You missed the point, that was totally objective. I was saying those are how I personally rate them, and how I'm going to relate them to my children. I just think Lateralus has the most positive message. So anyway, sorry I wasn't more clear. I wasn't trying to rate their albums, just to convey the concept that I think their music will be as inspiring as it has been to us, to our children. Carry on carry on.

My religious/philosophic views have not changed much since the first time I listened to their music. I guess in some respects I was already there. What HAS changed for me is an appreciation of art. I used to listen to a bunch of trashy shitty metal bands. Strated listening to Tool. Really learned to appreciate another level of sincerity, emotion, and authenticity in art. Needless to say my musical, literary and fine art preferences have changed immensly.

Well said, same is true for me.

although as I mentioned I already had most of the beliefs I have now, I would say Tool really helped me articulate some of those ideas and think about them more. The lyrics you posted are some of the most important to me

thanks for your opinion...

you seem to think you understand the purpose of Tool's music better than the rest of us, but in reality your opinion is equally wrong as the one you criticize. there is no truth except that which we choose to be true. don't categorize people with your negativity.

as do I

It depends on what stage of my life I was in at the time. I got into TOOL right when Undertow came out. At that point, it was simply the different musical direction they took opposed to others during that period. Aenima changed my whole outlook on how a hard-rock band could actually deliver progressive elements without losing their toughness. Aenima continues to be one of the most transcendant rock albums of all time. Lateralus is when TOOL really changed my outlook. Although I was already into magik, witchcraft etc., this album solidified my beliefs. Spiritually uplifting, and life affirming. Brilliant. 10,000 days has given me a voice for my frustrations with the planet. Dark and gritty. My life path has seemed to coincide with TOOL's musical projects over time. Almost eerily so.

People who think like this are the main reason why the music industry is in the situation its in right now. Music is an art form and a from of expression. Now a days its just a marketing tool and another product you pick up off the shelf.

Most brilliant lyrics of all time...bar none. Life changing, brings me to tears.

i now see that butter is way better than margarine

i saw through the bullshit

I was about 15 years old when I first got Aenima. I was about 16 years old when I got Lateralus and it was when I heard this album that I really started to delve into the music and contemplate the lyrics.
For me, TOOL are exactly what they say theu are "a tool to help peoples understanding".
In no way do I worship TOOL (at least not in a spiritual sense) but I do owe a lot to them because it was their music that provided a platform for me to contemplate a lot of my ideas about the world. I was a Christian and I believe that, in theory, Christianity is a good thing. However, like communism, human nature makes a pure, true form of organized religion near impossible.
What I realise now is that, the best that I can do is keep an open mind and heart and always try to be the best person that I can be, accepting no limits to what can be done and achieved in this life. I have also gained a less materialistic view of life, and now simply seek happiness, rather than money, fame etc.
We just need to open our minds, relax and 'ride the spiral to the end'.

I'm definetly realized (through the meaning of tool) that everything around us is a beauty and we need to embrace it, and a medium to help this is a tool or through tool.........and god damn i wish i was high........

I just assumed you were!

There's not much true Christianity going around thses days, eapecially not in America.


I sure wish there was.

It's nothing personal it's just that christianity is ultimately a "your in or out" thing.
You got heaven or hell, thanks for playing, welcome to eternity. The progress of the soul doesn't happen in one tiny lifetime.
I don't think.

For me, being 14, i started listening to them 9 years ago (in July). I immediately picked up a guitar a year after that because of them. I'd say that Tool has been my biggest influence not just in music but in life as well, listening to the lyrics, picking quotes from them, and actually putting them to truth in my own life. That's one of the things i love about the band, is no matter what they do, they are never cliché and that's how i want to be. I want to be someone who is completely understanding and different, but reserved, so that people that really need and deserve to talk to me, will be served with what great things "i think" i should have to offer, not a cliché "Oh, you can solve everything with a prayer..." type of person. Tool helps me get into a certain mood that i remember almost everyday, that is completely calmed and relaxed yet completely aware and prepared for eveything. I've also learned so much in how to embrace my surroundings and believe a little bit more in different things and give things more than two looks. This is basically how much Tool has changed my life drastically over the past 9 years...the most understanding band around...I've really only been used to liking one band and that's Tool...

-andrew

You picked up Tool when you were five?

