Tool: as Gen X as we get.
Posted by GroveGuy33133@reddit | GenX | View on Reddit | 145 comments
Not the first post about this band, certainly not the last. We have a lot of talk about bands we grew up on with members of other generations. I wanna give Tool the special credential they should have.
These guys ARE Gen X.
There’s something special about seeing guys that look like us at the peak of their professional careers, straight up kicking ass on stage. The gray in their hair adds the same image of credibility and experience that boomers used to seek out for CEOs. They unquestionably are masters of their craft.
The music IS Gen X.
As you probably know, it’s a wonderful style of art that gathers fans of metal (a major GenX genre), grunge, and yes JAM ( Phish and others carried us into this too) I’ve been to festivals where Deadheads are digging it. Look at the crowd in a Tool show and we are all there (Aleve-aided) alongside older and younger fans. Such a good vibe.
Speaking of which, the VIBE is Gen X.
The tone of the music, the statements, the videos. I cannot ascribe it to any other generation but ours. Even the live shows, very heavily enhanced by technology yet Maynard wants no cellphones taking away from us living in the experience. (Wait for the last song and you can take your pics). They get us because they are us.
Rahawk02@reddit
I like them, I’ll make a point of giving a new album of theirs a few listens. I would see them live if I had some extra money for a ticket when they come. Their superfans can be somewhat awful. I always feel like even though I them I’m always on defense with not liking them enough for their fans
NickyRaZz@reddit
They may be gen x however they act like a bunch of spoiled boomers(Maynard). Their fans are some of the worst people I’ve ever met. Their music while progressive and some times interesting is plain boring other times. Taking thirteen years to release the most mediocre album of fibonacci sequence dreck. They haven’t made good music since 10,000 days came out.
slowtreme@reddit
I think when Sober first dropped I was in awe of that song. the sound fit that moment in time for me. The video was wild. I loved to shake the windows out of my car cranking Sober to volume 99 in my honda.
One song, thats it.
There is nothing else in the Tool catalog that ever made an impact on me, or into a playlist. I have some Tool super ultra fans in my friend group. I have been exposed to their music consistently in the last 30+ years. They just have nothing for me.
Tool belongs to Gen X, it's just not My Gen X. I guess Tool got bigger for the people younger than me, they kept making music, I had already moved past. Meanwhile for rock - NIN continued to grow with my tastes. The more NIN changed the more I bought in. I'm not really a big rocker though. Like I'm not mad at Tool fans, it's just not for me.
memeticmagician@reddit
Tool is so boring though
Emotional-Heron2643@reddit
I think they're very talented and have written some great songs that I enjoy from time to time. I enjoy talking to Tool fans about Tool about as much as I enjoy root canals
GroveGuy33133@reddit (OP)
Glad you replied despite the root canal pains. Thanks friend! 🤡
Emotional-Heron2643@reddit
Oh jesus fuck dude, it's all in good fun
GroveGuy33133@reddit (OP)
lol I really hope you took my response in good fun. Wasn’t trying to antagonize, just being a little snarky.
Emotional-Heron2643@reddit
All good!
GroveGuy33133@reddit (OP)
Rand_74@reddit
Never really got into Tool. Also, Gen X wasn’t just the early 90’s. That was actually the tail end. Grunge/Alternative was kind of a bookend. If you were in high school in the 80’s your soundtrack could be anything from post punk/ new wave / hair metal/ and thrash. I think Gen X has the most broadened and eclectic musical tastes. I’m 52. In high school we definitely listened to grunge, but we also listened to everything that influenced it. Classic rock, punk, funk, blues, jazz, hip hop, you name it. It was all about a time, one of the last where bohemian culture and the need to discover music, movies, and books was at the forefront.
CaptainGlanton27@reddit
Early Gen-X.
Great band. I willingly welcome and accept the dismissal they get from my fellow Gen-Xers seeing as I spent my earlier days cast out from the basement bars and backs of cars, and soon after those days, Tool came along.
At no point in my lifetime has "Right in Two" not held truth.
