April 6, 1993 - Undertow

Five weeks after my last release and a year after their EP "Opiate", Tool released their first full-length album "Undertow" on April 6, 1993. They continue the same style of metal on this album as their EP but it's a little more progressive with longer songs which is just fine with me! Let's check out the first album from Tool!

The album begins with "Intolerance" and it opens with 20 seconds of silence before finally kicking into a nice offbeat main riff led by some nice guitar from Adam Jones and some cool drums by Danny Carey as well. Maynard James Keenan comes in to sing the verse in a nice high voice and you can't help but sing "lie, cheat and steal" along with him in the chorus as Paul D'Amour adds some solid bass as well. After another solid verse and chorus Maynard nicely builds things up ending with a nice "no one is innocent!" that leads right into a nice heavy guitar riff by Jones. Maynard yells a little louder in the final verse and they play a final chorus, another nice "no one is innocent" and nice riff and Jones closes things out with a simple but nice sounding guitar solo to complete this solid opener. Up next is "Prison Sex" and it too has a strange and quiet opening before Jones alone plays us in with a nice catchy guitar riff that leads beautifully into the cool main riff. It's a catchy riff with some nice contributions from everyone and Maynard sounds pretty good singing quietly for most of the verse and raising his voice at all the right moments. It rolls right into a similar and slightly heavier chorus and they then repeat this process before D'Amour shifts the mood with a cool new bass riff. Carey follows with sime nice drums and Jones adds some epic guitar to complete this cool new riff and finally Maynard sings a new verse overtop that sounds pretty gnarly. They then slow things down a lot for a trudging ending to this pretty cool song. Track 3 was the big hit single off this album and it's called "Sober". D'Amour kicks it off with a simple but catchy bass riff and Carey comes in with a sweet little fill before playing a cool, catchy drum beat to match. Jones plays some awesome guitar overtop that is just his style: it's not very complicated at all but it just sounds so epic and cool and it completes this main riff perfectly. Carey gives us another nice fill right before Maynard joins in and he sounds equally as epic singing overtop in a nice hushed voice as well as singing loudly other times. I love how he yells "jesus won't you fucking whistle" before the catchy chorus. I also love how he delivers the opening line of the second verse: " I am just a worthless liar, I am just an imbecile". Maynard has such a range of vocals and he is a great singer and showing it on this song. After another verse and chorus they quiet things down briefly, only to build it back up nicely and crash into a final chorus. Then they nicely close out the song with a heavier version of the main riff and it sounds like a pretty sweet way to finish off this song. The next song is "Bottom" and it's featuring Henry Rollins of Black Flag. It kicks right into a nice heavy riff led by some cool guitar from Jones and D'Amour's bass is pretty good in the background as well. Maynard sings a quiet verse overtop that sounds solid and he yells a bit louder in the nice heavy chorus. Jones continues to play some cool guitar as they roll through another verse and chorus before breaking down into a nice slow new riff. Maynard sings "shit ends up, shit ends up, shit ends up, shit ends up at the bottom" and then things get quiet as D'Anour plays some cool bass and Jones leads the way with some trippy guitar. Rollins finally joins in and he leads a long verse by just talking, not singing at all, but he sounds pretty dark and it fits the music quite nicely. He and Maynard both say the final line "and my fear is naked!" and then Maynard takes over once again with some nice long-held notes while Jones plays a groovy new guitar riff. Carey plays lots of pretty sweet drum fills in the background and Maynard holds a couple long yells that just keep going and going! There's even a short guitar solo towards the end of the song before they nicely finish the song out with a long metal flourish that has some more great drums by Carey. A pretty cool and interesting song! Track 5 is "Crawl Away" and it has another strange and quiet opening before Jones plays a light guitar part that leads into a nice and heavy and very Tool main riff. About a minute and a half in Maynard finally joins in as he sings a pretty cool verse and chorus that matches the music perfectly. Nice guitar bit after the chorus, cool bass leads the second verse. After another chorus they break things down nicely and then speed up to play a cool new riff. Jones plays a some cool guitar in this new part and they somehow bring it back right into the main riff for a final verse and chorus to end it. All the music stops as we hear Maynard hold a nice long scream to close things out and he has one hell of a set of pipes man! The next track is "Swamp Song" and D'Amour plays a pretty sweet bass riff and then Jones copies it on guitar for an cool and groovy main riff. Maynard sings a great verse to match the mood and I really like all his ups and downs as he sings a really catchy verse. The chorus is equally as catchy and cool and I live the line "you stupid, belligerent fucker". After another verse and chorus they do a great little stutter with the