December 12, 2000 - Salival

It's a triple release day! Over four years since their last studio album "Ænima", Tool released a box set called "Salival" on December 12, 2000. This is not a studio album, nor is it fully a live album. Five songs are live, one of which is a cover and one of which is a new song! Four songs are new studio songs, including another cover! There was also a DVD/VHS that came with the box set but we will just be covering the CD. Let's check out some old/new Tool!

The album kicks off with "Third Eye (live)" and while most of this song is pretty true to the studio version, the opening is completely different. Instead of the different voices we hear talking at the beginning of the studio version, there is just one voice on this live version and the catchphrase is "think for yourself. Question authority." It's an interesting opening still and the music slowly creeps in and gets louder and louder. Once Danny Carey comes in with some cool drums things are really starting to ramp up and then Adam Jones plays all kinds of high and crazy guitar notes and things sound pretty sweet. Justin Chancellor finally joins in with the great bass riff that keeps the pace and Maynard James Keenan finally joins in for the first verse and he sounds pretty good live. They stay very true to to the studio version from here on out, and that means things sound pretty epic and awesome. Maynard's long scream live sounds pretty fucking great, Jones guitar sounds unbelievable, words do not do justice, and the rhythm section is as great as you could ask for. This live version is just as cool.as the studio version and they sound so fucking epic and awesome! A phenomenal way to kick things off! Up next is "Part Of Me (live)" and this one is also very true to the studio version. This is a cool song off of "Opiate" and they perform it very nicely, but it's almost so similar to the original that it's not really adding anything new to the experience. I' sure it would've been great to see live, they nail the song perfectly, but on CD it's just like "yeah I've heard this before". Track 3 is "Pushit (live)" and unlike the first two live songs this one is not exactly the same as the original. Maynard explains at the beginning that it is a sort of reimagining of the song and this version is just under 14 minutes (as opposed to 10 on the studio version)! One of the extra minutes is the long opening, then Jones cues up the main guitar riff and Maynard sounds so good overtop. Carey plays some cool drums and everything sounds so slow, yet so epic. After seven-plus minutes everything stops and Carey takes over with a pretty fucking sweet drum solo! There was a bit of this in the original, but this one is longer and there's some pretty sweet drums by Danny! After another space-y part Jones takes over with some pretty epic guitar and he's free to play all kinds of epic stuff in another extended part that sounds pretty cool.  They bring it home with a phenomenal finish and I thought this live reimagining was pretty fucking sweet! At the end we hear clapping, but it's studio clapping that is a strange way to wrap things up. The next track is "Message To Harry Manback II" and as the name suggests this is very similar to the original. Instead of piano we hear the same riff on either strings or some strings-like keyboard and the same voice as the original returns to rant some more about how much they dislike Maynard. It's not quite as offensive as the original, but it's the same shtick. Track 5 is "You Lied (live)" and it's a cover of the band Peach, which was the band Chancellor was in before he joined Tool. Chancellor fittingly starts us off with a quiet but cool bass riff to keep the pace and Jones plays some slow epic guitar overtop. Once Carey joins in with some loud drums they slam into a nice heavy main riff and Chancellor plays some cool bass in the background throughout. Things quiet right down for the whole verse as Maynard sings some echo-y and space-y vocals, then it's back to the loud main riff. After another epic but fairly simple round it's solo time and Jones delivers a slow but pretty awesome sounding solo that, like everything he plays, just sounds so damn good! After a bit more jamming out the main riff Maynard belts out the name of the song and holds the "liiiiiiiied" for a pretty long time as they jam things out 'til the finish. This was a solid song for sure, but maybe just a little too long. Up next is a new song called "Merkaba (live)" and words are not gonna do proper justice to this psychedelic and trippy song. You have to constantly remind me yourself that all the things you're hearing are being done live and this is definitely one that would be awesome to see and not just hear, because I have no idea who or how the sounds are coming from. I think it's Carey playing some sort of xylophone or percussion that sounds pretty trippy and cool and Jones guitar sounds creepy and trippy as it weaves in and out with Chancellor making more crazy noises that are somehow bass?! There are no vocals from Maynard, just the phrase "it's some kind of psychedelic experience" repeated over and over while Tool show they can be masters of psychedelic rock too! The drums are awesome and the absolutely crazy sounding guitar is something you kist can't describe, but everything sounds awesome to me! Remember this is all live! Halfway through this near ten minute song we get another voice that repeats a few similar phrases and we get treated to some different but also awesome drums by Carey! Jones guitar is so trippy and Chancellor plays some wicked bass as well, just some more absolutely phenomenal stuff! Remember all live still! Pretty damn impressive stuff from Danny Carey, Justin Chancellor and Adam Jones. The end of the song is quieter, but still with some cool percussion by Carey and I thought this was a fantastic psychedelic experience! Track 7 is "No Quarter", a cover of the amazing Led Zeppelin song, and this version is over eleven minutes long! There are no keyboards in Tool though, so Jones plays the slow and epic main riff on guitars and things still sound very epic indeed even though it's weird to hear this song with no keyboards since they are usually the dominating instrument. When they slam into the full riff everything sounds heavy and pretty damn solid and when they quiet down again for the verse Maynard sounds pretty epic (not Robert Plant level of epic, but still pretty good). Things sound very smooth and very good as they slowly jam along and after throng and white middle section things sound great when they turn it up again with some cool contributions from everyone. Around ten minutes in the song seems like it might be over, only for them to really turn up the heat for the final minute-plus! Jones plays some fast, new guitar that sounds pretty awesome and what a phenomenal way to wrap up this sensational cover! So expertly and wonderfully done! Bravo! The final track on the album is technically "L.A.M.C.", which stands for Los Angeles Municipal Court. This is not a typical "song", more like one of Tool's super weird interludes, but it's listed at almost eleven minutes! We hear someone dial in a phone number in that classic dial tone and this whole song is one giant phone recording that is making fun of how tedious and annoying automated systems like these can be. "This is an automated system that can handle most inquiries." The woman proceeds to list a seemingly endless number of options to choose from, and behind all of this talking and button punching is a very loud, very abrasive guitar note that is played on repeat. But interestingly enough, at first it's just one bang, then a pause. Then two bangs, then a pause. Then three, and so on and so on. By a couple of minutes on it can sound quite annoying, but that's kind of the point isn't it and it takes a while once you get into the 30s and beyond! Some of the options we hear are pretty funny too, like "if you are calling from a princess phone, please press 6". The buttons being pushed don't seem to be registering and we can hear the caller's frustration in the repeated button punching. It sounds like so much longer than it actually is, but this is why I love Tool and all their weirdness. The caller gets cut off after everything and then they start to repeat it all again! Before fading out very quickly at 6:45. After 25 seconds of silence there is a bonus song titled "Maynard's Dick" and this is a full-length joke song that is about exactly that, Maynard's penis. Jones plays some light and janky guitar that is a little funny and this sounds very simple and straightforward for Tool. Maynard sings about girls and in the chorus invites them to "climb on Maynard's diiiiiick". What a song! It's definitely funny and things are even louder and better the next round. Jones ends up playing some pretty cool guitar by the end and Maynard's yells still sound great, even if he is yelling about his dick. The finish has burping and farting as the devolve into hilarity and this is pretty good for a bonus song at the end of the album!

