Tool - Opiate (song lyrics, bass, metal, rock, albums)

Merkaba · 04-25-2006, 04:03 AM

Tool
Opiate - 1992

Track Listing:

1. Sweat
2. Hush
3. Part Of Me
4. Cold And Ugly
5. Jerk Off
6. Opiate
-- Gaping Lotus Experiance

One of my favourite bands, this E.P is Tool’s first commercial release. It is also their shortest. It is also their hardest.
This album contains 6 songs and one hidden track. It is a mixture of live material and studio recordings. There is no real theme to the E.P it is merely portraying the sheer brutality this band possesses. The song lyrics are Maynard’s first and are far from his best. However they deal with drugs, the anger he felt towards society, the anger towards people who wouldn’t do things for themselves, and there was no desire to make these lyrics artistically beautiful when the album had such a no-nonsense attitude. Musically, all the tracks are fairly similar. Danny Carey has consistently frenetic drumming throughout the album. Adam Jones incorporates a small range of seductively hard riffs and Paul D’Amor plays along on bass accordingly. The album artwork is traditional early days Tool; dark and disturbing.
Unlike their other albums there is little progression on display here, and all the tracks have a similar sound to them apart from Opiate. But in 6 vicious 5 minute songs, who needs progression.

1. Sweat is hard to interpret. It doesn’t have a straightforward meaning. Hopefully one day the band will write a book of explanations but until then, we’re left thinking for ourselves. There has been a fair bit of debate about it’s main theme amongst Tool fans. In the lyrics there is a reference to a poem Edgar Allan Poe once wrote, about everything being a “Dream within a Dream”. Also, there are many key terms linked to Baptism. And some consider it an Lsd trip in the desert. Hard music accompanies this track.

2. Hush is the only song on Opiate that had a video. The band members are just standing naked pretty much. Hush is quite clever, Maynard sings of saying what he wants to, doing things his own way, without being taken so seriously all the time. The lyrics scream profanities at whoever he’s referring to, and then he proceeds to say “Just Kidding”. Hard music also accompanies this song, pretty narly screams thrown in too.

3. Part Of Me , for me, is one of the weaker tracks on Opiate. The song is still musically hard and angry, and it does have pretty good mini climaxes throughout, but it is let down slightly as it’s a little too repetitive. Although I call it a weaker track out of the others, I don’t mean it is a weak song in it’s own right.

4. Cold And Ugly is similar to Part Of Me but this song has the one of the coolest intro’s and outro’s you’ll ever hear, and they’re not musical either. The track has dark lyrics concerning fear on the inside but hard and bitter on the outside, though theres probably a deeper meaning to it.

5. Jerk – Off is the most well known track off Opiate. It’s a brutal onslaught against those who are too stupid to think for themselves, to work for themselves, and those who always push the boundaries. I suspect this comes from Maynard’s younger days in the US Army where he would have taken on strong values. Three of these values are well known throughout the Tool community and serve many times in the albums that follow Opiate; “lie, cheat and steal – I will not tolerate you”.

6. Opiate is a different track it’s a little more seductive and starts off far softer then any of the other tracks. It does however contain demeaning lyrics involving rape and the words in my signature “ Deaf and blind and dumb and born to...”. After two minutes of silence at the end of Opiate there is the hidden track, known as the Gaping Lotus Experience. This is a pure drug trip, talks about dogs rooting lazy-boys, big red fire engines and urine.

All in all, this album is an immensely powerful 30 minutes, but nothing substantial. Maynard conveys far more anger then any death metal band ever has, while actually singing properly. The band is not as exploratory in this album but as it’s their first, you can easily see where they’ve come from.

Rating 8/10

In comparison to the other Tool albums this would only fetch a 7 but as an E.P on it’s own, it’s pretty damn good for what it is.

Here are a few songs, this is half the album and it's pretty much what the other half sounds like too, apart from Opiate. So if you haven't heard it before, you can make your judgement based on these songs:

Jerk-Off
Sweat
Cold And ugly

swim · 04-25-2006, 03:25 PM

I love this album. Pretty good review.

cardboard adolescent · 04-25-2006, 03:41 PM

It's indicative of the further greatness which Tool would go on to achieve. It is definetely shadowed by their later releases, but it's still a great album in and of itself. Two key details that you hinted at but didn't explicitly mention: Hush is about censorship, and Opiate is about religion.

