Ænima

I know this list is going to have a lot of Tool. And I knew this album would definitely be on it. Tool is not for me. This album is super long and super angsty which is Tool in a nutshell. I am sure there will be a lot more Tool to listen to before this is finished.

TOOL is a band that often frustrates me (and I think my review history would support that). They can make some incredible jams, but have next to zero trigger discipline, resulting in some bloated messes of albums. I'll say that this one is among their better that I've listened to (and at this point I've listened to damned near them all), but it still feels like it is a bit overstuffed and that their longer jams don't always have payoff. Favorites from the listen were Stinkfist, Forty Six & 2, Hooker With a Penis, and the title track. Solid 4.

1 crazy ass album especially Aenema that is just an insane song. Stinkfist is such a heater to start the album. Definitely not in my top TOOL albums but it is still TOOL and is great

Stinkfist is a great opener and an even better song name. Forty Six & 2 is such a jam. Hooker with a Penis is also a pretty dope song name. Solid album same as every TOOL album ever.

One of their finest work. I love this record.

I thought this was my third or fourth Tool album to review on the user list, but apparently, it’s only my second one. Tool is one of those bands that I wish I was really into, but I’d say I only have a passing appreciation for their work. However, I’m more familiar with their work from this era, so maybe Ænima will be more up my alley than Fear Inoculum was. While I still wouldn’t consider myself a Tool fan, I enjoyed this album more than Fear Inoculum. I’m typically not a big prog metal guy, mostly because I feel like the albums and songs can’t justify their epic lengths (looking at you, “Third Eye”), and that’s what brought this album down a bit for me. But the high points of this album were great. “Stinkfist,” “Forty Six & 2,” “Hooker with a Penis,” and “Ænema” were all really good, and I enjoyed the dark atmosphere of the album as a whole. I really enjoyed how the guitars, particularly the bass, created some really great grooves too. Despite that, Danny Carey was the star of the show here. Carey’s drumming was fantastic, and really helped craft the dark atmosphere and mood of this album. A friend of mine in high school loved Danny Carey (he said that Carey could keep three different time signatures at the same time. Is that true? Is that even a real thing?), and this album shows why he’s one of the best. This isn’t the type of album that I’d come back to, but I’d for sure come back for some of the individual songs.

Still not getting this. I think he needs to cheer up a bit.

Ehhhh, not my favorite.

What the fuck Dimery? He gives us lots of '90s dreck metal like Limp Bizkit, Kid Suck and Marilyn Manson while passing over one of the greatest albums of the decade. This and Undertow should've been on the original list. Thank you for correcting a major oversight.

4.5

I really want to like Tool more. I feel like they have moments of brilliance but the constant quirkiness take me out of the mood that they created. I'm not opposed to an experimental album that just takes the piss out of everything. But I wish they'd either do that or make a great hard rock album. Going back and forth (along with the adolescent obsession with drugs and transphobic lyrics) doesn't really work for me. I understand why they have a very loyal fanbase but that's just my take. 4 stars based on some of the better moments but I think it's a shame that they don't reach 5 because they could. I'll take A Perfect Circle over this.

Alright...I get it. You guys love Tool. Now please don't add anymore to the list...I've had enough. 2.5/5

It's been a long time since I listened to this. Every song clicked again. Probably not their most celebrated but for sure my favourite album of theirs. Don't remember it being that long but doesn't bother me.

Look, I get why people might like Tool. They're doing interesting stuff, but it just isn't my thing. Also, it's sooooo long.

It's interesting, each time I listen to TOOL I end up realizing I should listen to more TOOL. I hadn't listened to this album in quite some time, being tied up with the 1001 LOL, but am glad this is part of the user submitted albums. TOOL are a great example of how metal can have interesting music, instrumentation, vocals, and lyrics, and still be quite heavy!

Uz lateralus najbolji

Almost earns it pretension, very solid rock. I wanted more vocal interest but I enjoyed almost the whole run.

Certainly some TOOL should have been on the original list. Which album(s) I have no idea, I'm not a fan. Not like you guys. But I liked the other albums and I like this one too. Keep sharing these and I'm sure I'll eventually love them too.

