BreakmanX.com

Now I know Tool fans are in the minority here, but that shouldn't matter right now, even if you aren't a Tool fan maybe you would like to take a gander at what I am about to post. The message here is one that I've had about Tool for some time now, after seeing some reactions to people who listen to Tool, that just don't get what they are trying to tell us, after reading what I'm about to show, this made me drop all misconceptions and theories about the album, and why? Because the simple message is right in front of our faces, this is not one that requires much searching/digging as previous albums, but one made right out in the open, A warning if you will for future releases from the band.

[I don't know how many words are allowed in each post so I will break this up into seperate posts, please, don't be turned away by the size in which this message is being given, but try and take it for what it is, and learn from it.]

"How many times have we heard the weariness in their song, releasing the burden of never really being grasped by the mass majority of listeners? The Patient. Over Now on Mer de Noms. The pointed bitter sarcasm. How many times can you repeat yourself in different ways to infant-like souls before you realize that you aren’t getting through to most of them? What we are missing, guys, is being pushed. We have all felt it. I mean, Opiate was my first record, so I have seen the progressional concept from the band in all of it’s fascinating history. Opiate gathered the angry. Undertow took the anger and pushed and molded the anger into some sort of plan. Ænima pushed us to understand what was available to us. Lateralus pushed us to see why we should take it, showing us ethereal soundscapes depicting our potentials, all laid out for us in it’s epic glory. How long do we need to be pushed before we do it on our own? How fucking long? As responsible sentient beings, do they keep pushing us and feeding us? If they did that, they would be leading us. And that’s not how it works. That’s no different than any cult or sect of religious fanaticism. They don’t want to be your Christ. They don’t want fanatic followers who follow just as blindly as any hardline religion. The euphemism “think for yourself” is mocked often, because it’s so cliché’d now, since every 12 year old who saw Tool on that tour where that Leary quote preceded Third Eye has it in their signature. But it’s really a point they want to drive home. Do it for yourself, guys, because it’s time. And that’s what makes this album so scary to me. I’m facing fears here that I haven’t faced in a while. This album’s passive-ness made me not be able to sleep last night. We aren’t being pushed, driven, because it’s up to us and we cant keep being fed because the time is coming where if we cant do it on our own, we’ll see ourselves on the wrong side of the gap. We’re junkies for the kind of inspiration and push that Tool provides us with. Do they mind doing it? Of course not, but as I said, as responsible sentient beings, they cant keep feeding the junkies or the junkies will not progress. They wont always be able to show us the next door through, and we will have to be able to find them on our own.

Try to listen to this album next time in that light. See if you don’t feel yourself craving being driven, having inspiration exploding through your brain at all times. Then wonder if I could be correct. See if your hostility towards them using parts of music they have used in the past is misguided. See if you can accept it as them simply pointing to things they have already told us, and take it as a mockery of us not being able to get it the first time." - Paraflux.

"So what is this record, then? If not to push us, what purpose does it serve? Every one of us knows that at least since Undertow, not a single second of any Tool release is out of place, it is all precisely crafted together. Whether you identify with it or not, the precision with purpose is there.

This album mourns.

This album is the release of the tremendous, horrific sadness that sentient beings must undergo in order to survive. We are all familiar with the concepts of evolution being interwoven throughout Tool’s message. We’ve felt the push that helps us understand it, know that it is real. This is the blues record they were speaking of.

This album is about catastrophic division. We’ve seen it before, in Pushit, with the gap, we’ve seen the hard path in the Patient, we’ve seen the gap being defined and described in Schism. But we have never witnessed it. We’ve never seen what that gap does. Tell you the truth, I’ve always been a little afraid of it. But it’s time to face it now.

Because finally, this album is about death and the necessary invoked apathy that the witnesses are forced to endure. It’s fucking painful.


