One of my friends likes bands who have unique music and interesting, complex lyrics (she introduced me to System of a Down, for instance). She'd only heard Sober on the radio, but she seemed to like the anti-religious themes in the song. I decided to create a Best of Tool CD to introduce her to the band (and told her that if she really liked it, she should go buy one of their albums).

I picked the songs from each album that I thought gave the most diverse picture of the band's music, and was also careful about what order they were in:

1. Sober
2. The Grudge
3. jimmy
4. The Patient
5. Stinkfist
6. Prison Sex
7. Schism
8. Forty-Six & 2
9. Lateralus
10. H.
11. Parabola

This was before I had 10000 Days, so now I would probably include 10000 Days or Vicarious. She was really grossed out by Prison Sex, but oddly enough, it was her favorite song out of a few we listened to while I was over her house.

I also gave her the lyrics, since she really needs them to fully enjoy a song, but I told her to try to listen to them first and just feel (but she's one of those people who thinks logic is better than feeling, anyway). I also wrote about how each album was like a progression from the last, and how the band's music evolved over the years.

What 10 or so songs would be in your "Essential Tool" collection? Would you include any explanations/lyrics/descriptions of the band, etc?

Or more generally, how do you introduce people to Tool's music, since they're a very difficult band to describe at times and one song doesn't necessarily represent all of their music?

I did introduce Tool to a few people. They where however not into very complicate or alternative music so, as i made a compilation, used to stick their more discrete tracks (schism, lateralus, sober) instead of a real Tool-anthology. I didn't wanna scare them with tracks like Rosetta Stoned or Ticks and Leeches i suppose...

I introduced about 6 of my friends to Tool's music. My one friend loved it, went out and bought all their cds. My other friend got Aenima and that was enough for him. The others didn't like it and said they were a generic rockband that sounds mediocre.

You can't introduce Tool to somebody and shove it down their throat with lyrics and expectations.

You can't divide Tool songs aka "Tool Experiences", and chop them up. I say, let one listen to an album as a whole first. Pick one, any one it doesn't matter. That's the best way to let Tool really soak into your skin, just listen to Aenima from start to finish, then/or Lateralus from start to finish! Do you know how much more amazing it is to hear Tool play an entire album as they would have you hear it?

Taking the best indgredients out of each album and making a mix cd is like taking the best ingredients out of completely recipes, ones that were meant for other times, and throwing them all in a bowl and expecting it to be good.

The timeliness of Tools music is priceless, you have to let them breath when you listen, not choke it to death and expect a gold nugget.

I understand what you're saying, but my friend wouldn't gotten into them if I just gave her one of their CDs. It's difficult for someone not used to their music to catch on right away. I wanted to give her a taste of what they're like, and if some of the songs interested her I hoped she would buy the CD. Each album is different, and I don't expect her to go out and buy all of them right away. If I gave her Undertow, for example, she wouldn't experience the more layered beauty that is Lateralus.

Their music is open for interpretation, and that includes mixing and matching the songs. It's no different than uploading their music onto an iPod.

Getting someone interested in Tool's music should be enough, regardless of how exactly that happens.

I let my friend listen to lateralus, he didn't buy into it at all. On the contrary he said it was just one similar song played over and over again--it almost put him to sleep.

Tool either clicks, or it doesn't. I think a mixed cd works perfect because there may be one song on several albums that really click with the listener, and make them want to explore the rest of Tools songs.

Yeah you're right, a mixed cd would be perfect, for an impatient listener.
If you're trying to sell Tool by giving the listener a choice of "hooks", or what song is catchiest, then you're listening to it for the wrong reason anyway. If a listener can't give less than an hour for an album experience and has ADD to where they feel like it's the same song over and over, then the listener is useless to begin with and why should you cast your pearls before swine anyway?

if you have to tell somebody to sit down and listen to TOOL, then they are obviously not going to fully appreciate it. instead, give them an album and let them listen to it by themselves, when they want, on their own free will...

Fact: You're friend is obviously a dumbass with no musical taste/patience. (IMO) : )

parabola without parabol?

and gave lyrics. why dont you just listen to it for her?

this is a noob list.

I told her not to read the lyrics until she listened to it first. There's no right or wrong way as to how one is supposed to listen to music. I wanted my friend to get a better idea of what they were like without making her go through segues and songs I knew she wouldn't enjoy. It's better to have 11 songs she would like than only a few on one CD without realizing there's more out there.

I know that to really enjoy Tool, one should get their CDs, but their music isn't something that's sacred. It just happens to be damn good, and if I wanted to show her the best they have to offer, I don't think that makes it any less legitimate. Sometimes I feel like listening to just a few from each album, not the whole thing straight through. I fully appreciate their music, but I wanted to give my friend an introduction without shoving one CD down her throat, and if she liked it (which she does), I hoped she would go buy an album for herself, depending on which songs she liked best on the mix. I also considered just buying 10000 Days for her, just for the record, even though I have my own copy that I could easily burn, because I wanted her to be able to appreciate the artwork. I don't think putting their music in this format devalues it at all. I didn't just go for the catchiest ones or the radio singles (H. and The Patient are on there, for example). And in my personal opinion, why include a bunch of songs that aren't as good when you can give someone 11 of their best and let them delve into the albums on their own once they know what interests them.

