Why I Don't Love Tool 

7 minutes of crickets is epic fucking trolling if you know the past of Tool. Lol

When Maynard called his fans “insufferable” I didn’t blame him 😂

Yeah yeah, cool... Anyhoo... What are your thoughts on Tool, man?

13 years for a new Tool album. Me, a System of a Down fan: *This is fine*

Yeah He's right Tool is overrated *Me listens to a 5 second part of the Grudge and can't stop listening to Tool for over a week*

I love tool, but the fanbase is so bad. Even tool hates tool fans

If the lead singer of a band calls its fans "insufferable"... you know they're terrible. Tool is my favorite band and I can't stand the fanbase.

Justin Chancellor is underrated as hell

As a BIG tool fan I would like to apologize for other fans. And I understand all your points and I love this video. You got your points across very well and I agree with a lot of them lol.

I absolutely love TOOL, but I can also absolutely understand why somebody wouldn’t love TOOL.

I love the holistic, integrated nature of Tool's music. The fact that none of the musicians go out of their way to sound different from the rest of the band is refreshing to me, ESPECIALLY considering they are defined as a prog rock/metal band, where there is so much damned instrumental wanking. I also love their tone (the moment you hear them you know it's them). I enjoy the fact that the lyrics often match the music in a meta sort of way, such as singing of communication problems while time sigs are going crazy and then screaming "I know the pieces fit!" while everything matches up again. And lastly, Danny Carey is my favorite drummer, and I am not someone who generally has a "favorite" when it comes to music. I don't have a favorite guitarist or vocalist or band or record. But Carey's drumming inspires and moves me and just overwhelms me with joy and awe more than any other drummer I've heard. The fact that he doesn't seem to impress you all that much is something my ears just can't relate to. I'd take him over someone like Portnoy any day of the week. Tool's cultish fans are insufferable, but I can't put that on the band. As far as the 7 minutes of crickets pissing you off so much. I'm pretty sure that's the point. They are having a good time playing with their audience, similar to someone like Andy Kaufman.

Being a drummer, the way that they play with rhythmic concepts in the songs has always been captivating to me.

Taylor Swift was always the better progressive metal band.

But did you know they used the filipino sequence in that one song?

Complete disrespect to say Danny is only in your top 50. The man is the walking personification of technique

Naaaah dude. There’s a very good reason Danny Carrey is so overhyped in the drumming community. You don’t really notice just by listening, so it’s easy to pass over, but if you watch someone break down what he’s doing in songs like Rosetta Stoned it’s truly insane his creativity and execution. At least from a drummers perspective.

"I dont get the fascination with Danny Carey." I'm sorry...what?? "Hey, future Mike here." Phew

In other words, the band aren’t the issue, the fans are

Honestly when i think about Tool i don't consider them as metal,they're not a conventional metal band so if you are a big metal fan Tool is probably not your favorite band,but if you listen to a lot of different genres you could have Tool in your top list. I am not a metal head and the heaviest bands that i like are Soad,Tool and Rammstein,and couple of older ones because they were the first bands that i listened to like Black Sabbath or Judas Priest,and for me Tool is one of the favorites,but if you are big fan of i don't know Slayer,Megadeth,Pantera etc,Tool don't fit in that group because they are more experimental and slow burner so i can understand why many metalheads don't like them..i hope someone will get my point😆😆

To be fair, even TOOL fans hate TOOL fans

*Why I hate The Doors:* I hate The Doors *Why I hate Nirvana:* I don't hate Nirvana, but Kurt isn't a genius *Why I hate Tool:* I don't hate Tool Edit: Oh, he changed the title nevermind.

Maynard: "This is our last song of the night" Audience: "awww..." Maynard: "Look, we're not Green Day, it's not 3 minutes"

I could never really pinpoint why I'm not crazy about Tool, but you've pretty much summed it up for me. Thanks Mike

I've been a Tool fan from many years and when I introduced Tool to my wife she became a fan too. It was just the way I introduced Tool to her that made her appreciate their music. What I loved about about Tool was the lyrics and the way the music compliments the emotion behind the lyrics. I found Tool when I was down in the dumps and my life was a mess a few years ago and what appealed to me during that time was Maynard's statement about Tool's music being simply a tool that you can use to pick yourself back up and achieve whatever it is you want to achieve in your life and that's they way I perceived their music, period. And that's the way I introduced it to my wife which is what made her love their work too. All that being said, the primary reason why I don't get offended if someone doesn't like Tool is because I understand that everyone must, should and do have their own opinion about things in life so if someone doesn't like tool I understand that the way Tool's music makes you feel is different from the way it makes me feel and that's it! If another person feeling differently about Tool induces feelings of hate in some fans of the band, then I'm sorry to say that these fans do not truly understand the essence of their music. People should understand that just cuz you listen to Tool doesn't make you superior in any way. They're forgetting something. Tool's music is a tool to help you in your life. It's a not a tool that you can use to exercise your imaginary intellectual superiority over others. Be a Tool fan but don't be smug, man.

