Undertow - Tool

The first full-length 1992 album from Los Angeles Progressive Metal band TOOL. They had previously released a very typical heavy metal EP called Opiate but this album started to see the more progressive, experimental stylings that would see this badn make the later masterpieces Aenima and Lateralus.

Track One - Intolerance

"You Lie, Cheat and Steal"

The track starts with what sounds like a taut ...
...Maynard James Keenan can really sing unlike other metal bands, he doesn't resort to base shouting. The music and the vocals are so well entertwined it is a brilliant song. Carey's drums are on top form, he truly is one of the greatest drummers of our time. The lyrics are great and this is a very catchy great song to listen to. The guitar is brilliant I love the crisp distortion on the bridge. This album also has that very tightly strung bass guitar ... more

The first full-length 1992 album from Los Angeles Progressive Metal band TOOL. They had previously released a very typical heavy metal EP called Opiate but this album started to see the more progressive, experimental stylings that would see this badn make the later masterpieces Aenima and Lateralus.

Track One - Intolerance

"You Lie, Cheat and Steal"

The track starts with what sounds like a taut rope being struck, then the music rather enters rather directly. Maynard James Keenan can really sing unlike other metal bands, he doesn't resort to base shouting. The music and the vocals are so well entertwined it is a brilliant song. Carey's drums are on top form, he truly is one of the greatest drummers of our time. The lyrics are great and this is a very catchy great song to listen to. The guitar is brilliant I love the crisp distortion on the bridge. This album also has that very tightly strung bass guitar which always sounds rather tribal to me and rreminds me of stones hitting a hollow thick metal surface. Not without emotion it doesn't include mindless screaming. Genuis music beautiful music. 4.5/5

Track Two - Prison Sex

Yet again we have that taut rope intro then a a rather cool guitar intro. The guitar is rather laid back in this song providing more of a rythmic background for the most part, plenty of muting. As the song title indicates the lyrics are rather profane but excellently sung. Listen to this song and for ages afterwards you'll be singing to yourself "Do onto others now. What has been done to you." I love this song as ever musically genius. Great bass, great guitar, great drumming and the musicians all work together really well to form a well orchestrated piece. 4.8/5

Track Three - Sober

A fancy bass intro here which then allows for some fancy guitar stylings by Adam Jones. The music to this song is listenable on its own but the singing just fits so perfectly you think these guys are all of one mind. Yet again we have some rather obscene lyrics but sung beautifully. There is such torn emotion in the chorus of this song you look forward to it coming round again. 4.4/5

Track Four - Bottom

This song opens heavily with the full musical entourage together. It is quite up tempo and hard at the beginning but it slows down and the drum fade to allow for some great guitar rythm with a solid drum backing. The singing doesn't impress me so well in this song largely, there is a weird vocal distortion when he sings "hands up in the bottom" taht stands out but that's about it. The music breaks down to a light drumming with some of Jones' original guitaring sporadically providing backing to some dialogue from Henry Rollins, this vocals then merges with Maynards voice and the music starts again and the music opens up. "Dead inside" is sung repeatedly and you sort of feel that this is what the song has been building up to. The song reaches a fantastic climax of high powered music and weird distorted backing vocals and Maynards brilliant emotionally driven singing holding a gravelly note for ages as the music comes to a halt. THEN. The music start really fast again like it did at the beginning with Myanard keeping pace with "Hatred keeps me alive, Providence keeps me alive, weakness keeps me alive, guilt keeps me alive at the Bottom" and he holds the last note providing backing for a quick guitar solo. Great song 4.7/5

Track Five - Crawl Away

This song opens with barely heard folk music and then the Tool guitaring comes in with a something similar tune that suddenly becomes very heavy. The guitar lightens up and plays a nice melody to some really cool drumming. The guitar stops for the singing and the trademark bass becomes prominent. I love the lyrics for this song and the singing is great. "What your trying to say. Is you don't want to play" There is a hell of a lot of varianc ein this song you wonder how they remember it all. The drumming is fantastic in parts really original. 4.8/5

Track Six - Swamp Song

Great bass and guitar at the beginning of this song, nicely arranged to work together. The singing is yet again really well placed with the music and really enjoyable listening. With Tool you don;t get conventional guitar solos but you do get really fantastic instrumentals throughout and this song is a fine example of this. 4.5/5

Track Seven - Undertow

A guitar melody solo. The singing is rythmic at first and then more melodic as the music slows down. A slower song with easy to listen to vocals taht then erupts sporadically into emotional calls to "Shutup" but sung not shouted as only Maynard can do really well. The startes to reach a climax four minutes in and ther is this sense of descending in the singing. This then abruptly re-enters into the intro and a really fast drumming and haevy guitar duet finishes us off. 4.8/5

Track Eight - Four Degrees

This song has very middle eastern opening on the guitar that then evolves into more standard Tool music. The singing is so wistful and somehow strained sounding.A good song but not as good as the rest I must say. 3.9/5

Track Nine - Flood

This a very instrumental track at first, steady bass with sporadic heavy guitar and heavy drumming especially making good use of the Toms. This varies around abit for the first minute and a half then the music starts to change and come togtehr alot more and the song starts. The chorus is great, the selfish salvager the loss of hope the visuals it creates. I love this song. May favourite song on the album, especially for the bass. 5/5

Track 10 - 68

58 tone second tracks of silence, the purpose being it means the next track is number 69. How immature lol.

Track 69 - Disgustipitated

This is a strange track. I found out that the inspiration came from a concert that TOOL attended they were not playing but they destroyed alot of guitars and Keenan started shooting a shotgun. They then made this into a trcak and here it is. What fun Hallucinogenics must be. The song starts with some sort of pastor delievering a sermon calling the harvesting of carrots their holocaust, as he progresses the music (bass and drums) becomes darker and slowly faster then some rather distorted creepy singing repeatedly says "This is necessary, life feeds on life, feeds on life, feeds on life...." The singing becomes more and more distant and distorted sounding. The drumming is fantastic here and then shotgun sounds are heard in time with the drumming. We then have seven minutesof crickets chirping. There is then a creepy voice talking about a murder he just committed, graphically.

I like this album and I think if Tool hadn't have got better with their next two albums I hold would hold it in higher esteem but that's hwta happens when a band keeps excelling themselves.

The album book has some disturbing images of an obese naked woman and of the band mutilating their faces. Why I ask? 

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