Great album, in any case.

Merkaba · 04-25-2006, 04:55 PM

Oh censorship! That would have been a good word to use, I should have known that after seeing the video as well. Bother. Thankyou team, I wasn't sure about my review.

~~...of Epic Questions~~ · 05-05-2006, 08:27 AM

I prefer Ænima. I was never able to get into this EP at all. Maybe I should give it another listen.

Merkaba · 05-05-2006, 06:00 PM

Everyone prefers Aenima.

I think you should give this E.P another listen, and try not to compare it to the other Tool albums because after Opiate it's just a massive rollercoaster ride of progression and experimentation, and if you're trying to find that sort of brilliance on Opiate, it's not there. Opiate has other quality's. Quality's that built a strong basis for Tool to work off of.

Listen to this album for the anger, the way Tool give it to you, and the lyrics that are profoundly non PC.

Damn, as I write this I begin to wish I'd rated it higher.

~nutshell~ · 05-10-2006, 11:20 AM

I love both Aenima and Opiate.

Stone Magnet · 05-10-2006, 11:31 AM

I love everything Tool's ever released. I'd give every EP and every LP 10/10.

Pretty good review though (even if the rating is too low :-P).

Merkaba · 05-10-2006, 04:39 PM

Haha, see my post post above for a sort of re-evaluation.

<<<>>> · 05-10-2006, 07:27 PM

opiate, well it's no Ænima that's for sure. But that doesn't take away from the fact that it's still a highly effective album. I prefer this to all other albums besides Ænima. It showcases a young band with a lot of potential's first stage in their developement. Tool started off a lot more cynical and pissed off with a "poison tipped dart" aimed at organized religion this time. In conclusion "Opiate" would probably earn at least an 8/10 for me. It's the middle-ground between Undertow's more hardrock grooves and Ænima's sludge-rock frustration.

View Poll Results: Thoughts on the album
Excellent	18	54.55%
Good	9	27.27%
Average	2	6.06%
Bad	4	12.12%
Voters: 33. You may not vote on this poll