As for those who read the Preppy handbook, put mousse in their hair, pegged their jeans, hung Nagel posters, adopted the Spuds McKenzie ethos, made devil horn fingers to Dr. Feelgood, or reminisce about their Dance Hall Days, well, they can just learn to swim.
GroveGuy33133@reddit (OP)
Oh my gawd, the preppy handbook. What a blast from the past memory unlock. Thanks for that.
mookiexpt2@reddit
Sober has one of the simplest yet hardest-hitting bass lines in rock. Instantly recognizable. The song itself is a hard look at addiction and the self-loathing it causes.
I totally get it if other people don’t care for Took. I personally think RHCP made a career of yelling “yappa dappa hippy skippy” into a microphone, but I understand others really dig them. Whatever music speaks to you is cool by me (unless it’s white power metal or something like that).
TheJokersChild@reddit
Haven't listened. Seemed too hard for me. They seem pretty popular in audiophile circles, for whatever reason.
mookiexpt2@reddit
High production value. Very clean recordings that have a lot of headroom.
will23188@reddit
This is where the span of the generation comes into play. I am an early GenX (1966) and Tool's music means nothing to me.
Remarkable-Flight990@reddit
1970 here and never got them either
sane-asylum@reddit
Yeah me too. I saw them open for someone, maybe Black and Blue? And just didn’t like it. Tool might be more young GenX
Legitimate_Cricket84@reddit
A friend of mine once described them as “the best band your friend with bad taste likes and the worst band your friend with good taste likes.” I very much agree. They were always Nu Metal meets dunderheaded prog for me. Music to make dumb people feel smart. The Joe Rogan of prog (musically speaking; I know nothing of their opinions on the actual JR). They seem like kinda cool people though, because they took bands on tour with them that would ABSOLUTELY alienate their own fanbase and gave those bands an arena platform they never would have had otherwise. I still marvel that they took Cows on tour! That’s a power move there and I’ll always admire that side of Tool. To me, the realtime early adulthood GenX peer experience was seeing all the OG shoegaze bands. They were all my same age and I absolutely knew without hindsight that I was seeing a vibrant new genre in the moment, created by my peers at the time. That doesn’t happen often at all.
sane-asylum@reddit
Not for me in the least
Flaky_Wheel60B@reddit
I love TOOL and the rumor is next year they are going to play at the Las Vegas Sphere.
When they first started releasing albums I was stationed overseas and didn’t hear about them until I got back in ‘96.
Instantly fell in love.
ToddPundley@reddit
Younger generations won’t know the joy in discovering -
if you fast forward for 40-some odd tracks there’s a secret unlisted song;
If you open up the cd jewel case and remove the plastic cd placeholder thingy you can find secret pictures of a cow licking its own ass or Maynard making love to a 600 pound woman
BDF106@reddit
And now I listen to the screams of the carrots... the horror..
jay1980det@reddit
I love Tool! Saw them live in Detroit a few years back, and it was a great show. It was one of those concerts where you could absolutely feel the music pounding on your body the whole time
Ray_The_Engineer@reddit
59/M, and Tool wasn't on the scene yet when my music tastes were forming. I've given them a try here and there, but it's never stuck. No insult intended, just not for me. There does seem to be a rash of folks posting stuff as "THIS IS TOTALLY GEN X, NOTHING IS MORE SO!!" and having it really only apply to the younger folks.
GroveGuy33133@reddit (OP)
All good Ray, never intended to purport that Tool represents all of our generation, more so that these guys are presently performing and representing GenX in a pretty phenomenal way. Sure, there’s others.
Ray_The_Engineer@reddit
Fair enough! I get your point.
ScabieBaby@reddit
'76 here. I saw them at Lollapalooza in 1993 in Philadelphia and Roseland in NYC in 1994. Both of those shows were excellent. I went once to one of their later tours, and to be honest, the fans were absolutely dreadful. It was like a cross between an FOP convention and a high school wrestling tournament. I'm pretty sure even the band realizes this. From what I've read they have about as much disdain for the fans as I do.
