Just as grunge was reaching its boiling point and radio-friendly punk-pop loomed on the horizon, Tool released Undertow, which firmly reinforced metal's prominence as a musical style -- but, for once, it had something worthwhile to say.
At the forefront of Tool's commercial explosion were striking, haunting visuals that complemented the album's nihilistic yet wistful mood.
Drawing equal inspiration from Black Sabbath, alternative theories of science, and Eastern religions, Tool's abrasive sonic assault begins from the opening notes and continues through the final moments of the last composition, an open mockery of organized religion and its incapacity for original thought.
With its technical brilliance, musical complexities, and aggressive overtones, Undertow not only paved the way for several bands to break through to the mainstream adolescent mall-rage demographic, it also proved that metal could be simultaneously intelligent, emotional, and brutal.
| Title/Composers | Performer | Listen | Time | Size | Size | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | IntoleranceTool | Tool | Play | 04:54 | 11 MB | 32 MB |
| 2 | Prison SexTool | Tool | Play | 04:56 | 11 MB | 32 MB |
| 3 | SoberTool | Tool | Play | 05:06 | 11 MB | 32 MB |
| 4 | BottomHenry Rollins, Tool | Tool, Henry Rollins | Play | 07:14 | 16 MB | 48 MB |
| 5 | Crawl AwayTool | Tool | Play | 05:29 | 12 MB | 36 MB |
| 6 | Swamp SongTool | Tool | Play | 05:31 | 12 MB | 37 MB |
| 7 | UndertowTool | Tool | Play | 05:22 | 12 MB | 37 MB |
| 8 | 4°Tool | Tool | Play | 06:03 | 13 MB | 39 MB |
| 9 | FloodTool | Tool | Play | 07:45 | 17 MB | 48 MB |
| 10 | DisgustipatedTool | Tool | Play | 15:46 | 36 MB | 64 MB |
| 68 mins | 156 MB | |||||
| 68 mins | 410 MB | |||||
| Artist | Job | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Airiq Anest | Machines |
| 2 | Danny Carey | Cymbals, Drums |
| 3 | Bradley Cook | Assistant Engineer |
| 4 | Paul d'Amour | Artwork |
| 5 | Greg Dean | Engineer, Live Sound |
| 6 | Robert Fayer | Assistant Engineer |
| 7 | Scott Goldstein | Drum Technician |
| 8 | K. Lee Hammond | Creative Director |
| 9 | Chris Haskett | Sledgehammer |
| 10 | Richard Hawkins | Drum Technician, Technician |
| 11 | Adam Jones | Art Direction, Artwork |
| 12 | Dean Karr | Photography |
| 13 | Maynard James Keenan | Vocals |
| 14 | Matt Marshall | A&R |
| 15 | Sylvia Massy | Engineer, Mixing, Producer |
| 16 | Chris Olivas | Assistant Engineer |
| 17 | Henry Rollins | Composer, Guest Artist, Performer, Primary Artist, Vocals, Vocals (Background) |
| 18 | Ron Saint Germain | Mixing |
| 19 | Tool | Art Direction, Composer, Primary Artist, Producer |
| Quality | Format | Encoding | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| CD Quality | FLAC | 16bit 44.1kHz | FLAC is an audio coding format which uses lossless compression. Digital audio in FLAC format has a smaller size and retains the same quality of the original Compact Disc (CD). |