heavy riff as Maynard sings "I hope it sucks you fucker, I hope it sucks you down". They quiet things down as Jones plays an epicly quiet riff and then they nicely explode into a great heavy part with great contributions from everyone. They roll perfectly into a final verse and chorus and then Jones plays an epic final note to end another pretty sweet tune. Track 7 is the title track "Undertow" and Jones kicks right into a cool guitar riff and then rest of the band settles into another nice Tool main riff with D'Amour and Carey providing a nice rhythm section and Maynard singing nicely overtop. Jones plays a nice guitar part that brings us to the sped up and heavy chorus and he nicely connects things back to the beginning for the next verse. After that verse and another chorus they shift nicely into a new part with some great slow guitars and Maynard holding some nice long notes. Carey plays a few sweet drum fills and then they speed things up for a cool finish to this one. Up next is "4°" and Jones plays an acoustic intro that sounds interesting before they settle into a quiet but smooth main riff and Maynard sings perfectly overtop as usual. The volume increases as the song progresses and it rolls right into a similar chorus as things keep slowly moving along. Maynard let's  loose a nice yell before each chorus but as solid as things are, they don't stray far from the main riff. Almost four minutes in Maynard lets out another nice long yell and after a brief nice heavy part things get very quiet, only for it to explode right into the chorus in a nice little segue. After this chorus Jones delivers a short but cool little solo that takes us to a great new part with Carey playing some sweet drums and Jones playing some epic guitar to finish off this song nicely. Track 9 is called "Flood" and it has a very long and slow opening with Jones playing some pretty trippy slow guitar. The rest D'Amour and Carey come crashing in to form an epic, offbeat march of a riff and it sounds pretty heavy and pretty cool to me. This heavy and slow instrumental intro goes on for the first four minutes of this near eight minute song, but finally D'Amour starts up a cool bass riff, Carey fills us in and then Jones is leading a cool typical Tool riff as Maynard finally joins in to sing an epic first verse. I love how he yells in the chorus and perfectly leads this epic main riff. Everything stops and Maynard says ",I was wrong, this changes everything" before they nicely start up the music again and continue to heavily jam along. D'Amour shows off a bit on bass and they nicely speed things up as they head towards the finish line of this pretty heavy and sweet song. The final song on the album is called "Disgustipated" and it's over fifteen minutes long! It has another quiet opening, this one with Carey playing a light and trippy drum beat and then we hear the sound of farm animals: sheep, goats, horses, pigs, it sounds like a farm is just outside the window as the creepy music continues in the background. Eventually we hear a voice as Maynard talks like a preacher giving a sermon and begins to tell a tale of an angel taking him out of his bed and overtop a vast farmland where "cries of impending doom rose from the soil". He asks the angel where the cries are coming from and the angel says "these are the cries of the carrots. You see Reverend Maynard, tomorrow is harvest day and to them, it is...the...holocaust". The music shifts to a new part with D'Amour playing a heavy bass riff in the background as "Reverend" Maynard finishes up this opening monologue: "Damn you! Let the rabbits wear glasses! Can I get an Amen?" It's a very strange opening that last over two and a half minutes but I find it interesting and funny. From the end of the sermon the guitar and drums join in with the bass to form a creepy main riff as Maynard begins to sing "this is necessary, this is necessary, life, feeds on life, feeds on life, feeds on life, feeds on this is..." and repeats this over and over. It sounds pretty creepy and strange, which is exactly what this song is going for I guess and the music gets louder as they continue and Maynard starts to yell nicely to match the rising volume. Carey's drums sound pretty epic and Maynard sounds pretty great yelling along, especially for his final "life feeds on life!" Jones plays some trippy feedback on his guitar and as the song fades to an end the feedback continues on it's own for a little bit, sounding pretty trippy, and at 6:45 the song dissolves into a sea of crickets. For over 7 minutes you hear nothing but crickets chirping along in the background and the crickets continue until the end of the song, but at 13:50 we hear a hidden message overtop the crickets. It's a really strange message about waking up sticky in a ditch and having your colour change. It's a very weird rambling that goes on for the final two minutes, a weird way to end a pretty weird song.

That is the end of "Undertow" and I thought it was a pretty sweet album. Tool play a great, heavy style of metal throughout the album and all the members seem to be pretty good at what they do as there was lots of cool guitar, bass, drums and vocals on this album. I don't like to compare albums and EPs because while I think I liked "Undertow" more than "Opiate", there was a lot more to offer and it's not fair to really compare them. But I do feel they got even better on this first full-length album and I can't wait to see where Tool goes next!