this album broke us... (FIRST REACTION to TOOL - Lateralus) 

By far the craziest album we have heard thus far. Articulating thoughts of the music have never been this hard, but I guess that is what TOOL is here for…

There's a reason Tool was invisible to your generation. They didn't have any of their music on streaming services until their most recent album was released, which wasn't a problem for us old heads, but if you weren't purchasing physical media, you missed Tool (one of the best bands on the planet). Crazy. Spiral out.

There is a live drum cam video of the drummer you guys NEED to watch

Danny Carey, the drummer for Tool, is nicknamed the Octopus, because he plays like he has eight limbs. His skill with polyrhythms is just top tier.

This album is the GOAT. It is the process of psychological transcendence for the listener. 1. Let go of your grudges. 2. Be patient. 3. Resolve schisms in your life. 4. Let go of the past and future and focus on the present. 5. Deal with the leaches in your life. 6. Feel the universal rhythm 7. Meditate 8. Reflect on your Ego 9. Go crucify your ego.

These guys are between 50 and 65 years old and can still perform all this live flawlessly.

danny carey is the best drummer of all time imo

Don't be sorry for not talking all that much. What you're saying, which amounts mostly to "this is all epic and the.drummer is fucking amazing" is pretty much the correct take. :)

Tool creates their music completely different than other bands, first the 'band' comes up with their parts, figuring out time signatures, bridges and solos. Then Maynard will come in and create the lyrics based off what they've recorded. Maynard will often choose to have his lyrics layered back in the mix, allowing it to be more sonically blended into the tune instead of being front and center all the time. Though his lyrics are often deep and thought provoking, his voice is mixed like another instrument and purposely obscure on the first listen, helping create the mystique that is Tool. Edit: Though his lyrics can often be spiritual in nature, if you travel far enough down this rabbit hole you'll soon find out how Maynard really feels about religion. Not to worry about this band being beyond your scope, most feel that way at first, then it just clicks and you're never the same again.

Very well done. This album can be overwhelming on the first listen. You guys handled it well.

Only band I've ever seen that the lead singer stays in the back in the shadows instead of front and center. You never really see him.

Parabola describes the shape of a life. at the vertex (mid point of the song) he sings ALIVE

one step closer to you guys discovering The Downward Spiral 🔥 that Nine Inch Nails album will throw both of you in a total loop

Congrats on your TOOL baptism. Your third eye is now open.

I expect the first 5 Black Sabbath albums finished on my desk by Friday. Seriously, any of their first 5 albums, it's insane how good Black Sabbath is.

Glad you guys took my suggestion

The first "A Perfect Circle" album is also a must !

this is going to be their best video yet

Some facts about songs on the album (correct me if im wrong other tool fans): - Lateralus (the song) has a bunch of references to the Fibonacci sequence in its riff, lyrics, and structure (check out Polyphonic's video on it for more on that) even thought the main message of the song is to stop overanalyzing everything in music and instead just to feel the vibes etc. - Ticks and Leeches was added to the album because TOOL's label wanted a heavy song that wasn't too technical, so they made it as a middle finger to them. - The Patient (my favorite song from the album) is written from the perspective of Maynard's mom who was paralyzed from a stroke. She believed that everything that was happening to her was a test from God who would reward her for her faith. - Parabol + Parabola are about a single soul being part of a higher consciousness The greatest part of TOOL's music is that a lot of the lyrics are intentionally vague, which can lead to many different interpretations, even if the song has a single origin like The Patient. If you want to keep going, definitely go to Aenima. 10,000 Days and Fear Inoculum are both great but dont connect as well as albums.

