Aenima
Customer Review: Astonishing.
I was introduced to Tool by watching a video of ‘Sober’, which is not on this album (it’s on ‘Undertow’). There are countless bands who rely on video for TV networks in order to make the first impression and sell. Take the video away and you are often left with dehydrated formulaic rubbish. So you need to evaluate something audibly. Tool blew me away with their sheer audacity, power and talent in arrangement, musicianship, songwriting, innovation and intelligence. They are just an incredible band delivering intense powerful innovative music in a world of mediocre formulaic chaff. Check out the video’s for ‘Stinkfist’ and ‘Aenima’ on You Tube. Both will give you an insight into Tool’s awesome prowess.
Customer Review: An Intense Modern Classic
“Aenima” was a breathe of fresh air amidst a late 90’s mess of post-grunge dribble, arriving nu-metal fiascos and a host of supposedly alternative bands creating rather mundane and tired music. Tool swiped all of this mess aside with this sprawling 77-minute masterpiece.
And yes, I do consider this album a masterpiece - one for the modern generation of rock and metal fans. Not since Pink Floyd’s mid 70’s heyday had a band created something with such thought-provoking intensity and fluid combination of technical ecstasy and outstanding, often complex, song writing. As a result, this album has become my most listened to, most appreciated and simply most adored album.
To put this album into a bit of context - Tool had released one LP, 1993’s “Undertow”, and a short EP, 1992’s “Opiate”. While “Opiate” was fun and genuinely aggressive, it lacked decent song writing and was a bit one-dimensional. This was changed with “Undertow”, a brooding transitional album which saw the band fuse the raw aggression they had with a new sophisticated song writing approach, often drawing out song structures and adding a whole new level of musical complexity. The signs were there - the technical abilities were on display, structures were becoming more ambitious and intricate - so really, the makings of Aenima had already begun way before the band set out to create it.
“Aenima” is for me the most mysterious Tool release. Their other albums, including this year’s “10,000 Days” release, all have more obvious themes and take less time to peel apart and decipher. “Aenima” has the oddest art and layout, all of it being very dark and cryptic, including a strange painting of Bill Hicks as a doctor, a neon purple man with his forehead open to reveal a glimmering third eye, and babies being chased by strange green beings. There is also a rant excerpt in the liner art discussing the dangers of “anaesthetic” states. It also gives meaning to the album’s title - being both a physical and mental experience.
And this is a fair claim from the band. “Aenima” is both intensely thought provoking in its themes and messages, but also musically exhilarating, which translates into a wonderful physical experience. An experience which begins with one of the band’s most well known songs, the rocking “Stinkfist”. “All good albums have a song about anal sex” I have read Maynard James Keenan jokingly saying in an interview, and well, here is that tongue-in-cheek aspect of his character in song. While many attempt to come up with obscure and hidden meanings behind the lyrics, it is essentially to do with two people joining (anal sex or not), to help each other. Musically it is a great opener, with lots of catchy riffs from Adam Jones, complemented by Justin Chancellor’s bold bass tones, and all set off by the wizardry of the multi-limbed Danny Carey. The song has a rather straightforward verse/chorus beginning but this gives way to an excellent climatic finish, involving swift section changes and contrasting dynamics.
“Eulogy” is the sound of the new evolved Tool. A long drawn-out introduction builds its way to a typically menacing MJK talk/whisper, then pummels into a barrage of fuzzy guitars and soaring vocals, instantly displaying the outstanding vocal range of Keenan. Through its 9 minute entirety the song weaves in and out of sections, themes and motifs, combining alternate time signatures, powerful confrontational vocals and flat-out rocking moments. This is the statement of the new Tool, and the wondrous styling does not cease hereafter.
Instead of going through each individual song, and explaining aspects of it, I shall pick out my personal highlights, starting with “46&2″. This song was my initial favourite on the album due to its accessible structuring and extremely contagious bass riff. This song is really the shining point for the rhythm section, with English bassist Justin Chancellor creating the best riff of the album, and Carey almost stealing the show with his bewildering, seemingly off-time drum break that never crosses the border into technical masturbation as he keeps it concise, and fuses it with the song perfectly. The song also has an inspiring and uplifting theme to it, that of “stepping out of your shadow”, a philosophical idea created by Carl Jung - “the shadow is an unconscious complex that is defined as the repressed and suppressed aspects of the conscious self”. Here Keenan sings of shedding skin, stepping out of the shadow, ultimately evolving into a bettered being - portrayed both mentally but also physically with the evolution of gaining two extra chromosomes to make 46.
The title track is another straightforward rocker, and again showcases a very catchy lead riff and the amazing vocal range of Keenan, sliding from laid-back melancholy to the spitting, visceral chorus lines attacking the poor social state of L.A. It is the most aggressive song on the album, and harkens back to the “Undertow” and “Opiate” days.
For me the sheer excellence of this album comes in the two large pieces, “Pushit” and “Third Eye”. Thematically these two songs are very different, with “Pushit” looking at the struggles of personal relationships, and how one has to come to the decision to end a relationship if the situation is becoming out of control, while “Third Eye” comments on the utility of mind altering drugs as augmenting personal, artistic, cultural growth, development, and understanding of the nature of existence…opening one’s third eye. Musically though, these two songs are simply stunning, and the most ambitious works on the album. “Pushit” starts in a rather meandering fashion, with a less than inspired lead riff and chorus section. But the band does not let this continue for long, creating one of the most desolate and menacing bridges I have ever heard, with Keenan’s haunting whispers of “pushed me somewhere I don’t want to be”. This slowly and patiently builds into THE most exhilerating song climax I have ever experienced. The ending to this song still sends my hairs on end if I’m in the mood for it, even after hundreds of listens. It needs to be heard, simple as that. “Third Eye” follows a similar formula, with lots of weaving and subtle sections, all contrasting dynamics and themes, gradually building to a beautiful and monumental ending. Again musically describing this song is ultimately pointless as its structure is so vast and challenging, one simply has to sit down and experience it. These two songs especially need repeated listens as they are way too much to swallow first time.
