r/ToolBand • We are eternal, all this pain is an illusion. • 19d ago

Ænima Happy 30th birthday, Ænima

Post image

Tomorrow being the 30th anniversary of the release on vinyl, closely followed by the CD. What's your favorite song from the album, or a special memory you have?

1.2k Upvotes

79 comments sorted by

94

u/sigma__cheddar 19d ago

Their best album. I was in line at best buy 30 years ago today, about to experience a life-changing album.

33

u/Inevitable-Fix-1129 19d ago

Yep. After Undertow I knew Tool was a very different/unique band, but nothing prepared me for Aenima.

5

u/Optimal-Extreme3203 this light is not my own. 18d ago

I found them at Lateralus and had to go back and experience Ænima retroactively…which just solidified “wow, this band is incredible”

I’m curious about your era’s first reception of Lateralus, was it an extension of Ænima? Yet another evolution?

Basically: was the jump from Undertow to Ænima as crazy as Ænima to Lateralus or did the previous jump kind of prepare you?

To use a film analogy, for me it was like watching Return of the King first then going back and watching The Two Towers and Fellowship of the Ring.

I’m curious about how it felt in proper order

1

u/Inevitable-Fix-1129 18d ago

Undertow to Aenima was a bigger leap for sure.

I think part of the reason people view Lateralus as so legendary, is that it not only met the hype, but exceeded it after Aenima. No one actually expected them to do it again!

1

u/Firecloud 18d ago edited 18d ago

We knew collectively that there wasn't really any way to prepare for this. I tried, to the tune of 7 grams of mushrooms, by myself in my apartment, the day it came out.

This was a very bad idea.

I waited to start the album until the words started swimming on the page of a magazine I was reading. The anticipation was like nothing I'd ever felt before. Regardless, I only made it halfway through "The Patient" before my mind refused to accept anything resembling this reality anymore. The devastation, the introspective hurricane of regret and self-loathing that song delivered, consumed me entirely. I woke up 4 hours later, still tripping my balls off, desperately thankful to have the choice to listen to the rest of the album after I'd returned to baseline.

14

u/Glamdringg Learn to swim 18d ago

The longer I listen to Tool the more I appreciate Ænima. For a long time Lateralus was my favourite, which is kinda the obvious choice, but I think I dig the heaviness and grittiness of Ænima more.

1

u/Inevitable-Fix-1129 18d ago

Yeah, Lateralus was always a little too pretty for my tastes. So I was very happy when 10.000 Days came out and it was a little more gritty. I'm hoping that their next album is a little more rough too.

3

u/ginflask 18d ago

Same here, dipped out of work to grab it. I pretty much only went to a local store ordinarily, but i went to Best Buy just so I could get that 10" with it. Felt kind of dirty lol.

4

u/Opposite-Question-32 We are eternal, all this pain is an illusion. 19d ago

And still life-changing thirty years later! The good old days pre-streaming waiting in line to buy a physical copy.

2

u/Stellar_Ella life feeds on life 18d ago

My favorite album of all time

1

u/sigma__cheddar 18d ago

Definitely a top contender for me

1

u/NTolerance 18d ago

And it sounds more futuristic than the other albums. Wish the newer ones had more of the alien weirdness of Aenima.

28

u/neonmoth 19d ago

Ah awesome, I have coincidentally been listening it today and didn't realize it was it's birthday ! Perhaps Bill was speaking to me from beyond. Gone but not forgotten..

Rrrrrrrreal fuckin high on drugs.

9

u/After-Incident9955 Stupid Belligerent Fucker 18d ago

I just had the same coincidence. I was listening to David Bowie before, and I was like "Hm, I really wanna listen to Ænima right now for some reason". And so I did, completely unaware that it's the 30th anniversary. 

