LogFAQs > #980263495

Their music is Magical.

It took me a long time to get into and understand what all the admiration was about, but after I've finally broken into it...it's like their music is on an entirely different level. I started out on Aenima, I listened to it once, didn't get much out of it. Then I saw Escape from L.A., and the director John Carpenter uses the song "Sweat" to perfect effect in the film, and it just haunted me. I listened to Aenima again and it's like every time I listened to it, it eerily got better and better and became one of my favorite albums in a very short period of time.

Next I listened to Lateralus. Once again, didn't think much of it. Seemed like Tool was just experimental and overrated. Then listened to it again the next day... and it's like something unlocked in my mind overnight. The album was brilliant, amazing, and beautiful. It continued to get bigger and more incredible the more I listened to it. I've probably listened to it 50 times since then.

Yesterday, listened to 10,000 Days. Remember feeling disappointed that it was no Lateralus. Listened again today, and it's brilliant, haunting, and marvelous. Tool does something I've never heard before; It's like they're playing with the very properties of music to set up something you can't understand at first, then blow your mind with a musical idea that couldn't have been understood or expressed in just a few playthroughs. Their music engages you on a spiritual level and shows you things you didn't know existed. If you don't like Tool, it's not because they're "overrated" or not as good as you've heard, it's because you haven't been enlightened. The best way to listen to them is to accept that the music is excellent and you're in good hands musically. If you try to judge it like you do most music, it will prevent you from understanding.