Tool Tier List

hey hey hey everyone Anthony Fantan oh here Internet's busiest music nerd hope you're doing well and it's time for another edition of our tier list series haven't done one of these in a while but I did promise that I would do another one of these after I came out with my review of the latest tool record some of these given my previous opinions and statements should be no surprise to any of you but still I thought it'd be interesting to do this and and basically show that I generally think very highly of tools back catalogue so let us begin alright let's so let's kick it off I think with tools first record and then we're going to go from there we're just gonna do studio albums so first off we have the band's record undertow very solid alternative metal record a little progressive but I see this as abandoned formation there are a lot of great songs on this thing sober is an amazing track prison sex is an amazing track I mean generally every song on this record is very good not a dud in the bunch in my opinion I still do see this as a formative record for tool though because at this point a lot of those psychedelic and mystical elements haven't really come to the fold yet the polyrhythmic and more I guess mathematical elements of the band hadn't completely formed yet but still having said all that this is a great record this is a really great alternative metal album even with this this not being the band at their best and the band not having fully formed their trademark sound completely there's still an amazingly solid album that has held up over years and years and years and years the production is a little grimy but the performances are visceral so it kind of makes up for that because of the playing is so explosive and aggressive at times the way the band builds up to those climaxes is great Maynard singing is fantastic the guitar riffs and bass lines are creative certainly for the genre certainly for the time certainly stand out today as well tool has been one of the few bands in that alt metal scene also favored by the nu metal scene that was burgeoning at the time that that is aged like a fine [ __ ] wine and it's albums like undertow this still sound fantastic to this day does this record go as far as some other classic albums in the tool discography in my opinion no but it's still a very solid listen it's still a good listen in fact I would say a great listen I don't want to underrate it or anything I would put this as a solid a this is an a record for me this is an a record okay just to sort of show you I owned this record I love this record I think it's fantastic and frankly I think tool I think tool gets even better from here so to cover the next record aneema which dropped a handful of years later and is in my opinion one of tools best and while it's not as vast and expansive and as layered or as lush as a record like lateralis for example I think that tool definitely hit a really fantastic and amazing balance of more psychedelic I guess more mystical elements to their writing to the weird time signatures they'd work in to their stuff the hypnotic guitar lines all of those qualities coming together in two tracks that were pretty much as straightforward as hard-hitting as instantaneously memorable as tracks from undertow in in that respect it is an improvement there's some creative interludes and stuff on the record that are very odd and funny Maynard's lyricism grew a lot more interesting on this project in my opinion I don't think it's as progressive I don't think it's the band the band's most progressive moment in their discography but I think it's the band's catchiest record I think it's the band's most gratifying fun to listen to again instantaneously like BAM it's in your mind type of album this album is like the scalpel of tools discography it cuts right to the chase while still maintaining those weird mystical spacy progressive elements I think tool is one of the few bands that has so successfully been able to in the way that they did on this record show genuine genuine virtuosity and I guess I guess a real sense of adventure and expansiveness in their brand of rock music while still writing and performing and delivering songs that again hit hard and and really just like got to the point and you know this is this whether you're talking about tracks like stink fist that's whether you're talking about tracks like 46 and 2 that's where you that's whether you're talking about tracks like hooker with a penis this is a nest here for me this is a nest here this is a there's no [ __ ] with this record okay there's no [ __ ] with this record all right the next one that tool dropped in their discography is their 2001 album lateralis and so where does tool go from go from here where does tool go from here to an EMA it's certainly not down to me this record is is fantastic as well I would also rate this record as an S you know these two records are pretty much the crown jewels of tools to Skog Rafi in my opinion and I love both and I think both are amazing records for slightly different reasons while there are really good singles on this project there are standout tracks that are instantaneously catchy whether you're talking about the bass line on schism whether you're talking about a lot of Maynard's vocal lines on the title track whether you're talking about the hard-hitting and thunderous guitar riffs on the opener The Grudge yeah there were a lot of sticky and straightforward elements all over this record but but but the songwriting became a lot more expansive on this one the rhythms became a lot more interesting the time signature factor was really in the mathematical factor was really getting turned up on this record a lot of the psychedelic elements were being leaned on a little bit harder I would say by comparison this album is a lot more hypnotic than tools previous record and and again I enjoy that I also love how certain tracks sort of segue into each other and compliment one another as far as the flow of the album goes so there's certainly an incredible amount of attention being paid to that certainly more attention than I think