Tool was great until they decided to release basically the same record over and over again and take 30 years to do it. The first record was a huge thing to 15 year old me, but now I'm very much like "Whatever" about their stuff. That said, I still think they're good musicians and that.
I gotta say if I'm picking a band to encompass Generation X, I lean a little more towards Beastie Boys.
robspiro@reddit
Honestly, Beastie Boys checks all the boxes.
melty75@reddit
I never got into them super hard core. They have a few songs on my Playlist though... prison sex, forty six and two, the pot.... I wouldn't call them generation defining or anything, that's a stretch. Clutch is my main rock band, and have been for quite a while.
GroveGuy33133@reddit (OP)
Dude, I went to junior high with Neil. Wasn’t ‘tight like that’ but certainly know well have mad respect for Clutch.
Phenomenal talent, similar to Tool in that regard, currently playing at the top of their game. Honorable mention footnote to my original post.
melty75@reddit
That's awesome. I have been watching some of their commentary on the Earthrocker album, and he is just a super interesting guy to listen to.
raymondspogo@reddit
Not Red Hot Chili Peppers. Not Madonna, Michael Jackson, or any number of bands and artists that would perfectly encapsulate Gen X?
C'mon man.
GroveGuy33133@reddit (OP)
RHCP are great, also Madonna and MJ. But they were born before GenX. Not trying to gatekeep, but I am posting about a specific thing here. It’s not a post about ‘who we grew up on’ so much as a post about ‘who among us’.
raymondspogo@reddit
The "As Gen X as we get" might have thrown me off.
armblessed@reddit
Doesn’t quite fit the dates restrictions since rebellious Boomers passed the torch of Punk Rock onto us middle school kids while dealing with latchkey life. Punk Rock became our soundtrack of self-reliance.
Furthermore the question is attempting to impose a numerical range upon something which is rife with exceptions.
TBH, the question and the dynamics between answers feel like that meme about “yes, you guessed right. It goes in the square hole.”
SSquirrel76@reddit
Tool are boring as fuck. Also 2 members aren’t Gen X. So it’s funny seeing the strong claim that they ARE Gen X. ‘76 here and love a lot of alternative stuff but Tool never did it for me.
dongdongplongplong@reddit
calling tool "boring as fuck" says more about you than them.
dongdongplongplong@reddit
i reckon they are more xennial personally but agree with you they rock
TheVioletEmpire@reddit
No. Their music does not speak to me at all. I cannot name any of theirs songs and anytime their music is played, I am eagerly waiting for it to end.
deep-sea-savior@reddit
I prefer Primus. At least Primus admits that they suck.
GroveGuy33133@reddit (OP)
Primus sucks.
Les is an absolutely gifted artist. Slightly born before GenX but totally gets the honorary membership in my book.
jjschoon@reddit
I was born in 73 and don't know a single song from Tool. None of my friends have even brought them up when we talk music. To be honest, I'm not sure that I have ever even heard a Tool song.
GroveGuy33133@reddit (OP)
That’s fine! Would venture to ask what band(s) you cover when you talk music then?
Would be surprised if you didn’t recognize at least Sober , but if not, maybe check it out at least in case you like it.
Will_Munny_7@reddit
Devil music
GroveGuy33133@reddit (OP)
Maybe.
FacePunchMonday@reddit
I fuckin cant stand tool. Just another shitty alternative pop music radio band
FabAmy@reddit
I never got into them, either.
StrummerBass101@reddit
I’m sitting pat with The Replacements.
jfrankparnell85@reddit
Bastards of Young seems like a decent anthem, no?
https://youtu.be/fl9KQ1Mub6Q?si=GN-nurW7DBAGmn_S
PumpikAnt58763@reddit
So... 2968 Gen-Xer here. Not a fan of metal.
I didn't even like Metallica until Syranhet Things.
Someone give me a song I might like to get me into Tool.
armblessed@reddit
Got downvoted for not liking metal? lol Peak Gen-X. Grunge fans are next to get a few kicks in.