Since Tool fans are famously even-keeled and not-at-all smug or overly defensive about their favorite band, I figured this would be the perfect opportunity for a little roast of Tool, the 1001 Album Generator Community’s favorite band: - Ænima is such a great record that Tool has remade it 3 times over the last 30 years. - Tool was so high on drugs that they let Danny Carey be the lead instrumentalist on almost all of their songs…Rrrrrrreeeeeeeaaal fucking high on drugs. (This one might only be funny if you’ve heard the full Bill Hicks bit that Tool samples at the beginning of “Third Eye”). - When it dawns on them what the lyrics to “Hooker with a Penis” actually mean, Tool fans are going to be very upset. …all right, enough of that. I’m veering awfully close to only mocking Tool fans and that’s not fair. Ænima should’ve been on the list. For me, it’s a no-brainer. It’s their best album, if only for the fact that all of their subsequent records a have borrowed from it musically and/or structurally. It’s the blue print for post-1990’s Tool, for better or worse. Me? I think they put out one great album directly following this one and have been spinning their wheels since. Doesn’t make this a bad album, or them a bad band, but kind of feels like they keep going back to the same well and what was once great, is now watered-down….Doesn’t seem like they’ve done much progressing musically and isn’t the whole point of this band to expand your horizons, man? Pry open your third eye? See things from a different perspective? What’s the point of doing drugs if you’re just going to end up doing the same thing over and over, until the way it makes you feel in the present can never can never compare with the way it made you feel in the past? Oh, wait…

My older brother had this album when it came out, so I sort of absorbed it via proximity. I forgot how dang good it is, even if it's not something I'd listen to regularly. A jarring omission from the original list.

Vad är det för en fool som tycker han är cool samtidigt som han drool och väljer ytterligare en platta med Tool? Helst så skulle jag vilja knuffa i dig i en pool eller slå dig i huvudet med en stool.

Very angry but still a banger

100% should have been on the original list. Tool is a cultural phenomenon with many devoted fans.

Favourite songs: Aenema, Forty Six & 2, H., Stinkfist, Eulogy, Hooker With a Penis, Pushit Least favourite songs: Jimmy, Cesaro Summability 5/5

Brilliant album.. Major evolution from Undertow into more of the progressive space, they found there sound on this one. Tools fans are the best!

Hard rate for me. Better then I was expecting. Talented musicians and some interesting songs. But i don't see listening to this again.

I could see this getting up to a 4 at some point, but it's not quite there yet for me. I liked it a lot more than I was expecting to and some of the more industrial experiments were very interesting and entertaining. My biggest problem with Tool is my same problem I have with King Crimson, it's their fans. Tool fans are the vegans of music fandom. You won’t have to ask.

3.5/5

Now we're talking! My favourite band. Just superb in every way!

Just incredible. I don't really have a favourite track — the whole thing is a journey from start to finish.

How is this tagged "Nu Metal"!? (╯°□°）╯︵ ┻━┻ Anyway, this is an automatic 5 from me. This got released at just the right time and it absolutely blew me away. Remains a fave to this day, and it's my fave TOOL album for sure. Fave tracks - I mean, basically every track over 2.5 mins long is freaking awesome. And the shorter tracks are fine as atmospheric interstials, it's just no point mentioning them in isolation.

Not really my thing but can understand why they should be on the main list. It made an interesting soundtrack to the ridiculous drive i had to do in the snow to drop off some keys so another driver can apparently attempt to drive to north Wisconsin where there's been 2 feet of snow. Really dumb as this has been one of the largest snowstorms in recorded history. I made it and Tool made an okay soundtrack

Yesterday was a blur and this album didnt get the fair shake it deserved, but freaking love tool.

Interesting to choose this over Lateralus but I digress. This album is still great as you'd expect from a Tool album. It's definitely more raw which is a nice contrast to their later material.

What to say about this album that hasn't been said a thousand times before. It's Tool. It's Ænima. This style has been copied by dozens and dozens of bands, brought forth a horde of annoying fans, isn't as good as follow-up Lateralus, but 100% should've been on the original list. Still a 5-star album.

Run of the mill Rock

Rock pesado, industrial, con poderío, fuerza. No es un estilo que me guste especialmente, pero tiene intensidad. Bastante sonido grave en general.

Always good

vom. 99% chance of 1. it wasnt as bad as all hat but I'm still not really here for it.

One can see the appeal even if one doesn’t dig in the least, which presumably makes one a Tool hater, a position one understands more readily (indeed instinctively) than the pro-Tool view. Does not need to be on list proper.

Ugh. More tool

I don't think I like Tool? Or at the very least, this album. Which is weird, because most of my life I've thought "yeah, Tool is good," but I've never listened to much outside of Schism, and I never really wanted to. But today marks a start into another controversial opinion of mine, because I find this album to be overly long, somewhat full of itself, and rarely kind of gross. I get what it's going for, and I can see the start of that more progressive metal sound leaking through, but this album shares more DNA with acts I couldn't care less about than anything interesting. I already know almost the rest of their discography is in the user albums, so that'll be fun, but maybe it'll make me see something in them as we go on. But this one is a bit of a stinker.