Before I talk about the music on this record, I have to explain what I get from Reflection and Triad. Reflection is my favorite Tool song. It represents, to me, the exodus that is bound to occur. Those humans that are moving on, say their last goodbyes and look sadly at their reflection. I have gone into this song in much detail in the past, but I feel as if I must skim this to conserve your time. Triad represents those who partook in the exodus arriving at their new promised land (heaven), they plant the seed and then step back a distance (when the music gets really quiet and Danny does the tick-tock thing as if we were waiting), then the seed explodes into glorious growth when the music kicks back in. To me this trio of songs represents the change we are facing that is roaring down the stretch at breakneck (relatively, of course) speed. The most key songs on this record, to me, are Vicarious, Jambi, Rosetta Stoned, and Right In Two, and I’ll try to focus mostly on them." - Paraflux.

"Vicarious
To say that this album picks up where Reflection left off is kinda misguiding, actually. I think of it now as “zooming in” on the aspects of Reflection and taking a journal with you. There’s some things we don’t want to face, and these guys aren’t afraid to show it to us. Another pattern I have noticed is that the promo single that is release with the last two albums, especially, represent the theme of the record. I couldn’t find the theme, at first, like I said. So I was confused about Vicarious when I heard the rest of the record. Stinkfist represented the problem of desensitization, the slipping of our race, and pointed it out in no uncertain terms. Ænima dealt with what to do about that problem. Schism represented the gap and putting the pieces together to bridge it. Lateralus showed us what was on the other side, the promise of rewards, the magnificence of our inner spirals. So I made the comment to Cronos one day, I said, “Vicarious represents… soup? (referring to the rest of the album)” I didn’t know where the pieces went on 10KD and it was all a jumbled soupy mess to me. But it represents the rest of the album perfectly now.

We start with a tease of Schism. This whole song refers back to Schism at different times. The beginning is like a dream, up until the alarm goes off. I’m sorry, but I disagree with Kabir when he says that Vicarious hits us all at once and there is no real intro like the rest of the albums have. Undertow has the weird drowning waterish sound, and Lateralus has the film projector/elevator starting up. This album has a dream as the intro sound. We dream of the gap. We dream of the Schism. We feed off of the tragedy so much that we dream about it. The intro and the real beginning of Vicarious come in after the alarm goes off (the second time, as if we hit snooze because our asses are lazy), and we awaken.

Again this song focuses on the problem. The problem is what we feed ourselves with. The power of the collective that is referred to in Tool’s music is not limited to those who have crossed the gap. It involves all of us, from the lowest scum to the highest ascended master. Anyone born of a human mother in this plane is involved. Your thoughts and actions affect me, and vice versa, no matter how far away physically we are from each other. So this is a problem for those who have crossed. They don’t want to be extinct, thank you very much. But all this feeding on tragedy and death are simply pulling us further and further backwards. AND WE HIDE IT FROM EACH OTHER. Hence all of the accusations of hypocrisy…

frown out your one face but with the other stare like a junkie into the tv

…and pleas of disclosure

[/i]you all need it too don’t lie why cant we just admit it[/i]

This trend of feeding on negativity doesn’t appear to be slowing down. We all know it, see it, every news headline is a horrible accident or something equally as morbid, if not worse. It’s as if we are trying to outdo the last headline, every day, always with an ear out for more more more. Blood flows. We want it. We wont stop till we get it. Tell me, is this harmless? We are turning into the vampires of our own race, of our own accomplishments, our own pleasures, our own desires.

At the end of the chorus at 3:25, Maynard turns to us and spits the words in our face,

why cant we just admit it?

As always, the music and lyrics are one, the music punctuates his venomous question. Then in comes a marching-like riff, as if to describe a war

Blood like rain fallin down down on grave and ground

Then a tremendous part, it’s like a broken up transmission! Describing to onlookers, if we knew they were there, what we are.

