I can't believe how Lateralus is taken for granted.

[Stalkz]

Too many people are bitching about it not being enough like ÆNIMA, how much they loved ÆNIMA, how much ÆNIMA kicks ass. How Lateralus sucks cuz it didn't sound like ÆNIMA, how Lateralus doesn't have a meaning like ÆNIMA does.

Lateralus has TONS of meaning. It's a very deep album. There's no songs about german cookies on Lateralus, and no messages to anyone, nor are there trans-gender prostitutes (Because as we all know, german cookies and hookers with cocks are a very sensitive and serious matter in life).

Ofcourse, for all you people that are obsessed with ÆNIMA, I'm not trashing it. So don't cry. It's an amazing, and very meaningful album. I'm just pointing out that it's not the holy grail or whatever.

There's no need for all this little "ÆNIMA > Lateralus" shit, they're two completely seperate albums in two completely seperate realities. They're nothing alike. I know as humans we all have such a hardon for comparing things, but it's really not necessary. You CAN just love both of them. You don't have to trash one and cum all over the other. They're their own entity.

And if you honestly think Lateralus isn't as deep and meaningful and serious as ÆNIMA, and is just a "great album" (like I read in one post) you really are missing something huge.

Thank you.

[Grizz]

I don't really think any Tool fans on here think like that anyway, infact in terms of the depth of the albums, i've always thought Lateralus had more to it than any of the previous work.

Also looking at your post, i don't think you seem to understand the work anyway

[Stalkz]

Yes, there are Tool fans here who think that way.

Aenima is why I love Tool. It's a fucking masterpiece. Lateralus, in my opinion, is just a great album. The Kid A to Aenima's OK Computer, if you will.
I don't know why that particular opinion would make me ignorant in any way.

[TheAbstraction]

AMEN STALKZ!! yeah i think the OPEN MINDED INTELLIGENT TOOL FAN loves lateralus. from what ive seen every true tool fan thinks its the best album. but i have seen lots of people dissing lateralus here and there, mostly on the internet. in real life ive found HEAPS of people that love lateralus and its great coz its my favourite album of any band pretty much and its like BING-INSTANT CONNECTION. i have a very big feeling that most of the people that say lateralus is SHIT etc dont really like tool at all, theyre either tool fans that are posers or just people that have only heard a few songs of theirs. and theyve most probably only heard schism and parabol/parabola off lateralus. the same thing goes with all bands i think. especially bands like metallica.
now dont diss me for liking all of metallicas albums (this is just an example, that can be used with any band but ill pick metallica coz theyre one of my fave bands) but i REALLY like load. it took me awhile to get use to (like a week or something) but i ended up loving it. that was about the time it came out. so i left it for awhile, came back to it, left it etc like alot of albums and like alot of people do after theyve thrashed the album out etc. but now i love it more than ever. its the best album to sleep to and chill to and i feel the exact same way about lateralus.
but you can also rock to it, feel it, think with em etc. but anyway! my point is some dickheads will say metallica sold out or tool sold out because theyve only heard a few of the songs off of the album! things like load and lateralus, sort of concept albums have to be heard in their ENTIRITY (is that a word?). theyre also best to play the whole thing in 1 setting. and the more you listen to something, the more you understand it, the more you see it can be interpreted in many different ways.

not just the lyrics! but every part of the music. i recommend people take some shrooms and listen to tool, it will be one of the most beautiful moments of your life if youre a fan. its hard to explain, but they sound totally different! much much more amazing, its like the only thing in the world that matters for that hour or whatever is the music! its like 100% of your mind and soul are into the music.
and i found out 1 of the best things about tool is the TIMING. toolgasms and stuff like that are all about timing, making the third eye come out is all about making the right sounds at the right times. and they know alot about this! to be a tool fan means you can be a very patient person if you want to be and that you definately have an artists perception etc somewhere in your mind that you can release whenever you want.
its pretty sickening that diehard aenima fans cant accept lateralus, i mean if they love aenima so much they should know that to truly love something you must understand it TO SOME EXTENT and weirdness is where most of the beauty is! also, its the subconscious mind that is most important when listening to stuff like lateralus, the subconscious will always be smarter than the DAY TO DAY CONSCIOUS THINKING BRAIN, its where all our memory and stuff is. so im pretty sure theyre not REAL OBJECTIVE PEOPLE but yeah, maybe they just need some psylacibin mushrooms :D
that way they will experience music by having the objective mind and the subjective mind blending together, swaping places, being 1 etc and theyll find out that OBJECTIVE AND SUBJECTIVE ARE JUST WORDS.
im pretty sure that if anyone has a good trip on mushrooms theres a 90% chance they ABSOLUTELY LOVE MOST OF LATERALUS, even if its just for the time theyre tripping. ive seen many people converted to tool because of psychadelics, its all learning how to operate your brain. i cant see any good reasons for someone to HATE tool, a person can dislike whatever, but HATE? ok im leading off, but yeah if youre not a tool fan a part of you is being really arrogant, afraid, impatient etc.