No kidding. And all those other suckers were singing along with Elmo!

Yes, my brother was a big fan along with my sister, so being surrounded by it was sort of hard not to pick up.

I took my son to see Tool at age 5.

You're the perfect parent :P

Tool did change my life in one way. They introduced me to the work of Alex Grey. Reflected in his artistry I saw a mirror into my own condition which shifted my awareness to an entirely different realm of perception. As far as Tools music goes, I have always found it (until recently anyway) to be an inspiration, but it never really changed my life. I think some of you might not be aware of this but the things that Maynard sings about are the questions that have always plagued humanity time immemorial. He's good at putting them to music, but it isn't as if he is the first human being to feel or express these things.

I'm glad he could help so many of you find yourselves. No shame in it. Our paths are all different and the information we need comes to us in ways we cannot anticipate. Personally, I have experienced transcendent states of consciousness listening to music so I can see how music can change your life. Some people in this forum though elevate Maynard to Christhood which I think is unhealthy to say the least. Last time I checked he hasn't walked on water, and he has made very clear that he sees a beverage as more deserving of his attention than the myriad struggles the planet faces.

Wow, i forgot to check out your review.. wait.. you didn't link me =(

Tool has affected my outlook on music and how it makes me feel. As far as religoin, Tool has nothing to do with it. I just try to stay open minded about everything and I'll find my own way from life experiences, not from preachers.

You know, the Buddha did not claim to be God, either. He was just who found the way and was trying to help others find the way. Such is so with any teacher of wisdom. Just because Maynard is a teacher who speaks through song. Just because he gets paid to teach... it doesn't make his insights any less valid than were he some philospher/poet from another time period.

Don't discount wisdom simply becuase it comes in a marketable form this time.

I don't worship Maynard nor deify his lyrics' meaning. I've just found Tool's music as a catalyst to help me see things in a different light. It makes me want to be a better person. And gives me the insights to remind myself when I start to wander. The Lateralus album like my mantra. Its message keeps reminding me. It's the soundtrack to my life.

It's not that for everyone, or even most, I'm sure. But that's what it is to me. If that's not what you get out of it, then that's not what you get out of it.

Amen Little Brother. Good job. It is never a bad thing to be humble because truth and love will never do you wrong. So, why not just let life flow along? When you get caught up into trying to control things, just remember the wind. It's a gift to humble you out.

And, you know that car or house you might struggle for someday? Remember, you can't take those things with you. But, I'm willing to bet you can take your learning and experiences. So, I always thank people for being a worthwhile part of my life. Because, I get to keep that shit.

[better defined by BlanketEffect above]

Btw, there was a couple of posts hinting that Maynard is not god. Look, fuck Maynard, ok? Seriously. Nobody here that I know of has said anything about sucking Maynard's cock in order to get the "truth about life semen sample."

The guy is fucked with enough. Leave him be. He does great things that way. That goes for all artists. End of story.

[/better defined by BlanketEffect]

And on the topic of it causing me to become a non-Christian. It had nothing to do with anything Maynard personally said to criticize Christianity. I was at a point of my life where I'd more or less decided I just didn't genuinely believe the supernatural side of Christianity. I love Jesus' message, hate the idea of deifying him. I don't believe he was the son of God, just another man, like Buddha or any other great teacher.

Tool helped guide me to be rational and use my logic and free-thought to determine what I truly found to be true inside to me. In the end I found my own path, and Christianity was not it. As someone above stated, 'it's an either you're in or you're out kind of religion'. That's the single aspect I don't agree with. I believe the message, not the supernatural part. That's just illogical and irrational. To me.

In the end, I was just lost. I didn't believe Christianity but had nothing that I did believe in though I was sure I felt *something* - Maynard and the crew were just a tool I used to find my way.

Tool taught me that the anus is four degrees warmer than the vagina.

*falls over laughing* Goddamnit I love you people.

The thing that amazed me about tool when i first heard them, was that every song showed a view or painted a picture that i had been seeing for sometime (well, it seemed like along time at the time), or was something i could relate too I was so blown away, i was reall depressed at the time, disalusioned with the world young enough to destroy any real childhood, and no one it seemed felt the same, or could begin to understand, and then, bam, beautifull songs with lyrics which could have come out of my own mouth (lol, only far better crafted). Was a major shock, relising how arogant i had been to think i was the only one in the world to see it that way...

