At face value, Undertow seems simple and heavy, pulled down because of a muddy mix that never seems to raise the guitars above a buzz or Maynard James Keenan's voice to the heights where it should soar. It's more song-oriented than the multifaceted epics of Lateralus and even ::whoa!:: catchy at times. I love the rapid, quick-fingered picking of the infectious main riff for "Bottom". Heavy stuff can have hooks too, right?

At face value...

Undertow, however, is a pretty rich heavy metal album. Only traces of the alternative/grunge sound hover around Undertow's edges -- mainly the production style and some of the riffs. But in most respects, this is very much a metal record. Intellectually, however, Tool steps well beyond most metal bands with innovative musical intricacies and astute lyrics. Keenan is one of the most powerful vocalists in rock/metal, and his delivery is perfectly dramatic on songs like "Sober" (with its powerful ending) and "Crawl Away", where he whispers and roars. Adam Jones is a very unique guitarist, not playing conventional solos, and usually basing his playing on just a few chords per song. However, Tool is more about band interplay than individual playing: Danny Carey's exact and meticulous drumming; Paul d'Amour's gritty, growling bass; Jones' scratching guitar sounds, silent nuance, or earsplitting power chords. The title track is the most dynamic musically, with clever riffs and awesome vocals. "4 Degrees" shows the band's interest in Middle Eastern influences (which would inform parts of Lateralus). I recommend getting the lyrics from Tool's site and following along as you listen. It really gives the songs more impact.

And, of course, we expect a Tool album to have something weird on it. The trippy 16-minute "Disgustipated" finishes off the album, starting on track 10 and ending on track 69. Tracks 10-68 are just blank, 1-second bits. Then, on track 69, things start to happen. There's some dialogue, some sounds, some singing, and a *bit* of music. Listen closely to the words and think about it...interesting stuff. It's amusingly weird and cool.

Explore one of the best bands out there.


A wonderful, touching, and chilling CD   December 15, 1999
 28 out of 30 found this review helpful

Tool is amazing. They write complex, emotional music, never sound corny, and they can flat-out run a chill down your spine. This particular album is more of a straight rock approach to their brand of music, as opposed to the heavy distortion of Aenima. It's tough to comapre the two albums because of this difference, but one thing I can pick out is that I like the bass better on Undertow. It is used to great effect; one example of this is on "Intolerence", where the bass keeps the flow of the song together, allowing the guitar to play more complicated and varied riffs. The vocals by Keenan are simply astounding : he can sing soft and beautifully, and conversely go all out and yell. During all of the yelling, however, he never sounds untalented; he is able to keep the high quality of his voice. That's very rare to find these days. And last but certainly not least, Danny Carey's heart-pounding drums are able to pick a song up from a slow melody to all out rage and then slow it back down again. If they continue on the path that Undertow and Aenima have beaten out for them, their new album (which is rumored to have been in production since October '99) will be something special indeed.


This "Undertow" is very strong   September 7, 2005
 25 out of 40 found this review helpful

This band did something that you won't often find with heavy metal bands: they went platinum after one full length release. Tool's second album (not counting their earlier six-track EP) broke them into the mainstream and went on to sell a million plus copies.

Many Tool fans would argue "Undertow" is also their best album. Even though I disagree with this (I think Tool get better with each album), I can certainly see why someone would think that."Undertow" just pulls you in and doesn't let go; it delivers 69 minutes of the good stuff: brilliant songwriting, good musicianship, dark, moody atmospheres/moods, clear production, and lyrics which are adventurous, daring, angry, and depressing. And, even though singer Maynard's vocal pitch doesn't alternate much, he sure sings with much conviction when he's angry or sad.

Musically, "Undertow" is kind of like Tool's third album, 1996's "Aenima," but it's more subtle because this album's guitar riffs don't roar or explode as much. Lyrically, subjects such as sex, loss of innocence, and (of course) religion are covered. It's my opinion that "Prison Sex" is about Jesus having sex with his disciples (according to Maynard), and "Sober" seems to be saying that Jesus was a lying party animal who drank too much.

"Intolerance" begins with a humming riff which sort of foreshadows a later Tool hit song, "Aenima." Maynard starts this song sounding almost poppy, and he builds to an aggressive yell.
"Prison Sex" begins with choppy, stop-start riffs. With soaring guitars and buzzing, rumbling bass guitar riffs, this song's music is actually pretty peaceful and melodic. This is ironic in a way, because Maynard is singing lines "I have blood and cum stains on my hands."
"Sober" has more prog-ish, stop-start riffs. This song starts out in low gear, but it builds and explodes for the choruses.
"Bottom" starts with guitarist Adam Jones playing trippy guitar strings, which are so fast, they kind of sound like helicopter blades. The middle of the song slows way down, though, for a spoken word passage.
"Crawl Away" ends with a big, extended yell from Maynard. But this song is a highlight because it has good guitar work throughout; the guitars stop, start, beep, crunch, grumble, soar, and wind/bend.
"Swamp Song" seems like a very low key song at first, but the guitars speed up the tempo. I enjoy how this song's chorus is a stop-start beat with staccato vocals.
"Undertow" has more catchy, beeping guitar noise (which kind of sounds like something off of "Aenima").
"4 Degrees" begins with almost twangy strumming. The power chords kick in and play chunky riffs, and part of this song is almost a bobbing beat (with the drums pounding simultaneously as the guitars). Meanwhile Maynard is singing calmly throughout the song.
"Flood" is almost completely instrumental. The first four minutes and forty-five seconds are very depressing and ominous, with thumping, atmospheric drums.
Then, we have to sit through 59 tracks of mysterious silence. Luckily, this time goes by rather quickly, as each of the tracks are very short.
Finally, we hear the voice of a televangelist making a sermon, and the last song, "Disgustipated," has begun. This preacher is saying that carrots are living things and that harvest day is the Holocaust for them. Then Maynard comes aboard and whispers (increasingly loud) "This is necessary. Life feeds on life, feeds on life, feeds on life, feeds on...this is necessary" over a drum beat and some crazy guitar sound effects.

