it's good! can clearly see how it lead to the later tool stuff but there is clearly room for improvement here. i've grown a lot fonder of tool since i listened to lateralus and aenima for the first time, and i do need to listen to those again and update those ratings. production def could be better, but it certainly doesn't make or break anything

fav: intolerance, sober, bottom, undertow, 4deg, flood

i think it's good for what it was, but it's just not my type of music whatsoever. little to nothing melody wise outside of the last song or two, and melodic stability is a lot of what i look for in music. i think if you like new age pop music and are looking for something harder and darker to get into, this is a good bet. i prefer mostly analog instrumentation, and while i can appreciate what it did with what the artists used, it was not my thing

so much to say, no idea how to say it. this one needs to sit for awhie

this will probably be a 100 by the end of the year

fav: i am dog now, shame, frownland, funny man, camcorder, tape, the new world, masc

extremely well crafted, catchy, and well written. songs after peg i generally found to be slightly less interesting but nonetheless i still think every song here brough something of value. i do think aja and deacon blues went on a little bit long tho. can see myself returning to every song here

fav: black cow, deacon blues, peg, i got the news

hectic, fun, and noisy

not sure what it is exactly but something about this album made it a lot harder to take seriously than their other projects. i found it less impactful across the board, and while by no means is it bad, i think by their standards it's their weakest release. decently high highs and considerably mediocre lows, it seems like you really could tell they were at the end of their rope creatively together

the cover art is cool as fuck tho

edit: 77-->90

fav: kill rock n roll, dreaming, ... read more

i'll get it more later

genuine quality all the way though. impressive for an album this length to not become repetitive, although my biggest issue was with the fact that some songs felt like they dragged on too long (which isn't the worst, they're super fun and unique regardless). definitely was a good plane ride selection

fav: sir duke, contusion, ordinary pain, i wish, joy inside my tears, black man, as, another star, pasttime paradise

had a strong start with the first two tracks, then became a little repetitive to finish the first half imo. the second half was much strong but i feel the whole album could afford a little more variety. regardless it feels like another strong entry from soad

fav: chic n stu, innervision, pictures, add, bubbles, fuck the system

consistently great, engaging, intense rock that i will definitely give more attention to soon

fav: pretty much everything besides the first track

didn't rate this upon hearing it immediately but many songs have really grown my vision as to why people really love this band. great individual pieces here along with a solid listening experience as an album itself. just in general solid all around. only complaint is that i don't love the frequency of the interludes, makes the album feel very choppy at points

fav: hooker, forty six & 2, jimmy, eulogy
edit: 77 --> 85

liked it a little less than aenima but was generally really strong throughout (only exception being the beginning, about up to schism). i feel like it'll grow on me (like aenima) because tool hasn't blown me away really on the first listen for really anything so far but has had exponential growth recently. that being said, i feel like reflection is their strongest song compositionally that i've heard, alongside forty-six & 2 and schism. looking forward to finding more to like about these ... read more

quality music, but nothing here blew me away beside weird fishes (a song i've been listening to for over a year now). i can definitely appreciate that nobody made music like this at the time better than them, and they do it in a way that still feels like radiohead. will come back, but maybe not for a little while

fav: weird fishes, jigsaw falling into place

i don't even know man

fav: lori from the walking dead, grunk club

wouldn't go so far as to call this music but i think the uneasy environment it created was nice tbh, i was just not the intended audience i think

fun and overall consistently good and energetic sound, although the only song that particularly stood out to me was the third track. nothing else really grabbed me but i know i'll be revisiting 4-5 of these at least. not bad by any means and was certainly a good listen all the way through

fav: memory machine, what do you want me to say, spider in the snow, you are invited, the city

papa squatch funny
slither decent
everything else meh

inconsistent mix is definitely the biggest issue here, by far our most creative and interesting album but over all a super fun time that's constantly doing something new for us

kitty

balling