In a world of constant TOOL praise, it’s interesting to hear some criticism. Favorite band of all time, but still enjoyed the video!

Tool is definitely a band that not everyone can enjoy, and I absolutely understand why some people would call them boring

Intentional or not, this video sums up exactly how Tool feels about Tool's fans. Tool is like the metal version of Enigma. I say this as a Tool fan. Also, the 7 minutes of crickets is a middle finger to Tool fans, basically telling them that they're insufferable idiots who WILL listen to 7 minutes of crickets and call it genius.

One thing I’m pretty certain of is that if Tool doesn’t grab you by the guts, you will never understand the obsession. It’s cool, we don’t all have to agree. Variety is the spice of life.

-Title: -First 2 seconds of video: "Title is a lie"

“I dont hate tool” - Understandable have a great day

Everything you "hate" about them is every reason I love them.

Mike you literally articulated every thought I've had about Tool. I love their popular songs (i.e., the only songs they play live now), and they have absolutely inspired me... But I just don't care for most of their music. I own the Lateralus CD, and I love Schism, lateralus, parabol/parabola... And that's about it haha. I was just never drawn to their other songs outside of the popular ones for each album. But I'll still go see them live if I ever get the chance, they are a great band.

“Understandable have a great day “ words mike wishes he can hear but secretly he knows it’s only a dream

19:10 Mike: "But there's zero fuckin' reason I need to listen to 7 uncut minutes of crickets... Ever... Fuckin' period!!!" Maynard: "This is NECESSARY!!!"

There’s nothing worse than a fan base that drives away potential new fans or even less passionate fans. I love this band but it’s just not for everyone no matter how much I wish everyone could experience the same joy I get from listening to them

"I'm gonna pronounce it sevenempest to make them mad" Bro, you don't have to let Danny troll you like that.

"I do not hate Tool." The video title: Why I hate Tool

From a Tool fan here, very fair criticisms throughout the video. I do find myself having a tool “phase” and listen to them constantly for a week and I’m good for a month without listening to them as Mike said too. The whole “Tool just ends up always sounding like Tool” is a very valid point however can be a good or bad thing, as personally I wouldn’t want their core sound to change even though I’m super happy when bands do that. The only main disagreement I have is regarding Fear Inoculum, surprisingly it was one of the only albums where I DID have songs that finish and made me go, holy fuck that was an insane song, specifically Invincible and Pneuma. The conclusions of both these songs really blew my mind, despite simplicity “technicality wise”.

Aa a returning drummer, Danny is my favorite because looking through his inspirations Ive learned so much.

It was seeing TOOL live that really sealed the deal for me, they are so good live.. songs like Third Eye done live were so unbelievably mesmerizing and unique and complex, I've never seen anything that matched that performance. Just powerful. I also think their lyrics are often underrated.. Lot of songs have pretty deep metaphorical meaning. Ultimately I think TOOL has kind of carved out their own universe that sets them apart from all other bands. They aren't the only ones who have done that, but certainly they have accomplished that.

I've been going around the internet for a while, trying to find actual criticism of Tool's music. All I run into is blind praise and criticism based on non-musical factors like the annoying fanbase or their supposed pretentiousness that is completely made up. Some people mention its too long and boring, but never elaborate on it further. I've never found someone who wants to actually duscuss their music in a level headed, musically educated way. I'm glad you made this video, we need more of this kind of discussion.

As huge tool fan and guitar player myself. Totally agree in you final points. They have their bag of tricks. At the end of the day its personal taste. Huge metallica fan also and i know the things that they do repeatedly. All bands do. Pneuma my favorite song, its not the technicallity, its what makes you feel. Keep kicking ass mike with your contents 🤟🏻🤟🏻🤟🏻

The guy is right, the 1st thing that came to my mind upon hearing fear inoculum was that I have heard most of those chords b4. Though I like their music, they follow in the same footsteps as Slayer and acdc for me. It's the same formula million times over

As a TOOL fan, your points made sense. You just clearly have a different taste of metal and I totally get that. I just can't help but love so many of these songs like Sober, Ænima, Schism, Parabola, Stinkfist, The Pot, and Jambi.

