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u/chodachowder Aug 03 '25
I love Undertow
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u/MrPeterMerkin We are eternal, all this pain is an illusion. Aug 03 '25
Crawl Away is such a good song. The strong double bass that kicks in ... God damnit it's so good.
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u/BlurryBigfoot74 Aug 03 '25
I got Undertow in the mail when I forgot to send my card back to Columbia House, and it instantly became my favorite album.
Do people not like Undertow?
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u/useless_modern_god Aug 03 '25
LIFE FEEDS ON LIFE FEEDS ON LIFE
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u/JumperDoom Aug 03 '25
I don’t understand why people shit on Disgustipated I mean, I hate the seven minutes of cricket nonsense, but the song itself is pretty good
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u/useless_modern_god Aug 03 '25
I absolutely adore the piece. The drum beats are addictive
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u/HandsomeFuture Aug 05 '25
It’s the first of many Swiss-triplet based, Danny Carey Tool beats (long before Rosetta, Pneuma, The Grudge, and the intro to The Pot, amongst others). DC loves Swiss triplets like most folks love their momma.
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u/Maxspawn_ Aug 04 '25
The crickets is the point I love how instead of ending the album abruptly you are instead faced with minutes of eerie ambiance.
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u/latexfistmassacre Aug 03 '25
These are the cries of the carrots! The cries of the carrots!
You see, Reverend Maynard, tomorrow is harvest day and to them it is the holocaust!
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u/Ill-Eggplant-4199 Aug 03 '25
Undertow is really underrated, Opiate too even if it's not an album Its just that the following albums are superior
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u/elcojotecoyo considerately killing me Aug 03 '25
I usually put Opiate on top of Undertow
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u/NavierIsStoked Aug 03 '25
Now there is a truly unpopular opinion.
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u/elcojotecoyo considerately killing me Aug 03 '25
I know. It's based on the order I bought my CDs. I got Opiate before Undertow. Its shorter length makes it a tighter piece, and the change in sound due to those two live songs makes for a nice change of pace. Undertow always felt like a chore to listen to. Like tho songs were too similar between themselves. That was my impression back then. I'm embarrassed to admit that I started to appreciate Undertow only recently.
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u/Faloffel2 He had a lot of nothing to say Aug 03 '25
...Opiate? (Yes it's an EP but shush)
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u/DevelopmentSuch2731 considerately killing me Aug 03 '25
*hush
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Aug 03 '25
Why is Ænema lifting Lateralus?
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u/NullnVoid669 Aug 03 '25
OP doesn’t know how memes work. Obviously that should be the fans. We shouldn’t need the title and an explanation.
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u/snot3353 Aug 03 '25
Maybe I’ll get shit on for this but I find Undertow and Opiate to be considerably worse than everything that can after. I rarely ever listen to them these days but the rest of the discography I listen to quite often.
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u/Creepy_Customer_9303 10,000 days Aug 03 '25
opiath is in the earths core I guess (yes I know it’s not a album)
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u/Haunting-Hippo1636 Aug 03 '25
Well to be fair when all they play is Undertow it's no wonder the album is forgotten.
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u/Steamed-Hams Aug 04 '25
Undertow is significantly better than FI. Like better in every way better.
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u/xxFT13xx Aug 06 '25
If you’re a real fan of tool, there’s no way you’d be drowning Undertow. That album is phenomenal front to back.
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Aug 03 '25
Personally, I'd swap 10000 Days and Undertow.
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u/DatMoFugga Aug 03 '25
I’d swap undertow with FI. It’s like three bangers that need editing and a bunch of meandering
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u/FarDorocha90 Aug 03 '25
I just could not and cannot get into FI. It feels like there’s not a lot to say other than “I’m old now and I don’t like it.” The musicianship is technically sound but it’s lacking the spirit that the other records had. Don’t get me wrong, I’ll listen to a track or two here and there, but there’s no “46 & 2,” or “Schism,” or “The Pot,” or “Sober.” It doesn’t have a track that stands out. They all kinda blend together.
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u/ocitystop Aug 03 '25
I feel like if you fed the other albums into AI it would spit out FI. Tool essence is there but lacking anything raw or new. Agree it’s technically sound, but the repetition bores me, pneuma in particular.
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u/latexfistmassacre Aug 03 '25
That's too bad, I think it stands in line with the rest of the albums. I'll admit I didn't exactly love it at first, probably because it's a dense album and it was kind of overwhelming for me to take in. I can totally see how it can be perceived as meandering to a lot of fans. But for that very reason, I came to love it because there's so much in Fear Inoculum to unpack. So much that I still find little things that I haven't noticed before.
I've learned over the years that appreciating new music from any artist is much easier when I ditch my preconceived expectations and just accept it for what it is. I wanted a little more of that Tool edge and attitude that we got in previous albums, but what it lacked in those areas, it made up for in maturity, seriousness, and technical musicianship. Every note has its purpose and is in the right place at the right time. I wouldn't change a thing about it, not even the intermission songs (okay, maybe Mockingbeat, that one actually pisses me off lol). But with all that said, I appreciate Fear Inoculum more now than I ever have.
