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Sunday Old School: Tool

Band Photo: Tool (?)

Metal music is full of weird and wonderful bands. Though many outsiders may see the genre as simple or worse, “just noise,” there have been many groups to utilise the sound with musical intellect such as Sigh and Dream Theater to name but two. Today’s featured band is another to create a sound all of their own and gain a rabid following in the metal community, one of the biggest, though maybe shortest names in the alternative metal area, Tool.

Tool began life in 1990, after all their founding members had moved to Los Angeles the previous decade. Whilst two founding members, Adam Jones and Paul D’Amour had originally come to the city to find work in the film industry, the other two, Danny Carey and Maynard James Keenan (the latter an art graduate who had been making a living remodelling pet stores,) had previously tasted what it was like being part of a cult musical act in their time with Green Jelly. Keenan and Jones would meet in 1989 through a mutual friend and decided to put together their own band, jamming together while actively seeking a rhythm section. Carey would be the next member to join, convenient since he lived above Keenan and had previously met Jones through his old friend, Tom Morello. Introductions were to play a key role again, as the lineup was completed when D’Amour, who he met via a friend, joined the ranks.

Settling on the short, punchy and suggestive moniker, Tool, the band got to work writing music and performing throughout the Los Angeles scene. After two years of slogging, the band were approached by several record labels, with Zoo Entertainment winning and releasing the band’s first EP, "Opiate" in 1992. The EP is still considered one of the heaviest works by the group and was not as progressive as later works, thanks in part to the record company demanding the track listing be made of their heaviest songs. The following year, Tool released their first full length album, "Undertow," which like its predecessor, is one of the most “metal” releases from the band. The record peaked at number 50 in the United States and to date has sold around three million copies in their home country.

The success of the album led to them taking part in the Lollapalooza tour, where they moved from the second stage to the main and were introduced on the final date of the trek by comedian Bill Hicks, whom the band had thanked in the linear notes. Their rise was not without controversy however, as the video to "Prison Sex" was eventually banned and dropped by MTV, while special interest groups were unhappy with the song’s subject of child abuse. Nevertheless, Tool soon got to work on their sophomore album, but were dealt a blow when Paul D’Amour left the group, marking the band’s only lineup change to this day. He was replaced by Justin Chancellor of Peach, who beat other hopefuls including Scott Reeder of Kyuss.

With their new bass player in tow, Tool recorded and released their second full length album, "Ænima" in 1996. Success came much sooner this time, with the record debuting at the number 2 spot in the United States, selling over a hundred and forty thousand copies in the first week of release. It was praised by critics for the most part, who were intrigued by their progressive and alternative evolution and earning a place on many critic’s list of the best albums of 1996. Tool were then faced with several problems away from the music, as first, they faced a backlash over an April Fool’s prank that claimed Keenan was in critical condition after a tour bus accident, and then having to deal with a lawsuit brought against them Zoo Entertainment, (who had by now known as Volcano Entertainment,) alleging that the group had broken their contract by looking at other record label offers. They responded by filing a counter suit claiming that the label had failed to live up to their promises and eventually, the matter was settled out of court, with the two parties agreeing to a three album joint venture.

Thanks to the lawsuit and the member’s involvement with other projects, such as Keenan’s recruitment by A Perfect Circle and Carey’s time spent with former Dead Kennedys vocalist, Jello Biafra, it would be five years before a new Tool album would see the light of the day, finally surfacing in 2001 under the title, "Lateralus," (though a box set, "Salival" had been released a year before.) The listening public were clearly ready for a third Tool album as it debuted at the top of the Billboard album charts, going Double Platinum in two years, as well as reaching the same certification in Canada and going Platinum in Australia. The album also received near universal acclaim and the single, "Schism" garnered the band a Grammy award for Best Metal Performance, with one of the best lines in an award ceremony ever coming from Jason Chancellor, who thanked his dad for having sex with his mum. A personal highlight came for the group when they took part in a ten date tour with progressive rock legends, King Crimson with many comparisons being drawn between the two bands, with another period of inactivity following after as members once again worked on respective projects.

It was to be another five year wait before Tool released a new album, as "10,000 Days," the group’s fourth album, hit the shelves in 2006. Though it was generally not as well received as "Lateralus," it was a huge commercial success, once again instantly propelling the band to the top of the charts in the United States, as well as in Australia, Greece, Norway, Austria, Canada, Poland and New Zealand amongst other countries, with the top ten also being cracked in the United Kingdom, Germany, France and Denmark. Touring in support of the record took them well into 2008, with some new material being written on the road and discussions about future projects taking place, including the possibility of a band movie.

Since then, Tool has continued to tour across the world and faced another lawsuit (which was settled in their favour,) with promises of a new album remaining constant. Recent interviews from the band suggest that a new album is “more or less” complete, but the band are in no rush to release it without making sure it’s exactly what they want to achieve. Tool are currently on the road with Primus in North America and after a ten year wait, the time is surely nigh for one of the most talked about and beloved bands on the alternative spectrum of metal in history to release their fifth opus.

This article is dedicated to the memory of Jason Bradford.

Tool - "Hush"

Tool - "Prison Sex"

Tool - "Sober"

Tool - "Stinkfist"

Tool - "Ænema"

Tool - "Schism"

Tool - "Parabola"

Tool - "Vicarious"

Ollie Hynes has been a writer for Metal Underground.com since 2007 and a metal fan since 2001, going as far as to travel to other countries and continents for metal gigs.