Tuesday 19 February 2019

Tool "Salival" (2000)


I decided that our dive into the world of Tool would be a complete one, at that means covering this live album cobbled together with a couple of "outtakes" from the Ænima sessions. Taken from different shows, the live performances show the band are truly capable of illuminating their music on a stage for an audience. Picking the lengthiest of jams, four of these songs alone make up a blistering forty seven minutes as they jam out the psychedelic sections with a sprinkle of elongated atmospheric magic.

Part Of Me from the 72826 demo is explosive, a three minute romp of unleashed, immediate energy and anger, a highlight but a total contrast to the dense atmospheric tracks that it runs against. You Lied is another highlight as a big, stomping, sludgy guitar riff hurls itself from the shadows with strong Melvins and Sabbath vibes, a great riff to stick in the mind. Beside the strength of the live music, the extras seem dull, not even in comparison, just a one minute interlude parallel to that heard on Ænima.

The Led Zepplin cover is a fascinating one tho, they do manage to transform the track into a Tool alike beast but its final experiment of harsh Industrial pounding and helpline recorded messages just grinds out the listening experience. Its a halfway album but I really think they could of ditched the bonus material and stuck to a traditional live album and that would of been fantastic, the other stuff feels like a distraction. This record has however got me very excited to the prospect of seeing them live!

Rating: 5/10