I'm getting a new tool cd in a day or so and will be buying this to work out to. Which do you recomend? I don't have any tool cds at this time...

I don't have any tool cds at this time...

Keep it that way. ;)

Boo, karate.

I love Tool but, personally, I wouldn't work out to them. Aenima is probably the one I would be most likely to do so to. I love all their CDs, but I would rank from most to least in this way: Lateralus, Aenima, then Undertow. I don't own Opiate.

Undertow has a harder sound and is the earliest of the three. The lyrics aren't very inspired and the entire CD has a similar sound. Best song on the album is Sober, which is also the most well known song from this album.

Aenima has a less hard sound and shows more variation and complexity between songs. The lyrics are memorable and the experimentation with sounds and distortion are interesting. Many of the songs on the album are favourites -- Stinkfist is probably the most well know song from this album.

Lateralus is very rhythmic and shows a lot of complexity. The most variation of sound can be found on this album. The entire album is a favourite and the most well known song would be Schism.

If you purchase Lateralus, after listening to it a few times through, you might try listening in this order: 6, 7, 5, 8, 4, 9, 13, 1, 12, 2, 11, 3, 10 -- a sequence known as the Holy Gift to many Tool fanatics.

You have to start with Aenima. Its required by law.

Dave (thinks thats really where they 'broke out')

If you purchase Lateralus, after listening to it a few times through, you might try listening in this order: 6, 7, 5, 8, 4, 9, 13, 1, 12, 2, 11, 3, 10 -- a sequence known as the Holy Gift to many Tool fanatics.

Wha? Why?

Personally, I like Undertow the best. I've listened to that thing a zillion times.