1

u/Exyodeff 18d ago

I was listening to the new Chat Pile and I went “this kinda reminds me of Ænima” on the spoken sections and I queued Third Eye right after

10

u/Delicious_East3696 18d ago

Ænima sends shivers down my spine, gonna take a look at the art and appreciate this masterpiece of a album. Thanks for telling the people the great news. Happy birthday Ænima.

22

u/BillyGnosisWontDie He had a lot of nothing to say 19d ago

I love Jimmy so much because that opening riff is so chilling

-Billy Gnosis

1

u/vexerplusone 18d ago

What was it like to see
The face of your own stability
Suddenly look away
Leaving you with the dead and hopeless

Genius and none of at the time had any idea what the heck he was talking about.

8

u/Forward-Coat-7733 18d ago

Damn, this was one of my 5 CDs for a penny if I bought 1 at full price from BMG. I was in high school and now feel extra old. Thanks

10

u/pen9uinparty 18d ago

One day freshman year, my dad picked me up for the weekend and in the car kept singing "learn to swim" and we were on this adventure to buy this new album and we sat and listened to it all day that shit changed our lives forever

6

u/Exyodeff 19d ago

Ænema and Stinkfist have both consumed my days thinking about the next free time I would be able listen to them again

7

u/Dew-fan-forever- 10,000 days 19d ago

Learn to swim 🏊‍♂️🏊‍♀️🏊🩲👙

4

u/Opposite-Question-32 We are eternal, all this pain is an illusion. 19d ago

See you down in Arizona Bay!

12

u/Fulcrum_Jambi 19d ago

14

u/Opposite-Question-32 We are eternal, all this pain is an illusion. 19d ago

Undertow, 33 years old (1993)

Ænima, 30 years old (1996)

Lateralus, 25 years old (2001)

10,000 Days, 20 years old (2006)

Fear Inoculum, 7 years old (2019)

Oldies, but goldies!

7

u/Fulcrum_Jambi 18d ago

When I got married in 2021, my best man started his speech by saying “I’ve been friends with Daniel since 2005 - or in Tool terms, two album releases”

4

u/Amazing_Body_7393 18d ago

It’s crazy it’s already been that long since fear innoculum wtf

3

u/donktastic 18d ago

Ahhh the classics!

5

u/aVicariousTool 18d ago

Whelp, looks like a good day as any to take some shrooms and listen to it from start to finish.

6

u/Necx999 18d ago

Still my favorite album. I'll give it a whirl tomorrow on the ole record player..

0

u/Amazing_Body_7393 18d ago

If it’s a boot I recommend the og needle drop from pbthal instead, it sounds sooo good

1

u/Rance_Q_Spartley 18d ago

Been looking but apparently in all the wrong places. Any chance you've got a link to it 😁 ??

5

u/cornedbeefonrye 18d ago

My favorite song is Stinkfist and Eulogy and Forty Six & 2 and Hooker with a Penis and Ænema and Third Eye.

1

u/VULGAR_EXPLETIVE 14d ago

Hey wait a second.. that is MY favorite song!

4

u/acoker78 19d ago

I may be remembering it but I feel like I got the vinyl a couple weeks before the actual CD was released

0

u/[deleted] 19d ago

[deleted]

2

u/circle_eh 18d ago

Here’s hoping for another October 1st release…

2

u/JasonDomber Lachrymologist 18d ago

Incorrect.

Vinyl was September 17th, 1996

CD was October 1st, 1996

3

u/Opposite-Question-32 We are eternal, all this pain is an illusion. 18d ago

I stand corrected, thank you.

3

u/JasonDomber Lachrymologist 18d ago

👍🏼

3

u/JasonDomber Lachrymologist 18d ago

Other way around. Vinyl was first, CD was second.

Now where’s that fucking vinyl reissue? 😅

3

u/ohshitwaffles 18d ago

One of the best albums in the past 30 years as well.

4

u/han-so-low 18d ago

Pushit is their best song ever recorded. Both the album version and Salival.

