perfect.

[osiris]

Ænima as a whole...speechless. If I had to name what albums I emotionally grew from this album would definately be in my top five. Ænima is just incredible. Is there really much more you can say about it? I think it is beauty in it's purest form. I can still remember the first time I heard it...my mouth just dropped, the planets aligned and I was a better person on every psychological level.

[crackhoarmojo]

I agree, one of the top fice albums of all-time by my books, and it's great that Tool kept themselves fresh and new by not sticking to that same formula and changing it up for Lateralus.

[ragna16]

I admit, when I first heard Aenima, I said 'It doesn't get any better than this.'. Then Lateralus, which isn't necessarily better, but takes the theme of evolution to an entire different light, made me feel the same way. Still as seperate songs I like Aenima's better.

[Revolver_04]

AEnima ranks as #1 on my list. And i don't think any other album will ever take it's place. its perfect in every way...

C

[DrDuke]

I agree. AEnima is my favorite album as well. the lyrics, the riffs, the structure, the energy, the vocals. FUCKIN AMAZING!

[Satan]

I absolutely love this album. It wil always hold a very special place in my heart, because it is through Aenima that I first discovered Tool. I had heard the song from a friend, and heard about the German cookie recipe/Hitler rally, decided to check it out for myself, fell in love with the sound, captivated by the music, and listened to it about ten times in a row. I still listen to it all the time, perfectly composed and thrown together, very little compares. The quality of each individual song, the perfection with which they fit together, amazing. People say listening to Lateralus is an experience like no other, mind-opening and all that. I tell them to listen to Aenima.
Beauty in sound, invisible to the eyes, my ears would cry if they could.

[Tychism]

Aenima is nothing short of excellence. Im still amazed at the way everything flows and connects, a true masterpiece. One really couldnt ask for more out of an album, Tool provided us with the best piece of auditory pleasure known. Comparatively, everything else is substandard

[draymond10]

Originally posted by Revolver_04
AEnima ranks as #1 on my list. And i don't think any other album will ever take it's place. its perfect in every way...

C

Ever hear the Undertow album? Com'on, Crawl away? Aenima is definately one of the better albums out there but how can you beat sober, flood, intolerance? I also grew up on Aenima but Undertow was my first tool album. Undertow seems more angry than Aenima, and I'm fuckin angry. Undertow tops Aenima in my book.

SParE_T|re
tdf fall '96

[bmeason]

Originally posted by draymond10

Undertow tops Aenima in my book.


Hey now... I don't think we should put tool's albums up against each other.

Opiate - confused and just throwing out random ideas.
Undertow - Angry and more self focused
Aenima - World's problems
Lateralus - Let's fix the self, then move onto the world

Each album has a different tone and is great in it's own respect. Tool's art should not be better than the last piece, or the next piece. It should be viewed as a step or idea. Get what you can from it, but don't judge against another album/song. It just takes away what I think they want you to gain from it.

But to have a favorite, hell that's just human ;) Mine is lateralus.... Just my two cents.

Remember to smile, stay positive, and be creative.

-Bryan Meason

[ProfoundHaytred]

Originally posted by draymond10


Ever hear the Undertow album? Com'on, Crawl away? Aenima is definately one of the better albums out there but how can you beat sober, flood, intolerance? I also grew up on Aenima but Undertow was my first tool album. Undertow seems more angry than Aenima, and I'm fuckin angry. Undertow tops Aenima in my book.

SParE_T|re
tdf fall '96

Yeah exactly, Undertow is better in a couple ways, Ænima is better in a couple ways, i honestly find it hard to decypher between the two of which is better, but i do prefer Undertow, because of crawl away, flood, prison sex, ect...

[okkoto]

i see the album progression like this


opiate - angry, random, tool says hello to the world

undertow - darker, more thematic, themes of water and abuse

ænima - psychological, sociological

lateralus - spiritual

ænima is still my favorite. i like the themes of lateralus better but the music of ænima just blows me away. it's so thick and dark and breathing and organic. i love it. such a unique sound and such a powerful overall statement. tool is like a jungle. not just cause of their tribal rythms but because of their density and all the layers they have. i still pick up on new sounds in the intro to eulogy 'till this day. there are times when i hunger for this album.

[slye15]

This album is amazing. It takes you through the stages of creation and conscience. Starting with Stinkfist though H we see before creation at the 42 & 2 stage. Useful Idoit takes us into the 44 & 2. Then right near the end of the 44 & 2 section comes Cesaro Summability, the birth of man. Then with Aemina in the amlost insignificant amount of time man becomes almost unbearable. But we perservre and (-)Ions takes us to 46 & 2, when we achieve our Third Eye.

[megadan]

It's a tough call, but i would, with caution, probably say this is one of the best albums of all time, ever.

[mdc244]

I think the whole Aenima album is based on Bill Hicks.

[osiris]

Sounds contradictory to first post, I know...But when it comes to picking a favorite I can't.....too indecisive....Each album has it's own perfections. I know what my top 10-20 albums would be, but there is no order to 'em! All of Tool is in there somewhere....they would be ranked highly but, fuck...in an order???no. Couldn't do it. So to correct my first post... Every Tool album would be in the same slot in my top five. Make sense?

[StinkfistJEff]

I was introduced to Tool by hearing "The Grudge" after I heard that song, I immediately left my friends house who let me hear the song and went to get LAteralus. Well the music store didn't have Lateralus, so I bought Aenima. Oh my God! That is what I thought after I heard the bridge in Stinkfist...I knew that any musicians who could create something beatiful must be worth my time...I spent the whole day going around to Music stores to get every CD. I finally did...and I'd have to say Undertow and Aenema often waiver back and forth between being my favorite CD. It's all really about my mood...if Im kinda pissed I like Undertow...and if I feel like evoking deep thought Aenima is the ticket.