[dawn]

I can't believe there are so many ways to analyze it.

[neochrist]

why must one be better than the other one?

[Stalkz]

I think Abstraction went pretty far saying true tool fans like Lateralus best. I never bought into that "True fan" shit anyways. But yeah, atleast fucking appreciate the album. Just because you like ÆNIMA better doesn't mean it's not good.

I only say it's better because I like it the most. It's not better to the people who like ÆNIMA the most. But that's not important to me. Whats important to me is what I like.

All I'm trying to say is appreciate it for what it's worth. If it's not worth favorite for you then it's not. But appreciate it for a great album.

[Peaceful Moments]

I just love 'em all...

[ÆnimaticEnigma]

Too many people are bitching about it not being enough like ÆNIMA, how much they loved ÆNIMA, how much ÆNIMA kicks ass. How Lateralus sucks cuz it didn't sound like ÆNIMA, how Lateralus doesn't have a meaning like ÆNIMA does.

Lateralus has TONS of meaning. It's a very deep album. There's no songs about german cookies on Lateralus, and no messages to anyone, nor are there trans-gender prostitutes (Because as we all know, german cookies and hookers with cocks are a very sensitive and serious matter in life).

Ofcourse, for all you people that are obsessed with ÆNIMA, I'm not trashing it. So don't cry. It's an amazing, and very meaningful album. I'm just pointing out that it's not the holy grail or whatever.

There's no need for all this little "ÆNIMA > Lateralus" shit, they're two completely seperate albums in two completely seperate realities. They're nothing alike. I know as humans we all have such a hardon for comparing things, but it's really not necessary. You CAN just love both of them. You don't have to trash one and cum all over the other. They're their own entity.

And if you honestly think Lateralus isn't as deep and meaningful and serious as ÆNIMA, and is just a "great album" (like I read in one post) you really are missing something huge.

Thank you.

Umm... exactly my view...

Yeah all the other albums have a meaning, but they have more or less individual songs to them... Lateralus isn't a "Single's" album like all the previous CD's... its a CD thats like one song... I love that...

[scummonk]

i don't see the big problem, i see each album as a different journey.

and u can't do the same thing twice, thats why bands evolve, and tools evolution from aenima to lateralus was amazing.

they are both incredible, and i am torn between the two, but i have never heard anyone compare to aenima to lateralus.....so dunno wot ur on bout really

[.TP]

but i have never heard anyone compare to aenima to lateralus.....so dunno wot ur on bout really

actually, there´s been a never ending, epic battle about which album is the best.
there are a couple of threads here with that topic, and polls too.

for me, they´re both trandescendent albums, amazigly put together, both of em.
i just enjoy lateralus better, because of the already mentioned fact that you can consider the lateralus album as one complete song.

[dischordance]

yeah i think the OPEN MINDED INTELLIGENT TOOL FAN loves lateralus.
Always nice to know what the open-minded intelligent tool fan thinks.
i cant see any good reasons for someone to HATE tool, a person can dislike whatever, but HATE?
http://www.ateaseweb.com/mb/index.php?showtopic=41271
Have fun.
Actually, I believe the majority of people who've heard Tool hate them. The main reason, probably, is that they couldn't form any sort of emotional connection with the music.
What's that thing it says on the forum main page...?
"It's not about what the music means, it's about what the music means to you."
(Or something like that)
For a large number of people, the music means nothing at all.
All I'm trying to say is appreciate it for what it's worth. If it's not worth favorite for you then it's not. But appreciate it for a great album.
Right.
Since you quoted me, let me quote you, quoting me (or something like that)...
Aenima is why I love Tool. It's a fucking masterpiece. Lateralus, in my opinion, is just a great album.
Yep. I pretty much pissed all over Lateralus, right there. Man. Poor Tool. They must be crying, reading such a searing attack on Lateralus. I feel like a right douche, now.

