Escaping the Undertow: Tool's "Lateralus"

Discussion and review of Tool’s 2001 album Lateralus

I discovered this album during the summer vacation that inspired this post

I consider this to be 2001’s Album of the Year

Flashback to the Oughts: 2001

As I started to wade into the possibility of curating “best-of” playlists retroactively an even more dangerous idea came into my head: should I commit to posting a series on the project?

I have done a couple of series on the blog, and in retrospect they have been a mixed bag.  I completed a good series on Rush’s studio catalog leading up to the release of Clockwork Angels, but I also have a series on Jellyfish’s ties to other power pop groups that, unfortunately, remains unfinished to this day (although I do have an idea as to how it ends). More recently, The Superhero Theme Project documented my efforts to convince my eldest daughter P that a set of carefully selected orchestral pieces were actually superhero themes.  That was a very satisfying run that stretched out over a couple of years, but due to the nature of the project/experiment it had no clear conclusion and fizzled out towards the end.

In retrospect, a deciding factor for the success of a series is clear boundaries, which Flashback to the Oughts will have: ten posts each with ten outstanding selections to represent every year between 2000 and ending in 2011, the year that the blog began.  Like my annual “best-of” lists, selections will be made primarily based on the albums relevance to my experiences that year, rather than release date.  This provides continuity with the parameters that already exist on the blog.

It also makes things significantly more difficult to reconstruct because experiences don’t necessarily line up with the calendar year.  In 2001 I had a home situation that was to get worse before it got better, causing a move under duress that make my memory episodes particularly disjunct.  The list that follows, however, lines up well with both my recollections and what little actual documentation exists from that year.

10. Gorillaz - Gorillaz:  I admit that this entry is problematic because I did not (and still do not) think that it holds together well as a cohesive album.  Clint Eastwood, however, became so ubiquitous in 2001 that I cannot think about that year without it coming to mind.

9. Yes - Magnification: This album’s grandiose orchestral approach promised an interesting direction for the group, and at times it captures the best aspects of Yes.  It was not without its flaws, however, and would also sadly be the last time that Jon Anderson would record with the group.

8. Arena - The Visitor:  I am wary of melodramatic progressive rock vocals, but Arena’s rumination on a near-death experience is “more Marillion than Marillion." I tried to follow them after singer Paul Wrightson left, but none of them resonated with me like The Visitor did.

7. Chomsky - Onward Quirky Soldiers: Chomsky’s follow-up to A Few Possible Selections to the Soundtrack of Your Life had many outstanding songs and performances.  It also seemed a little forced at times, as the band was furiously paddling out to catch the last wave of big record label support before the music industry ran still.

6. Ours - Distorted Lullabies: Bandleader Jimmy Gnecco positioned himself to fill the void left by Jeff Buckley with this release, and he was pretty convincing in the role.  I had a particularly memorable moment wandering in a German forest in 2001 with Distorted Lullabies on a Discman.

5. Transatlantic - Bridge Across Forever:  Although it did not reach the same heights as its predecessor, Transatlantic’s sophomore release was noticeably more consistent.  The band’s members seemed to have developed a better rapport both in terms of collaboration and performance.

4. Anekdoten - From Within:  With a dark gothic approach that used King Crimson’s Red as a starting point, Anekdoten had a thunderous take on progressive rock that stood apart from the clean symphonic work that I was into around this time.

3. Weezer - Weezer [green]: While many fans criticized Weezer [green] as a sellout after the relatively adventurous Pinkerton, its direct, streamlined songwriting seemed to speak directly to my inner teenager.  That insecure part of me probably needed some attention at the time due to the circumstances surrounding that year.

2. Jon Brion - Meaningless: Again, due to my fascination with the Jellyfish Family Tree, this was probably one of my most highly anticipated albums of the year, and I went to great lengths to procure a copy as soon as it was available.  It did not disappoint me in the least - it remains a unique power pop classic in my collection.

Album of the Year 2001

1. Tool - Lateralus:  I had checked out Tool in the early 90s when they released Undertow and although I liked it well enough, I did not follow them after that.  At the suggestion of a student, I gave Lateralus a shot and was blown away, and to this day I am still unraveling the complexities of the album.  

The Gorillaz, Germany, and an Awkward Swim

In the summer of 2001, I took a trip to Germany with my family. I had it in my mind that I wanted to represent the better parts of American culture during my upcoming travels around Europe, but on our first night there, in Frankfurt, I still could not quite get over the fact that I had shared my hotel swimming pool with a pair of skinny-dipping strangers. After a quick (but thorough) shower, I sat down on the bed and turned on the TV, and predictably, most of it was incomprehensible. Of course, MTV Europe ended up being a source of entertainment, and I found myself particularly mesmerized by this:

The animated deadpan delivery of that irresistible chorus by 2D (as voiced by Damon Albarn) immediately hooked me. Its dry, restrained intellect seemed to unapologetically announce that I was definitely not in Kansas. Clint Eastwood was climbing the charts throughout Europe at the time, but it wouldn’t get any airplay in the US for several months. Before I left Europe, I had a copy of their first self-titled album in hand.

The album was, unfortunately, disappointing as a whole experience. It had a few pretty good songs, none of which were nearly as engaging as Clint Eastwood, and several rambling instrumentals. Many of the Gorillaz’s fans praise the album’s eclectic nature, but I think that there is a difference between an album that can’t decide what it wants to be and another when it fights with itself over its identity. For several years, I lost my copy of Gorillaz, but eventually I replaced it with an inexpensive used copy that I keep around for nostalgic purposes.

I re-listened to Gorillaz this weekend on the road, and overall, I can’t say as my opinion has changed dramatically. Aside from the genius that is Clint Eastwood, several of the songs are quite a bit better than I remember, but I think that the album would do extremely well with some editing and a shorter run time. It shows flashes of brilliance, but it doesn’t sustain them. This larger dynamic can be seen on a smaller scale on the track M1A1.



I absolutely love the isolated feeling of the opening, especially as that call is subtly detuned to match the steadily building chords. When 2D enters with his dispassionate whining, however, it sinks the potential of all the tension built throughout the entire track. The song just doesn’t quite deliver on its initial promise, which is how I feel about the whole album.

There has been a recent release of a Gorillaz Greatest Hits album, which is what reignited my interest in the band. I am rarely a proponent of these compilations, but in the case of the Gorillaz, I might be willing to make an exception. On this first album, the Gorillaz have some amazing moments, but its inconsistency, whether intentional or accidental, made me lose interest in following them in the long-term.

As an aside, there was another big hit in Germany at the time that I clearly remember from that first evening with MTV Europe.



This song did not make it internationally for obvious reasons, so I’m not sure what happened to Seeed. Still, its slippery groove and raspy vocals pay an interesting tribute to the dancehall styles that were all the rage in the late 90s and early 00s.