I think Aenema has the best "Storyline" of all the CD"s The way the songs fit together and all have a meaning to the message as a whole is great!

Not to take anything away from Opiate and Lateralus which are great albums...I just prefer Undertow/Aenema.

[scorpioali]

each album has their own feel and connects with different people in certain ways. having said that, aenima is still my number one. opiate, undertow, and lateralus all offer different things to me at different times, but aenima is always with me, in my cd case, on standby. i love every song on this album and everything just perfectly falls into place.

[EmbraceTdOxOmL]

Originally posted by mdc244
I think the whole Aenima album is based on Bill Hicks.

A statement like that deserves a good explanation...am i wrong? After all, im sure thare a great deal of tool fans that are very interested in hearing your theories on this.

[Evan]

I agree with the previous statement.
With that said, I must say that Aenima is what "hard rock" groups should aspire to. I love Undertow for what it is also, but I know that that anger and dejection that Undertow focuses on mostly is not something that I can really connect with. I would say that Lateralus is what should be aspired to, but I know that the majority of song writers today are far to stupid to come anywhere near the philosophic level of that cd. In addition, I feel that the Salival cd deserves a place in any discussion of the music of Tool--I don't see how you could leave it out in the first place.
I have a theory of my own, and it certainly has proven itself true in many cases. This arose from my disappointment in finding that my aenima cd was no longer of playable quality, due to some strange phenomenon (i take pretty good care of my cds man!). So I think that if you smoke pot (which I do), the government some how sneaks into your stuff and scratches your cds. This would explain many of the problems we are facing today, such as why our fucking cds get so fucked up so quickly. Just a theory. ha ha laters

[soul_excursion]

in my opinion aenima is the album that toppled Metallica off their throne and made Tool my favorite band... it is a work of art, definetly the best progressive hard rock album ever, the best heavy metal album (not counting a greatest hits album) ever and it will take it's place as one of the top ten albums of the 20th century when future generations look back on it. when you are talking about art and not pop crap, it takes a few years for everyone besides the 'die hard' fans to appreciate it for what it is, what it still is, and what it affects in the future. Van Gogh died a pauper and he couldn't give his paintings away, but he was a visionary ahead of his time and his artwork influenced generations of future artists. I have no doubt that when they interview future musicians, many of them will cite Tool as a major influence and in particular aenima. undertow was great, for what it's worth, but compared to aenima, it is just a collection of songs... Lateralus is amazing too, and maybe even better than aenima in some respects, but aenima set the standard from which lateralus to grow. lateralus may be tool's dark side of the moon, but aenima is the sgt. pepper for our generation and the cool thing for us is, tool is still a relatively underground band and we don't have to deal with millions of 12 year old screaming kids when we see them live.

[madmatt]

your all probly gonna want to hang me after i say this but when i first heard ænima i just couldnt get into it, the only reason i kept listening is because i loved lateralus so much (the first album i got & heard) but now ænima definitely has the #1 spot in my cd player! i suppose it's because i'd never heard anything like it before and didn't really know what to think, oh well it's all good now, im 15 and tool have changed my life in so many ways.

[OpiAtE_666]

I thought Aenima was perfect untill I heard Lateralus. Lateralus is perfect. Their next album will go beyond perfection...if that's possible.

[nina]

Originally posted by soul_excursion
in my opinion aenima is the album that toppled Metallica off their throne and made Tool my favorite band...

that is exactly what happened with me...uncanny...

but yeah i love Ænima. it took a lot of listening but i finally decided i prefer it to Lateralus, even though i think Lateralus is better in some respects...i'll stop now before i change my mind.

(hehe satan lives in Minnesota, i don't know why it's funny but it is)

[Fat Mike]

Originally posted by soul_excursion
in my opinion aenima is the album that toppled Metallica off their throne...

That would entail Metallica being on a throne to begin with. Though I've seen objects similar to Metallica floating around in my "throne."

[Rice]

I agree also, I think Ænima is one of the greatest albums ever. Every time I listen to that CD I find out something new about Jimmy...or Stinkfist. you know? There are no words to explain how great that CD is...no words will give it enough justice.

[SilentThinker]

Originally posted by mdc244
I think the whole Aenima album is based on Bill Hicks.

Apart from the obvious clip on Third Eye:
Mr. Hicks Made an album called _Arizone Bay_. I've only heard the first minutes of the show, but he actually talks about "L.A. falling into the ocean due to a giant earthquake and flushed away as the turd city it is". Does "Turd city" and "flushed away" remind you of a certain song title? :) "Leaving a serenity called Arizona Bay," once again I will leave this puzzle for the geniuses I know are out there, somewhere :)
He quite frequently speaks of squeeging open his _Third Eye_ in his shows.
Personnally I think of Ænima as a story about evolution and receiving enlightenment, disguised as a tribute to the incredible mr. Hicks.

I don't know if this brilliant man was into Carl Jung or not, but he did read a whole lot, so odds are that he was.

If this does not make any sense at all, I am not the least bit surprised :)
I'm tired and haven't heard Ænima for quite some time.

[pushit_kirsty]

I am also one of those who "discovered" tool through aenima. I was only quite young when the other two came out before it, and so had not had the oppurtunity to listen to those albums, with the exception of a couple of singles.

I think, that although Lateralus blew me away with its astonishingly thoughtful lyrics and music structures, Aenima is still my favourite. I always find myslef reaching for it, and humming it, and it is never far from my cd player. Lateralus has really proven to be a cd so close to perfection, but how can i say aenima isnt my favourite when it is the cd i relate tool with???
Plus, pushit isnt on any of thier other cds (with the exception of salival) so they couldnt be as good could they? hehehe