Since I've only been a Tool fan for about five years (since Lateralus), and since I've only been a member here for about a month, I was wondering what the overall reception to Lateralus was like. Did everyone like it, hate it, or feel mixed?

Same as now, but there is already a thread about this.

when lateralus came out, i didnt have a pc/computer then, but i remember listening to it for the first time............................

its the same feeling i had when i heard 10,000 days.

and that was WOW.

I liked it, but I didn't liked it as much as Aenima, but more than I like TTD now. Now I'm loving it much more than Aenima.

I think the obvious way to check would be to go check out Google Groups on alt.music.tool from around the Lateralus release date. Forums like phpbb and so forth are a relatively recent phenomenon, but Usenet has been around since the 80s. You should be able to read extensive audience reaction to both Lateralus and Aenima from then.

The guy who said people were expecting Lateralus II was exactly right. Too bad most fans anticipated it and hyped it so much that they ruined it for themselves.

I'm so happy with 10kDays. It will surely be the soundtrack to my next 3-4 years of living.

He who expects nothing, shall never be dissapointed.

When I first heard lateralus, I liked undertow (the album) the most, but i f-ing loved lateralus.

I don't hate 10k days like I did when I first heard it. The shock and disappointment really got me fired up. But I'm pretty neutral about it right now. That's not to say it's growing on me, though.

I expected an average-to-middling Tool album - i.e, an enjoyable album by any other yardstick. Certainly nothing as impressive as Aenima, or even Lateralus.

I was still disappointed, because it's not even that good. Even ignoring the fact that it's a Tool album, it's just not very good.

I had much lower expectations for this disc than for Lateralus. Lateralus still had me smiling when I bought it. This does not.

Relearn the meaning of the word "nothing".

The albums been out for 1 day. Come back and talk to me in 4 months when you've listened to it non stop. Which you will. Because I can almost bet that all the people who come here and cry about the album actually do listen to it when there not tearing up slouched over their keyboards.

"The albums been out for 1 day. Come back and talk to me in 4 months when you've listened to it non stop. Which you will."

Wrong. I was given a CD by my flatmate around the time of the leak. I'm not buying the disc, and I've given the CD back as of yesterday.

This is coming from somebody who has been listening to Tool for clear of a decade and bought Aenima, Salival and Lateralus on release date, along with the first APC disc and even the Deftones "White Pony". I've seen Tool live three times - every single time they've been to the country I was residing in at the time. And A Perfect Circle another three. I've never had lower expectations for a new release from Tool, and I've never had the release fail to meet those expectations.

I really can't fathom what you all see in it. For the first time I'm reading Tool forums/newsgroups and feeling like I'm reading a bunch of Disturbed fans raving about how wonderful the new disc is and what an amazing philosophical contribution David Dramen has made to music. I can't find a single real-life Tool fan in my circle of friends who likes this album.

that's cause your from new zealand

I can identify

The only new song I've heard is Vicarious. I haven't listened to the CD yet, but I will on Friday when I get home. I started this thread because I've seen all of the mixed reactions to 10000 days. I know I had mixed reactions to Lateralus, but now I love it.

Lateralus was easier to consume than 10k. But 10k is growing on me I must admit.

This album is hitting me the same way Laterlus did, where I love a few tracks to start off, and the rest grow on me as I repeatedly listen and their complexities come to light. I hate to make such a generalizing statement, but I just can't imagine Tool putting out anything that isn't mind blowing. They could have f'd up early on with Undertow, but even that is an amazing album, although it lacks the technicality they have developed to date. The only work of theirs I just can't really grow to love is Opiate. Maybe I just didn't give it a chance, I dunno. Salival is awesome just because of the live Push It which stands as one of my favorites, and the No Quarter cover is epic as well. I just hope they keep putting out awesome albums, even if it is every 5 years...

Now that was an intellectually inspiring comment. Wow.

----

I love this album. I don't love it like I love Lateralus, or Aenima, or Undertow, or Opiate. For each, there's a different reason why I love it. That is one of the things I find so fascinating about Tool. Although they do have some elements of consistency between their albums there is always a fundamental difference in the style of the songs.

This could lead a lot of people to like some of their albums and hate others, or even simply dislike one of them. Whereas some bands may release a shitty album after a slew of good ones, I don't think thats the case with this one.

I found that there were more steady grooves in this album, which I enjoyed (not preferred, just enjoyed), and though on some levels it is simpler its not *bad*.