Emotional-Heron2643@reddit
I'm no Tool fan but this performance stands tall in my mind. That said I am a big metal fan
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u7lweNCCwS0&list=RDu7lweNCCwS0&start_radio=1
ILoveLandscapes@reddit
https://youtu.be/FssULNGSZIA?si=M5ajPDQGrBQe9Hy5
I’d suggest this. It’s mainly to feature Tool’s, incredible drummer, but the song is great and the whole album is great.
iFuckingLoveBoston@reddit
Maynard used to work the graveyard shift at a convenience store near my girlfriends place. He'd rant on and on and I was like okay dude its 3am I gotta go...
Sintered_Monkey@reddit
I saw them at the Whiskey A Go Go when they were nobodies. He was probably still working that job at the time.
reapersaurus@reddit
Tool/A Perfect Circle has some great tracks, but as a band, I feel Dream Theater has a better oeuvre.
ConsistentTrainer110@reddit
Another early Gen X here. Wasn't really interested in Tool when they came to the scene while I was in my early 20s. Largely because that darker musical slice of my soul had already been covered by Bauhaus, Siouxsee, The Cure, the Damned, Joy Division, etc. I can appreciate Tool's talents objectively, and I have enjoyed a few of their tracks, but seems to me they would primarily be a very late Gen-X, (i.e. xennial) sort of vibe.
RedTrumpetVine@reddit
1971, and not at all. You don't need to be barely out of puberty to identify with music. Tool hit big when much of GenX was graduating to going to concerts and finding openers like Nine Inch Nails, Stone Temple Pilots, and KMFDM that you then went to Tower to have to wait a fee weeks for their CDs to come in.
Some of these other bands yall are mentioning was your older sibling's music you just adopted. May as well say Rush was GenX.
ConsistentTrainer110@reddit
Lmao, that's utter bollocks.. My older siblings were into Led Zeppelin and black sabbath and kiss. You went to your first concert at 22? Feel sorry for you. Music does hit hardest around 12-16 years old and leaves the biggest neural imprint. And FWIW, 1971 also. Every single one of my 1971 circle of friends were into the same bands I listed above and considered the entire grunge epoch to be utter shit compared to the 80s scene.
RedTrumpetVine@reddit
So you peaked at 14 and want the whole generation to be trapped in the "rock the kasbah" corny Era.
We all like our long dead bands, but pick something that survived past 1985 aside from a greatest hits tape.
You may as well say The Police represents GenZ.
:D
ScooterMcTavish@reddit
I'm a 70 and agree with this take.
GroveGuy33133@reddit (OP)
Interesting take, thanks! As a ‘73 guy I definitely had Cure and Joy Division on heavy listening rotation for different moody feels at the time. Tool hit just right for me in early college/pre-Army years and has held on where others fell away.
AriadneThread@reddit
I am just a worthless liar
PresidentSuperDog@reddit
Imbecile
Bot_Ring_Hunter@reddit
I'm imminently thankful I've been able to take my Gen Z sons to Tool as their first concerts. We're a Tool family.
GroveGuy33133@reddit (OP)
Props for taking your kids to real live music.
It’s such a good way to jog conversations about adult issues in a way that makes sense.
They will see/hear/smell stuff that they’re not familiar with, out in the open, and you will be there to inform and guide them through it.
IMHO, best way to raise them to deal with the real world.
spyder2267@reddit
Absolute favorite saw them at Mesa amphitheater early 90s took my grown son who grew up to Dad’s music and became a fan to the show in Phoenix last year, still phenomenal live we had a great time.
GroveGuy33133@reddit (OP)
It’s a pretty special thing , probably my most treasured thing, that I get to show my son some music that has meaning. Right at the time where he’s discovering music as a form of expression. There’s plenty of artists from his (current) generation saying a lot of the same stuff, but I think it hits a little different when he knows dad was arguing the same social issues.
He and his friends are making me super proud.
Bucks2174@reddit
As an early Gen X’er I have zero interest in Tool. They certainly don’t speak for me.
