Tool: Salival

I am a big fan of the style that Tool has employed in their music videos. The stop motion has progressively evolved and grown more creative with each new album. This along with the awesome cinematography and special effects makes for a good medium for their music. Of course, there is also the way that the visual art ties very closely into the lyrical and musical depth.

These are wrapped up in a very presentable package and, with the DVD, a very sweet interface.

It's unfortunate that Adam Jones has conjured up just a small number of videos to accompany his bands musical tracks (6 in total). While Tool's music has certainly gotten more eccentric, their videos have always been more abstract than the music itself. I would have never been able to think up the visuals Jones created for the Undertow tracks, which seem almost TOO bizarre and surreal for those songs. However they both end up complimenting each other so well, I can't recommend people see their videos. It's a damn shame they're so short, it's also even more discouraging that Adam Jones hasn't just made a full length, with a soundtrack to his film by the aid of his own band. I remember seeing the Sober and Prison Sex videos around 93 / 94 and I was highly captivated by the very similar stop motion style of Jan Svankmajer. Adam Jones seems particularly inspired by his surrealistic interpretation of "Alice in Wonderland", called "Alice" or "Neco z Alenky". If you are a fan of the disturbing, nightmarish stop motion creativity of Jones, it's a sure bet you'd be a fan of Svankmajer's works, especially "Alice" and "Faust". These videos are classics and highly recommended.

Salival, so named because the many fans of this truly awesome band have been waiting for it so long. Tool has been pleasing fans for 11 years this year, since 1992's Opiate E.P. Tool has definitly proved that they are an evolutionary band. This pre-Lateralus era set of Tool music videos and the cd contain support that fact. Only a few times before has a band proved to be so diverse with lyrics and music (David Bowie and Pink Floyd come to mind immediatly off hand, along with some others.)

The DVD includes videos for Hush, Prison Sex, Sober, Aenima, and Stinkfist. The VHS has all of the above with the exception of Hush. The videos are all very well done and very well presented with the tradition enigmatic Tool style. Sitting down and watching music videos has never been this much fun and enlightening. With Maynard James Keenan's vivid vocals, Paul D'Amour's magnificent bass playing, Adam Jones on guitar, and the truly demi god-like Danny Carey on drums, this band is one of those band you didnt know was needed until it came about.

Onto the actual videos. While cryptic the videos all contain keys to the meaning of the videos. And almost all of the videos are in claymation :)(the exception is Opiate's Hush.) The live cd contains some covers and some stuff live. Third Eye w/ Tim Leary (god of acid trips) is truly phenomenal. The CD ends with a recording from the LA Municiple Court and a hidden track. The hidden track alone is worth the cost of the set. This set does the Tool community justice and I encourage everyone to check it out. 10/10

There isn't anything by tool that I don't like and if you have only heard a song once or only seen a video once; listen or watch again. each time you experience this band it gets better and better. I love a lot of bands very much but very few bands have been able to make me feel as if music had a physical texture that I could feel. From rhythm blending between instrument to unimaginable time signatures in this style of music, It just make me want to proclaim my love for this band from the roof tops. I know it is a little off topic considering I'm not addressing the actual title "salival" which I own but that is because my point to all of this is that the band used the box set to really give there fans something that they knew they would love. The live push it track is one of the most amazing live songs I have ever heard and then I was even blessed enough to hear that version in person. I was ear banged by TOOL and I wanted more. You know you have something special when a concert is so amazing that it feels surreal. The reason I am writing this kind of review is because TOOL actually changed my life from how I interact with the world to how I perceive it. I really feel like if I had never found this band that I would not be the person I am today. So, If you are some one out there who doesn't feel much emotion when you listen to TOOL or watch their videos; listen or watch again. It will pull you in like an undertow. I am a more confident person because of this band. Thank you TOOL.

With the possible exception of their first, "Hush", all of Tool's subsequent videos have raised the bar for artistic direction and creative visualization in the dwindling genre of music videos. This purchase is highly recommended for Tool fans, regardless of whether or not they've seen these videos before. Besides an aggravating DVD interface (which is to be expected from the likes of the band), the only down point of this video/CD set is that it no longer includes all of the band's videos, but they can be downloaded via the internet.

Surprisingly beautiful images arise from this collection of otherwise macabre videos. Recommended.