Not sure where I found this -- might have been toolsheddown.net -- I did not write it:
To me, Tool's Lateralus is the most amazing piece of music ever composed. I think Tool deliberately wanted to give their fans something truly amazing, but wanted them to find it on their own. "Recognize this as a holy gift..." At first, I thought that the song Lateralus was about tripping acid - discovering true color by seperating the body from the mind. At first listen, I imagined the bending envelope as an intense visual. After becoming more familiar with the track, however, I had reformed my interpretation to something broader: think deeper. Lateralus, perhaps because it is the album's "title track", serves as the central clue for a puzzle that a friend of mine had read about somewhere on the internet. "All I know is that there is a different order for the songs - something about two spirals. Oh yeah, and thirteen is in the middle." After scavenging through endless google search results, I gave up on finding more about this 'alternate order'. Intent to figure the album out, and very curious about the spirals - I put on the proverbial 'thinking cap'. I understood how the spirals could have a lot of significance, in that the album's title track offers the inspiring, "swing on the spiral of our divinity and still be a human..........And following our will and wind we may just go where no one's been. We'll ride the spiral to the end and may just go where no one's been." In my internet scavenging, I had read one review, written by a drummer, who mentioned that Danny Carey's drum beat formed a fibonacci sequence during the song Lateralus. A drummer myself, I decided to get out the graph paper and follow Danny. I can't play like he can, but at least I can hear everything he's doing, and thus was able to construct the drum tabulature. Sure enough, Danny repeats a Fibonacci sequence through the number 13: 1,1,2,3,5,8,13. After 13, he starts again with 1. Bringing in my Algebra 2 knowledge of the Fibonacci sequence, when the equation for the Fibonacci sequence (which I don't actually know) is graphed, it forms a sprial whose vertex depends on the number at which the sequence begins. Coincidence? I began to think not. I had already known of Danny's obsession with sacred geometry and am familiar with Bob Frissell's book, Nothing in This Book Is True, But It's Exactly How Things Are , so the significance of what I had stumbled upon had actually begun to settle in. This is where I just had to play with Lateralus. I had doodled a few spirals in the corners of my graph paper, and in doing so made the first important connection to Lateralus. I knew that if the tracks were in fact intended to be heard in a different order, "Parabol" and "Parabola" would have to go together. In drawing my spirals, I had begun with a vertex and 'spiraled' outwards. After writing the numbers 1 through 13 linearly, I could immediately see that Parabol and Parabola would have to be the middle of my spiral (in that 13 / 2 = 6.5). I drew a simple arrow between 6 and 7 and then pondered the next pair. At first, I actually drew a spiral connecting pairs of numbers whose sum equaled 13 (the number of songs on the album). This, however, left the last track in the same position and without anything to connect to. At this time, I had used my copy of Lateralus and Cool Edit Pro to take out the silences between tracks and put the songs in the following order: 6,7,5,8,4,9,3,10,2,11,1,12,13. The transition from Parabola into Schism blew my mind, as the plucks, probably dismissed by listeners as a drawn out rant of an ending, perfectly transition into the beginning of Schism. When you count out beats as the strings are plucked, Schism resumes with the same time signature and tempo - mirroring the progression of notes. The transition from Schism into Ticks & Leeches is equally intriguing. Schism ends with strong double-kick bass and tom smacks, and Ticks & Leeches begins with what many would call a 'tribal' drum beat. The beat at the very start of Ticks & Leeches is slightly different every subsequent time it is repeated - the measures are two beats longer. Yup - you guessed it - those two beats are ACTUALLY the last two beats of Schism. I can honestly say that I never understood the album's fourth track, Mantra until reordering the album's songs. What I had originally heard as whale calls now had begun to resemble the worst imaginable dry heaves - or a stylized choking. Fitting, seeing as how the last line in Ticks & Leeches is "I hope you choke." After this transition, none of those following it really seemed to make much sense. I certainly didn't like that Disposition and Reflection had been seperated - as they sound quite good when played sequentially on the album. This was the only real roadblock in my disciphering of the Holy Gift. Then I had remembered what my friend had told me - 13 was in the middle. At the time, probably just wanting to believe that there was more to this cd, I had equated this to the positioning of the song "Intermission" on the previous release, Ænema. For the song to be in the 'middle' of the album it would have to be the seventh track in sequence, here having six tracks on either side of it. So I inserted Faaip de Oiad after Lateralus, and almost peed my pants when I discovered that (ever-so-faintly) the fading tone of the last note of Lateralus could be heard in beginning of Faaip de Oiad, and how the distortion of the guitars at the tail end of Lateralus resembled, and later transitioned seamlessly into, the static at the beginning of Faaip de Oiad. The lyrics of Lateralus justify this break in the spiral, almost instructing: "spiral out, keep going, spiral out, keep going." I went back to Lateralus to find the next clue. In Danny Carey's amazingly competent Fibonacci sequence, he had stopped at 13 and gone back to 1. This is what I chose to do to finish the sequence. A second spiral was now constucted, and the order for the Holy Gift now became 6,7,5,8,4,9,13,1,12,2,11,3,10. Already many of you are probably fascinated at what I have revealed to you, but I can not even begin to tell you what this new order has opened up for me. The beauty of Lateralus is very, very fragile and has to be viewed with a very open mind. It can also be different when looked at from different points of view. Aside from the fact that the new order of the songs places them in an order where they flow together nicely - often ending and resuming on the same notes or within the same progression, and some times - in the case of Lateralus into Faaip de Oiad and The Grudge into Triad - even overlapping (though admittadly sound much better when actually electronically overlapped, this is kind of cheating. Consider this a hint, however, if you plan on doing this yourself), the two spirals help to tell a story that every Tool fan should hear. In the interest of not boring the only casually intrigued, I will try to keep this very brief. I would also recommend familiarizing yourselves with Frissell's book (yeah - the one I mentioned earlier). I consider Parabol and Parabola to be quite expository. Maynard wants us to know that no matter what happens, we must all know that this is not our only existance. Our very minds and the contents of our subconscious are intended to be immortal, and if we accept this into our lives (be it because of personal or religious reasons), it will be so. As such, pain is an illusion. At first, I called it "The Lateralus Prophecy" (for reasons you will soon understand), but I have since decided to call the 'reordered' version of Lateralus "The Holy Gift". As Maynard says, "Recognize this as a holy gift and celebrate this chance to be alive and breathing," I take the word "this" to mean much more than just his simple cautioning. Since Parabola is the second track of the Holy Gift, it can be considered at the beginning (esp. considering the context of it's duality with Parabol), and as such, I interpret Maynard's words as more than just clever lyrics in a song. They are a plead for his listeners to listen to everything he has to say and truly celebrate the chance of immortality offered throughout. I would be lying if I said that each song has a specific translation. On the contrary, Tool's music is designed to make you think, not say something specific. It must be treated like great literature - much is hidden contextually. I will elude to Geometric-Drumming's previous post, where he explains the time signatures of Schism: "It represents the title...it's arranged in 12/8 time which is SPLIT into 5/8 and 7/8 - which only really FITS as you PUT THE PIECES BACK TOGETHER." Where Geometric-Drumming claims Schism as his favorite Tool song, I have heard some fans say that it was a retched pick for the album's only single - but I think it was brilliant. Not to downplay the interpretations of those who have posted before me (in fact, I agree with much of what %BlueSoulRobot% has to say), but I think that to the casual listener who knows nothing of Tool, it can be a powerful invitation. Think about it - a lot of dingbats with MTV and a radio would walk around with the words "I know the pieces fit" in their heads. I wonder how many of them took the time to put the pieces back together to (re)discover what is trying to be communicated. I welcome any feedback. I would love to share interpretations of the songs via email - just too lengthy to post here. I would like to offer the following advice: DO NOT use MP3s to digitally reorder Lateralus. A lot of VERY IMPORTANT information is encoded on the actual cd. Ever notice how everyone who has lost or broken that cd has IMMEDIATELY gone out and bought a new copy? I know I have. It's because there are things encoded on the factory pressing of the cd that are lost in the mp3 compression process and any direct copy onto a cd-r. If you want to do it, do it right - I can't stress how important this is. Use the cda tracks as you put it together and maintain all audio fidelity using professional mixing software.