I don't think the album is any kind of great revelation or compositional masterpiece, but I am thoroughly enjoying it, and my enjoyment is only increasing as I listen to it. I keep hearing things I didn't hear before, and my favourite song keeps shifting around as I listen to the album differently. (I have yet to listen stoned... we'll see what happens then.)

I don't really have a point... but for the people who don't like it, please, its arrogant and ridiculous for you to think that just because you're not fond of it that its not worthy of others' admiration. Its a very good album in its own right, and incredibly enjoyable to listen to for at least half of the people here.

The way alot of people feel about this album is EXACTLY how I felt and still feel about Lateralus. I utterly despise that album. I like Reflection and Ticks and thats about all I can stomach from that album.

This new album is the album I was hoping for after AEnima so I'm very pleased.

It will probably have to grow on people, especially the people that had such high expectations. Or any expectations of the band for that matter. I learned from having such high expectations for Lateralus that expecting something from someone else's art leads to disappointment.

There wasnt a forum where a bunch of noobs asked stupid questions.

When I first heard Lateralus back in 2001, I did not like it as much as previous Tool because it was several steps ahead of me. It was too original to appreciate at first. I had to redefine my mechanism for music appreciation before the album started to make musical sense. All the jarring rhythms and sounds took on purpose and coherence, and I grew to love it very much, and pretty quickly.

When I first heard 10,000 Days, I did not like it as much as previous Tool because it was several steps behind my taste. It was too unoriginal. It might have been a great followup to Undertow about a dozen years ago, but now I can hardly make sense of where this band is going with it. There are precious few sections I can listen to without being vividly reminded of things they've done before, and in most cases those things were done better in the past.

I cannot comprehend where the hell all their ambition went. The whole CD is like Tool Lite. Some people are saying it is the heaviest, harshest thing they've ever done, but I feel it is by far the least. Their energy and intensity have slackened. Rosetta Stoned has some interesting passages, but it generally feels messy & quirky, not wild & powerful (IE The Grudge). And as many have already pointed out, there are only six "songs" here. That might be forgivable if the album as a whole was cohesive, but it is not. The Pot comes from a different universe than 10,000 Days, and Jambi comes from a different universe than either. Many have said this sounds like a collection of unused songs from past albums, I don't see how anyone can fault such an opinion.

I actually like the first 4 tracks. If the rest of the album were up to that standard, I could deal with it being a sort of sideways move from the progression they had been following from Opiate to Undertow to Aenima to Lateralus. But the weakness of the second half makes it seem like a regression for them.

And don't listen to people who say it is very new and you need a long time to let it sink in and grow on you. No one has had proper time to do that. People who have a favorable early impression have no greater insight than people who have an unfavorable impression. Only time will tell. It very well might actually be a weak album, you know? We'll have to wait and see. I know I am running out of reasons to continue to listen to tracks 5-11.

Yup me too, I guess in retrospect I wanted Aenima II and got lateralus instead. NOW we sorta get Aenima II (10000 days) and I really am happy with it. I always seem to notice that it's the Lateralus fans that dislike 10000 days. Also if you think about it Lateralus is the 1 album of the bands that doesn't fit with all the others.

I'm really looking forward to listening to it. My Tool experience has been kind of backwards. First, I bought Lateralus after hearing Schism on the radio. About a year later, I bought Aenima, then Undertow, and finally, Opiate. I can't really name a favorite album, though I like Aenima and Lateralus better than Opiate and Undertow.

This man speaks the truth and nothing but the truth

Wrong. I was given a CD by my flatmate around the time of the leak. I'm not buying the disc, and I've given the CD back as of yesterday.

So you need your friends tastes so you can define yours... Brilliant !

most of the stuff i read in this opinion forum is thoughtful, insightful....then there's the shit written by assholes like you....its funny, people with so many comments get labels like "deep thinker," etc. i really gotta wonder how much deep thinking it takes to insult others opinions 5 or 6 hundred times....

as for me, lateralus took time getting used to, but now i love it...when i first heard the new album, i was dissappointed, only because i was expecting different. i, like others wanted aenima II or lateralus II, but now having listened to it, i recognize that i had to get over my preconceptions and listen to the music as if i never heard aenima or lateralus....wings/10k days is brilliant, the slow buildup and climax....LK/RS is a mindfuck...i love it

MemphisM it only gets worse if you're offended by comments like those, do what I do, ignore them. :)

I'm trying to keep an open mind going into this album. I know that it probably won't be anything I expected, but I guess that's Tool.

Did I say that? No, you just assumed it because it fits your idea of what an "inferior" person is compared to your Tool-loving ubermensch.

Seriously folks. There are a good number of people out there who really, really don't like this CD - and we're not all idiots who know nothing about music, before you all get going.

