Well, I figured since I have already made an albums review section, a books review section wouldn’t be a bad idea. Considering listening to music and reading books are basically my favorite hobbies, a books review section should be frequently updated (or atleast as much as the albums review). So yeah, look for some reviews of books coming in the near future!
In the latest edition of the album review section, here is probably my favorite album ever recorded. Tool’s Lateralus is probably one of the most inspiring, well composed, original, beautiful album ever recorded. Lateralus really is 78:58 of orgasmic-good music made by my personal favorite band, Tool. This review will follow the same format as the last few, but this time I will try to put some more of my thoughts on the meanings of individual songs. The reason for this is largely to provide possibly a new analysis of the lyrics. However, please remember, my opinions and thoughts regarding this work of art are hardly fact and might turn out to be way off of even what Tool had originally intended. I will encourage everyone who is reading this to formulate your own opinions (and to do that, you must some how obtain it) 
And so it begins…
1. The Grudge
The first song up, and already I loved direction of the album, in this song…(and this album) the sound of Tool is vastly different from that of their first EP, “Opiate” and moderately different from the previous album “Ænima.” (which will be reviewed soon) This album begins the usage of the more “tech” sound that Tool really masters here, and goes on to display in full power with 10,000 Days (also to be reviewed). If this song had no words and was simply instrumental, even then it would be a well composed piece of music, with varying guitar riffs and incredible drum patters along with the usage of other various instruments. The lyrics however, provide an entire new level of contemplation and awe. I believe this song is written with an anti-establishment and possibly an anti-religion/dogma tone, and here is why.
Desperate to control all and everything.
Unable to forgive your scarlet lettermen.
The religious have often tried, (and often fail) to “control everything” this is their dream. The Abrahamic religions are the birthplace of the fascist ideology, the idea of “thought crimes”…well look no further. Trying to control what you eat, when you eat, your sex habits, your charity…and the most precious of all, your mind. Those who say enough of such a totalitarian ideology, well they are branded by the society with “scarlet letters” as in the case of Nathanial Hawthorne’s famous play.
Clutch it like a cornerstone. Otherwise it all comes down.
This is relative to faith, as to keep on to such a ridiculous belief, one needs to “clutch it like a cornerstone”…if one listens to reason…”it all comes down.”
Give away the stone.
Give it up, your religious non-sense is convincing not a single person of reason.
Rating: 
5/5
2. Eon Blue Apocalypse
This song, like a couple other on this album…have no words whatsoever. This song has a rather odd feeling, a bit of soft touch, but it builds intensity that carries over to the next song, and thus I suppose the reasoning behind it is simply to provide a segue into the next song…while containing a unique sound that Tool is known for.
Rating: N/A
3. The Patient
Here’s a rather “spacey” song, less words (especially in the beginning) and more just emotion from the music itself. Though unlike the song before, it takes about minute for the song to really begin and even then it is rather hard to grasp the meaning behind it. This song is rather long (a little bit over 7 minutes)…but it is incredibly relaxing. Again, here is a song that I feel as an aura of “anti-dogma”..with lyrics such as this:
If there were no rewards to reap,
No loving embrace to see me through
This tedious path I’ve chosen here,
I certainly would’ve walked away by now.
Gonna wait it out.
Possibly discussions the concept of heaven within Christianity. The religious life without the enticement of heaven would, and is, awfully bland and simply against human nature. I suppose this song has a bit a of a satirical nature…
Be patient.
I must keep reminding myself of this.
That line would reinforce that, “keep waiting”…be patient…something will come in return. The song also gives the feeling to the listener, that is is all pointless…this could be possibly the reasoning for the “moaning” like voice from Maynard and the length of the song.
Rating: 5/5
4. Mantra
Here’s one of those songs that I spoke of earlier, this is just in an instrumental…but like Eon Blue Apocalypse, it is quite short (a bit above 1 minute) and it leads nicely into the next song, which in this case is “Schism.”
