No. I have not heard it and I hated the last one.

Dude(ette), not only do you not know what you're missing, but you don't even know that you don't know it. Know what I mean?

"D00D do you have any idea how fantastically technically difficult it is to play that 6/8 drum fill with the counter-swung bass riff and the appregiated finger hammering of the lead?"

"Yeah, but it sounds just like a jackhammer having sex with a helium-inflated goat while some angsty high school kid reads badly melodramatic poetry."

"But d00d! It's like technically impossible to play! And it's so convoluted and complex and well written! It is the awesomeness! YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT YOU'RE MISSING!!! LISTEN NOW. NOW!!"

"Ok, whatever. It still sounds like angsty badly melodramatic poetry set to the tune of jackhammer-heliumgoat-sex."

"It's just too complex for you!! It's too dark? It's too underground!! You're too old! YOU JUST DON'T UNDERSTAND!!!"

"Listen, sports fan. I *like* complex, dark, experimental and/or technically complex music. No, I really don't care if Flood did a remix of it. The only thing I don't understand is how you can't understand that it sounds like a *bad* machinima goat death-orgy as envisioned by a bunch of tabletop gaming, robe-wearing heavy metal nerds who probably should have done lots and lots of drugs so they'd have slightly more normal heads. Now please kindly fuck off. I have a bin full of machine parts I need to fill with angry bees and record with my giant Russian surplus gold-membrane condenser mic."

Sorry, that's not directed at anyone in particular, just a brief synopsis of how every musical "discussion" with every single die-hard Tool fan I've ever had.

That was awesome, loquacious.

(loq gets mucho bonus points for mentioning Flood.)

signal - didn't think much of the last album, really. What do you think is hot about this?
There's nothing snarky in the above in any way. I really would like to know what you think about it. Comparisons - with themselves, others, stuff. Whaddya think?

I like Tool -- in fact I'll be at their concert next month

Yeah, it's unfortunate that a lot of Tool fans can ruin Tool for people like Loquacious. They are a strange bunch of people- often Tool is as close as they've gotten to music theory, Tool lyrics as close as they've gotten to literature. And if you look at it from that perspective - contextualized by bands like Green Day, Linkin Park, Blink 182, high school literature programs, and Hot Topic, it really is pretty godlike stuff and they are justified in their enthusiasm. Tool has a certain call to mysticism, complexity, and darkness that really hits somewhere deep for a lot of young people.

And to the band's credit, I think they are definitely one of the best bands doing this sort of thing (that is, taking the far edge of mainstream rock and making it hard, dark, and quite enjoyable). It's a damn shame that many of the diehard Tool fans just stop right there. I mean, to someone who's listened to a lot of complicated music- from Bulgarian singing, to gamelan music, to Captain Beefheart- stuff like Tool can sound quite tame. For me, personally, the first time I heard Tool it was a wake-up call to go find more music - I liked their music so much that it led me to hundreds of other bands, songs, genres, and techniques that I absolutely love.

And I really love Maynard's voice. Wish he wasn't such a dick at concerts.

Maynard and Fan

Really? I know little of Tool, but the local Tool Fanatic In Residence (Masters in Maynardogy, PhD in Giant Fucking Tool Tattoo on My Back) at work has heaped nothing but scorn and derision on it.

He calms himself at least that he has another five years before the next album comes out, at which time he must decide if he should invest in sandpaper or more ink.

Zack: don't mind the snark (though what part of "do not discuss" do you people not get, jeeze?)

What do you think is hot about this?

Haven't really analyzed it, it's just that the more I listen to it, the more little parts and the way they relate to the other little parts start to get under my skin. There's definitely a lot of (musical) themes brought over from Lateralus, and there's a feeling of evolution and subtlety, not just technical prowess. Plus, I'm not from the US so whether or not something is listened to by any specific clique (tabletop gamers, nerds, etc) doesn't really affect my musical tastes. I'm just here for the music, not the coolness factor. And I'm 35, so I'm all about the rock, not the image/pose/etc.

Tool are OK. Day after tommorrow, I'm going to see what remains of the MC5.

robocop is bleeding, is your friend OGT?

I just love that my dad got into Tool as I was getting out of them. I have his copy of Ænima.

signal = chris maynard? self link?

;)

Huh. I'm a musician and I listen to a lot of stuff. I prefer the music of Type O Negative or Prong to Tool, who just don't do it for me.
I felt the same way about Jane's Addiction...