Very slick and tight arrangement. They are head and shoulders above the hordes of bands in the similar genre. A bit too polished for me but I kind of like the bits in between. You can't deny they are designed to sell records.

boring ÆF

Offbeat but sometimes it is interesting to listen to people who porport to be joyless

I’ve tried with Tool a few times but it always feels like an effort. I just don’t find any joy here at all.

I've been listening to this album for close to 30 years, so I don't need to hear it again to rate it, but I'll certainly take the opportunity. I love this album. Tool is one of those bands that I want to like more than I do, but I was never able to get into their other albums like this one. This album, though, is incredible. It just grabs you and drags you along on this incredible journey. The music, the production, the lyrics, Maynard's voice, everything about it works. It doesn't come together like this for any of Tool's other albums, but that's okay. This is the Tool album for me 5/5

But for me

Was this submitted as a piss take? As if 90+ minutes of Spose wasn't terrible enough this follows it & is another of level of bad altogether.

Alternative metal, progressive metal. Ni fu ni fa.

Metal.

3 Tool albums? The jury’s out on this one. This is the Tool album I’m the most mixed on. On one hand it has some of their best songs, on the other there’s a loooooot of dead air (looking at you ”(-) Ions”). There’s at least 10 minutes that could’ve been trimmed off without losing any artistic value. Much more likely that I’d pick out the best tracks and listen to them separately, although that is also the case with every Tool album.

Waste of time. What was the point

Just bland and boring.

Beast of an album. Dark, heavy and atmospheric!

Is Tool the biggest oversight on the list? The finishers so far seem to think so, with three Tool albums being added. Tool have such a unique and powerful sound, it is a major head-scratcher how the 1001 could miss them. I love Australian critic Patrick Donovan’s description of the band as "the thinking person's metal band. Cerebral and visceral, soft and heavy, melodic and abrasive, tender and brutal, familiar and strange, western and eastern, beautiful and ugly, taut yet sprawling and epic, they are a tangle of contradictions." Even though “Ænima” is great, “Lateralus” blows it away. Looking forward to that one, and thanks to all who sought to fix Tool’s snubbing.

June 20, 2025 HL: "Forty Six & 2", "jimmy", title track I'm about to say the worst thing I've said in my whole life... I don't care much for Tool. There's a part of my brain that shows up for the tangled time signatures and interesting atmospheres, but the rest is like TV static. Just like zero emotion going on up there. I do think I appreciated it more than 10000 Days, as songs like the title track & "Third Eye" may have upped my heartrate just a tad. 2.5 for now

Too many bangers to not be on the main list.

Indeed, there is a lack of metal albums on the original list, especially the kind of metal albums more eccentric like this one. When I got the second TOOL album on the user's list, I expected to fill this gap. It was done, but I was expecting so much more from a band with a significant number of followers and defenders that the failure to achieve my expectations made this album a bit worse for me than it probably truly is.

Good & moody, but I liked what was going on in this one less than Lateralus. Little bit too much metal of the era, not enough weird basslines

1996?? This album sounds like the band took a trip a decade in the future, recorded it, then brought it back to the old millennium. That’s pretty cool. So’s this album.

Really good album. I just find it a little long. It’s rare for me that a record that is over an hour does leave me feeling it’s too long.

Awesome album, contains one of my favorite songs of all time, Ænema. This is a great shout that should have definitely made it onto the 1001 albums list, especially considering how many lesser albums there were.

A stunning and dark masterpiece from progressive metal icons Tool, with a more industrial approach than the hypnotic transcendence of later albums like their magnum opus Lateralus. It’s their most aggressive and sardonic album, though tracks like Forty Six & Two are still catchy and anthemic, and it’s full of fantastic moments though doesn’t quite reach the highs of Lateralus for me and is also a little less consistent. Still, when it really hits - especially on the astounding title track - it sure packs a hell of a punch