Part vampire part warrior carnivore and voyeur

And more importantly,

We still have the transmittal synched to the death rattle

As if this was our destiny all along, to crash. Perhaps there are escape pods, though…

La la la la la la la lie…

Singing the death rattle. And guess what we are immediately faced with after singing it??? The Schism again. There it is, as if to say, “you called?” I don’t know what that talking in the background is supposed to represent, perhaps more of our garbled transmissions. And yet AGAIN, we realize we are dreaming again and the alarm once more wakes us up. I feel at this point they want to stress the amount of times that we have heard this exact same message from them before, in creating this sense of déjà vu with the Schism/alarm thing.

incredulous at best your desire to believe in angels in the hearts of men

(*sigh*)

but pull your head out give a listen,

(ALTHOUGH)

I shouldn’t have to say it all again

(But let me break it down for you one more time…)

THE UNIVERSE IS HOSTILE, SO IMPERSONAL

DEVOUR TO SURVIVE

SO IT IS

SO IT’S ALWAYS BEEN

(And I will devour your cancerous ass if I have to in order to survive. Again, I will rip your fucking throat away as I did in Pushit, I will not hesitate, and the love that I felt when I said it last time is starting to fade. I must prepare myself, and that means that my energy must be focused on what’s happening in my moment. Being completely in the moment doesn’t mean that you cant have anyone else around you. They are allowed to be there. But I’ll be damned if I am going to be held back much longer. The division is happening as we speak to you about what we are feeling.)

The above stuff in parentheses is just the feeling I get when he is singing this, when I feel this way about the rest of the album. Then we have the reiteration closing comments

We all feed on tragedy it’s like blood to a vampire, Vicariously I live while the whole world dies

Then, finally, as chilling as any of the other lyrics on the record…

much better you than I…

When we watch from a distance, we think we are “safe.” But our idea of safety is about to be tested." - Paraflux.

"Jambi
Bi=two

I cant say that I understand where the title comes from. I do think that the “bi” part represents duality. I get the feelings that I got from the Patient in this one.

Just tryin to hold on one more day

One of the more powerful thoughts in this song:

If I thought tomorrow, they’d take you away

As if those who have crossed the gap thought only about their future, then the other side would already be gone. But the separation has not occurred yet, they are still tryin to hold on, help as many as possible across. It just isn’t working on the scale that would lead to positive feelings instead of mourning.

Dam my eyes, jam bi eyes

This is what I hear. Poke out my eyes.

Jam bi eyes if they should compromise a fulcrum, what you need (watching me?) divide me

Division. If the balance is going to be upset, I’ll cut you off, I wont be able to see you anymore. I would rather lose my sight for you than be dragged down with you. Then another chilling line…

Then I might as well be gone

As in the patient, thinking of what it would be like to walk away

And I still may

The song really isn’t the same after this point. It’s almost as if, to me, the division is beginning right here. Gone are the thoughts of holding on, the thoughts of the balance being upset. They simply cant allow that to happen, see?

Shine on forever, upon the broken, upon the SEVERED, until the two become one

We are seeing, after the division, the concepts of unity. Before, it was implied that unity was the two sides coming together as one. But I don’t think this is the case anymore. This is what I found scary. I see this type of two becoming one as one of the sides ceasing to exist. An eradication, a squashing (as you would any termite or roach) of one of the two, not a merging. This is how I am seeing the two become one.

Divide and wither away

This part sounds, not excited about the fact, but just as if it was just something necessary, a task. The task of separation.

Breathe in union

Finally, we can breathe in union, the chaff has been separated, the division is made complete.

So as one, survive another day and season
Silence, Legion, save your poison, silence, Legion, stay out of my way

Legion is the name for the devil (or devils) in parts of the bible. The evil. Save your sickening poison, stay out of our way, we simply wont have it anymore.

At this point, after the division, the mourning begins." - Paraflux.

"Wings For Marie (Pt. I)
Maynard has used many things as examples and metaphors, from Jesus to the flushing of a toilet. I think the point of these next two songs is to use something personal as an example to help us understand the importance of the division.