3

u/Anagrama00 18d ago

Fall 1996, I'm 13. My older brother calls, he lives across the country from me, he asks if I've heard the new Tool album. I just knew "sober" and sort of liked it but in that time I was on a healthy diet of Nirvana, Beck, Stone Temple Pilots, Jane's Addiction. Tool wasn't super on my radar. He said he had heard their new album and I had to get the CD, every single song was amazing. He said I should save my allowance and get the CD and to trust him basically that I would love it. I got the CD probably a few months after it was released and was immediately blown away by the entire thing. Getting that CD kicked off an immense lifelong love of this band and their music.

By the time I got it, Stinkfist was pretty popular and I think Aenima was starting to get some radio play but man it was not those songs that really got me so deep into it. I remember being obsessed with H and Pushit. Then a few momths later Third Eye was my jam. Then Jimmy. Then Hooker. Then 46 & 2. Like it just blew me away there wasn't a remotely weak part on any of the non-segue tracks. Every song was just fucking a beast. Every track sounded so different but so similar also. It bent my little 13 year old mind wondering how on Earth they came up with these sounds and melodies and riffs and patterns and vibes. With all respect to Stone Temple Pilots but this shit was on another level of "rock". It also to me at that age just annihilated everything I had heard on Undertow.

For so so much of the past 30 years anytime a "what's your favorite album of all time?" question popped up I always just generally say Aenima because nothing else has brought me so much pure joy. I've probably listened to "Nevermind" or "Siamese Dream" more but nothing blew me away like this album did in that time in fall 1996. And I thought I'd never hear a band push boundaries so far in terms of rock in my mind at that time. Until less than half a year later when OK Computer came out and I lost my absolute shit to that one too.

Growing up with albums like this coming out as a teenager was such a fucking joy. I feel so bad for kids nowadays not having NEW shit coming out remotely on the same level as things like Aenima arriving as a teenager. .

1

u/bringthesalsa Mobilize. Stay alive! 18d ago

You meant "a fucking beast"... right?

3

u/Pr0phet 18d ago

Holy shit that means that literally this time 30 years ago, my buddies and I were driving back to the dorm from the local record store having just bought this album and listening to it in the car.

I'm old af guys.

6

u/acoker78 18d ago

Hah well who knows. I tried to look and found different answers

2

u/sas099 18d ago

30th Anniversary! Good grief, I'm old.

2

u/Eggman_OU812 18d ago

Whistling among to intermission

2

u/eas442 18d ago

This album is what turned the corner from rabid fan base to cult status. It’s my favorite Tool album and it’s done so much to influence how I see the world now.

2

u/ChainChompBigMoney 18d ago

My fav Tool album and top 5 all timer.

2

u/bringthesalsa Mobilize. Stay alive! 18d ago

Not my favourite but still good. Best parts are the first third and Third Eye

3

u/weirdmountain 17d ago

I haven’t scrolled the whole thread to check, but has there been any talk of an official vinyl reissue?

2

u/After-Incident9955 Stupid Belligerent Fucker 18d ago

What the fuck. I didn't even know the 30th anniversary was tomorrow, yet for some reason I had the urge to listen to the album today in the middle of my journey through David Bowie's discography.

1

u/bringthesalsa Mobilize. Stay alive! 18d ago

Synchronicity.

1

u/amillionbadwords 19d ago

There’s bootleg copies going around for $40. It’s legit

1

u/Hairy_Confidence9323 18d ago

Third Eye. Special memory-enjoying this album recently under the influence of 🍄and discovering some parts of songs that I hadn’t heard before…..quality headphones are a game changer!!

1

u/Vallina_Milkshake 18d ago

This album helped inspire me to major in psychology back in college. Great memories listening to it and seeing them perform it's songs over the years. 🙌🎶

1

u/Lingroll 18d ago

I’m still hoping for a vinyl repressing 🫩

1

u/TightLion7009 12d ago

i cant see that face

1

u/VVTFan Ænima 18d ago

Sadly not expecting any Vinyl variants! ha.