Rating: N/A
5. Schism
This is the first single off the album, and one of the best songs on the entire album. The video of it is quite creepy, check it on YouTube if you have time after this. Unlike the previous song, this song is actually quite verbose and meaningful. In a way Tool only can, the lyrics are hardly direct, actually quite the opposite, the lyrics are rather cryptic. Personally, I can’t really hold a single interpretation of this song…as it is so ambiguous…it could be about anything.
One popular interpretation is that it is an allusion to the Tower of Babel, and how god destroyed language uniformity and led the way for the ugly things such as nationalism and tribalism. Another interpretation, that I personally like, would be that Schism could also be a rather progressive song and be speaking of the obvious problem facing humanity. The fact that we are really all related…but many reject that notion and just like that we are all kept seperate. Now, it is time to give up anything that would keep yourself entangled with any particular group and transcend those lines with the intent of putting humanity back on track.
Rating: 5/5
6. Parabol
Another “spacey” kind of song, Maynard does his signature whisper in this song and does it to perfection. I personally believe that it is also the opening part of the next song, Parabola…as it leads right into it. The song begins rather quiet, and stays that way for just about the entire song other than…the ending. The ending which is now built intensity since the start leads perfectly into the much more intense and verbose song, Parabola.
Rating: N/A
7. Parabola
This song, accompanied by Parabol was actually the second “single” off of this album…and I believe it to be the only other one Tool released off of Lateralus. I think this song is about spiritualism, and transcendence beyond normal states of consciousness and cognizance. People, and often intellectuals and thinkers often reach a certain point in which…material things aren’t worth what they previously thought. Humanity has often searched for “something more”…it tried with organized religion and failed terribly, but that doesn’t mean the folk behind the religions were necessarily frauds and charlatans. People like Jesus, Muhammed and Moses could have indeed realized something greater than the material world. However, we know now their interpretation of such was completely false…but still…there very well could be more to this world that we haven’t really touched with a rational hand. This song to me is about that search for something more, not with religion, or organized religion, but some form of consciousness different from that of normal consciousness.
Rating: 5/5
8. Ticks and Leeches
I’ll start with a random note about this song, just because it sticks out in my head. Tool doesn’t play this song live very often, the reason for this is because of the strain that it is on Maynard’s voice. When they do play it live, Maynard often uses different techniques and does some different stuff with his voice when compared to the album track. During the recording of this track, Maynard apparently lost his voice so it really was recorded in a few takes at most.
Now back to the song itself. As you can get from the previous paragraph, this song is hard, loud and quite rough. This being a strong departure from the earlier tracks, but of course this was done in a progressive way…the Tool way. I believe that this song talks about the greed aspect of human nature. Those who will do anything to get what they want…even injure others to achieve their goals…and thus they are blood suckers…or ticks and leeches. They rely on the misery of others to propel them to a comfortable superfluous material status…and such a disgusting thing should never be practiced…though it often is. On a similar note, it could also about greed in a completely different way…with regards to humanity’s lust for materials while robbing the Earth of its resources. Humanity’s sucking of the metaphorical “lifestream” out of the universe.
Rating: 5/5
9. Lateralus
The title track of the album, and to me the best track of the album…Lateralus is possibly one of the greatest songs ever recorded. This is the classic which makes this album not simply a “good/great album” but a masterpiece of modern music. Its execution of certain aspects goes far beyond that of most ordinary songs…and this is why Tool my personal favorite band.
There are many interesting theories behind this song, can’t say I agree with all…but possibly the most thought provoking one is this one: Click Here That link essentially goes into detail much of what I was going to post especially with regards to the time signatures, and plus its a video with pretty pictures…what more could someone want.
As below, so above and beyond
Rating: 5/5
10. Disposition
Here’s an odd song, not much is really said throughout it…really just a repetition of three lines and some “spacey” instrumental and random whisperings/groans. I don’t really consider this a song either, I believe it is, like a few others songs, the transition from one song to another, and in this case…from Lateralus to Reflection.
