LATERALUS

This one's a grower, no doubt about it. It took me about 2 weeks of listening before I started to appreciate it, but it was worth it. Danny Carey and Maynard James Keenan are at both their pinnacles here, and Danny is especially a pleasure to listen to, no doubt one of the greatest modern drummers in the business, his solid beats peppered with insane solos have a certain charm to them. The bass is also worth listening to, whereas the guitar takes more of a rhythm role, on contrary to most guitarist attitudes ;-)

Anyways, onto the tracks. There is not a single weak or bad track on here, which is a breath of fresh air for me, as I've listened to some bad songs in the past! The sound is consistant as well, which I also like in a band. As been mentioned before, the shorter tracks (Eon Blue, Mantra, Parabol, Disposition) are merely nice build ups to the big daddies. They play a major part in the likeability of Lateralus. My personal favourite actually songs are by a mile The Grudge, Parabola, Ticks & Leeches and Reflection. Reflection is one of the most surreal and beautiful tracks I've ever heard, with some once again very nice drumming from Danny. Lateralus also deserves an honerary mention.

Overall, this is an excellent, heavy and yet beautiful album with capital drumming, outstanding vocals and some really memorable songs. Tool's masterpiece.