And this is really the theme for the rest of the album, it is a massive body of work, and will need a lot of dedicated time and effort to really unravel its beauty and power. Even today after listening to this hundreds of times through, I am still questioning notions, picking up new sounds, new themes. A truly epic piece of work, and a modern classic every fan of rock or metal should experience.
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VSTUDIO TOOLS FOR OFF 2005 ENGLISH CD/DVD EN
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Customer Review: A GREAT SLASHER FILM
With her parents gone for the weekend, Trish Devereaux (Michele Michaels) decides to let loose and invite her friends over after school for a slumber party. The new girl Valerie Bates (Robin Stille) is invited, but she overhears Trish’s friends Diane (Gina Mari) and Jackie (Andree Honore) voice their disinterest in her attending. Trish tries to get her to come and be accepted, but she blows it off and Kimberly Clarke (Debra Deliso) says she can attend instead. Later that night, the girls arrive, but they don’t know Valerie is next door and can see the party. Valerie and her younger sister Courtney (Jennifer Meyers) watch the four girls as they all have fun. After a few weird occurrences around the house are revealed to be the work of two practical jokers, the four girls are eased of tension. While Courtney is trying to convince Val that she should crash the party, a serial killer is on the loose and begins stalking them. Trapped inside the house with no way out, they try to survive the night. The Good News: This is one of the best slashers ever made. It has everything that slasher fans need in a good movie: great kills, a unique setting, a menacing killer, cheesy lines, a bevy of beautiful woman taking their clothes off, and great atmosphere. It features the entire movie talking place, for the most part, inside a woman’s house, with the kills taking place around the house. There are quite a few good kills: a man gets his eyes drilled out, another is stabbed in the stomach with a power drill, one has a slashed neck, and another is decapitated. There is more, but most of it is off-screen, so the die-hards can only see the after-effects of the kill. More often than not, a person will stumble upon a dead body, and that provides the majority of the film’s scares. I also have to mention that the great Brinke Stevens is in this, and her role is the absolute best example of suspense. She mentions to friends that she has to retrieve a book she left in her gym locker, and upon trying to leave the building, she finds all the doors have been locked. As she tries to open the main door out, she comes across the killer, who waves his drill in her face, scaring her and forcing her to run. The resulting very long chase through the girls’ gym is the best stalk scene this side of Crystal Lake. It is believable as well, since what happens could actually happen to a person if they were chased by a maniac in a building where they knew the location and the maniac didn’t. It is my favorite scene, aside from the ample nudity. I really should mention it first in the bottom line of the review, but I think I left it in the right spot. What’s also great is that the killer is a master at two things most killers never do: he’s great at silently stalking a victim, and he’s great at picking off the person you wouldn’t expect at that time. The deaths are seen coming a mile away, but he then switches his aim and picks someone else off that wasn’t who the audience thought was the target of the attack. That was a great twist. Also, there is one scene that I simply have to mention here, as it is a personal favorite, and I know many of my friends really hate this scene, but I love it: Trish and another girl are upstairs in her room, and they escape the killer and move a large cabinet in front of the door, preventing him from entering. After waiting for several moments with no apparent evidence that he’s there, they let down their guard. We then switch to her window on the other side of the room, and we see him entering through the window, with the girls completely oblivious to his presence. He gets right up on them before he creaks the floor, alerting them to the fact that he’s literally breathing on their necks, forcing them to run. I love it, but because the killer can be seen stalking the woman when every single person in the world would’ve noticed it, my friends hate the scene. I think it’s a genius scene. The Bad News: First of all, it’s far too short. It barely lasts over an hour, and with the end credits it reaches an hour and fifteen minutes. I think it could’ve been expanded a little more, with maybe more emphasis on what they are doing at the slumber party. They are there for what seems like a long time, but nothing happens and most of it is split between the party and Val and her sister arguing whether Val should go or not. They needed to bump that up some more, and maybe get some gore in the film. It is bloody, and I like it, but maybe some more flowing red stuff would make it a scarier film. The Final Verdict: With a bit more running time, this could be one of the best slashers to come from this time period. As it stands, this is still something most single red-blooded males will want to see, with the blood and nudity, and all 80’s slasher fans will definitely like this one. Get it if you can (it shouldn’t be too expensive.) Rated R: Graphic Violence, Nudity, and mild language
Customer Review: Enjoy it for what it is - A fun, cheesey 80's slasher flick.
Yes, this film is quite bad. but, if you absolutely LOVE cheesey 80's American horror, like me, you'll fall in love with this movie pretty quickly! Definately get it!
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A set of serious tools for the seriously stylish! Being both pretty and useful, this fabulously feminine garden tool set, comprising a hand trowel and cultivator, makes the perfect gift. This set manages to look great without any compromise in form or fu
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Posted in Do it yourself | No Comments »
Are you being driven mad by a dripping tap but don’t have the confidence to have a go at the plumbing yourself? Then you might want to consult Tommy Walsh’s DIY Guide on CD-ROM. Using his broad experience (as seen on BBC TV’s Ground Force programme) Tommy Walsh covers practical jobs that can be done inside and outside the home from paving to painting. Using video clips, he shows you clearly how you can save money for example by putting up your own curtain rails.