Rating: N/A
11. Reflection
One of the longest songs on the entire album…its 11 minutes of musical bliss. I personally think, though I suppose it is taking the words literally almost…but I think it is about “self-centeredness.” We are so concentrated with certain things that we never fully contemplate much more important things. I will leave it there, and hope you listen to this song and begin a new contemplation.
Rating: 5/5
12. Triad
Here is the last song that does not contain any words…and oddly enough it is one of the longer songs in the whole album. It is a little bit under 9 minutes and is purely instrumental, though quite varied in riffs and time signatures, so again…I will leave it to you, the listener and reader to get from it what you want.
Rating: N/A
13. Faaip De Oiad
A rather odd song…a weird selection to wrap up the album…but good nonetheless. It is a recording of some fellow who apparently had an experience with a UFO and called a radio station directly after, with a staticy sound to it…a bit mysterious as well. Just a random fact, maybe it might be of some use to you…”Faaip De Oiad” means “Voice of God” in the Enochian language. The Enochian language was invented by Edward Kelley in the 16th Century. Kelley said this language had been revealed to him by angels.
Rating: N/A
This album really was an experience to me, it was incredible, and still is. Every moment that I spend listening to it is filled with a sense of inspiration, and optimism of sorts. Lateralus to me, is Tool at it’s finest…this album is simply nothing less than a masterpiece.
Overall Rating: 5/5
If you missed the previous part - Click here for Part 1
I remember once when I was around maybe 14 or so, I asked my parents “What are we?” in regards to which sect of Islam…Sunni or Shiite. At the time it seemed like a legitimate question…now with hindsight, I can see the overall ridiculous nature of such a question. Part of my journey away from religion has been due to the whole culture aspect of it. Think of how this really sounds “I support a particular scientific theory on X because I was born in Y”…That is exactly what you are accepting when you are a religious person. The fact that you were born either in a certain area, or to the parents who are from a certain area…is how you view the world! We know from science that, the fact of your birth is itself an improbable occasion. The fact of where it happened is simply a mere random chance, so on what grounds should it be the basis of your view on the cosmos and morality? If such an idea wasn’t so ingrained into society, this would be(as it is) the most absurd notion ever put forth. How can a serious, intelligent, mature adult really accept such a idiotic idea, “I believe what I believe because my parents did.”
As I left off in the last part, the conflict of science and religion is far bigger than one would imagine at first glance. People often say, “well I accept science and evolution, and it makes me an even more firm believer in god”…this often lets me know that my peer has simply not researched science or just hasn’t really thought of the implications of being a believer and accepting science. This is not a “non-overlapping” issue as many people will often argue…the idea that “religion answers “why” questions and science answers “how” questions is absolute nonsense.
I believe what I believe, not because of what some old virgin told me, a delusional bastard child from the 1st century, a genocidal orphan from 3000 years ago…or what some pedophile in the 7th century, preached in their respective times…but because of what the evidence tells me. A proper research into a scientific field like physics or biology would reveal to anyone the quite obvious overlapping that occurs with science and religion, and how science’s answers blow to bit those that religion provides.
To be continued…
Here it is folks, my review of One Man Revolution, the acoustic side project of Rage Against the Machine/Audioslave’s guitarist. Morello does pretty much all the work on this album, much like Serj Tankian did with his Elect the Dead, though this album is quite softer (as far as sound goes, lyrically it is just as harsh). This album review won’t be as in depth as the last, but I will follow the same format, just less to say about it…as the words essentially speak for themselves. Here we go:
1. California’s Dark
The opening track is a strong opening, though not the best of the tracks, it is a solid one. Here is a great excerpt from the song
“I heard a clear voice
I looked at my choices
And I made a choice
Smoke and ashes
Tonight hide the stars
The stop lights are red now, love
We’ve come for what’s our”
Rating: 3/5
2. One Man Revolution
The song that bears the title of the album is where this album really gets interesting. The song is inspiring to any young fellow, as it calls for some good old fashioned political activism. Those who stay complacent end up with nothing, those who stand up for they want, get everything.