Oh well, Tool. The sophomore album showcases all the ingredients that make this band's music, sound, moods and tones so distinctive within the "prog metal" umbrella genre: off-kilter bars and rhythm patterns, eastern-inspired melodies for the bass and vocal lines, somber moods and tones, sudden brilliant surges of electric guitar, confrontational lyrics sometimes straddling the line between surreal and edgy, along with Maynard James Keenan's seedy and anguished vocal performance sealing the whole deal. The first leg of the album, going from catchy "Stinkfist" to aggressive "Hooker With A Penis", piles up one highlight after the next. Unfortunately, it's just more of the same after that, and that "same thing" rarely glows as brightly as the first tracks do. Not that there are any duds per se in the second half of the album, but the numerous prog elements fail to stand out as they should, and the murky uniformity of the soundscape is also detrimental to a truly dynamic listening experience. Tool admittedly tried to counterbalance that flaw through weird noisy interludes or a couple of more ambient bridges here and there, so as to add a little sonic variety. But that choice actually worsens things to an extent. Some of those interludes are not merely pointless or grating. They also make the record feel even more lengthy -- whereas self-editing within the proper compositions would have served the latter better instead. This lack of sonic dynamism is an issue that Tool would solve in next LP *Lateralus*, where the sound palette and the prog elements are far more colourful and striking -- justifying the length of the songs and album this time around. So for me, only *Lateralus* and debut *Undertow* within Tool's discography are worthy of a list of essential releases. But that doesn't mean that "Ænima* is awful overall, just that it is a transitory effort that is at least worth a listen for fans of the overall genre, even if it's ultimately second-tier. Hardcore Tool fans will disagree, of course, but what do they know? Most of them still think this band never went down from their peak as we speak, and their notoriously obnoxious fandom isn't convincing many outsiders to say the least. Funny that "Hooker With A Penis" is actually about one early example of those obnoxious fans by the way. Phish or Limp Bizkit might play music that's far less interesting or engaging than Tool for me (and, I guess, many other people). But from my personal experience, fans of those other acts are cool and unpretentious people, even when you express your distaste of those favorite bands of theirs. You only need to respect other people's taste and be polite about the whole thing, and communication is still possible. Whereas I'm pretty sure whatever *nuanced* criticism of *Ænima* I've actually managed to express up there has already triggered many Tool fans using this app. And I have to admit that the idea that those particular fans can't reply to me is *extremely* amusing for me now. 3.5/5 for the purposes of this list of essential albums. 8.5/10 for more general purposes (5 + 3.5) Number of albums from the original list I find relevant enough to be mandatory listens: 465 Albums from the original list I *might* include in mine later on: 288 Albums from the original list I won't include in mine: 336 ---- Number of albums from the users list I find relevant enough to be mandatory listens: 14 Albums from the users list I *might* select for mine later on: 27 Albums from the users list I won't select for mine: 49 (including this one) ---- Émile ! J'ai répondu à ton message. Regarde onze reviews au dessus ! Pas de nouvelle réponse de ta part, mais c'est pas un souci, je compte juste vérifier toutes les deux semaines environ. On est pas aux pièces, comme on dit sur le vieux continent. 😀

Enjoyed parts of this

Not my favourite Tool album but probably objectively the best. Good stuff.

This album was getting a lot of radio airplay in a transitional period of my teen years & I just wasn't that into Tool when it 1st blew up. I remember I would always say ugh turn it, Tool makes me smell bad. Which wtf does that even mean but it made us laugh. Then I got heavy into illegal substances (the aforementioned transition) & listened to the album hundreds of times never went back. Now I'm insufferable & can't tell you the best Tool album bc they are all a 5 in their own way. For this one it's bc wtf - what else has or ever will sound like this? It's still fucking raw & gritty like Opiate but in a more refined, melodic way. 10 / 10 stars, still listen to this regularly 25 or whatever (how am I this old & i cant do math) years later.

A huge and pleasant coincidence that this was generated on my birthday (4/20) and Tool is one of my favorite bands of all time. I’ve listened to this album hundreds of times and it’s so amazing! Perfect choice for this list.

Ænima isn't so much an album of two halves as it is an album full of songs of two halves. The openings to most tracks are tedious but they explode into some pretty good listens, just wastes a lot of time getting there. There are too many interlude type things too, which is of its era, probably just scrapes a 3/5.

4.5

Good album for when you want to be filled with rage and foreboding.

Far more traditional than I was expecting. I was thinking tool were proggy and technical, this was fairly route one!

Not bad at all

Not what I thought but not what I wanted

I don't think there is much to say about Tool. Not my favourite from them but still a great listen. 7/10

Yes!!! This needs to be in the book, along with (probably) all of their other work.