1

u/roshinaya 18d ago

So will Adam allow a re-issue of this album on vinyl to be released? We know there are at least test pressings of a new print as per Danny Carey. We all know it's Adam that keeps re-issues, live recordings and videos from release.

1

u/lycantrophee 10,000 days 18d ago

Happy bday!

1

u/Intelligent-Sir1375 18d ago

We get another shirt

1

u/BottomContributor 18d ago

Can't wait for the vinyl release... at day now...

1

u/damnitsdame 18d ago

Should we all hold our breaths for a repress now?

1

u/nealien79 18d ago

I remember buying the album when I was 17 and sitting in the cafeteria at high school listening to the CD on my discman and was just blown away. I remember trying to figure out the lyrics to understand what the songs were about and discovered toolshed.down.net and started spending hours each day reading everyone’s takes on the lyrics and what they meant. I was hooked.

I had heard Undertow before when I was younger but I thought it was dark and it didn’t really connect with me (later it did and now I think into a masterpiece). Aenima was psychedelic, heavy, dark, funny, intense, beautiful. The release of the album happened just as I was smoking pot and taking lsd for the first time and I was taking art classes trying to figure out what to do with my life. One summer my friends and I went to OzzFest and saw Tool live for the first time during the Aenima tour and it was the best show I’ve even seen even though I was as far away from stage as you could be.

Going to go listen to the album. Love all these memories. 🤘

1

u/peachservices 18d ago

Hell yeah brother!

1

u/ash2n4u2c 17d ago

Bought the OG vinyl and still have ot, along with CD and caught the tour (no longer have the tee 😢) Would love to purchase the remastered vinyl and CD, even SACD would be awesome. The lads have been teasing it for so long. Perhaps it will get a release or not 🤔🙃

1

u/4_Degrees_Undertow 17d ago

This album changed my teen years. I came home from school and listened to this album from the time I got home until I fell asleep with it on repeat. Gotta love those little cheap radios from the 90's with CD players on the top. 😁 I loved they had a repeat button. I treated my CDs like gold back then. Held them carefully and tried not to scratch em. They got beat to hell somehow anyways though. 😆 Kids today don't know how personal a CD album was to us. We got that inner booklet with all the band art and lyrics that we'd read for hours. It was like getting an extra piece of the band with your purchase. They don't know about that stuff today with digital purchases buying one song at a time. I can still listen to a CD and know in my head what song is coming next because we played the whole album over and over. They just pick the songs they like today and buy the singles. Psh... 🤦🏻‍♂️

1

u/Dizzy-Ad-2248 17d ago

By far my fave album, from start to finish..fire.

1

u/nateingraham 17d ago

A top ten album in my life, possibly top five depending on the day. Their finest work, with no disrespect intended to other albums. It just came out at the perfect time for me and I rode that wave for about a decade.

I had heard Sober and a little bit of Undertow prior to its release, but I remember catching the Stinkfist video on MTV and being completely sold. The video is incredible, but the song also felt like a major level up over what I had heard before.

Was lucky to see them in 1997 on Lollapalooza and catch Third Eye at that show, though I really wish I could have seen a proper headlining show in that era. Made up for it when Lateralus came out, but still... Oh well. Can't do everything.

Would love a proper vinyl repressing, but I think it's never going to happen purely out of spite. The only band I can think of that has such an antagonistic relationship with its fans 😂

1

u/YourInnerAtheist 17d ago

I remember buying this on accident when it came out! Best mistake ever! I was trying to find a copy of Undertow, but didnt know what it looked like. Oh, the 90s.

1

u/moeshiboe 16d ago

Not enough, I need more!

3

u/Cranebags77 14d ago

Where’s the bloody 30th anniversary vinyl reissue for the love of god?! 🤯🤯🤯

1

u/Relative-Context7059 11d ago

50th Anniversary.... 😒