Rating: 5/5
3. Let Freedom Ring
Morello follows his title track with another great one. It is a rather somber song, but has an aura of hope around it especially in the parts where Morello sings “Let Freedom Ring”.
Rating: 4/5
4. The Road I Must Travel
This song reminds me a bit of RATM’s work as far as its message goes. The song gives me the impression of “a never ending quest for freedom”…the road (literal or not) is quite rough and will have difficulties for anyone who wishes to cross it….but the prize, (freedom) is well worth the travel.
Rating: 5/5
5. The Garden Of Gethsemane
Honestly don’t really have much to say about this song, is a solid song, also has that somber like mood to it. I don’t really like the song, nothing sticks out about it…maybe I am missing something…but until I find it…this is the worst track on an otherwise solid album.
Rating: 1/5
6. House Gone Up In Flames
One of the best songs of the album, House Gone Up In Flames is also my personal favorite. Morello uses a little Guthrie and Dylan here, and does so masterfully and powerfully. What I think this song is about is “starting fresh”, to start fresh one must “burn” everything they had (whether it be material possessions or personal beliefs). An incredible song, and everyone should check this album just for this song.
Rating: 5/5
7. Flesh Shapes The Day
A great song right here, a bit of humorous twist to it and lots of passion as well. “…That Jesus, Mary, Joseph And the Apostle Paul were black…”… ” Yeah, I support my troops, They wave black flags, They wear black masks”…. those two excerpts being shining examples of the humor. To end off this song review, I’ll show how Morello ends off this song… ” It doesn’t matter who you are, Does not matter what the fuck you say, Flesh shapes the day”
Rating: 5/5
8. Battle Hymns
I suppose this song rather speaks for itself. I don’t really have much to say about this one either…though it is a pretty good song in which Morello uses his harmonica while playing the acoustic.
Rating: 4/5
9. Maximum Firepower
I think this is the one exception to the “self explanatory” theme of this album. I think it may be about how awesome Morello is…and how he fights for what he believes in.
Rating: 4/5
10. Union Song
This has a sort of “Marxist” theme to it. Reminds me of the quote that Marx said…”Workers of the world, unite! You have nothing to lose but your shackles.”…Basically this is for the every day fellow who works his ass off and sees nothing compared to his greedy boss who can probably take showers in money.
Rating: 4/5
11. No One Left
This continues with that self explanatory theme…its basically about all those who die…”Each one had a father…each one had a name, a mother”. A good song, somewhat repetitive but solid nonetheless.
Rating: 4/5
12. The Dark Clouds Above
Another self explanatory song, it really does speak for itself so it makes it rather difficult to make a reaction or interpretation on it…since its right there in front of the listener.
Rating: 3/5
13. Until The End
The final track of the album is basically in the perfect position…as it concludes with the perfect summary of the album. The album is called “One Man Revolution”…that revolution being…bringing forth radical change everywhere that needs it. This is the case with the current state of politics in America, and this song is about doing everything possible to return America back to a proper state, one without the heavy corruption that is synonamous with the Bush administration.
Rating: 4/5
Overall, I really do enjoy this album. Morello’s voice is a bit different to what I normally listen to…as I don’t really listen to any folk type of music…but his voice is quite good. His guitar skills are top notch…he obviously isn’t just a electric “effect” guitar player. Morello recently stated “Bad presidents make for good music”…that is the perfect way to describe this album in my opinion.
Overall Rating: 4/5
Next up: Either Lateralus or 10,000 Days by Tool
External Links:
The Nightwatchman’s Official Website
Copyright © 2008 Moiz Khan - The godless Liberal
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