GroveGuy33133@reddit (OP)
All good! Definitely not trying to say that Tool represents us, more so that they embody what we can be. also worth noting that anyone can start to like any band at any point in their life. Just so happens Tool is our demographic.
ku_78@reddit
I wasn’t a big Tool guy but a buddy called last minute with a free ticket because his buddy bailed. It was the first time I got a contact high.
GroveGuy33133@reddit (OP)
Not sure that’s even a thing, but I’m really glad you got a live show under your belt. It’s fairly rare and can be held as a little treasured memory.
ku_78@reddit
I’m not either, but I was giggling quite a bit on the drive home, and I’m not a giggler!
Alchemister5@reddit
I have seen them live more than any other band. 3 times with the original line up and 10 or 11 total. The small venue tour they did with the Melvins was my favorite.
MrNinoBrown1906@reddit
Born in 1975 and I dont know who these people are. I was probably not their target audience
dolwedge@reddit
Same... I would have said Nirvana or maybe Green Day.
GroveGuy33133@reddit (OP)
This is a valid position. Tool wasn’t quite as mainstream so please don’t feel like I was saying “ you should know and revere them as your GenX music gods!”
The intention is much more: “ hey IYKYK”, but otherwise “be sure you check out Tool because they are straight GenX and fucking rock. “
everyoneisnuts@reddit
You don’t know who Tool is?
denzien@reddit
I listen to Tool often, but definitely not enough
GroveGuy33133@reddit (OP)
Just a suggestion friend:maybe listen to Tool a little more.
Accurate-Survey6985@reddit
AC/DC.
GroveGuy33133@reddit (OP)
As stated, they were certainly a part of our listening, though but definitely NOT fellow GenXers.
EmotionalVegetable48@reddit
Maynard is a vet. Only so many rockstars that have served and rocked out. Jimi, Elvis, and I’m sure a few others. But he’s one of them
GroveGuy33133@reddit (OP)
Yeah,as a vet I can confirm that artistic expression was not/is not exactly conducive to military service. A lot of us did some shit to get some college.
ZogemWho@reddit
You’re later genx, from early genx, it was, at least for me, the Clash.
jacklogan2972@reddit
72 and Tool fucking killed it.
GroveGuy33133@reddit (OP)
‘73 so dunno. Tool just hit right for me at the time. I certainly grew up hearing Clash, but it wasn’t embodying what I’d say I feel for this post.
ZogemWho@reddit
Thus the caveat ‘at least for me’..
GroveGuy33133@reddit (OP)
Different strokes my dude!
RedTrumpetVine@reddit
You were a kid when the clash was big. And then broke up. Hell, may as well say The Damned, as at least they kept creating and touring. How does The Clash compare with Tool regarding GenX?
ZogemWho@reddit
Huh.. I saw them in Chicago on the combat rock tour at the Aragon ball room in 1982.
RedTrumpetVine@reddit
But they collapsed before many genx even entered high school. Hardly representing GenX. Weird choice.
caffeinatedonline@reddit
'75 GenX'er. Angry Tool is the best Tool...give me Opiate or Undertool again.
GroveGuy33133@reddit (OP)
Yessir.
belligerent_tortoise@reddit
Yep, that. Same age as you, metalhead. I like Tool, even the new stuff sometimes, but a lot of hardcore Tool fans are just elitist pricks.
GroveGuy33133@reddit (OP)
This is a valid beef, another elephant in the room I didn’t address in my original post. There is some kind of a thing I have heard of and don’t fully understand where some segment of Tool, or Tool fans who want to set themselves apart as some kind of special, superior, or “elitist whatever”.
Fuck that. Definitely not the aim of my post. Fuck anyone who feels that way or acts that way toward our brothers and sisters.
Enjoy the music and let it make you act as a better human, that’s all I can say on that matter.
xMyDixieWreckedx@reddit
Saw them in 94mand man what I would give to gk back to an all Undertow and Opiate setlist.
cutie_k_nnj@reddit
I know the pieces fit.