I've known of Tool for a long time but never gave them a listen. On the original list I hated having long metal albums. This is a long metal album. It wasn't as bad as I would have thought. They seemed to get it and even though I would have shortened it, it didn't feel long which a lot of the other metal albums. My personal rating: 4/5 My rating relative to the list: 4/5 Should this have been included on the original list? Yes.

This really is a metal masterpiece that deserves its place on the original list.

Honestly shocked I ended up listening to to all 77 minutes of this. Some of it was annoying but I was actually enjoying quite a few of the songs that were like artsy prog metal.

One hour seventeen minutes of heavy guitars and terribly fatiguing bass? Well, this is probably gonna be a struggle. So far I'm up to H. and I'm bored witless. The best track on here is "Intermission". It's the only one that isn't relentlessly doomy- oh so edgelordy. Only heavily strummed bass guitars can describe my anguish. I bet he sings with his eyes closed. Yeah, I'm really glad that people like this, but it isn't for me

Tool was one of the bands I felt needed to be on this list. Found out this one was on it so I went with a different pick. After listening to this one I’m thinking two Tool albums would’ve worked. I remember when I first found Tool and they became my number one artist for the year. Their music is so unique but so well made it’s easy to listen to te hardcore prog sound. Probably one of the best bands in the 90s/00s. Lateralus is my personal favorite but Ænima is also very good and would listen to it many more times. 8.3/10

Pretty rad

This album is right where I left it. Dark, twisted, loud, complex, angry, and full of talent, but also very much a product of its time. It still deserved to be on the list.

Is not often a metal album will stretch the full 80mins of a cd so this was impressive. I haven’t dove into tool before but I enjoyed it as I was organizing documents. Sounded a bit like Chevelle.

Baby's first TOOL album (me)! I liked this though, very mysterious, very strange, not some run of the mill prog rock by any means. Glad to have heard it. Favorite tracks: Eulogy, Forty Six & 2, Intermission, Die Eier von Satan, Third Eye. Album art: No idea what I'm looking at but it's haunting. 3.5/5

Yeah, now that's the shit. An absolutely insane omission from the original list - both this, and Lateralus. I'd say this is their best album. Hits the perfect middle ground between the heavier Undertow and the proggier Lateralus. "Third Eye" is the best song they've ever done. That refrain will never not give me chills.

Listening to TOOL is not a pleasure, not a burden but very intense and cathartic. Impressive album!

It is like Linkin Park but good...

Angry music for math nerds

Nokkuð gott, ekki þeirra besta samt.

Yeah, why *wasn't* there any Tool on this list? The band that launched a thousand imitators. I consider myself a pretty casual fan, and it's been a while since I listened to this one, but I'd consider either this or one of the next two ("Lateralus" or "10,000 Days") to be the definitive Tool album. It can get a little weak in spots, but it's got the trademark, mind-bending riffs with some noise and middle eastern influences. Shout out "Die Eier Von Satan", a cookie recipe recited in German over scary music. RIP Bill Hicks. Favorite tracks: "Eulogy", "Forty Six and 2", "Third Eye"

Really good album from TOOL. Really all that you would expect a metal album to be. Definitely listen to again.

I love the dark angsty vibe of Tool. Tracks like Stinkfist are exceptional and convey a powerful mood. Unfortunately after Stinkfist, there isn't anything that really delivers at the same level of the first track. I compare this to Fear Inoculum and 10,000 Days, which i think are much more engaging, with greater consistency track by track, that really have some exceptional standouts. This shows promise, but there's not enough to be excited about.

A lot heavier on atmosphere and lighter on heavy than I would have anticipated. Rating: 2.5 Playlist track: Forty Six & 2 Date listened: 01/10/24

There's so much tool in the user submitted list, reserving judgement until I've had a proper deep dive

Apparently I tried to get into TOOL about 10 years ago. I found three of their albums in my library, each of which showed a handful of plays. It must not have taken because I have no memory of doing this.

A close friend in the early 2000s was into Tool, so I heard quite a bit of their music then. It never really was my thing even though I did occasionally listen to one of their albums on my own. I can’t remember if this was one of those or not, but no doubt I’ve heard much of this before. Tool still isn’t a love connection for me, but I will say that I appreciate their music and was surprised they were not on the official 1001 list. That seems like an oversight so I’m glad someone out there put it on this list. The first half of this album felt a little as expected to me, but then the second half reeled me in. And I found the closing track Third Eye completely mesmerizing.

Alternative metal, progressive metal. Ni fu ni fa.

The first song is named "stinkfist", looking through the other song names they're even worse. screams aimed at edgy 13 year olds as they didn't spend any effort on the actual music.