You guys are treating their music like it's some holy relic that can't be tampered with, and that's not it at all. I bought all the records those songs are on, and you should be happy I'm getting someone else interested in their music at all.

wut your doing is censorship.

No patience; yes.

No musical taste; that's personal, imo.

This is a Tool based forum, you know. There could be some folks out there who really think it's holy ;)

To me it's just very enjoyable music, but not sacred in any way.

I guarantee a majority of people that are on this forum or enjoy tool were not introduced with a full album. Most people either heard a single, saw a video, or heard only a song or two at a time and THEN decided to delve deeper into the discography.

i listened to 3 of their cd's for a long time before i even realized they were worth delving deeper.

a song is a great start.

but "greatest hits" albums always suck.

as far as some holy relic, well i know for me and other folks tool has been there to listen to while they have gone through some pretty rough times. and i wouldnt be as dramatic to say you are tampering with a holy relic. but to cut parabol off parabola is cutting a sing a piece out of one song.

would you take reflection out of disposition and triad?

You "fully" appreciate their music but you neglect the importance of segues and transitions. You don't want to shove a whole album down her throat but you'll shove the ones you think are catchy. H. is a radio single by the way...

"I have my own copy that I could easily burn, because I wanted her to be able to appreciate the artwork. I don't think putting their music in this format devalues it at all." - What? You don't want to devalue the music but you'll give her a mix cd with no artwork too? Contradiction city.
To tamper with Tool's music and divide it up IS messing with something holy, it's not holy unless you hear it all the way through the way Tool would have you hear it. It's like a movie, you can't just watch the best action scenes from different sequels edited together in a row. It's better to watch one of them from beginning to end, it doesn't even matter which order. For me, H was the first song I heard, then Eulogy, then stinkfist and aenima and eventually I listened to the whole album. Aenima is a great starting album for any non tool fan, it's catchy enough to get your attention at first and it rocks hard enough to keep it! I can see how some wouldn't get into Lateralus as much at first, that requires more patience and love for Tool.

All in all, it does make their music less legit to someone who hasn't had the full album experience, with each album comes a different mood and a different journey, all accentuated by each other in the order they appear. I wouldn't mess with that, because I know that I can't do it better than Tool can. It's not fair to Tool to take what YOU deem worthy on a mix cd and print out lyrics with it to give to somebody. That's like taking the plot summary for a movie and all the spoilers and writing them down so you don't have to interpret the movie as a whole for yourself. LAME.

Well, like Rolo said---it's sacred, but I wouldn't deem it holy.

Most of them did seem like singles. And if not singles, they were the ones that played on the radio all the time.

If it were me, yeah, I'd make sure not to separate the ones that go together. You all know how the order of songs can greatly morph someone's opinion over the music, as well as the vibe it gives off. The order might not be as important with other bands, but with TOOL, it's what creates the overall image.

What I once did with my friends was let them listen to all the TOOL music I had. Not suprisingly, they took a like to the singles, and refused to listen to everything else.

As time went on, I made sure to not force so much music on them, and decided to make them listen to just one album if they wanted to listen at all.

It doesn't, however, change anything that Lateralus or 10,000 Days is a harder listen to the beginning fan than AEnima or Undertow---if the person you know is interested in Tool, show them the newer ones first.

In fact, that's how I got to listening to Tool.
As you listen to the newer ones, which are harder to accustom to, you become more mentally prepared for the previous ones, and the ones before them.

Never, NEVER give it to them in a mixed CD.
That kind of kills everything.
Taking songs out of an album is like ripping chapters out of a book.

I said they were never sacred, just very enjoyable music.
How do you listen to them at a concert then? They never play entire albums.

He sits at the back of the theater with noise isolating earphones and listens to the albums while watching them play.

You wear your band shirt and flash people xD

That's not true, ever had a skillet for breakfast....MMMmmmm

I have/had ADHD and I have no problem listened all the way through an album

I disagree, some people allow music to grown on them in different ways....just because it's not YOUR way, doesn't make it the wrong way.

I'm with ya' man....more power to ya', I'm trying to get this girl I'm dating into them too. Actually, I should somewhat rephrase that, she knew that I was a huge fan and went on her own without me saying anything and downloaded some songs onto her iPod and started reading the Tool FAQ just to learn about it because it was an interest of mine.




Yeah, she's a keeper

Wow, you guys are taking this way too serious. And I have to disagree that it would be harder to get into Lateralus than Aenima because that all depends on the individual's style and likes/dislikes. Someone else may dig the middle eastern and tabla styles in Lateralus more so than the harder driven music in Aenima and vice versa

Very true.

