The 10 Best Tool Songs of All Time

Good news—you don’t have to hang out with the silver-haired crowd at the orchestra to hear good music. A few long-haired dudes shredding the electric guitar and destroying their drum heads can easily bring the same level of musicianship (if not the same nap opportunity). To prove it, here are the 10 best Tool songs of all time.

 

A Word on Tool

Before diving in, you might be wondering why, of all the bands that fit the above description, I went with Tool.

Formed in Los Angeles in 1990, the quartet in question has released just five full-length studio albums over the past 30+ years, emphasizing quality over quantity and the commercial reward that can come with the latter. Often lumped under the umbrella of progressive rock (progressive metal to be more exact), the group has always lived by the ethos that elite musicianship—rife with experimentation and rhythmic complexity—should be its guiding force, downplaying anything that might detract from that ideal.

As an example, band members are unlikely to appear in the group’s evocative music videos. In fact, you might be unable to name a single member of the band, and they’re just fine with that. Lyrics, while always thought-provoking, are often absent from liner notes.

Given a portfolio that is abridged relative to the foursome’s duration, the band has been able to apply maximal creative energy to all their work, and along the way has never been afraid to ruffle a few feathers.

In short, Tool has reminded us why we carve out space for creators in the first place. In a world full of photoshopped, auto-tuned, and anti-intellectual celebrities, the band has given us hope that somewhere deep within the dopamine-crazed 21st century, there’s still room for real art.

And on to the music.

 

The Tunes

A few disclaimers are warranted. First, this is definitely not happy music. Second, some of the jams are long and deliberate, best heard when there’s time to focus. And finally, given a catalog that is top to bottom outstanding, you may disagree with some or all of these subjective choices, which by the way are in chronological order.

 

“Sober” (1993)

The first single from Undertow, Tool’s first full-length studio album, served as an apt introduction of the band to a wider audience, taking a deep dive into the pitfalls of addiction.

 

“Stinkfist” (1996)

The opening track on Ænima, the group’s second album, garnered a few different interpretations with regards to the song title. No need to go there—just appreciate the music.

 

“Forty Six & 2” (1998)

Also from the second album, this jam has attracted all sorts of explanations, with one theory linking the song to esoteric predictions of humans evolving via the addition of two chromosomes to their current forty six. As the piece approaches its latter stages, in the group’s trademark fashion, several different time signatures make an appearance.

 

“Schism” (2001)

From the band’s third album, Lateralus, this track managed to land a Grammy for Best Metal Performance. In keeping with the album’s focus on mathematical themes, the song seems to describe the human condition as a puzzle that can be solved and unsolved. If you’re a music geek, among a ton of other rhythmic delights, you’ll note the use of a 12-beat cycle divided into five and seven.

 

“Parabola” (2002)

Speaking of math, the second single from Lateralus references a symmetrical curve that is a member of the family of conic sections. Enough said.

 

“Lateralus” (2002)

And it gets even better. The album’s eponymous track gives a shout out to the Fibonacci sequence, both via the amount of syllables in the verses and via a time signature transition from 9/8 to 8/8 to 7/8 (referencing the number 987, the 16th in the sequence).

 

“Vicarious” (2006)

If you listen to just one Tool song, make it this one. The opening piece from 10,000 Days, the group’s fourth album, is arguably the band’s catchiest, all the while providing a scathing commentary on our disturbing obsession with an even more disturbing media.

 

“Right in Two” (2006)

Perhaps the most unlikely choice on this list of the best Tool songs, the tenth track from the fourth album made the cut thanks to a tabla solo that leads into a climactic final three minutes, a sequence that would have made even Ravi Shankar proud.

 

“The Pot” (2006)

The fourth album also produced this classic, an angry take on hypocrisy.

 

“Pneuma” (2020)

And last but not least, a modern masterpiece. After a 13-year hiatus since the release of 10,000 Days, Tool showed with Fear Inoculum, their fifth and most recent album, that they hadn’t lost their edge, exemplified by this powerful work with numerous allusions to breathing.

 

Assuming you’re not scared or depressed at this point, feel free to add to the collection of the best Tool songs in the comments below. And remember, with this band, you can’t be wrong.