But... but... Maynard James Keenan is wine golden ratio commando!!!

I actually like that none of the members of TOOL act like they're different human beings with instruments but they all write and play in a way like they're Power Rangers and the music itself is the Megazord. None of them stand out most of the time and the sound i'm getting mostly sounds like one united frequency rather than 4 different frequencies interacting with each other.

Lol, that last shot right at the end has me rollin. I am curious as to what your opinion is of DT with Mangini. I know I am months late having just discovered your channel a few days ago, but it would be an interesting topic.

I appreciate the honest review. I don't really agree with everything you said, but I can absolutely understand why some people don't love Tool. I'm a massive Tool fan. Even as my tastes have kind of drifted away from metal and hard rock into more mellow stuff, Tool is still always a mainstay in my music diet. I learned pretty early on that Tool absolutely does not sound the same to every person who hears them. There have been times when I've been driving in the car with friends, super excited to show them an awesome Tool song that I just heard for the first time, and as the song plays I'm in the front having a fuckin blast while my friend is in the back literally falling asleep lol You said something early in the review that kind of highlights how differently people hear the band from person to person. You said that you haven't heard a Tool song or piece of their music that gets stuck in your head. That happens to me all the time. Even if I haven't heard a Tool song in months, sometimes they will just pop in my head and play on repeat for sometimes days at a time. This just happened to me with Jambi off the 10,000 Days album. I kept tapping out the riff with my fingers and humming Maynard's melodies so much that it started to annoy my wife even. When I played the song for her, she couldn't understand how it could get stuck in anyone's head

“Ohh an opinion different from mine... I hate this.”

“It’s almost like you drive people away by being an asshole” It’s sad how many Fanbases this single sentence can be used to describe

Sevenempest!! Good stuff. I think Aenima was the high-water mark for me. It introduced me, as a young guitarist to step past just chugging along with Metallica and grooving with Corrosion Of Conformity, to implement more interesting melodic elements, eventually leading me to appreciate things like Pink Floyd, rather than simply regarding them as geezer rock.

First time viewer and TOOL fan since 1993. Everything you said about the band in a technical sense is pretty spot on. My retort is just like most bands that have staying power, there is a certain level of repetition/recognition that permeates through all of the album's. My biggest push backs are your opinion on Justin Chancellor and Paul D'Amour being interchangeable and your underrating of Danny Carey (which you addressed but still underrated). Justin is a far superior bassist which become very apparent by how far the advancement was from Undertow to Aenema. As for Danny, I see other reaction videos from drummers going nuts about him. He is at the very least top 20 all time. I appreciate you opinions on each album and they certainly have merit even if I vehemently disagree. I think they all advance their style/sound further along. On Fear Innoculum I personally prefer both Pneuma and Invincible to sevenempest (hilarious) and I assume that you've seen the Vic Firth drum cam of Pneuma of which I assume changed you opinion on him.

"He had a lot to say, he had a lot of nothing to say."

I don't like tool, but I do want to say that I disagree about anyone saying "should" in regards to anything musically. We have ideas of what things probably should sound like but if we solidify those ideas as truths I think we lessen our ability to be creative, and appreciate when something goes out of expected norms. This coming from someone who sees no problem with ac/dc or other bands that stick to a sound, I just think that to open our minds to being more welcoming to very different sounds or musicality we probably shouldn't say that there are HARD TRUTHS about the ways in which you craft your music, or solos, or whatever. "To me, a solo should" is a much better way of talking about things that are incredibly subjective. Just my two cents.

My son listening Tool and watch Rock and Mortys OMG he will be 140 IQ sciencetits when he grow up amrite fellow 90's kids?

I'm a Tool fan and after this video I love Tool even more.

Bro as a drummer first I’d say Danny Carey is minimum top 10. Idk what you are talking about. He carries that band.

Nice of Mike to make a 30 minute video talking about how much he likes the underground avant garde jazz prog-punk band Tool. Great way to spread awareness of this underrated and overlooked group, sir.

I think the thing with Tool is they decided to go big with the live stage production. The themes and visuals in the studio music lend to a cool stage show. Also, you have Maynard, who is basically a rock star not trying to be a rock star. He is an actual artist who wants to produce music and let people grab onto something for the sake of exploring something deeper. He even says he observes, interprets, and reports. Other people can figure it out for themselves. Oh, he makes wine in the Arizona desert so that is there as well. People like to drink wine and listen to meandering music. Great mix.