There's a Fibonacci in Maynard's lyrics, specifically the syllables:

black [1]

then [1]

white are [2]

all I see [3]

in my infancy [5]

red and yellow then came to be [8]

reaching out to me [5]

lets me see [3]

there is [2]

so [1]

much [1]

more and [2]

beckons me [3]

to look through to these [5]

infinite possibilities [8]

as below so above and beyond I imagine [13]

drawn outside the lines of reason [8]

push the envelope [5]

watch it bend [3]

I suppose it's not actually a true Fibonacci, since it does reverse itself.

the Fibonacci Sequence. It's basically a string of numbers that when you add a number to the number before it, you get the next number. Starting with the numbers 0 and 1. 0+1=1, so the set now looks like this; 0 1 1. You take the 1 and add the previous number (1) and you get 2. The sequence looks like this; 0 1 1 2. Now you take the 2 and add the previous number and get 3. Now you have 0 1 1 2 3. When you add the 3 and the 2 you get 5. 0 1 2 3 5. 5+3=8. 0 1 1 2 3 5 8. The process continues.
A little bit crazy, but the transitions are there, and it is true.

Overall, I've listened to Undetow the most since I've had it for like twelve years or so but the more I listen, really listen to Lateralus the more I appreciate it.

Aside from all the interesting stuff on how they created Lateralus, Maynard (singer) really seems to be digging down and almost giving advice and philosophies on many things - and muscially it's amazing (I also play instruments so I appreciate it that extra bit more).

I still find myself hearing new things on all their stuff & going WOW! in amazement.

Ideally, it would be good to start at the beginning and work up to their most recent but your question was what was best to work out with.

I've only actually exercised while listening to Undertow probably because I know it so well. I guess I just like to sit down and listen to the other stuff at home or in the car.

Hmmm, I think I need to go & give Aenima a better listen now... :whistle:

G

Thanks very much. This helps a lot.

I'm getting a new tool cd in a day or so and will be buying this to work out to. Which do you recomend? I don't have any tool cds at this time...

Aenima is my personal favorite....

man dont even get me started on Tool.


how many metal bands out there can give you an education on philosophy and spirituality? not much.... Tool can.

Lateralus is my fav album of thiers.... followed by aenima. Lateralus showcases thier most mature point.

TOOL ROOOOOOOCCCKKKS!

Buy all of them...start with aenima

Aside from all the interesting stuff on how they created Lateralus, Maynard (singer) really seems to be digging down and almost giving advice and philosophies on many things - and muscially it's amazing (I also play instruments so I appreciate it that extra bit more).

I still find myself hearing new things on all their stuff & going WOW! in amazement.
Yes, how intricate and subtle the music can be is amazing.

A great experience is to meditate over Lateralus, letting nothing but it's sound pervade through your headphones. Let any of your other thoughts or worries slip through your mind -- don't ignore them, but view them with detachment like they're not your own. Follow a sound as it weaves through a song. Reflection is my favourite track.

My personal favorite is Aenima, as it's a wonderful transition between the more hard-rocking Undertow and the almost spiritual Lateralus. Opiate, in contrast, is an uncharacteristically short album, and it doesn't really differentiate them from many other metal bands. The individuality of the band began emergin in Undertow and has culminated (so far) in Lateralus. That said, I prefer Lateralus as ambient music- Aenima is much more involving to me.

My own rankings:(1-10)
Aenima:9
Lateralus:8.5
Undertow:6
Opiate:3

If I had to chose one to work out with it'd be Aenima. On a side note the new NIN album "With Teeth" is a great workout CD.

On a side note the new NIN album "With Teeth" is a great workout CD.
Wait... I'm trying to picture the look on Trent Reznor's face if he read that. :lol:

quiet you! But yeah its excellent and I definately plan on buying it when its released.

yeah... got "with teeth" about a week and a half ago... amazing! i will purchase it... good job trent!

Had to come back and change my vote to "Lateralus"...

(after much more consideration and review - wow !) :nod:

Also great multi-layered CD art work...

Groove on,

G

P.S. I think it's neat that "Chicanerous" can even meditate to this, Ommmmm... "Spiral Out - keep going..." ;)

I like A Perfect Circle better than Tool.

I still love Tool, though.

Mer De Noms from A Perfect Circle, owns. :nod: