You have to get one thing straight before we go any further here -- Tool is not just another pop band, making music just to sell records they had no participation in actively creating, their ultimate goal being to make loads of money and gain celebrity status. See, Tool is different...a difference you can see in their latest album, Lateralus.

I doubt you'll find any Tool songs played on the radio, and if you do, it'll happen as often as somebody rises from the dead (it HAS been known to happen...). I believe that was one of Tool's intentions with Lateralus...unlike Radiohead, who refused to release any singles off of their album Kid A, Tool have made a CD that the radio stations won't want to play...their songs are just too long for the average listener. I was suprised to see the first single off of Lateralus, Schism, being played on Much Music the level it has in the past few months. It's past the top 20 mark of the Count Down, I believe...let's hope it goes all the way.

Anyway, I might as well tell you something about the album content. Like Ænima, Tool have included a few 'non-songs' onto Lateralus, songs that are more like audibal experiences rather than a traditional song. One of these is Mantra, a bizarre one minute and twelve seconds of...something. It sounds almost like a whalesong, but it has a wailing quality that makes it reminiscent of a cry for help. It's a very interesting track.

The other songs on Lateralus are more of what Tool fans have come to expect - great guitar and bass riffs, fabulous drumming, and intriguing lyrics. You've gotta admit...this band has some talent. On the song to song set of Parabol and Parabola, Parabol starts as an easy going but catchy melody, laced with relaxing vocals...but everything changes near the end of this track. Suddenly there is a rising crescendo of noise, and without a hitch Parabol instantly transforms into it's darker half, Parabola, a hard-hitting collection of madness. These are two of my favourite tracks on the album, but I consider them one - they are after all, pretty much the same song, only redone. It's pure genius.

Many of the tracks on Lateralus blend seamlessly into each other, giving the impression that the regularly 8 minute songs are, in fact, 16 minutes long. Disposition and Reflection, for instance, are an example of this unusual way of going about things (not forgetting the forementioned Parabol & Parabola).

Much of Lateralus is more refined than Tool's previous outages (Ænima for instance), and this is most likely due to the influence of A Perfect Circle (Maynard's side project). Still, on tracks like Ticks & Leeches, Tool sends the listener back down to the days of wailing from years past...I miss those days, but change is good.

At any rate, Lateralus is a fantastic experience for the ears. I would recommend everybody to buy this CD, but that's not going to happen...Tool may be popular, but many people can't understand why they're so great in an age of Limp Bizkit and Papa Roach - not that I'm dissing Limp Bizkit or Papa Roach, it's just that the music they make isn't as original as say, Tool.

Originality is a very rare, and great thing. Tool just so happens to be fairly original. Get the idea? Yeah, well, if you're a chronic Tool-hater, this review won't have changed your mind, but if you're open minded and feeling non-judgemental, buy Lateralus. Oh yeah, by the way, now is the time to pick it up - as a newly released CD, it's cheaper now than it will be in a years time, you thrifty cheapskates...

And get it at A&B sound! They're always having sales! And they're Canadian!

ARTIST: Tool

ALBUM TITLE: Lateralus

NUMBER OF TRACKS: 13

LENGTH OF ALBUM: 78 minutes, 52 seconds(!)

FAVOURITE TRACKS: Parabol/Parabola, Ticks & Leeches, Triad

QUALITY: 4.5/5