Don't hate me, though. Don't strike me down just because I don't consider Lateralus to be the epic awesome awesomeness masterpiece album that is the bestest there ever wassest, man. Truth is, I'm just about too lazy to carve out a freaky momument in honour of Lateralus and pray to it three times a day. It's too much effort. Sorry.

[hoodling1229]

when listening to tool, i try to find the beauty in each song of each album, and listen to each album as a whole, not just listening to a couple of songs and going on to the next. i look at it as a book, and each song is a chapter: it's best when read as a whole. and i also find that most people dislike tool when they first hear it. for a music class at school, my friends and i played schism during a music review project, and most people are so used to shallow music that they couldn't comprehend tool.

[Raev'n]

...now dont diss me for liking all of metallicas albums (this is just an example, that can be used with any band but ill pick metallica coz theyre one of my fave bands) but i REALLY like load. it took me awhile to get use to (like a week or something) but i ended up loving it. that was about the time it came out. so i left it for awhile, came back to it, left it etc like alot of albums and like alot of people do after theyve thrashed the album out etc. but now i love it more than ever. its the best album to sleep to and chill to...

That's what happened to me with Salival, I was just like: Meh, it's a live boxset. But now it's my favorite album cause "it's the best album to sleep to and chill to"

[NOeggs23]

ok, ok, ok, stop fighting. And that guy who said every true tool fan thinks lateralus is the best is ignorant so not a true tool fan. Each cd is perfect in its own way. Opiate succeeds on letting us now what tool is about and UNdertow is red and angry and perfect at that. Aenima is my personal favorite because of the feelings i get when i meditate to it, so it is perfect at letting us now they have changed. And lateralus is perfect at what it does and that is just tool being beautiful. Remember, this is all in my opinon and i am a true tool fan not only because i have written my book on the analyisis of the journey ive taken by meditating to them but because i respect them and anyone who loves them.

[Et in Arcadia Ego]

Look, there's always people that started listening to Tool because of Lateralus or Ænima or even Undertow... And those are the albums that they relate to the best or respect the most... That's what they believe the "true" Tool to sound like...

So then when another album comes out that contradicts the sound of previous or latter albums then it becomes a chance to have Ænima vis a vis Lateralus - for example - as the better or "proper" sounding Tool...

As far as I'm concerned, it's all relative to when you started listening to Tool and also how much effort you have put into sampling all their music... It's easy to dismiss something the first time, because it's different from expectations... (I would consider that a good thing...) But it's harder to appreciate Tool's versitility and just appreciate all the albums...
I just love 'em all...

[Raev'n]

Can some one explain to me how you can like one album better than the other? I mean: I like Salival but only because of the way they changed the songs and their amazing covers of You Lied and No Quarter... But even then I love all the others as well. I just got undertow and its fucking amazing as well. So which one's better: Undertow or Opiate? They both did have the same bass player...

[Stalkz]

Wow...

I can't believe this thread is still going. That's gay.

[Ertai]

i think too many people dont even interrupt the music... they listen but they dont hear... and i think that is a "third eye" is....

No matter how hard i introduce tool to my friends.... but they are too preoccupied to listen and understand what is being meant. They just hear the outta layer of the music.... (as was talked about in another thread.... skin,body, and bones layers..)

So anyone who truthfully appreciates lateralus or even aenima for that fact, i am honored to even discuss my matters with you. Because you have opened you minds up to the words of someone else even if they question what you already know and that is what makes someone thruthfuly aware of his surroundings.

[my shadow]

i agree with the first post,there are alot of people who say they like aenima and they think lateralus doesnt measure up to it. personally it doesnt matter to me...i love all the albums and i think each one is better then the other in some way. and i think any one who can say any work of tool sucks doesnt know real music and are posers in my opinion.

[nipploleon dynomight]

Tool has always been evolving through each album. The expirience gets more and more mature through each Cd. Same with the lyrics, art and sound. The thing is Tool has been far too ahead of their time. People are coming out with stuff that compares to Undertow about now. It will be another ten or fifteen years before you see a number of people starting to do things at the level of Lateralus. There you go.