4:37 yes. on other hand, Dream Theater made me pick up the guitar again and practice more than i've ever practiced. dream theater made me feel emotions, made me cry. i can listen through the Astonishing (2 and a half hours mind you) with great interest no problem. i can't get through one tool song without skipping. i always feel blueballed by their music "oh it's coming it's coming, there's gonna be something now aaaaaand no, the same god damn thing continues"

You summed up Tool perfectly at the beginning for me. You can listen to them for a bit, and then you're done for months. That's the same for me. I might go through a stretch where I listen to them a ton over a week or two, and then at some point, I don't want to hear them again at all for a year or longer. I like Tool well enough. Undertow and Aenima are my favorite of their albums. I liked when Maynard went all in on his powerful vocals. When he started doing that less and less and non-existent on Fear Inoculum, I just didn't care anymore. Coworker of mine was going on and on about Fear Inoculum and for me, I was like, "where does the album go? None of the songs go anywhere. They sometimes get started on a path, and I think, okay, here we go. And then nothing. There's no payoff." He writes his own music, and he is more of a jam session music fan, and I think that fits Tool. They have fun experimentation for some people that are jam sessions, but just stopped doing anything for me. Lateralus has a couple songs I like, 10000 days had I think two songs I liked, maybe 3. And I didn't like anything on Fear Inoculum. I definitely don't like a lot of the same bands you like, but definitely have enjoyed your videos. Even after you ripped on my favorite band and my favorite album, Anthrax Persistence of Time. Think it was on one of your song suggestion Fridays, you didn't like Belly of the Beast. That song with Intro To Reality were what got me into liking them. And they're still my favorite band. I like the fun they have, compared to Metallica, Megadeth, and Slayer out of the big 4. Anyways, cheers, and ROCK ON!

I didn't see anyone commenting on "break my strings" So... I like it. Doesn't sound weird.

I haven't listened in years but being OBSESSED with Tool from like 16 to 22 or something put me in places mentally that I wouldn't have gotten from anywhere else and I know for a fact no one else has ever experienced. It really sent my life in another direction and GENUINELY and TANGIBLY expanded my mind really in every way. That music was extremely transformative for me and I wouldn't trade those memories for anything.

I like Tool's sound. The fact that they haven't made a huge number of albums is fine by me. Many bands over produce because they're pressured to over produce. I'd rather a band do three or four really amazing albums than twenty mediocre ones. Quality over quantity can't be stressed enough and the proof of that is that the fans keep coming back.

Tool is so good you have to write a 30 minute thesis explaining how it's not your style or taste of music

I hate that Tool fans take their music so seriously. They're not that deep. If I hear that Lateralus was done in the Fibonacci sequence one more time, I'm gonna go nuts

Thanks for your honesty bro! You definitely have spent a lot of time thinking about TOOL lol I love TOOL and even do a twofer TOOLsday over on my channel and my experience with TOOL fans have been very positive. Obviously your mileage varies! Keep rocking boss!

I am a massive Tool fan and I still think you are right about most of this. Your analysis of their sound is damn insightful even. Good work.

Tool is what introduced me to prog and was my favorite band for about a year. After watching your channel, I got introduced to opeth and other amazing bands, but still hold sentiment to tool because that’s where my taste of good music started. Btw I still think a lot of their music kicks ass and I go back to them once and awhile.

20 years in the toolarmy and I have never or will never degrade someone for their opinions on the band I love. To each their own. And I'm sorry you had this interaction with angry fans. We aren't all like that.

This was such a great video, i think this should be a series, going over the good and the bad on bands you want to talk about. But it seems this will be a one-off

The fan base is cancerous. Coming from a fan of 15 years.

Tool elitists who're gona comment without even watching in 3...2...1... BTW tool is my favorite band of all time

Danny Carey is amazing, I'm not even a drummer whatsoever but I can tell he's one of the better ones out there.

I would like to know a list of your favorite bands for my own personal creation growth honestly

“Your myopic butthurt is as predictable as Tool’s sound” 🤣🤣🤣

A lot of tool songs to me feel like they're long just for the sake of being long

I’m sure this video will only receive positive feedback

New to your channel so you might have already addressed the question I’m about to ask and, if so, sorry to ask a repetitive question but I was wondering what your thoughts are on Tool’s cover of No Quarter?