What have I done to be the son of an angel what have I done to be worthy

What I’m seeing in this song is a recognition that his mother sacrificed herself for him in some way. I’m somewhat uncomfortable trying to analyze these songs, as I’m not all too familiar with his family history. In truth, most of what we know has been sold to us. We know that in Jimmy he lost something that was most precious to him. His mother suffered a brain aneurysm. Perhaps it affected to a large degree her ability to do things for the rest of her life." - Paraflux.

"10,000 Days (Wings Pt. II)
These songs are obviously connected, yet separated for a reason. His attitude here is still mourning, but it is far more defiant. Have you seen “The Exorcism of Emily Rose?” IN the movie, the girl suffers demonic possessions the likes of which the church had never seen. And she was given a choice by Mother Mary herself. Emily could be taken from this pain, or she could be a light for all of those who would observe her on Earth. Emily chose to be a light for the divine. I think this is exactly what Maynard is saying to his Mother. Did he agree with the way she did things? Obviously not, what with the bitter song “Judith” that attacks her God who did this to her. He never wanted to see the woman who gave him so much in years and years of constant pain and complications. Yet, here, he gives her her props, so to speak. He mocks those gathered around her dead body, calling them ignorant, blinded hypocrites. None of them have even seen her the way she really was, divine.

Then, enough about them, they aren’t worth the effort. He moves to speaking to directly about her, to her.

but enough about the collective Judas

Haha, those who have not crossed the gap are called traitors. I love it.

this little light of mine, the gift you passed on to me, I’ll let it shine to guide you safely on your way, your way home

Judith Marie perhaps passed a gift on to her son, a divine hereditary gift. Blood and genes carry all of the information in our bloodlines.

Ten thousand days in the fire is long enough

27 years of suffering is more than enough for him to watch. Eventually, Emily Rose was taken up as well. Then these next lines are awesomely defiant, giving her so much praise, saying she and she alone has the ability to go up to heaven’s gates and demand to be seen, demand her wings. This is probably the most emotionally powerful point on the record for me.

You’re the only one who can hold your head up high
Shake your fists at the gates saying “I have come home now! Fetch me the spirit, the son and the father [himself] and tell them their ‘pillar of faith’ has ascended! It’s time NOW! MY time now! Give me my…. GIVE ME MY WINGS.”

The very idea that someone has suffered so much for God that she can go up there and just start demanding that the angels do her bidding is powerful. Shaking your fists at the gates? Fetch me the trinity so that I can demand my fucking wings? Jesus…

And when Maynard speaks to his mom for the last time, forgivingly he asks for her to put in a good word for him. Mourning his life without her." - Paraflux.

"The Pot
Every album has a song that is less intense in content while being more intense 9by that, I mean heavy) musically. This is to provide relief, I think, for our minds. We take in all of this intense message, god, we need a break or we will snap. With AEnima it was Hooker with a Penis. Lateralus had Ticks and Leeches. This one has the Pot. It’s pretty self-explanatory so I wont spend much time on it. It’s just against hypocrisy. It has an amused attitude, though, as if your hypocrisy ultimately doesn’t matter to me anymore because the division is occurring. The whole “You must have been high” is just throwing back in their faces the ridiculous accusations that have flown out of their mouths before.

Lipan Conjuring
Sounds to me like this could be an Indian burial ceremony. Hmmm…

Lost Keys (Blame Hofmann)
As a segue into Rosetta Stoned, the music sounds woozy, shifting, unfocused, crazy, confused. This is a perspective narrative, so let’s assume the role of the narrator. We hear the hospital sounds, we hear ourselves breathing raggedly. They want us to tell them everything… so we start to talk…" - Paraflux.

"Rosetta Stoned
Look, all throughout Tool’s career, we’ve heard songs that could only come from an experienced perspective. From all 4 members. How could one write a song like The Patient and not have personally felt that way before? As the messenger, trudging along a mundane path, for these fucks who don’t even realize what I’m trying to say? And how about 46 & 2? How can you write a song like that and not actually have the experience of stepping through your shadow? How can you write a song like Rosetta Stoned and not be this seemingly schizophrenic character? It’s time we gave Tool props officially as being messengers and speak about them in that regard.

