more prog-rock elements of intricate interplay over extended passages as the lyrical focus expands to include brainy comedian Bill Hicks, evolution, and genetics.
With the success of their first full-length Undertow (1993), both commercially and critically-it went platinum a year later thanks to songs like the hit “Sober” and landed them a spot on that year’s Lollapalooza tour-the band returned to the studio in 1995 with a new bass player, Justin Chancellor, as D’Amor left amicably to pursue other endeavors. For a point of reference: imagine mixing the darkness of Black Sabbath with the trippy-but-rocking experience of an Allman Brothers Band concert. Incorporating original video projections, largely conceptualized by Les Paul Custom-playing guitarist Adam Jones who’s also worked on most of the band’s album art and videos, the distorted and chaotic images of flesh-and-bone figures when combined with the lights, lasers, and music make for a dark but utterly unique experience.
While their six album covers showcase this, their ever-evolving live shows do so to an even greater extent. Whereas other metal and hard rock bands have incorporated skulls, bones, and comic book-like horror creatures, Tool takes it in a much more primal direction that looks to a psychedelic aesthetic whose aim often seems to be a 3-D exposure of the human form and psyche from the outside in.
Helping to propel it all are the band’s visuals, an element they take great pride in given that several of the band’s members have studied arts and design. Their aggressive attitude found a wide, if unexpected, acceptance amongst the youth of the early to mid-’90s who felt disenchanted with the status quo and materialism that had characterized much of the ’80s (the grunge movement would ultimately capitalize on Generation X’s boredom and apathy). Lines such as Jesus Christ why don’t you come save my life now/ Open my eyes and blind with your light and lies delivered over menacing rock riffs from the successful title track give some indication to the tenor of the band’s music.
Though Keenan was raised a Southern Baptist, his views on religion quickly soured by his teens and manifested themselves in his lyrics which see a focused criticism on religion and social conformity (the band’s first EP is entitled Opiate (1992), a nod to the Marx/Engels quote that “religion is the opiate of the masses”). While the early ’90s was a heyday for such sounds-Metallica, Pantera, Nirvana, and Soundgarden were all enjoying success-Tool distinguished themselves through their sophisticated lyrics and lush visual aesthetic. With a devoted, rabid following, Tool have brought hard rock to new levels of artistry.īegun nonchalantly in 1990, Tool saw vocalist James Maynard Keenan, guitarist Adam Jones, drummer Danny Carey, and bassist Paul D’Amor creating dark, brooding music whose heavy nature teeter-tottered between hard rock and metal. There’s a saying about Grateful Dead fans that goes, “everybody knows a Deadhead.” The same can be said about fans of the band Tool.