[ARMZ]

Too many people are bitching about it not being enough like ÆNIMA, how much they loved ÆNIMA, how much ÆNIMA kicks ass. How Lateralus sucks cuz it didn't sound like ÆNIMA, how Lateralus doesn't have a meaning like ÆNIMA does.

Lateralus has TONS of meaning. It's a very deep album. There's no songs about german cookies on Lateralus, and no messages to anyone, nor are there trans-gender prostitutes (Because as we all know, german cookies and hookers with cocks are a very sensitive and serious matter in life).

Ofcourse, for all you people that are obsessed with ÆNIMA, I'm not trashing it. So don't cry. It's an amazing, and very meaningful album. I'm just pointing out that it's not the holy grail or whatever.

There's no need for all this little "ÆNIMA > Lateralus" shit, they're two completely seperate albums in two completely seperate realities. They're nothing alike. I know as humans we all have such a hardon for comparing things, but it's really not necessary. You CAN just love both of them. You don't have to trash one and cum all over the other. They're their own entity.

And if you honestly think Lateralus isn't as deep and meaningful and serious as ÆNIMA, and is just a "great album" (like I read in one post) you really are missing something huge.

Thank you.
Recycling is good for the community.

Trans-gender prostitutes? Hookers with cocks?

I always thought that 'Hooker with a penis' meant, well, a hooker with a penis, like, 'Player with a ball', 'Cameraman with a camera', a hooker with a penis is what a hooker does, it's her job. To use a penis and to be used and so on.

Lateralus is good, real good, so good it's really good.

[Et in Arcadia Ego]

People have talked about the the "quiet bit" in Ticks and Leeches and the "ending scream" in Third Eye can't be there without the build up (or the rest of the song in other words) as the meaning would have changed...

Lateralus can't exist without the other albums, because then Lateralus wouldn't be Lateralus anymore... It would just be...

[lysegicevolution]

People have talked about the the "quiet bit" in Ticks and Leeches and the "ending scream" in Third Eye can't be there without the build up (or the rest of the song in other words) as the meaning would have changed...

Lateralus can't exist without the other albums, because then Lateralus wouldn't be Lateralus anymore... It would just be...





spot on good fellow

[Cyanide ChrYst]

Too many people are bitching about it not being enough like ÆNIMA, how much they loved ÆNIMA, how much ÆNIMA kicks ass. How Lateralus sucks cuz it didn't sound like ÆNIMA, how Lateralus doesn't have a meaning like ÆNIMA does.

Lateralus has TONS of meaning. It's a very deep album. There's no songs about german cookies on Lateralus, and no messages to anyone, nor are there trans-gender prostitutes (Because as we all know, german cookies and hookers with cocks are a very sensitive and serious matter in life).

Ofcourse, for all you people that are obsessed with ÆNIMA, I'm not trashing it. So don't cry. It's an amazing, and very meaningful album. I'm just pointing out that it's not the holy grail or whatever.

There's no need for all this little "ÆNIMA > Lateralus" shit, they're two completely seperate albums in two completely seperate realities. They're nothing alike. I know as humans we all have such a hardon for comparing things, but it's really not necessary. You CAN just love both of them. You don't have to trash one and cum all over the other. They're their own entity.

And if you honestly think Lateralus isn't as deep and meaningful and serious as ÆNIMA, and is just a "great album" (like I read in one post) you really are missing something huge.

Thank you.


We realize that you can make the little AE sign, I used to be able to do it too but I forgot the keypad numbers...but nobody really gives a shit.

[Elgyn]

We realize that you can make the little AE sign, I used to be able to do it too but I forgot the keypad numbers...but nobody really gives a shit.
Ænima.
alt+0+1+9+8.

Fuck yeah.

[SiGuy]

and i cant be held responsible for the stupidity of what i am about to say, but it has to be said.

in an ideal world there would be no albums and we would just have tool, when you listened to tool you would start on sweat and end on faiip, you dont have to listen to every song but have to recognize that they all go together, or they are all independant. while some of you may argue that each album is an independant entity i have to disagree. if you dont believe me than there is an easy way to convince you. listen to all four albums at once in order, then go back with a 4 disc cd-changer, or an ipod or something and put it on random shuffle for all four albums and tell me that no matter how you listen to the songs that they all go together.