If you dont like TOOL, you ain't COOL

Tool is absolutely one of my favorite bands, but I can 100% see why you might not love them, particularly if you're not into the 'hypnotic' quality of their groove. Even for me, while I love Tool, I do sometimes need to balance listening to them with more traditionally song-based music. And as ever, I absolutely despise it when angry fans bombard people for expressing their opinions. Save the vitriol for white nationalists or COVID denialists. EDIT: Never has an ad for an online dispensary been more appropriate than after a lengthy discussion of Tool. I don't personally partake so I don't speak from experience, but I can't imagine much music being more suited to taking drugs than Tool.

.....I'm a Danny Carey stan..for me it's the timing he uses and the signatures that are TOOL specific. I don't know about drumming enough to say best ever, hes in my personal 3

I LOVE Tool. But I really appreciated your analysis. You made great points. What would be a Tool song you particularly like/think is particularly impressive?

I'm a fucking DIE HARD tool fan from end to end, but regardless everything here is pretty fair. One thing I wish you touched on a little more was the use of odd time signatures. The reason people love tool so much (in my opinion) is strictly because of that. The majority of their music is "felt" rather than "heard", because you can't exactly hear rhythm. They do all this and don't make it sound like math rock. For example, Schisms time signatures change 47 times during the song and it doesn't feel forced or particularly awkward. At least not to me anyway. This is also why people consider Danny Carey to be such an amazing drummer

About "whale sounds" not adding melody or harmony "as a lead should be doing". Sorry, but there is no such rule in music. In my opinion Adam Jones has very few traditional leads and is very sound-scapey overall. I can understand this not being to everyone's liking. 7empest was a big surprise in this regard, it's got loads of pretty traditional guitar leads. You had many good points here and constructed you critique pretty well, cheers for that!

Descending is one of Tool's greatest song.

Hey man, there is absolutely nothing wrong with not loving something like some other people do. That being said, the list of "negative" things at the end of the vid are some of my favorite parts of these songs, heh. Clearly if you dislike those parts, you dislike a ton of this stuff, and ain't nothing wrong with that.

In the 90s there was no other drummer Danny as a bass player i can understand why people love him because of him there is the amazing drummers like we have out there now

Crazy story, I was listening to lateralus and watched a lightning storm in southern Utah and the music literally had me seeing colors move within the lightning....its very meditative and entrancing.

Tool greatly informed my sense of rhythm as a bass player, and my ability to play in odd time signatures comfortably. Justin Chancellor's bass work has always stuck out to me as the "lead" instrument in Tool tbh. His creativity and groove is bewildering, something that I aspire to achieve myself. From a progressive guitar player's perspective though, I definitely understand why someone would not like Tool. Adam Jones is a far cry from Steve Vai or John Petrucci, even though I personally enjoy his work.

I love Tool. They are my favorite band. And I'm ok with people not liking them.

Life long tool fan here. Cool you changed the click bait title too. Really appreciate your insights and you have more technical gripes than I could ever understand. That being said, I think a lot of your criticisms are just what come together and make Tool, Tool. I appreciate your effort and research for this video and honestly I think it just comes down to a lot of those uninteresting or repetitive elements "doing it for me." Awesome review keep up the good work.

I would love to hear you break down Porcupine Tree and their albums. That would be a really cool video!!

I'll let you in a little secret: i never listened to a tool song. Not even a single snippet lol. Lived well so far. So yeah.

What do you think about Nightwish? Symphonic metal in general?

"Opinions are like assholes. Everybody's got one and they're all full of shit." -Some Clever MotherFer. Keep in mind that music/art is subjective and varied from the interpretation of each individual listener’s perspective. Not everyone is going to like the same shit as you. You're free to "not love" whatever band you like. Me personally, I love Tool. I also "don't love" Dream Theater for many of the same reasons that this guy doesn't love Tool, and it's okay.

As someone whose favorite band is tool, it was interesting hearing these criticisms that I would otherwise not get to hear. While I understand where you’re coming from, I think it’s funny that a lot of what you didn’t like is the stuff I love. I guess at the end of the day it all comes down to your sonic preference. Keep up the good work 👍🏻

The photo of Maynard in the blue jacket kinda makes him look like Riff Raff from Rocky Horror trying to discover fashion. I’m entertained by that. 😂

How can i suggest songs for the SSF live stream?

Really cool observations! I was never really fascinated by tool, even though many others were, I couldnt explain why I felt this way. You brought it to the point!