Musical happiness (well, sorta)

[torquill]

If I'm going to be mad for a little while, I might as well have good music to be mad to.

Tool is really what I think of as heavy metal/heavy industrial for the musician. To anyone who knows any sort of musical theory or has any particular sophistication in terms of chords and rhythms used, Metallica/Megadeth and that crew can get... well, boring. All thrashing and no music. The stuff has its place, but it is not a joy to listen to in a musical sense.

I take real pleasure in listening to Tool. I do prefer Lateralus as a cohesive album, but I like various songs from the other albums as well. It's powerful, harsh, sometimes deliberately discordant metal interspersed with almost delicate meanderings on electric guitar. It's also musically complex: Schism starts out in 5/8-7/8 time (that's 12 beats to the double measure, boys and girls!) with enough syncopation to spin you off your chair. Add in Maynard's voice -- the distinctive blend of insanity and angel -- and the chords they use, and I'm almost sorry that the only time I really listen to Tool is when I'm supremely irritated.

A Perfect Circle has quite a bit of the same elements, of course, and I tend to think of it as the softer version of Tool... I need to get the second album of theirs. It takes a particular sort of brooding contentment for me to listen to A Perfect Circle, but not the sort of all-out anger that really fits Tool proper. And I'll do a lot for a chance to listen to Maynard in good form.

Comments

[kitabare.livejournal.com]

You probably think of APC as a softer version of Tool because that's almost the way Maynard wanted it.

If you like them then you might try to find a couple of songs off of the Underworld soundtrack. I know nothing of musical theory, but I do know what moves me. The entire soundtrack is pretty intense. There are a couple of songs in particular that I think you might like. First if you like "Judith" there's the Reinholder version of it, slightly harder and more technoish. Then there are two songs that Maynard did with other people. The first is "Rev 22:20" with Puscifer... very erotic and melodic. The other one is him and David Bowie "Bring me the disco king"... kind of a lounge style to it but also very nice.

I'm so glad that Maynard came around the way he did. He used to be a part of a band called Green Jelly, you may have heard their three little pigs.

Anywho, I'm rambling. I'm done now.

[brunnhilde.livejournal.com]

Hey, I *like* MetallicA's music -- well, a chunk of it, anyway. Haven't gotten into much since (& including) S&M.

Agree with you on Tool.

APC -- they were going through a sound check before their Red Rocks concert this last June. This I know because the assisted living facility my 100-year-old grandmother is at is in Morrison, and well within earshot of Red Rocks. Grandma liked what she heard. People who know my grandmother know that this is NOT an indictment -- it is high praise. Made for a very pleasant afternoon out in the garden with Grandma.

[luna-torquill.livejournal.com]

I've never known much about the genesis of "Maynard's other band", so I haven't pretended to know his motivations to creating APC. I seem to recall there was a little rancor between the members of Tool over that, something about time conflicts, but I don't know specifics. They obviously ironed things out to an extent, as both bands are still performing.

I've heard some of the Underworld soundtrack... I need to listen to it when I'm in more of a mood to appreciate it. When Nick-twin played it for me the first time, I got the sense that it wasn't nearly as cohesive as I like it -- but we were driving at the time, and sometimes subtlety is lost on me when I'm tackling the curves on Skyline.

And from what I gather, the Green Jello/y thing was really just a cameo; he played the Big Bad Wolf. I vaguely remember all that -- campy as hell, but funny.

[luna-torquill.livejournal.com]

oh, that's a great APC anecdote. And you have a sophisticated grandma. :)

[kitabare.livejournal.com]

I have an ex whos is aquaintances with a friend of Maynard's so I got to know a bit about them....

Green Jelly has had more than 74 members since it started. Maynard was a member for a while and so was former Tool drummer Danny Carey (so was a rapper but I can't remember if it's Ice T or Ice Cube). Whether they met before then, or during I'm hazy on. Maynard actually formed APC for two reasons. One, there were some legal issues with Tool and he wanted to take a break. Two, he wanted to give some of his other friends a chance to get started. It worked. The old violinist on Mer de Noms went off and became a part of Zwan (whichis unfortunately no more).

Some people say that APC is nowhere near as dark as Tool. I'd have to disagree. Knowing what I know, I can tell you that it's just as dark if you know what you're listening to. Take the first album, Mer de Noms, for instance. It's actually telling a story. It's the story of a man who falls in love with a nun. He begins secretly stalking her, and finds out that she's not as pure and perfect as he thought she was. He follows her one day and strangles her. Maynard himself actually secretly stalked a nun for about six months so he could get the feel for it. He wrote her a letter later to tell her. Needless to say she was rather uneasy.

[shadowwalkyr.livejournal.com]

Fire bad. Tree pretty.