[tomXwithXweather]

and i cant be held responsible for the stupidity of what i am about to say, but it has to be said.

in an ideal world there would be no albums and we would just have tool, when you listened to tool you would start on sweat and end on faiip, you dont have to listen to every song but have to recognize that they all go together, or they are all independant. while some of you may argue that each album is an independant entity i have to disagree. if you dont believe me than there is an easy way to convince you. listen to all four albums at once in order, then go back with a 4 disc cd-changer, or an ipod or something and put it on random shuffle for all four albums and tell me that no matter how you listen to the songs that they all go together.

i dont think they go together. Its like with lateralus, changing the order messes with the flow of the album. the order is supposed to be Disposition - Reflection - Triad and changing the way you hear them interferes with the way theyre meant to be. each album has its own flow and is put together in a certain way.

[SiGuy]

im just saying i think if you try to shuffle the songs around it wont sound wrong, and that the album is just the vessel, its the content thats important, in any form

[Raev'n]

But if the content is in disarray then won't the album be?

[Et in Arcadia Ego]

Ahhh, touche... Checkmate, and other metaphorical notions of distress...

If you change the songs then you ultimately change the vessel, you change the album and you change Tool...

[Cyanide ChrYst]

No, actually you just change the songs. Thanks for playing, Nietzsche.

[5th Eye]

Ænima.
alt+0+1+9+8.

Fuck yeah.

Try alt-1-4-6: Æ
1-9-8 gave me a ╞.

[Et in Arcadia Ego]

No, actually you just change the songs.
I'll take your opinion and raise you a metaphorical fist-pumping motion of "yes, I pwn u..."

Take an album by Tool as a metaphorical brick wall, the songs on the album represent the bricks... If you take a brick out of that wall you will change the wall, the wall might even collapse... If you try to put a different brick in there it might not fit and your wall becomes a different looking, shonky wall...

[5th Eye]

Take an album by Tool as a metaphorical brick wall, the songs on the album represent the bricks... If you take a brick out of that wall you will change the wall, the wall might even collapse... If you try to put a different brick in there it might not fit and your wall becomes a different looking, shonky wall...

Actually, speaking from pure physics point of view, taking one brick out wouldn't affect much...sheer numbers keep the wall up...

But, for a Lateralus kind of album, changing the track order gives the album a different sort of feel, I think.

[Cyanide ChrYst]

Oh SHIT! You just got SKINNED, mother fucker!

I listen to Lateralus in any goddamn order I feel suit and it still feels like the same old tool to me. When I do enjoy the album at it's full length, I enjoy it the way tool wanted me to.

[Et in Arcadia Ego]

Well, at least you enjoy it...

No one has to tell you how you have to enjoy it or listen to it...

I still stand by my reasons, though...

[Cyanide ChrYst]

The constant ... makes you more mysterious.

[ordered chaos]

Anyone whose third eye is open understands the depth and meaning of Lateralus.

It is one of the great albums. Listen to the message, if you don't really get it, then it's time to take 5 dried grams, sit out in a field, and just say, "show me."

reaching out to embrace the random, reaching out to embrace whatever may come

[Cyanide ChrYst]

Anyone whose third eye is open understands the depth and meaning of Lateralus.
[/i]



Mmmmm! Smells like a dipshit!

"Prying open the third eye" is something that is supposedly attained after years of self-searching, through meditation, hallucinogen use, prayer, lachrymology, fasting, etc. etc. etc.
Some people dedicate their lives to it. Buddhists and all kinds of assorted asianfolk.

My point being, some fucking retard twenty year old on a fucking online forum does NOT have an opened 'third eye'.

[5th Eye]

Exactly...who says you needed an open third eye to understand Lateralus? I have my own interpretation of what it means, and I've never had to sit in a field smoking something to get that understanding.

[jonathan2994]

Too many people are bitching about it not being enough like ÆNIMA, how much they loved ÆNIMA, how much ÆNIMA kicks ass. How Lateralus sucks cuz it didn't sound like ÆNIMA, how Lateralus doesn't have a meaning like ÆNIMA does.

Lateralus has TONS of meaning. It's a very deep album. There's no songs about german cookies on Lateralus, and no messages to anyone, nor are there trans-gender prostitutes (Because as we all know, german cookies and hookers with cocks are a very sensitive and serious matter in life).