Since I don't believe this is Tool's best work, I wouldn't recommend it to you if you're new to them. But the bottom line is this C.D. is essential listening for everybody else (especially for prog rock or alt metal fans), because this album may be quite strange in spots (i.e. the last track), but one thing is for certain: this "Undertow" is very strong.


More than 'Sober', my friends . . .   January 4, 2005
 24 out of 28 found this review helpful

Not that this album is in dire need of additional scrutinization or anything, but I've now decided to add my two `sense' here into this huge Amazonian mix. So here we go..........

The major thing I need to say about Tool is that you CANNOT take their music at face value, not for a single danged second because once you fall for the brilliant facade, you've basically fallen into the chasm you think you're avoiding by listening to Tool in the first place (more on this later). There are multiple layers of meaning, multiple layers to those meanings, and even layers to how these meanings interact with other meanings. If you look at Tool from only one perspective, then you will completely miss the point of what Tool (or at least Maynard) is trying to show us.

Alright, so why do you listen to Tool? With this album and the "Opiate" EP that preceded it, it had a whole lot to do with a defiant theme of `questioning authority'. I mean sure, the music on "Undertow" is utterly sweet in every musical aspect, laying the foundation for modern nu-metal. But it was the messages of anger and depression and the manipulation of religion that so seemed to torment Maynard that really got attention. This is what got the freethinkers and atheists into Tool, because they, like Tool, `questioned authority'.

Questioning authority is good. Really, it isn't the greatest idea to just submit to anyone and everyone that seems to hold authoritive influence or power of some sort. However, it's one thing to truly search for truth and truly find it, and something else entirely to ignore the truth simply because you don't like it. This album is the story of someone who searches for truth, but somehow prefers desperation. This album is a HUGE slap in the face to those who hear Tool and `question authority', and yet fail miserably in that very regard by not even thinking to question the authority that TELLS them to in the first place! This album, "Undertow", is the beginning of the longest and most complex rock opera ever recorded (more, even, than "American Idiot":-). If you're still reading, pay attention.

Questioning authority truly IS the friggin point, people. Once you question Tool's true motives behind their music, then you will begin to understand what Tool's is actually saying. "Undertow" is the story of someone who questions authority and arrives to the WRONG conclusion, which is that there IS no conclusion. Humanity just blows. He just wants to sleep through this (`why can't we not be sober?'). Depression depression depression. It is patently clear to this character that religion cannot be the answer to anything he's looking for. He questioned that authority, and decided that it doesn't make sense to follow God. But throughout the album there are snippets of this guy looking back, and thinking "maybe I left the answer back there" with religion. "Digustipated", the album's closer, seems to be this guy reminding himself that he doesn't believe in God, that religion is a tool used for greed and manipulation. He's trying to run away from his doubts.

If I had the patience, I would go track by track and explain the obvious meanings of the track, the not-so-obvious meanings, and how each falls into the story perfectly. Unfortunately this can't be done right now, but try looking at it like this: "Undertow" runs seamlessly into the following album "Aenima", which follows the same thematic thread but has the character realize that he has to look beyond himself, beyond his eyes for the answers. At the closing, `Third Eye' is a determination to look for spiritual guidance, and "Lateralus" is the eye wide open and the truth understood. Ever notice all those eyes in the "Lateralus" artwork? Anyway, that was an incredibly inadequate summary, but I'll need to continue with those on their own reviews.

In people's great respect for Tool and their belief in `questioning authority', people are losing Tool's greater meaning by not questioning what Tool is trying to say. If you look at it from multiple viewpoints, it makes more sense than any other musical work I have ever heard. I know a lot of folks will disagree simply because they can't believe Tool could get any more complex then they already thought, but this is what it is. I'll write my other Tool reviews A.S.A.P. and tie it all together, but until then, yours truly can't wait `til Tool album 2005!!!!!


My reluctant favorite of the quartet.   February 26, 1999
 16 out of 16 found this review helpful

As a long-time fan of the band, I've chosen to spotlight this album in an Amazon review. I've seen Tool seven times live, once at Lollapalooza, once at Ozzfest and the rest at their own shows. Undertow is undoubtedly the most powerful, thought-provoking album these guys have assembled, but I would also prescribe any other of their masterpieces. Maynard's voice is an instrument, a vehicle, that takes the listener to dark places. He is the tragic king of his own world, and he makes you feel like he's been through something the rest of us only have nightmares about. The lyrics make you dig into yourself, introspect, realize what's there and what isn't and should be. Danny Carey's percussion lines provide powerful punctuation to Adam Jones' amazing guitar riffs and Paul D'amour's (now replaced by Justin Chancellor's) bass beats. The bass, in this album and Aenima particularly, is the engine of the music. The pure genius of Adam Jones, the brain child of this band, is recognizeable in any of their videos or songs. Rarely does one find a band that speaks to listeners like Tool. One of their most powerful messages is that through introspection, you realize your true potential in what you do and who you are-- so don't be a sheep. Don't follow the crowd, or take things for granted. No one told you to come. This is necessary; life feeds on life. If you can't get the messages, can't appreciate the music for what it is, don't get this album or any of their others. If you are open-minded and you can read between the lines, listen to Tool.