That is the end of "Salival" and I thought it was a pretty awesome album! It's tough to rank this against other studio albums (Tool's and everyone else's for the year) since there are three live repeats, but I loved the extended "Pushit" and of course "No Quarter". It was overall a very strong album I thought and Tool continue to cement themselves as one of the best all-around metal bands. This also happens to be the last album of the year, and so begins the year-end wrap-up! 28 albums this year (and several other songs as well) is one less than last year, but the quality of albums was really strong for the most part with some good albums not even making my top 15! Speaking of...


Top 15 Albums of 2000
1. L.D. 50 by Mudvayne
2. The Sickness by Disturbed
3. Follow the Reaper by Children of Bodom
4. New American Gospel by Lamb of God
5. Hybrid Theory by Linkin Park
6. Killswitch Engage by Killswitch Engage
7. Reinventing the Steel by Pantera
8. Mer De Noms by A Perfect Circle
9. Cries of the Past by Underoath
10. Universe by Planet X
11. Lightbulb Sun by Porcupine Tree
12. Stronger Than Death by Black Label Society
13. White Pony by Deftones
14. Spiritual Machines by Our Lady Peace
15. Renegades by Rage Against the Machine

Those are all pretty sweet albums, but with 3 out of the top 5, including the top two spots, nu-metal continues to explode in the new Millennium. L.D. 50 is such an amazing album and a deserving top spot, but like I said, there was a lot of great music this year. What will 2001 have in store?