Not that this song is to be taken exactly literally. Kinda like the story of Jesus. Who knows what really happened 2000 years ago. All we have is a story of a man who did miraculous wonders and taught a hell of a lot of people what he knew. Whether he actually existed in the way that he was written about is not known. But the story remains the same, and what we are to gain from it is not altered. The meanings are not in the historical accuracy of the account, but the intended message proposed. So let’s not say that Jesus was physically here and did all of the things he did, and that Maynard was at Area 51 and was visited by aliens and all of this actually happened. Maybe it did, maybe it didn’t. Doesn’t change the intended meaning.

Rosetta lyrics

Serious props to A WalkAbout for his work on the lyrics, not just in this song, but I think he was the first to post the comprehensive album lyrics. This account is the one I mostly used, although of course some of it is almost unintelligible.

Have you done any research on the Rosetta Stone? The one that they found in Egypt?
Yeah, you can look it up on Wikipedia, and I will paste something from there in a minutes, but first take a look at this simplified site about the Rosetta Stone.

http://www.ancientegypt.co.uk/writing/rosetta.html

It explains that the Rosetta Stone was written in three different scripts, written by priests, honoring the pharaoh, listing all of the good things that the pharaoh had done for the people and priests of Egypt. Now here’s what I pulled from wikipedia…

Rosetta Stone is also used as a metaphor to refer to anything that is a critical key to a process of decryption, translation, or a difficult problem, e.g., "the Rosetta stone of immunology", "thalamo-cortical rhythms, the Rosetta stone of a subset of neurological disorders", "Arabidopsis, the Rosetta stone of flowering time (fossils)".

This song is Tool’s Rosetta Stone, listing all of the things they have done for the people (us listeners, their audience) honoring the pharaoh (the source of life, in this case, the higher existence). The reason you hear three different older Tool songs in this song is because they are listing what they have done for us! What they have told us! We have H., Third Eye, and Triad. And perhaps more, it would just make sense if they did 3. To tell you the truth I cant remember where these parts come from, some of them, in the new context, I just know they are familiar. Those 3 songs in particular, though, are listed. And the whole twist of irony in this piece is that it’s narrated by a guy who cant remember the message he was told, because he forgot his pen when it was key. See the genius here? It really fucking hits me hard. Given what wikipedia told us, they consider it to be a key, for decryption of the message that the narrator gives us. It’s all here.

The story explains itself, pretty much. A guy is visited by aliens (in pretty honest and amusing fashion). After hoping that he hopes his partner doesn’t notice that he pissed his pants, the music changes, and the narrator starts talking about how it felt to be taken, like he had taken acid and was tripping outside his body. The ET tells him that he is the chosen one to deliver a message

Of hope for those who choose to hear it
A message of warning for those who do not.

That’s what Tool has been about. The combined message of no worries for those who cross the gap, and warning for those who don’t. Mostly, the song is composed of riffs from H. until the story gets told, and the narrator begs for them to believe what he said. H. is about the connection that we have with each other, and how we are too connected to slip away, fade away from each other, and that’s the reason the messenger’s hearts are opened up again, out of compassion, even though it’s killing them. Not a coincidence. This is what Tool have done for us, their first script. They showed us compassion when none is granted to them for the most part. Because they are too connected. Or, rather, I should say, they were…

So after the narrator tells his story, he is strapped down, eyes red (signifying suppression via forced medication), doesn’t know if he’s alive or dead, cant remember what the aliens said… and he realizes he has shit the bed, which I think is great way to inject a little humor without losing a sense of the sadness.

I can hear Third Eye and Triad as the other two scripts. Hear the sound Danny uses towards the end of Triad, the same sound is used starting at 7:43. He uses it the same way, a straight time count. The most epic part of the message (not necessarily the most emotional, because I have already reserved that for the part in 10,000 Days), maybe the most epic part of any tool song, summing up what they have done, is during these lines.