Quick story time about my experience setting up a TOOL concert: I mentioned this in the video but didn’t clarify what I saw and I got some stuff wrong. The lead singer Maynard was wearing riot gear and was swaying back and forth backstage hyping himself up before the performance. I didn’t get to see it live but one of my co workers said he came out with a bull horn of some sorts and was singing into it, crazy stuff. A fan was on some type of drugs and climbed up to the top of the building and slid down a chain at the end of the show. Nobody even knew, at first they thought he was a worker. Security then tackled the guy😂

I found you two through your Radiohead reactions and I was hoping you would eventually get to some TOOL.. You guys got here sooner than expected, which is fucking awesome!!! So here for this!! Spiral out boys!! 🌀🌀🌀

Parabola is my all time favorite Tool song! Literally got me through some very, vert dark times in my life. Choosing to be here, when you can choose not to. This experience called life is amazing, good and bad.

King Crimson lead the way with prog with In the Court of the Crimson King

the patient is about his mother who suffered from an illness that left her paralyzed. it’s written from her perspective

Never hearing a Tool song then diving into all of Laturalus is crazy, yall just dove right into the deep end lol. At least Pink Floyd prepped you. Like you said, Tool is like a metal PF. Complex and intentional with every chord and drum beat. If you guys are enjoying prog rock/metal, you'd enjoy the album Fragile by Yes. Around the same era as Pink Floyd. The album is a trip in the best way.

Disposition/Reflection/Triad was originally intended to be one single piece with three distinct movements. The most powerful aspect of Tool is their universality and fully subjective 'translations'...in that, the words and energies can mean what you need them to mean....its hard to peg down a 'definitive' meaning for many, many of their songs. Others, are more obvious. I have always seen D/R/T as a guided meditation. Disposition brings us into a quiet, calm space with, soothing deep bass, relaxed vocals and tribal percussion on the Tabla. We are asked to look inside and 'watch the weather change' from our busy and often times disorienting outer world, into a more introspective internal existence. This is setting us up for the main meditation. Reflection is precisely what it says it is, a meditation on the self. There is a storytelling aspect in the beginning, but it's more of a set up for the true lesson. We must let go of our ego, in order to truly find our self. The Ego has it's uses to be sure, but it can blind us to our own reflection, and we lose ourselves. Crucify the Ego before it's far too late. Leave behind this place so negative and blind and cynical, and we will come to find, that we are all one mind, capable of all that's imagined and all conceivable. We are all one. The concept of separateness is a man-mad fiction. Triad then comes in hard to wake us back up. Its the breath mint after a heavy meal. I shakes loose the cobwebs of the subconscious and brings us back to reality, in order to process what we just experienced, and then try to figure out how to apply it to our lives. great reaction guys! It's ok if it was hard to put into word....we totally get it! This is why this band just needs to be heard/experienced. If you get a chance to catch them live...DO IT. You clearly go to church....well a Tool show is church for so many of us unaffiliated with an organization, but still hold true to their inherent spirituality and oneness within the brother and sisterhood of humanity.

O my darlins! You both are SO SMART I'm laughing rite now bcuz u both are behaving and feeling the very same way as we "old heads" U cant fool us as far as if one really likes it (not many dislike it tho) and you both authentic! Eyes closed, speachless after the wallof sound kinda numbs yr brain after it smacked ya in the face...HARD! U wudnt believe how many ppl say the same about being ubove their pay grade in intellect. Or man, I think each time i listen to TOOL i get smarter! lol WELCOME! Your frequency is a match! lol. Now, we can all spiral out 2gether!!!

Ænima and 10,000 Days are just as good of albums, just different flavours of Tool. Keep up the good work boys!

30+ yrs of digesting TOOL... still a mystery how they come up with everything so seamlessly

FUCK YEAH BROS!!!! WELCOME TO THE TOOL ARMY

YOU HAVE SUMMONED THE TOOL ARMY...AND WE ARE HERE FOR IT!

That last call was an actual call on a radio station…the call and the whole radio station got power shut down….they had a back up generator or something. It freaked everybody out because that has never happened before at the station.

Don't ever worry about "getting it" - it's about how it makes you feel. Sure, lyrics are written with some intention, but if you keep listening to Tool, you will come to your own understanding - that's what Tool is all about: thinking for yourself.