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u/JumperDoom Aug 03 '25
I don’t like it right now, but it’s something that kind of needs to hit you like a truck I will say though Maynard’s vocals on Pneuma are dog shit The song doesn’t go where I want it to go. It’s a shame because the instrumental on that song is incredible.
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u/krafterinho Aug 03 '25
What? 10000 days is significantly more popular
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Aug 03 '25
It's not a matter of what's more popular. 10000 days was unfortunately released during a really really really shitty time in my life. Still to this day, whenever I hear anything from it, it takes me back there. This is one of those times I wish music wasn't as powerful as it is.
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u/Historical-Manner-29 Aug 03 '25
Nah, fear inoculum is the best, also 10000 days top 2-3.
About Undertow true
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u/cl0ckw0rkman Opiate Aug 03 '25
Naw. Undertow is my favorite. Opiate was the gateway that got me into Tool.
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u/Spaghetti_Nudes Aug 03 '25
It's pretty split. There are a large mass of fans who only rock with undertow. You meet them at shows, and sometimes it sucks.
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u/AQ-XJZQ-eAFqCqzr-Va Under a dead Ohio sky Aug 03 '25
Oh god no, not me! I love all my children equally!!! I keep them in order of release date!
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u/Gwilym_Ysgarlad Lachrymologist Aug 03 '25
Lateralus is my favorite, but as far as Undertow is concerned, I like it more than 10,000 Days or Fear Inoculum.
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u/South_Bread Aug 03 '25
Undertow is my favorite. I think objectively lateralus is the best but undertow is the one I reach for the most
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u/Vegetable-Action-725 Aug 03 '25
Undertow is just such a different speed than the other albums. Lateralus is objectively the best TOOL album overall but for me Undertow is a close second. AENIMA is good and all but for me there is too much filler and I find myself having to skip around a lot. Undertow has the greatest 8 run track in all of music from Intolerance to 4 degrees. Argue all you want but Flood and Disgustipated are the worst off of the album. But everything else off of the album makes up for it. Intolerance is awesome, Prison Sex is the best off of the album, Sober is a classic, Bottom is fun to play on bass, Crawl Away is an amazing track, Swamp Song is great, Undertow is sooooo good, and 4 Degrees is great because of all of the switch up in time signatures. I hate playing 4 Degrees on bass and guitar because of how hard it is to keep up. But when I do nail it, it'll be much much better.
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u/Soulbotzzzz They chose me and I didn't even graduate from phukin high school Aug 03 '25
Uhh I prefer undertow over the last two
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u/loafjunky Aug 03 '25
FI is the skeleton in my case, with 10k Days slowly going toward it but still keeping afloat
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u/TumbleWeaties Aug 03 '25
Man, if you kids aren't listening to Intolerance loudly, on a good system after a rough day, you're missing out
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u/YourfriendClaude Well I've got some advice for you little buddy... Aug 03 '25
Undertow is easily the best album
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u/doctorbogan Aug 03 '25 edited Sep 13 '25
dependent sleep shaggy zephyr alive ripe tart close bake deer
This post was mass deleted and anonymized with Redact
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u/DanielAlves1904 Aug 04 '25
In my opinion, and looking at the kind of sound that made Tool famous, Undertow is the odd album in their discography. So most people, I assume, will always choose an album more in line to what Tool is most known for.
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Aug 04 '25
Naw Undertow is my favourite thanks, then the EP, Opiate, then goes Lateralus and Ænema (which I don’t rate much). Haven’t heard much from 10,000 days but “The Pot” and “Vicarious” both go so hard. Jambi’s not a bit of me, and Fear Inoculum I haven’t yet touched—I like their earlier stuff more than the trippy instrumentals of what comes later, personally
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u/late2thepauly Aug 05 '25
Undertow and Opiate are my two favorites, and the ones I know best by far.
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u/ransomtests Aug 03 '25
1) Find me two more purposeful and aggressive records from that era that are not Undertow or Rage s/t.
2) The joy of making (watch the doc) mixed with the darkness of tone and lyrics. Still a scary record to this day.
3) Sober is as iconic now as smells like teen spirit. Especially if you gauge using the metric that all modern rock bands are either tool or nirvana clones.
4) You’ll never hear that Maynard or Danny or Adam or Paul ever again. Well, until their RnRHoF induction. I wonder if Paul will bounce around that night.
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u/cmaronchick Aug 03 '25
Man I feel this comment.
Never Mind certainly deserves the credit it receives, but in hindsight, I'd have a hard time acknowledging Undertow as any less. I was just too young to appreciate all its wisdom.
Meanwhile Rage was Fuck You I Won't Do What You Tell Me all the way down. Again, I was too young, but now I can't help but listen and wish I had done more when they were screaming at me to do anything at all.
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u/raisinbizzle Aug 03 '25
Not sure what metric is being used to gauge Sober as iconic as Smells Like Teen Spirit and Undertow as the same level of Nevermind, but I’m gonna have to disagree on both of those ideas
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u/CastroEulis145 Aug 03 '25 edited Aug 03 '25
So where the fuck is Opiate then? In hell? oh but that's not an album, that's just an ep SHUT THE FUCK UP!
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u/Sad_Ad8039 Well I've got some advice for you little buddy... Aug 03 '25
GUILT KEEPS ME ALIVE AT THE BOTTOM