I'm just loving the way that people are being criticised for an iniability to think in an independent manner because they don't love everything Tool try to sell them. How the fuck does that bit of cognative dissonance slip by?

the thing is that opinions on this album aren't really 50/50... if you look at the polls you see that a grand majority of the people love the album. however, those who don't like it feel the need to post this hatred more...

I wouldn't expect a poll on a band fan site to reflect anything else. But I think given a couple of years there will probably be a consensus that 10kd is a fairly weak effort in contrast to what came before. That is, unless Tool can do what they did last time and get a whole new wave of young teenage kids who don't remember their older material to start worshipping them. But I'd guess that each album is going to see less of that, Tool have certainly crossed the line from young-and-angsty into looking more like most of these guys dads.

No one is asking you to love everything Tool puts out. I don't have Salival because I never saw a need for it, nor did I want it. My problem comes when people who dislike the album constantly reiterate their disappointment and disapproval, and then get upset when people who do like the album voice their opinions. Each side is entitled to whatever opinions they hold dear. I do not consider you or anyone else stupid; all I ask is that I be allowed to listen to, absorb, and appreciate the album however I see fit. I haven't heard it yet, but I am trying to keep an open mind. I will have my own opinions when I hear it, and that will be that.

oh i'm not offended, just irks me when the flow of a conversation is interrupted, thats all by those with nothing to say...

The internet is the WORST place to read peoples' opinions about music. 95% of them can't even back up their opinions with facts or examples. Usually the 5% who do back up their opinions are too stupid to do it well or just dumbasses in the first place.

The internet is good to keep up with information about a band though so sadly I'm forced to see so many poorly formed opinions by people who are retarded in the first place. Then I feel compelled to comment on them but I know you won't change anyone and you don't really need to either. I've just accepted that about 2% of people I've met through my whole life know anything about music really.

Just like there was a good number of people that didn't like Undertow, AEnima and Lateralus. I see no problem with people not liking it.

My only problem is when people say "this isn't what Tool is".. just because we're fans doesn't give us any right to say what the band is or is not. Its not our band.

But I have to say before this album I was thinking that TOOL died when Paul was no longer apart of the band. I can now say that I'm happy they proved me wrong.

Also if you use the masses opinions to justify your own you're already on the losing end.

Hell, lots of people by Modest Mouse and Wilco albums claiming its the greatest music to be written. If you wanna believe them because of their numbers go ahead. I happen to think that stupidity is contagious and only a small amount of people are immune.

*Likes Modest Mouse but doesn't consider Isaac Brock the greatest lyricist ever. Consider me stupid at thy own peril.*

did it occur to you that this may be what they wanted? it's pretty obvious on r.s, they have literally taken parts of previous tool albums minced them up, changed timings and spat them out as a whole. r.s on its own is a monstrous piece, particularly the drumming.

the album is miles ahead of aenima technically, could you imagine them writing anything as polyrhythmic as jambi back then?

i see where you are coming from here. the way I see it, their ambition has shifted away from trying to sound spooky, mysterious, dark etc. instead they have focussed on the sheer musicality. a lot of the shit on this album sound simple and re-hashed, but maybe we have just become too comfortable with tools sound & writing?
lyrically i dont know, it seems like maynard has gone through his 'trying to change the world' phase, and wrote about his mum, a wicked acid trip, and monkeys instead.


people were saying exactly the same thing about lateralus when it came out. seriously, when you get rid of viginti tres and lipan there is still nearly 70mins of music left. its prog, duh.

its the same everytime.

ive been loyal since pre undertow, and when undertow came out i thought they had sold out to be honest when i first heard how un-raw and un-rip your face off shit down your throat it was... to this day i think sober is the lamest thing they have ever done.

including lipan conjuring die ar von satan etc.

Lateralus send shivers down my spine. Blew my entire world apart and destroyed only to rebuild again, my psyche.

This new album on the other hand... Meh... I spent about $20USD on it and I'm not impressed.

This album forced me to reevaluate how I order Tool albums. Well, that and going back to listen to the others. I've gotten to the point where I view all the albums (except Salival...I'm still hardly familiar with it) as equal, and just massively different from each other.

Some are more emotional, some more lyrically fulfilling, some have more harsh/cynical lyrics, some are funnier, some are more complex, but in the end it all freakin rocks, and much more than 99% of what any other band puts out.

I just still can't believe there are people (not to mention tool fans) who think this album isn't worth $10...I'd pay $10 just to listen to 8:30-9:40 of Rosetta Stoned.