Before I explain to you my semi-obsession with TooL, let me tell you a short tale about a day back in early/mid 1997. I was a young lad who had a bulging wallet, and let me tell you that lessening the aforementioned bulging effect was the least of my concerns. It was on one of my family's pilgrimiges to Riverhead, L.I. (the nearest town that actually had more than one store) that I would be provided an outlet with which to dispose of some of these excess funds. While walking around Caldor (a superior version of the much overrated K-Mart, for those of you who are ignorant), I sauntered on over to the music section. I strolled up and down the aisles, scoffing at the country, R&B, and rap titles that stretched as far as the eye could see. Finally I arrived at the only section which truly interested me, that being rock/alternative. There were no specific titles I was interested in, so I just browsed. Suddenly what was to become the piece of plastic that changed my life came into view: "Aenima."

I really had no idea what TooL sounded like at that time, having never really listened to them, but I bought the CD anyway. To this day I'm glad "Aenima" has such an excellent cover, because if not for such a seemingly trivial detail, I may never have gotten into TooL due to their lack of "radio friendly" tunes. However, it was from this very "deficency" that I learned an important lesson. What I learned was that three minutes of radio airtime cannot contain art, and that more than anything TooL is composed of artists.

Explaining how I feel about TooL is like explaining [insert corny phrase here] to a blind man. It just doesn't work. I could give many a reason as to why I find them to be such an amazing band. For example, I could say that Maynard James Keenan (lead singer if you didn't know) is the best lyricist of our generation, along with Tori Amos...obviously an opinion, but an easily back up one. I could say that TooL does not conform to the growing trend towards catchy, instantaneously gratifying songs in music today. I could say that TooL without a doubt is one of those rare bands that don't fit into any preconceived musical category. All these statements would be true in my opinion, but then again they all seem horribly egocentric. I mean, I've listened to TooL everyday for roughly five years now, of course I'm going to spout off what seems like propaganda.

So all I can say is listen. Go out and buy one of their CD's and just listen to it a couple times through. TooL has this amazing blend of heavy then soft, angry then mellow sounds that just envelops you and makes you feel as if you're experiencing their music rather than merely listening. So really, I think that's all I could say about TooL without sounding even more corny than I already have. If you have any interest in learning more about these gods of music visit the TooLShed, probably the best source of TooL information on the internet. Also, if you're the kind of person who admires amazing usage of language, or just plain likes words, I suggest browsing through my lyrics and TooL quotes pages below. I'd have to say that Maynard's lyrics are the main reason I'm so into TooL. The music will guide you, but in the end the words will take you home.