Lateralus just seemed to fit perfectly after a few listening rounds, imo. I never had that with Ænima. But hey; it depends on the individual, like Inner said.

No shit but most people aren't into middle eastern and tabla styles as much as most people are into harder driven music. This is obvious and was my original point. I'm merely suggesting luring listeners in with the harder stuff then slowly creep into the evolution of Tool, but hey you're right everyone's different, there are many ways to get to the same end.

Honestly, I wasn't sure if I liked Lateralus when it first came out which such a change in style after being so used to the previous 3 albums, even though they were each a bit different, Lateralus just took a 90 degree turn and went a whole different direction but after several listens of the entire album it quickly grew on me and to this date as much as I love the other albums, I'd have to say it's my favorite and a masterpiece in it's own right.

Understandable, and I see both sides of whether it's right to make a "hits" CD out of them or not. To truly appreciate the music I agree that it should stay as an album but again, to a new listener I think it doesn't hurt to pick the songs that one would think would truly grab their attention and interest prior to them trying to let an album as a whole be appreciated.

Indeed, that's why alot of the early posters don't like Tool anymore. They didn't appreciate the big change in style in albums like Lateralus and 10K, imo
Copy that.

Despite all the disagreement I think this is a great thread. Not that we'll collectively come up with a "how-to" course on getting people into the world's greatest band. But it is all worthy of discussion. I'm a drummer in a cover band with really good musicians and I can't get a one of them to appreciate TOOL. And I haven't really tried that hard. In my opinion, it's all a function of time. As all TOOL members have repeatedly said, "You gotta take the time" and no one "feels" as though they have any extra time these days. Or at least not enough to digest what we're talking about here in terms of TOOL's discography, philisophy, etc. Back in 1993 when I was listening to Undertow I knew they were a great band, but I didn't see Aenima coming, much less Lateralus and 10K Days. These guys have artistically placed themselves on a Floyd/Zeppelin-esque pedestal and still remain somewhat undergound. How the hell do you pull that off?? 300 million U.S. population now vs. 200 million back then, more bands, more ways to hear music than ever before, all of that is part of it, but still....Undertow was a bit too heavy for me back in 1993, though I still liked most of it. It grew on me more over time and had I not put in the time, I wouldn't have cared about August 2nd 1996 when me and 300,000 other people flocked to the stores to make Aenima #2 that week. I don't think we can force TOOL on anyone, but by showing friends how much we appreciate the band, the more enlightened folks will be curious enough to give it a try. And to the rest of them, they just miss out. Too bad, so sad.

:)
Hmmm...
and what cover band are you from?

Just for the record, Ænima was released in October.

But good post otherwise. ;)

I agree with what you've said here. My friend is of a more intellectual variety and she likes music with meaning, but she doesn't have a lot of free time to digest all that Tool has to offer, so I think part of my reasoning in making a mix CD was so it would be easier time-wise for her. I think I'll probably give 10000 Days to her as a full CD as an alternative too.

One of my other friends appreciates the philosophies in their songs but just doesn't like rock music, so I'm not going to insist she listens to them even though I think she should be more open-minded about it. She listened to Vicarious and Reflection and was surprised at how different the songs sounded.

Hey, I give you tons of props for trying. She may like 10,000 Days as a whole 75-minute collection. Personally, I love the way it flows, which is contrary to a lot of other people's thoughts that have posted the last couple of years, i.e. alternate proposed track order, etc. They (TOOL) thought and debated about the order of the songs for a long time and had originally thought about opening it with Wings and 10K Days, or was it closing? Can't remember, but the point is they're the authors of the music and this is the way they wanted it to be heard. So, how can you argue with that? How can you say it would have been better if....sorry, getting off topic. As for your other friend, make her a mix with Parabol/Parabola, Reflection and Disposition, Eleven, Right In Two, Intension, H., Opiate, and perhaps the Salival version of Pushit. See if she likes it and comes back for a more intense class. Just a thought. Good luck and let me know if it works. I have countless people I could invoke the experiment on to try and "help them along".

Good points all around; but really, why not just let people discover their music the way the majority of us did; listen to the singles, see the videos. If they like it, they'll go for more, if not, they probably wont give a damn about the rest of their songs. The first song I ever heard was Aenima (single), so I think they do a good job of giving people songs that may hook them themselves (Tool that is). And I agree that shoving it down people's throats won't help, believe me I've tried... *sigh at wife's apathy towards Tool*. But I would say Lateralus has the most songs with "surface beauty", i.e. songs that are "lighter" and more easy to see the beauty, as opposed to their earlier work (which are really just as beautiful, but may be harder for people who don't like heavier darker stuff).

Point is, there's no right way, there's no "magic song" or setlist that will make someone like Tool. The first encounters with Tool songs are like a doorknob, and it's up to the person who hears it to decide whether or not they can grasp it and open the door.

There's no wrong way to eat a Reeses

Sure there is; try to eat it with your anus. I'd say that's the wrong way...