GroveGuy33133@reddit (OP)
failed_orgasm@reddit
Love Tool. Same for NIN, I hear gen x in them too.
GroveGuy33133@reddit (OP)
Trent Reznor /NIN is early GenX in person but squarely one of the most influential artists in my life. The recent tour is much the same as I laud Tool for- absolute professional artists at the top of their game performing exceptional art enjoyed by generations of, before, and after their age.
Worth stating - bringing Atticus back on NIN fully is the best move Trent has ever made. They are firing on all cylinders now, fucking peak performance, and all of us are lucky enough to experience it. Need an example? Go watch Tron:Ares and feel that soundtrack get you moving in your seat.
Nightgasm@reddit
For those not aware, one of Maynard's other bands, A Perfect Circle, just released a new song.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=0is_VwWU3EE&pp=ygUZc3Rhcmxlc3MgYSBwZXJmZWN0IGNpcmNsZQ%3D%3D
sobuffalo@reddit
and Green Jelly
Static-Age01@reddit
I saw them in Seattle at the beginning. They opened for my friends metal band at the vogue. Early 90’s. They had a demo tape. We all knew at that moment, music had changed.
They were incredible.
abysmalkarma@reddit
Had a similar experience with Nirvana - Bleach tour in '89- Heard About a Girl - we all KNEW something shifted. Snagged the album on cassette! Best $5 I've ever spent!
Static-Age01@reddit
Ya know. I was in Seattle during that. We never saw nirvana. Nobody knew them.
abysmalkarma@reddit
Upstate NY - Local club. Opened for TSOL.
Static-Age01@reddit
Tsdl. Hell yeah.
cme74@reddit
Awesome that you experienced early Tool!!
MidwestAbe@reddit
More along the lines that Public Enemy was GenX
GroveGuy33133@reddit (OP)
I love me some PE. Flav might be a little pre-GenX age wise but he definitely gets a pass. He needs a clock around his neck for crying out loud.
I don’t want to speak as though Tool represents all of GenX music, to be clear. There’s an insanely huge amount of hip hop artists that probably better cover our population and represent our time’s social issues. I only put Tool out there as the post to say how they encapsulate our generation in looks, feel, vibe, and performance.
coldcavatini@reddit
Absolutely not
cynzthin@reddit
Tool is playing RiotFest this year!
MartyFunkhoosier@reddit
One of the reasons I love the band, Conan. Their singer/guitarist is 49 and they are absolutely crushing live. Same with the band, Whores. Their guitarist/singer won’t reveal his age but he looks to be one of us too and they absolutely kill live.
G_Town_Co@reddit
Very early Gen X here. But I just don’t get TOOL. I’m not here to junk on those that do. I even tried to get into Puscifer. Couldn’t. Ultimately- love what you do and immerse yourself into it. You need neither permission nor validation.
RedTrumpetVine@reddit
Did you get into Ministry or White/Rob Zombie then?
concerts85701@reddit
Kinda also. Have listened to them over the years - rarely put on an album and can maybe name a handful of songs.
But I’m also with OP - I try not to miss them live because they are amazing to see and have a great crowd that’s a cool mix of folks.
Really I just go to listen/watch Danny Carey play drums. (My second favorite live drummer behind Jon Fishman)
GroveGuy33133@reddit (OP)
Danny Carey has beyond human ability. There’s always been and will always be great drummers, but this dude takes Tool to some level beyond where they could otherwise attain.
e.g. Pneuma
schmearcampain@reddit
Yeah, I never liked them either.
MattJC123@reddit
Me as well. They’re fine, I guess. Couldn’t name a song.
GroveGuy33133@reddit (OP)
Good point. Definitely not pop music that song titles are gonna flow into easy memory. I’d suggest we would all know the hook from Sober like it was imprinted on our brains though 🙂
GroveGuy33133@reddit (OP)
Thanks for your response. It’s all good, I would not want to say Tool ‘represents all of Gen X’, perhaps just that it epitomizes much of what I hold as core stuff.