The next generation of of people rocking and geeking out to tool. Times haven’t changed

it’s crazy bc i grew up listening to this band ( im 19 ) my father played sober , 46&2 and i loved it but never truly immersed myself into their music until recently. Dove deeper into their music and man… fell in love with everything about them. Glad to see others around my age into Tool lmao 😂keep on exploring them ! Saw them in concert this past January in Corpus Christi and it’s the most amazing, crazy, trippy concert ever. 🙂‍↕️ Also yeah you’re right , Maynard writes poems. He doesn’t really call himself a rockstar , instead he refers to himself as a poet and it’s beautiful imo. His songs are very very metaphorical and hard to understand but once you do it’s eye opening honestly.

Music theory time! "Schism" alternates the time signature depending on the verse. This is how it makes the listener feel like they're floating, and why everything feels "out of sync."

I was a 90s kid so I grew up basically listening to alternative rock and 90s Memphis rap, and I always had heard Tool songs on the radio but it was a bit above my head as a teenager. I get to college and my first year, Napster had been shutdown but there were all these other clone file sharing sites like Limewire and Bearshare et al. Mind you, this was late 2002, about 4 years before RU-vid really took off. I somehow downloaded Schism and, being a bassist, was immediately sucked into their music. It took me a few more years to really circle back around to their full catalogue, but it was well worth it. All of their albums from Aenima onward are all classics, but this is their best IMO. And if you buy their records, they do an A+ job on their album packaging.

One of my favorite bands! If you guys are going to do them again at some point, 10,000 days should be next.

Holy shit! People who react to enter albums, instead of just one or a few tracks! Now THIS is a music reaction channel!!

My favorite band since 1994!!!

They are indeed, INSANE to see live

Sick video. You guys are lucky to have each other, wish I had a homie to listen to music with like this!

I’m old. Saw this band in a club with 300 people. Got this cd, stopped for a bottle of scotch, went home and concentrated on this album. Woke up four days later in Detroit.

I saw tool live back in November. One of the best concerts I’ve ever been to. Seeing all of the members playing together was mind boggling. I love this album and I love all of tool’s work. Keep up the great vids

The patient live is very trippy. I was going to eat molly before the show but got a headache. When they came on, my headache went away, and I believe my brain naturally released endorphins, which made me feel like I had eaten molly.

This album is about as hard as I go in my music but I f***ing love it. I loved Tool even more when I realized that their music, despite sounding pretty "angry" by most standards is actually conveying incredibly hopeful and enlightened lyrics a lot of the time.

Since we're getting into prog metal territory, i cannot recommend Gojira - From Mars to Sirius enough, one of the most intense, adrenaline filled metal records i have heard, with plenty of incredible riffs, drumming, vocals (also, the song Flying Whales is one of the best songs from the 2000's)

Again, thank you for reacting to entire albums! This is exactly what makes you stand out amongst "the other's" and from what i can tell, everyone loves it! Keep doing what you're doing. Keep expanding, discovering and sharing your experience! I'll be watching all you've done and can't wait for new reactions to come!

lateralus was on repeat when i was younger because my parents are HUGE Tool fans, so excited to see that people are breaking into their music, they’re so fuckin good.

I hope you picked up to not pause between Parabol & Parabola, those are meant to run together

4:04 can confirm

Check out the album prior to this from 1996 AEnema!

Can’t describe the joy I have for you guys doing this. I love this band so much. Great rabbit hole. Enjoy.

Lads your SMASHING IT!!! Opening up to new sounds and thoughts. Watched all your reactions. Peace from England

Great video guys. I just saw Tool live in L.A. in February and as a long time fan there are no words to describe the experience. If you ever get the chance do it!

Love the set-up of these videos lads, please keep it up and continue doing your thing! many pints from Ireland!

I love it. All the albums will give you just as much immersion!

Loved the reaction. It's great you did the while album. Looking forward to more tool.

He speaking fax…. Drummer is wilddddd 😮😮😮😮

Definitely one of the best albums of all time, you should watch the pneuma drum cam, the official vic firth drum cam, also if you ever get a chance to go see tool concert, do it!! It'll change your life and change your music journey😊

This video is wonderful! One of the best "deflorations" from TOOL ever. You were really great!

