ÆNIMA

aenima is tools third album (unless you dont count opiate to be a full length album) and is a true masterpiece. This album is much more accessible as it has excellent production and a huge improvement on the bands amazing guitar skills.

The album kicks off with "stinkfist" which shows off the bands guitar skills and progresses beautiful throughout. Maynards vocals are the key ingredient here. "Eulogy" is quite a long piece and can be hard to get into as it takes a while to build up but i think the lyrics (some say they refer to bill hicks because of the album artwork but others say they relate to jesus) are superbly written and this song shows how tool can switch between emotion and angst. "Forty Six & 2" is also a long winding piece that continues to build up brilliantly throughout and is one of the bands best songs.

"Message To Harry Manback" is one of the short filler tracks to help link the 2 songs beside it together. These tracks are ok but can get annoying. "Hooker with a Penis" is a very different song. It is very angry and the lyrics are an attack at the media because tool are very much against selling out. Even though the lyrics tend to be a little crude, there is some rather excellent guitar work ere. "intermission" is a silly piece that is used to build up into the explosive "Jimmy" which has heavy droning guitars and brilliant, tortured vocals.

"Pushit" is another lengthy piece but is one of the best songs on the album. The 2 best songs are saved for last. "Aenima" is a brutal melee of angry guitar riffs that weaves in and out of mellow singing and angry screams. "Third Eye" is what makes this album a masterpiece. Excelling over all the other tracks, this 13 minute epic sums up the whole album with its ever changing musical progress. Aenima is one of the best progressive rock albums of the 90's along with Dream Theaters "Scenes From a Memory".