The change in me it brought along, was not so much to open my eyes to the world, but change the way i chose to look at it. Previously i had just hated the fucking place, and hated most people in it (heh. and if i had continued that way id probably be some kind of terrorist sometime soon...), but tool changed that for me. Sober was a fucking slap across the face, and i stopped my manipulations and games i played with my "freinds" (i am jsut a worthless lier... i will work to raise you higher, just enough to bring you down... etc.). And then lateralus came out and gave me a new way to find hope. (P.s. the lyrics spoken about earlier really are the best ever written lyircs).

Today i still dont think much of the human race, but i love the world, and love what people CAN be, and what some ARE (though i still hate what most are).


Lol, damn, and i was proud that i got into them at 8... (lol! i had such fights with my parents who diddnt want me to listen to such music so young.) but i see im beat :P

i didnt get into tool until 2001 when i heard schism on the radio. the double bass blew me away, as that is basically my favorite thing about the drums which is my favorite instrument. i have since listened to every album at least 10000 times (10,000 days has been in my car , playing over and over again for the last 1500 miles).

they have completely changed my outlook and appreciation for music and there are certain times (not only when im high) when im just sitting in a room w/ my friends opening wide , sucking it in, feeling it move across my skin and its the most amazing feeling. lateralus is my favorite song, the aforementioned lyrics are unbelievably good.

im bored at work but icant think of anything better to say right now even though i have a lot to respond to.

When I first listened to it, I didn't get it either. How was I supposed to? I was still blind and weak, like an unborn child. My mind was small and full of preconceived notions, not willing to look beyond the artificial bounds imposed on us by the powers that be. But I just gave in and let it dig deeper and deeper until it finally touched my soul. I'll be eternally thankful that this music guided me to break away all those invisible chains that kept me from developing my wings, from completing my metamorphosis, from truly becoming my spiritual own.

No, I'm not talking about Tool, I just heard and saw the new music video of Paris Hilton and it did change my life.

good music, but it has no affected my outlook at all.

HAHAHA

Dude, you too? Thanks for posting the link becase I thought she was still stuck up in Mr. Slave's ass.

Now that's some deep ass music. I should know because I fucked the girl in Hanson.

Laugh Out Loud.........

Lol, damn, and i was proud that i got into them at 8... (lol! i had such fights with my parents who diddnt want me to listen to such music so young.) but i see im beat :P[/QUOTE]

:). Well, parent's also don't look outside the box, they just look straight at you and predict what will happen next, that's what scares them. Anyway, take care.

-Æ/æ

I used to love Tool's music until I learned that the they are really Tools of Satan.

I was at the Detroit show...Maynard dedicated the last set of three songs to SATAN! Wake Up! He must be a devil worshiper. The whole band must be. I lost it. I freaking couldn't believe my ears. And I Quote: "I'd like to dedicate this next set to ...Satan" MJK 5/15/06.

MJK must have been kidding, otherwise, he is on Satan's payrol.

It all made sence for me after hearing him say that (incidentally roughly 30% of the crowd cheered on. What was the percentage of angels cast from Heaven with Satan?)...the mystical 'sacred architecture'...the UFO songs...Hatred of God...Look he obviously hates God, so he must believe in Him. So does the devil, he knows darn well that God exists, he was cast out of Heaven by Him. Why?

Regarding Christianity...In my opinion-- The Only Way. Religion however, faulted by man - True, but not entirely. Most of the message of Christ's teachings are found in many of today's popular religions. However, you may have to look past some of man's influences to see the truth the He brought us.

As for this new age religion idea that we are all gods, etc. one quote comes to mind. "I have learned two things in my life: First there is a God, and second I am not Him." I wish I knew who's quote this is.

To all those of you who are just dying to rip me a new one... Look I've really enjoyed reading and posting on this board. I was open to ideas, I listened. But when MJK said what he said, I cannot in good conscience support the band or the devil.

Mmm ... well, let's see. ah, um ... i don't know.

i like thier music and they put on a ok show, i guess.

but i still live life for everyday i'm standing on the right side of the grass. ;)

You've really blown things out of proportion about the whole "...Satan worshipping.." deal. Maynard and the band mates are nothing of the sort.