UNDERTOW

Tool is the band that defines growing up, in a musical sense of course. Undertow was the first step in the process of the band that made Opiate growing into the band that created Lateralus. Undertow is no masterpiece; it contains many riffs that are uninteresting or mediocre at best. There are a lot of vocal parts that just do not captivate. The incredible talents of Danny Carey and Paul d'Amour were sparsely showcased on this album. The album has a raunchy, somewhat aggressive feel to it and it sounds like the band is putting forth about 65% of their efforts. Regardless, Undertow is essentially a collection of nine good songs; "Flood" being the best and "4 degrees" being the worst. I don't know what "Disgustipated" is. It's really just noise. None of Undertow's songs are connected to give that flowing album, one solid piece of work feel that Lateralus and Aenima have. Undertow is just nine good songs. They aren't great songs, save for "Flood" and "Intolerance". They aren't weak songs, save for "4 degrees". They are mostly good songs that come together to make a good album, and the songs are good because of solid and heavy riffage, well placed screaming, and a dark, ugly vibe that only Tool can create.