Lateralus

Such a good album, a piece of art you might say that can be perceived in different ways or simply enjoyed for the music on offer. The album is best enjoyed without skipping any songs, I find it complements any mood I'm in whether happy or sad. Either with headphones on being reflective about life, or just having a good time with the music in the background. If I had to choose a favourite song I would probably say it is "Ticks & Leeches" but I really enjoy all of them. I still prefer 10,000 days, but Lateralus would be the Tool album I'd recommend to a new listener because it is a bit mind blowing when it is new. The music makes you want to dance or groove rather than just nod your head along to it. My pet cat approves, if my cat likes the music then you know it is great because he also listens to Chopin. The presentation for the CD album is really good with a nice booklet inside.

This is a beautifully crafted album. The artwork alone is worth buying the cd for; the multiple transparencies are stunning. Hell! If the vinyl is the same, only bigger. I might get it just to enjoy the art! The goodies don't stop there, though, oh no! "The Grudge" starts you off with a bang, it's a wake up call just to make sure that you're listening. The next high point, for me at least, is "Schism". I think that falling down a Youtube "rabbit hole" one evening and finding the video to "Schism" was my introduction to Tool so ... I have read and watched so much about the band since I found them that I can understand a lot of the "theories" about supposed secret meanings and percussive mysteries - hey, knock yorselves out, ebjoy the album in any way you want. Personally, speaking of "percussive mysteries", drummer, Danny Carey, could be the best dummer since John Bonham. The lyrics and vocals of Maynard James Keenan are sublime. I can believe that the guy is the genius that others claim, I can almost believe some of those there "mysterious theories" that are bandied around! The man is great; his other bands, A Perfect Circle and Puscifer are great too. All in all, if you want a musical rollercoaster ride, buy this album now. If you're scared by the challenge, stick to the Osmonds, or Steps, or...nah! Get this!

Probably the best prog metal album ever recorded.

Reading some of the "if you can appreciate it" "if you can understand this", "I would'nt recommend this to start off on Tool, you should try aenima" ..etc etc has prompted me to do so. There is no ideal place to start with Tool, just start. This album is heavy, if you don't like heavy rock/metal you probably won't like this. If you have an inclination to listen to this type of music then I cannot recommend this album highly enough. The music is amazing, nothing technically difficult in the guitar/ bass playing lots of polyrhytmic drumming, which is excellent. The album is a rollercoaster ride, musically and lyrically. Soft sudddenly becoming heavy. Maynard is a great singer and his lyrics are mind blowing, if a little cryptic. Perfect if you like philosophy. The lyrics are not in the liner (go to the band website for these)...which is all Alex Grey paintings, again if you like spirituality and philosophy. Musically and Lyrically this album is one which will encourage you to think. Should you choose to do so. You could just as easily "headbang" to it. As for coming to a conclusion on what it all means....well thats entirely up to you. The Individual. This album is stunning...try it (Listen to it a few times and you won't be able to stop). Then go see them live. I doubt you'll be let down.

So I won't review the music itself, because the content of this album is great, as all of you here probably know. I'll start off with the sound quality, as that seems to be the main issue with this vinyl. Works very well on my player (I do not have a great player at all, just a basic suitcase one), only noticed one small skip in Eon Blue Apocalypse, but other than that the rest plays fine and sounds amazing! You are able hear it's a picture disc, but it's more of just a slight crackle over the album, which is overpowered by the music a good amount of the time. The visual display of this album is beautiful - great alternative cover, and works well with the inlay image, the discs and their sleeves. I'm very impressed by the quality of the albums visual and aesthetic feel, as well as its sound quality. If you have even a semi-decent player, and are a fan of music or vinyl in general, this is a must for you! Incredible album, and I'm sure it would sound much better on a better player, which I plan to do soon :D

I don't think anyone who buys this album hasn't already got an idea of what Tool do. If it is new to you I don't think you could be disappointed. On the surface it is a great rock album with a very original style, driven by some of the most groovy bass since bootsy, the guitar playing is subtle genius one minute and driving riffs the next and always very original and with a strong sense of personal style, vocals and lyrics are some of the finest in the genre often locking in with the instruments using a rhythmic device that makes the song feel like a mantra. then there is the matter of the drums... Ask a drummer about Tool and the lights in their eye will tell you all that you need to know. Under the surface is a complexity especially in the choices of meter and metric changes that are deceptively easy to listen to but try to count it out and it can be mind blowing. It's hard to use eastern influenced rhythmic devices in rock music without sounding disjointed, contrived and too complex, it can easily kill the groove and ruin the power of the song but alas not so with the offering at hand.

Love the album, and the prints on the vinyls are amazing but I would seriously recommend getting some record sleeves to put your vinyls in; the ones that come with them are made of some plasticky material which grips the vinyls as you pull them out and left a shallow scratch on one of mine

This is one of my favourite albums of all time, I rate this up there along with Rush's '2112' and other such classics. My main reason for writing this review is not to review the album, I have owned it since it's original release on CD back in the day, but to give my view on the vinyl version which seems to be getting a bit of a battering amongst these reviews. My copy which I ordered in August 2017 is superb. As people have previously mentioned, the packaging is beautiful - 2 lovely picture discs housed in a holographic gatefold sleeve. It's the actual vinyl discs I wanted to know about - there are a lot of comments about scratches and jumping in certain places. So I went ahead with my purchase with some trepidation, but needn't of worried, everything is fine. The fact that they are picture discs normally flags up issues of sound quality straight away, but these are fine and I certainly haven't come across any jumps or scratches affecting playback. I guess this may be a more recent production run, whereas the initial batch had these issues, I don't know - but my copy plays fine. I just wanted to have one of my fave albums on LP, and I'm glad I took the risk!