was being paid to that characteristic on Tools last couple of records so I love how this record flows I love how all the songs come together it's quite cinematic in that way I love how I actually parable and parabola come together I love how a tracks like disposition and reflection come together this record is really amazing it's really big picture again I'll say hypnotic I'll say cerebral I think it's tools most cerebral projects successfully cerebral I think that to a degree fear inoculum was trying to be even more cerebral but I think that um that this record is the band's most cerebral in terms of successfully achieving that and being an amazingly entertaining project from front to back don't really have anything negative to say about this one frankly I love it again I think it's just as great as their past one I think both records are equally amazing for slightly different reasons and and I will leave it at that all right moving on to the next one what was tools last album for awhile 10,000 days and this one I have elements of it that I love I have elements that I not so much love it's not a terrible record I would solidly put it in the band's discography at at the beat here it's not bad by any means I just think there are some aspects of this record that I would have wanted more from and I think that there are elements of this album that that listening to it more in retrospect do signal to me yeah okay I could understand why the band wouldn't want to drop another record past this one for a few different reasons one the band is really braked too much in terms of new ground on this record sure there's a bit more attention paid to how some songs segue into one another and build on one another especially in the case of the tribute tracks to Maynard's mother which are pretty you know amazing easily some of the best music tool has composed across their entire discography but there are some other tracks on here that I think attempt to be as hypnotic or as expansive but are a little underwhelming the band again fails to try anything all that new on this project and when they do I think that they fall flat on their face a little bit whether you're talking about the very chunky guitar riffs and and tones on the track Jambi which sound a little out of place and maybe more fitting for a more commercial and aggressive band in the alternative metal or new metal field that would have still been kind of chugging along around this point we also have some very soso closer on this record in my opinion and also the drums on the track intention the skittering electronic elements of the drums just how they really are intrusive to the point where I think they ruin the very mystical and again hypnotic vibe of the track there are some elements of this record that stand out is not being up to snuff when it comes to the rest of tools discography though I could still say a vicarious for example even though the track sounds like a song tool could have put on an album ago or something the performance is still great the production is still amazing and this album in comparison with lateralis there are elements of it that feel a bit heavier you know and for some fans that could be a great thing there are just some stale ideas on here some new ideas that I don't think go over too well though I can see also how this project points to a fear inoculum some of the jam ear elements some of the rhythmic elements especially on right into certainly direct toward what the band was trying to do on fear inoculum and I think that should bring us basically to tools latest record here and where I would place this honestly is in in the D tier I don't care for it too much I think that the production is not nearly as good as it was on Tools other records I think that the more meditative direction that the songwriting was taking on this project didn't really benefit the saw as the songwriting in my opinion was really weak and the jams weren't really as interesting as I think the band assumed them to be a lot of the guitar lines solos passages on this thing range from being incredibly stereotypical for tool to just being ham-fisted just not really complementing everything else that's going on there were interludes and synth passages that to me didn't really mean all that much or communicate all that much and probably the least amount of attention paid across tools entire discography when it comes to how all of the tracks complement each other as an entire record how they flow into each other the record is is really just um a mess I mean depending on you know the range that we're working with here again I would place it indeed maybe even place it in E on a bad day or something but it's it's it's really kind of around this range maybe I'll have a better sense of where exactly I would place it if I had another record that I thought was just so-so or a record from tool that I thought was maybe more of a solidly C album but either way again I think the vast majority of what tools put out over the years is uh very much high tier stuff very much unique very much enjoyable and you know some of the best alternative rock and metal that has been offered over the past few decades for a lot of bands that make comebacks and continue to come out with music the the record that they return with is is not really their best you know it's a bit of a trope at this point and then after that you know there could be an album that is a lot more gratifying in comparison I'm hoping that's essentially the trajectory we're working on here so that's essentially my tool tier list over here this is where I would rank the records these are how I feel about all these tool albums over here next to my head is another video that you can check out hit that up or the link to subscribe to the channel Anthony Fantana tool beer inoculum forever

Channel: fantano

Views: 335,434

Keywords: tool, music, tier list, ranked, worst to best, metal, prog, rock, undertow, aenima, lateralus, 10000 days, fear inoculum, albums, discography, anthony fantano, needle drop, review, classic

Id: xRxP21db0VE

Length: 13min 8sec (788 seconds)

Published: Tue Oct 01 2019