There is something eternal about all their albums. It almost seems as if they purposefully don't make the Message/Music Mix overly accessible for the fans. The result is an audience in wonder, imagination and confusion.
At that point, one can be deemed to be very much alive.
Lateralus stresses this idea even more than Aenima or Undertow. It is a legitimately puzzling album, requiring neverending analysis and re-valuation. You don't know when Tool is coming back to earth to talk to you or when they're in orbit challenging you to come along and find them.
The messages here are too vast and complicated for the everman to compile into a representative theme, and so all we can do is observe the many emotional states that are being conveyed. Upon observation, we can choose to immerse ourselves in whatever one we feel is most rewarding for our respective states of mind...
And then we can jump right in.
Thus, Lateralus can be heard/enjoyed in many different circumstances. It captures one's "current mood" with at least one its tracks and allows one to proceed to "another place" with the others.
I guess it just really helps you to enjoy the beauties of Human Life, as cliched as that may sound.
Last edited by greenblazepheno; 11-27-2002 at 10:20 PM..
I feel that the gentlemen of Tool did their best to make a work of art that wasn't very static, or cliched. Something that could evolve with its audience.
It's fascinating how they make it seem so simple too.
__________________ Fire lives only to consume.
Darkness lives only to consume.
If you wish to live, then die.