Overwhelmed as one would be, placed in my position
Such a heavy burden now to be the one
Born to bear and read you all the details of our ending
To write it down for all the world to see

This is their cry. Tool can be summed up in this section of this one song. This was their task, to bring us the message and be the one band that would reach us in the way that they have. To record and read to us the details of our ending. Their music is injected with refined and precise power. It shows you things if you let it. They show by example, as Christ was claimed to have done, what is possible. Nothing is impossible. They show us every album that technicalities and skill on an instrument is not where sonic power comes from. Yes, they are good skilled players, especially Danny, but he is probably the only one that would be ranked in any top 5 list as far as most skilled musicians go. The power comes from inside them, the convergence of 4 individuals into one unified whole, examples of what can happen and what is possible if we only cross the gap.

At 9:40 the narrator freaks out because he cant remember what they said although the music, so familiar to him yet not quite tangible, dances through his head.

I had trouble deciphering what parts of past songs was used where. It is very possible that more than 3 scripts were used in this Rosetta Stone, not sure. But also I think that’s part of the point. Because it’s as if it’s on the tip of our brains but we cant quite put our finger on it, like the narrator. Forced medication is keeping him from remembering, what does that say about us in our situation? That the stuff that we feed on is holding us back from deciphering the secrets contained within their music. If we would only grasp it, we would see that they have indeed just been singing one song, a message of hope to those who choose to hear, and warning for those who do not. Did not Jesus say, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear?” The message Jesus presented to us is the same. “I AM the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the father except through me.” But not through his church following. Not those people who think they are elite because they believe in a Christ that physically walked the Earth and that all others are doomed regardless of how they live. Through him. His example. Tool’s example.

This is such a complex interwoven song that I am sure that I do not fathom it all this early. Perhaps my medication is holding me back…" - Paraflux.

"Intension
The sound in the front is important. Sounds like a wheel, creaking, or being pushed or pulled, and then slowly, people gather, like they are all meeting at a rendezvous point, whispering among themselves, then all come in to chant with Maynard… His voice doubled so many times is to represent a group setting, I feel. Do you hear parts of the beginning of Lateralus (the song) in here? I’m starting to take this as the exodus has already occurred, separation, death to the two, and only the ones who have crossed the gap can find their way to this place. To begin again. Pure. By will alone, not with our hands or other external accomplishments. The group begins, the music gets more and more involved as the creation progresses. Sparks, then flames, to light their home (In the beginning God created the heavens and the Earth from the void…). This song seems to be a genesis. As Triad was, just portrayed in a different way, still saddened from what they had to just go through." - Paraflux.

"Right In Two
This is the saddest song on here. Yes, the Wings For Marie invoke deep personal sadness, but this… this is beyond that. It’s sad not because of personal pain, but because of how apathetic it is. The net of being, on the cover, those eyes, do they look like they care? Do they look like they are thinking about your personal feelings at ALL? Fuck, no. The universe is hostile, indifferent to our little plight. Apathetic to the human race surviving or becoming extinct. They don’t really give a shit. They just keep things running. THEY WILL NOT HELP US. WE MUST HELP OURSELVES. This song is told from the perspective of the onlookers.

angels on the sideline again, puzzled and amused
why did father give these humans free will, now they’re all confused

There have been plenty of people who claim to have knowledge and experience on higher planes of existence than the one we are accustomed to having our realities in. They all say that we are being watched. Because there’s something about humanity that is different than anything that’s ever been done before in the universe. Hence the puzzlement that the angels on the sidelines (spectators) are going through. Why were we granted free will already? We will just kill ourselves. We cant see Eden, heaven. So no, we don’t know that there’s enough to go around if we would just step across the gap. We focus our tasks on external things, seeing what we can build outwardly, not inwardly. They call us monkeys as a mockery, since that’s what we appear to be to them, similar to how monkeys appear to us, almost sentient, but not quite. That’s how the spectators feel about us.