Tool drummer Danny Carey is indeed considered one of the best drummers alive. You really need to check out the drum cam of Pneuma for an up close look at how incredibly awesome he is.

You are right, they are amazing live. The best live band I've ever seen by a long way

Having to have a bowle movement after hearing Ticks and Leeches is one of the most honest and real reactions I've ever seen.....if that dont get shit moving, nothing will! LMAO Enjoying this reaction very much! I am really digging that you listen to entire albums. This is the way.

The rabbit hole is real…

"Is this even possible to play live?" 😂😂😂😂😂😂 Yeah, they do alright live.

You could go to a tool concert not knowing a single song and leave blown away. There's nothing like them.

I told you man. Shrooms and Tool go hand in hand.

I used to always fall asleep to this album with headphones, as well as Aenima, they make you have crazy dreams but very relaxing if you let the music take you 😊

Every song has crazy depth to it, album gets better with each listen.

You CAN comment on the lyrics bros. They even say that every song is up to your own interpretation, it’s whatever you want/need it to be..

Love the way you guys just vibe and actually enjoy the music like anybody else who is just checking out some dope new shit. Tool is cool! Keep it going boys 💪🔥

If you guys wanna see the drummer perform close up, check out the RU-vid video, Danney Carey "Pneuma" by Tool. It's the one with 35m views

If I had a time machine I would go back and listen to Lateralus for the first time. Lol

The Mighty Lateralus. Tool's opus, and also one of the most enlightened albums ever made, spiritually. Parabola in particular really speaks to those who astral travel or have had mystical experience through psychedelics. Those who know we are not of our bodies and the material world. We are ethereal beings held in our physical bodies, here having a temporary "Earthly" experience. And like he says "Pain is an illusion." He's spot on.

"Thicks and leeches" basically its the full response at their discographics from the etiquette to deliver at least ONE song short enough to reach the radio rotation. Fuckn love these guys.

Head back eyes closed is the! Best way to listen to Tool…

I'm glad you didn't edit this too much and left us with a good long watch 👌

I’d recommend taking a step back to the previous album Aenima before stepping forward to 10,000 Days and then Fear Inoculum to see how they evolved 🌀

I seen them again in November and i swear no many how many times i see them it brings chills to me evertime. I cant describe the feeling i just dont have the words. If you've ever seen one of those religious things on tv where everyone looks like they're hypnotized and everyone is under the control of the guy speaking thats what it feels like. Its a whole other feel. Especially if you have a bit of shrooms or something.

Tool is my fave band, I am a 61 year old lady and I have been lucky enough to have experienced so so many fantastic bands all the way from the late 1960s through to about 2010; sadly I have more trouble finding any newer music I really relate to now, my latest new band (for me anyway!) that I really like is Sleep Token. But in line with you listening to Tool and AIC ( another fave of mine!) I would like to recommend another grunge era band and their first album, Ten. The band is Pearl Jam and that first album is fantastic. Eddie Vedder is another singer with a very distinctive voice!

Yall def gotta listen to 10000 days after. Lateralus is probably their most cohesive body, but 10000 days is my favourite musically. Also aenima is phenomenal too