Ofcourse, for all you people that are obsessed with ÆNIMA, I'm not trashing it. So don't cry. It's an amazing, and very meaningful album. I'm just pointing out that it's not the holy grail or whatever.

There's no need for all this little "ÆNIMA > Lateralus" shit, they're two completely seperate albums in two completely seperate realities. They're nothing alike. I know as humans we all have such a hardon for comparing things, but it's really not necessary. You CAN just love both of them. You don't have to trash one and cum all over the other. They're their own entity.

And if you honestly think Lateralus isn't as deep and meaningful and serious as ÆNIMA, and is just a "great album" (like I read in one post) you really are missing something huge.

Thank you.

Lateralus was the better album, hands down, and is probably my favorite album, ever. It's hard to want to listen to anything else.

[jonathan2994]

Ænima.
alt+0+1+9+8.

Fuck yeah.


how the hell?

[jonathan2994]

Try alt-1-4-6: Æ
1-9-8 gave me a ╞.

alt146

if you mean "hold alt and type 1-4-6", mine won't let me type while holding alt.

[5th Eye]

if you mean "hold alt and type 1-4-6", mine won't let me type while holding alt.Yeah...press down alt. Type "1 4 6" on the keypad. Release alt. Æ.

[Latitudinarian]

So since Im lazy an stuff...an Id like to have some discussion around here....what exactly about Lateralus or whatever is taken for granted?

[5th Eye]

*looks at first post*

if you honestly think Lateralus isn't as deep and meaningful and serious as ÆNIMA, and is just a "great album" (like I read in one post) you really are missing something huge.Looks like he thinks it's underappreciated as compared to Ænima. That's all I'm getting. Any reason as to why?

[nicolas]

Anyone whose third eye is open understands the depth and meaning of Lateralus.

It is one of the great albums. Listen to the message, if you don't really get it, then it's time to take 5 dried grams, sit out in a field, and just say, "show me."

reaching out to embrace the random, reaching out to embrace whatever may come



this is the truth

[Egocentric]

"Mmmmm! Smells like a dipshit!

"Prying open the third eye" is something that is supposedly attained after years of self-searching, through meditation, hallucinogen use, prayer, lachrymology, fasting, etc. etc. etc.
Some people dedicate their lives to it. Buddhists and all kinds of assorted asianfolk.

My point being, some fucking retard twenty year old on a fucking online forum does NOT have an opened 'third eye'."

In regards to this, cyanide chryst. i hate to say it but you're the one slinging the shit here.

This is my first post here, and I'll take this opportunity to state the facts about myself. I am 20 years old, and I DO see the third eye. I've been able to see it for a number of months now, it's the most real thing I've ever experienced in my life (as it is my, and our, lives). It's here, its real, its open. I've wished at times that it would infact go away, that I could wake up one morning and find it was all a dream, or some bullshit. This is NOT the case.

EVERYONE has a third eye and it pertains to everything in our lives, the level of reality we experience, EVERYTHING. I was never intending to embark on a spiritual path, or to even have a third eye, experience it and understand it.
I have been a Tool fan for some time, but it was not until this year that I opened my eye when I had my first good mushroom trip. Ever since then, that learning experience among many many many other things in my life put this all in perspective. I haven't been able to talk to anyone about it much or learn much from the internet. I figured it out from mostly books, personal issues, and of course "Third Eye".

It's a life changing experience and its complete beauty, among everything else concievable, and opening the eye would probably best be described as WAKING UP. It's a change of perception that doesn't shift in vague ways, its clear, its real and its right in front of you.

I haven't been able to reconcile myself with this situation in this world. Nobody seems to care much, and I imagine the idea that "this applies to EVERYBODY" doesn't seem to convey well at all. Like its something that just "grew" out of me or I "made it up".

In all seriousness, how many individuals here have opened the third eye to the point where it stays visual in perception REGARDLESS OF DRUG INFLUENCE, A.K.A. EVEN WHILE SOBER. This is the case for me and so far on this path I havent had any feedback or further enlightenment, but I appreciate whoever takes the time to read this.

[bluefire]

wow.

[Egocentric]

=)

well, any words of advice or maybe a simple and informative "you're not really crazy"?