We are choosing destruction. Maynard says

Father blessed them all with reason and this is what they choose?

To reiterate that the choice has already been made. Destruction IS going to occur. It is the path we have chosen. The spectators observe how we will divide into two on anything at all. And if there aren’t sides, they will cut it in two with a blade. Division is our nature. Our cells divide with the mitosis process. This carries up to our very nature. It is the design. It is a flawed design, perhaps this is why they wonder if we should have been granted free will. We have to find our way when the lights go down.

We find ourselves, after Maynard repeats several times

cutting it all right in two

Back in Reflection! The tabla sounds, the similar beat to Reflection, it is here again facing us. We are faced with the choice to leave and find our way to survival. I cant tell what the lyrics are but it would only emphasize the point, Im sure that this is imminent. Then the music definitely picks up and seems rather Triad-ish again before going straight into a version of a 46 & 2 riff! It’s still all here! The evolution, the message, the information, the way for us. Lit up again right here in this song. Then more angels on the sideline, wondering when the tug of war will end. Then more cutting right in two, but this time triumphant, as in, we did it, we mourned, we went through what we had to go through to ensure our survival. We saw the gap bridge close forever and we hear the bombs go off over there and see the red glow of fire and know that it can only mean death. But like any disease, the bridge must be destroyed, therefore ripping their throats away in essence, so that the disease cannot be spread any longer. This is the end of the mourning. This is the end of the zooming in on Reflection, the concept of departure, the mourning of the death of our race, yet… there is hope for those who choose to listen? What is that hope and what happens to those who heeded the call?" - Paraflux.

"That hope is not on this record. We know from Triad that there is hope after the departure. I have seen that the following album reflects the last song on the previous one, and that this record zooms in on Reflection. Where is our Triad? Is it what people feel is missing, this hope? Because this record is not about hope. The cover is a dead version of Alex Grey’s painting “Net of Being.” Maybe there is a hope that Triad is coming. Maybe they will release another record soon that is already ready, and unexpected. Whether or not we get a Triad from them, or we have been shown enough, pushed enough, that we are now required to make our own Triad ourselves, remains to be seen. Maybe Virginti Tres is in some way, that hope. Maybe the puzzle in the artwork packaging will tell us. But to me, the point is clear. Their work is the recording and reading to us the ending, the message of hope should be evident to us, but we largely reject it, and that the gap is in process of closing as I type this.

It’s scary, depending on which side of the gap you find yourself on." - Paraflux.

Whether or not you understand this thread or not doesn't have anything to do with if you like Tool or not. Sure you may be somewhat lost but if so, look at this as more of a generalized message, and not soo much a detailed one.

This was almost instantly shot down by one of the members at TDN, paraflux told people to let him have his opinions, but then replied by saying, "it all depends on what side of the gap you are on" . Meaning that particular person is one that has not found the truth in Tool's message and by the looks lof it, probably doesn't want it.

This is what I see in a lot of people who only like Tool a little or not at all [after hearing them of course]. If you understand the message that Tool has to offer (seeing as how they would make this albumnot many do) you are on one side of the gap, and If you don't, you are on the other.

I know I will get a lot of, "Hey, I dont listen to Tool, I'm not going to read this" Or, "hey this is way too long, I'm not going to give this a chance". I cannot do anything to sway opinions, so if this is the case so be it. All I ask is that you do take some time to read it, enlighten yourselves, take something positive out of this, even if you are a fan of Tool, or not one.

I believe that this was the message that Tool wanted to give from the get go, they will never ever spoon feed you want you want to hear, only allow you to, if you are willing, to hear what they have to say. Some just don't get it, and some do.

Pointless thread? - To some, yeah probably.

To me? not at all, and thought I'd share this.

Have a good one guyes.

Obsession.....it's your obsession

*bonus points if you know the singer(s)

Minority? Seems like Tool fans are the majority to me.

Not a complaint or anything, just an observation.