Ænima Review
My all time favorite album, for atmosphere, and aesthetics is Tool’s “Ænima”.
Track #1: Stinkfist - Start’s off as almost bouncy, bizarre de-tuned guitar plucking, then slowly, almost literally, bleeds into the bass heavy riff. At about the 0:37 the vocals of Maynard James Keenan also almost literally bleed in. The bass heavy riff does not change at all up until about 2:00 when the guitar of Adam Jones starts to outway ex-member Paul D’Amour’s bass. At about 2:54 a really funky, almost hendrix like solo begins, pauses, then begins back and forth till the peak of the album, where the riff gets more main stage action and the vocals highten. Lyrically it’s very average, but atmospherically, like most of Tool’s work, its spot on. Very good track, 9/10.
Track #2: Eulogy Eulogy starts off with what appears to be the sound of clanking pieces of metal together in a high pitch with a cutting in and out megaphone. This megaphone noise starts to form the riff, as the guitar slams into the track. The vocals are very grunge-esque as they are projected through the megaphone; towards the end of every word in the lyrics, but that just adds to the atmosphere. This is one of their less bass centered songs, and it shows off that their guitarist definitely can carry his own. The peak of the album, however, is a bass riff still. Overall, 8.5/10 track.
Track #3: H. H plugs straight into a bass strum right off the bat, followed by Adam Jones famous guitar effects. Danny’s drumming kicks in as the bass fades and the vocals move in. This song has the best vocals that Maynard has ever showed. He goes from whisper, to spoken word, all the way to near screaming, perfectly. All this interspersed in between quick guitar bursts. This is a very mysterious song, but is without a doubt, a 10/10 track.
Track #4: Useful Idiot Very pointless track, the title is ironic. It’s essentially all a bunch of stating pulsating in and out. I realize it is an intro for the next track, but they could have just included it. 5/10.
Track #5: Forty-Six & 2 Starts off with a very famous guitar riff that will carry on for most of the track. Vocals quickly start it near a whisper, as the bass picks up a bit. The drums are very laid back for most of the beginning of the song. This track has some of the best lyrics that Tool has ever put out. At the “My shadow” point, the song switches gears to show you the bass heaviness, and the buzz worthy guitar, along with Maynard’s loud vocals. Also you see a pronounced guitar solo midway through the song. The ending 2 minutes of Forty-Six & 2 are some of Tool’s best, and challenging, instrumental work. With insane drums and equally difficult guitar pull offs, this is one of their best tracks. 10/10.
Track #6: Message to Harry Manback This song is basically a massive “LOL” about some disgruntled, Italian, anti-American who is degrading whoever he is leaving a voice mail for. Funny, how the piano sits in with his swearing and insults, but the point of this song is really…there is no point. 6/10.
Track #7: Hooker With a Penis Yes laugh at the name now, but this song is actually quite important. The song talks about how the band feels about fans who think they “soldout”, stating that were not going to the man, we are the man. Instrumentally, it’s quite a bit faster than most Tool songs, and lyrically it’s much different. It fits perfectly well within the other songs atmosphere though, and that makes it a surprisingly good track. 8/10.
Track #8: Intermission This track is just what it says: It’s an intermission. A middle point in the album. Interestingly enough, the songs keyboard composes the riff of the next track. Not rated.
Track #9: Jimmy One of the darkest sounding tracks they’ve ever done, Jimmy is also quite mysterious. Featuring a very intermixed guitar riff that mimics that of the “Intermission” and some lyrics that constantly spout on about the self and the search for what they call the “11″ and the paradox that is poses. This song is creepy, plain and simple, yet it perfects the atmosphere of the album. The vocals are only second only to that in H., they are marvelously done and they should off his emotional influx in Maynard’s voice. 9/10.
Track #10: Die Eier von Satan This track proves that any loud German speech, interspersed with cheering, makes people think of a Nazi rally. With Marco Fox from ZAUM reading special cookie recipe in German mixed with the sound of machinery and hydraulic presses, gives this track the efficient, notable German metal sound. Die Eier von Satan literally translates to “The Eggs of Satan” or in the German slang: “The Balls of Satan” this type of translation fits well with Tool. The song deviates a bit from the atmosphere of the rest of the album, but not too much. 7.5/10
Track #11: Pushit The nearing 10 minute long epic of “Pushit” is one of Tool’s most prog pieces. The lyrics are dark, repressive, and self-conscious. Extremely hushed vocals throughout most the beginning mixed with relatively hushed bass and buzz guitar effects gives this song prime atmospheric material. Towards the end of this track, it speeds up considerably, and features one of Danny’s best drum solo’s he’s ever done (exception in Lateralus). 9/10 track, easy.
Track #12: Cesaro Summability Engines + Baby crying = music? Apparently, as this track is composed of what sounds like Maynard’s voice over a AM radio, severely muffled along with a revving engine, what sounds like some bats flying, and a crying/screaming baby. Who could have thought this would work for a segue in the album so good? 7/10.
Track #13: Ænema Possibly Tool’s most famous song (right up their with Schism and Vicarious), Ænema is what Tool does best: show you what they think. In this track, they lash out at most of the things that annoy them, and I use the term “annoy” lightly. Instrumentally, the bass is very heavy, and the lyrics go by fast. It’s hard to think of this as a long song, because of how speedily the instrumentation goes by. It features a very complex rhythm, along with some very good drumming. Maynard’s vocals also shine on this track with his wide range of loudness mixed with heavy breathing. 9/10 track.
Track #14: (-) Ions Imagine waving a thin piece of paper in front of fan, with the background being a muffled thunderstorm. That’s (-) Ions. It fits in well only because it serves as a very long intro of the next track. 6/10.
Track #15: Third Eye A heartbeat muffled bass, bleeds into the comedian Bill Hick’s jokes and rhetoric about drugs and their use. Slowly, the guitar, drums, and bass kick in almost as if they are being melted together. Soon, the guitar takes precedence over all the instruments and Maynard’s voice comes into focus. It begins to feel like a prog rock song for a while until you hear the guitar return again; this track is much more. The bass is insanely powerful during the guitar parts, where the guitar doesn’t seem to make sense anymore. When that happens, the guitar snaps back into rhythm, almost as if on command. At roughly the 8 minute mark of this 13 minute epic, Danny’s double bass grabs the mess and throws in into a beautiful pattern. This is the highlight of this album for me. 10/10.
- Makes you say “Hmm.”
Overall, I see no reason why not to give this album a 10/10, it is a must listen to if you even remotely like this genre, or are curious about it.
This is my all time favorite album, I apologize for it being so old though. The next music review I will give will be an album from this year, I promise 
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