Dude amazing reaction

To explain the often-hard-to-follow rhythms of this band (until you’ve had multiple listens), here are some terms and concepts to familiarize yourself with: Polyrhythms- multiple rhythms happening simultaneously that create contrast against each other. The drummer Danny Carey often does this even just by himself by playing different rhythms against each other with each limb. Each member of the band is often playing polyrhythmically against the others. And then, to create contrast against that, sometimes they will play in unison (playing a similar rhythm at the same time) to create a sense of cohesion. Polyrhythms happen while people play in the same time signature. Time signatures- a typical one in most music is 4/4, which involves 4 beats before the cycle begins again. In rap, this measure of 4 beats is also called a bar. The next most popular one is 3/4, meaning there are 3 beats before the measure starts again. This has a different feeling and is found in polka music and feels like ONE two three ONE two three with the emphasis being on the ONE. TOOL often uses many different time signatures in the same song and often uses 5/4 and 7/4 and even uses 9/8 then 8/8 then 7/8 in the chorus for Lateralus. Changing time signatures in a song creates a shifting feeling of time and balance and is not only interesting and challenging to listen to but often creates a feeling of uneasiness or discombobulation and tension. Polymeter- multiple time signatures happening simultaneously. Often the bassist and guitarist and drummer and singer are also operating in different time signatures, creating a feeling of disconnect that reconnects when the time signatures align again on the 1 count. For example, if someone is playing in 5/4 and someone else is playing 4/4, they would both start their cycle on the first beat but not realign until the 21th beat- 4 cycles of the 5/4 and 5 cycles of the 4/4 would realign on the next beat. An easy way to think of this is 5x4=20, so 20 beats will align as one block of time and then will start a new loop on the next beat. If one instrument plays in 3/4 and another in 4/4, then they will share a collective loop of 12 beats. Polymeter creates a feeling of dissonance and pulling away until they realign and then feel balanced again. Motives/motifs- in classical music, a motive is a simple melody that is expanded upon and played with throughout the song. A famous one is Beethoven’s “da da da dummm.” TOOL often does the same. For example, in Schism they use a riff/motif that operates in 6/4 then 7/4 and use that throughout the song but in slightly different tempos and with different sonic textures. TOOL often creates tension and resolve in their songs. They love to subvert expectations rather than create predictable song structures. They use dynamic composition to have soft and gentle sections that build into heavy and aggressive sections and then back into soft sections and even heavier sections. The complex way that TOOL creates their music makes it interesting, challenging, and gives them infinite replay value because there is so much to pay attention to and appreciate. Spiral out! Keep going 🌀

Just after watching you react to the grudge makes me smile cuz the first times I heard it my reaction was the exact same lmao. Watch some of their live shit, just pure talent and musicianship. Best live shows I’ve ever seen in my life. Even today in their older age, phenomenal.

You both need to react to their album AEnima. I damn near worshipped TOOL back in high school, and as much as I love Lateralus and the atmosphere, there’s very little that replicates the feeling that AEnima has. It feels like you’re in a literal pit at times. Lateralus is your mind being cleansed, AEnima is like your mind being polluted.

I haven’t seen many people react to entire tool albums, so good job on that! This is my favorite band. No one I know likes them. Which is wild to me it’s some of the best music ever made.

Yes. The Grudge is possible to play live. So glad you guys dug in! You just listened to one of the best albums of all time! ALL TIME!

I’ve watched I think we’ll over 50 reviews but never sat through a full Tool album review but damnnnn you guys are awesome 👏

You also mentioned Ticks and Leeches being in a movie… The Keanu Reeves movie Constantine has a song from A Perfect Circle … “Passive”… bad ass scene…

No TOOL is in a league of their own BY FAR

Guys!!!! Welcome to TOOL!!! Your young minds are about to be blown!! Love your reaction to this amazing album. TOOL Army forever❤

Love the setting

The lead singer has done soundtracks for movies, including "Underworld" and "Constantine".

I actually made it to the premiere, I'm so proud of my ears.

Faaip de Oiad has a frantic caller from a Radio show called Coast to Coast AM with Art Bell. If you look up more info on it it, it just gets even weirder. The radio had a blackout and the power cut out in the middle of this guys conversation while this was recorded LIVE on the radio. That audio track of that guy talking always felt the so eerie and too genuine to be fake. Which makes it even more freaky..

Congratulations, you have opened the door.

Mind blowing

Check out the live drum camera video of "Pneuma". Their drummer, Danny Carey, is nicknamed The Octopus for a reason 🤘🏿

This shit is awesome. You guys remind me of me and my buddy buying this album the day it came out more than 20 years ago. We jammed out to it just like you guys are and had the same reaction🤘🤘🤘🤘