I hope this post didn’t sound as I was speaking for all of us, and appreciate and would love to echo your point that there’s other opinions and loves we can share.
dhexler23@reddit
Same. Some of my best friends are huge fans but I don't "hear" it. It happens! We love what we love and do not what we do not.
Scarecrow426@reddit
I still find it funny that when Tool released their album in 2019, so many of us bought the album, it knocked Taylor Swift's album from the #1 spot. Her fans lost their minds.
GroveGuy33133@reddit (OP)
Thanks for that. I wish nothing bad for the Swifties (Taylor surely didn’t get hurt) but it’s kinda good we flexed a bit there lol!
MattonArsenal@reddit
Cool dad moment… “Dad, have you heard of Tool? They’re pretty cool.”
“Yeah, I saw them open for The Rollins Band”
Erok2112@reddit
That tattooed guy who does the spoken word stuff? He was in a band?
1leftbehind19@reddit
I fucking love Tool. I remember when Sober debuted on MTV and it hooked me right then and there. Could’ve also had something to do with the first time I ever took acid and I was tripping my balls off. I’ve seen them 12 times since 2002, and I really wish I had seen them back in the 90’s, but it is what it is. My dad has been to a lot of those shows with me, most recently when they played at Sonic Temple Festival.
All four of them seem to be in really good shape. Maynard is doing shit all the time, Danny is a fucking beast, Adam has 2 young kids, and Justin being the youngest is definitely doing awesome too. I’m probably gonna go see them in Sept at Louder than Life.
GroveGuy33133@reddit (OP)
Yeah I kinda shy’d away from the topic at first but definitely need to address the elephant in the room.
TOOL is some seriously good stoner music. Not the only band that’s better ‘with party favors’, but they kinda lean heavy into it with the video imagery. Choose your chemical, they got you.
I didn’t bring it up at first in my post because (legality, and…) there is a stigma that tends to disservice the art when drugs are involved. But, if you choose to experience music that way- well, you’re probably going to find some fanatic company.
evilJaze@reddit
Tool is one of those bands I don't mind boring the younger generations with stories of how I saw them in 1992 when they played a small university hall with maybe 400 people max. It was magic.
cme74@reddit
I feel the magic from over here...must have been amazing!
evilJaze@reddit
I was right up front and the stage was maybe 3 ft high at most. I got Maynard's 1000 mile stare right through me back before he started hiding away from the spotlights. I could reach out and touch him if I wanted. It was like seeing a local band at a university pub it was so intimate.
cme74@reddit
Aaahhh...love this story!
My 1st Tool show was in '96, The Mammoth Theater in Denver, for Aenima. He painted himself blue, reminded of how the Picts in ancient history did that, and he stood in the front for a bit, but yeah ..then walked back behind the band...classic Maynard! I had a phenomenal great 1st Tool show!
DoookieMaxx@reddit
Saw them on the B Stage at Lollapalooza in 1993. There were, at most, about 200 people around the stage. Undertow had recently released and Sober was their lone hit on radio.
Truly incredible. I’ve been a fan since that day and have seen them 7 times since.
arawnsd@reddit
Yes! One of the few bands I managed to see before they blew up.
GroveGuy33133@reddit (OP)
I love the chances I get when driving my teen son and his buddies around for whatever. I might be dorky dad sometimes, but once in a while I note my son listening to something I introduced him to.
Xittyl@reddit
Ænema is one of the greatest albums èver!
denvergardener@reddit
They also had some of the best music videos of that time.
GroveGuy33133@reddit (OP)
If it was cool on Beavis and Butthead- it was worth checking out.
JayRexx@reddit
Tool fucks.
GroveGuy33133@reddit (OP)
You’re fucking right. Thanks for replying to my post.
thetwentyfifteens@reddit
I either fully agree or fully disagree with this statement.
apc961@reddit
Started listening to them in HS, but Aenima was released right after I started college. Going down that rabbit hole while taking philosophy courses freshman year was something special. Miss those times sometimes.