Tool ... are they really all that good ?

The best prog band right now.

Philéas wrote: On the lyrics bit: It's very easy to criticise, but try doing it better yourselves. It isn't always easy I tell you.

Sure, it must be very difficult. And I'm not saying I could do better. This doesn't mean I shouldn't criticise though.

Tool are a hard taste to acquire? as proven by their large fan base rooted in many different age groups and musical contexts, not to mention the fact that they're successful enough to have produced memorable videos? :P :P :P

they're just a little bit more clever than most bands, a little more judicious with their payoffs and choruses. They do have the image of being mystic travellers and so forth but I think it's a cynical thing to some extent. you may think it takes a genius to put down the lyrical themes of life, which every intelligent person already constantly considers, but I do not.

I find Lateralus to be seventy minutes of a very good forty minute album.

I think Tool can be an acquired taste, they were for me.  My brother got Lateralus I think back in 2001 or 2002 and he listened to it very often, so I was exposed to it quite a bit.  I have to say, I didn't like it at first.  Then he got Aenima and Undertow, and they still didn't appeal to me all that much.  But I gradually started to like them and I was able to appreciate Aenima and Undertow in particular.  But I'm still trying to get into Lateralus, although I really like some parts of it.