04-25-2006, 04:03 AM	#1 (permalink)
Merkaba Whitewater! Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: New Zealand Posts: 2,885	Tool - Opiate Tool Opiate - 1992 Track Listing: 1. Sweat 2. Hush 3. Part Of Me 4. Cold And Ugly 5. Jerk Off 6. Opiate -- Gaping Lotus Experiance One of my favourite bands, this E.P is Tool’s first commercial release. It is also their shortest. It is also their hardest. This album contains 6 songs and one hidden track. It is a mixture of live material and studio recordings. There is no real theme to the E.P it is merely portraying the sheer brutality this band possesses. The song lyrics are Maynard’s first and are far from his best. However they deal with drugs, the anger he felt towards society, the anger towards people who wouldn’t do things for themselves, and there was no desire to make these lyrics artistically beautiful when the album had such a no-nonsense attitude. Musically, all the tracks are fairly similar. Danny Carey has consistently frenetic drumming throughout the album. Adam Jones incorporates a small range of seductively hard riffs and Paul D’Amor plays along on bass accordingly. The album artwork is traditional early days Tool; dark and disturbing. Unlike their other albums there is little progression on display here, and all the tracks have a similar sound to them apart from Opiate. But in 6 vicious 5 minute songs, who needs progression. 1. Sweat is hard to interpret. It doesn’t have a straightforward meaning. Hopefully one day the band will write a book of explanations but until then, we’re left thinking for ourselves. There has been a fair bit of debate about it’s main theme amongst Tool fans. In the lyrics there is a reference to a poem Edgar Allan Poe once wrote, about everything being a “Dream within a Dream”. Also, there are many key terms linked to Baptism. And some consider it an Lsd trip in the desert. Hard music accompanies this track. 2. Hush is the only song on Opiate that had a video. The band members are just standing naked pretty much. Hush is quite clever, Maynard sings of saying what he wants to, doing things his own way, without being taken so seriously all the time. The lyrics scream profanities at whoever he’s referring to, and then he proceeds to say “Just Kidding”. Hard music also accompanies this song, pretty narly screams thrown in too. 3. Part Of Me , for me, is one of the weaker tracks on Opiate. The song is still musically hard and angry, and it does have pretty good mini climaxes throughout, but it is let down slightly as it’s a little too repetitive. Although I call it a weaker track out of the others, I don’t mean it is a weak song in it’s own right. 4. Cold And Ugly is similar to Part Of Me but this song has the one of the coolest intro’s and outro’s you’ll ever hear, and they’re not musical either. The track has dark lyrics concerning fear on the inside but hard and bitter on the outside, though theres probably a deeper meaning to it. 5. Jerk – Off is the most well known track off Opiate. It’s a brutal onslaught against those who are too stupid to think for themselves, to work for themselves, and those who always push the boundaries. I suspect this comes from Maynard’s younger days in the US Army where he would have taken on strong values. Three of these values are well known throughout the Tool community and serve many times in the albums that follow Opiate; “lie, cheat and steal – I will not tolerate you”. 6. Opiate is a different track it’s a little more seductive and starts off far softer then any of the other tracks. It does however contain demeaning lyrics involving rape and the words in my signature “ Deaf and blind and dumb and born to...”. After two minutes of silence at the end of Opiate there is the hidden track, known as the Gaping Lotus Experience. This is a pure drug trip, talks about dogs rooting lazy-boys, big red fire engines and urine. All in all, this album is an immensely powerful 30 minutes, but nothing substantial. Maynard conveys far more anger then any death metal band ever has, while actually singing properly. The band is not as exploratory in this album but as it’s their first, you can easily see where they’ve come from. Rating 8/10 In comparison to the other Tool albums this would only fetch a 7 but as an E.P on it’s own, it’s pretty damn good for what it is. Here are a few songs, this is half the album and it's pretty much what the other half sounds like too, apart from Opiate. So if you haven't heard it before, you can make your judgement based on these songs: Jerk-Off Sweat Cold And ugly __________________ She thinks I'm a reclusive genius, she's going to be very disappointed when she finds out i'm a reclusive wanker

04-25-2006, 03:25 PM	#2 (permalink)
swim dontcareaboutyou Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: North Carolina Posts: 5,188	I love this album. Pretty good review. __________________ http://nakednaps.bandcamp.com/

04-25-2006, 04:55 PM	#4 (permalink)
Merkaba Whitewater! Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: New Zealand Posts: 2,885	Oh censorship! That would have been a good word to use, I should have known that after seeing the video as well. Bother. Thankyou team, I wasn't sure about my review. __________________ She thinks I'm a reclusive genius, she's going to be very disappointed when she finds out i'm a reclusive wanker

05-05-2006, 06:00 PM	#6 (permalink)
Merkaba Whitewater! Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: New Zealand Posts: 2,885	Everyone prefers Aenima. I think you should give this E.P another listen, and try not to compare it to the other Tool albums because after Opiate it's just a massive rollercoaster ride of progression and experimentation, and if you're trying to find that sort of brilliance on Opiate, it's not there. Opiate has other quality's. Quality's that built a strong basis for Tool to work off of. Listen to this album for the anger, the way Tool give it to you, and the lyrics that are profoundly non PC. Damn, as I write this I begin to wish I'd rated it higher. __________________ She thinks I'm a reclusive genius, she's going to be very disappointed when she finds out i'm a reclusive wanker

04-25-2006, 03:41 PM	#3 (permalink)
cardboard adolescent ;) Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: CA Posts: 3,503	It's indicative of the further greatness which Tool would go on to achieve. It is definetely shadowed by their later releases, but it's still a great album in and of itself. Two key details that you hinted at but didn't explicitly mention: Hush is about censorship, and Opiate is about religion. Great album, in any case.

05-05-2006, 08:27 AM	#5 (permalink)
~~...of Epic Questions~~ Account Disabled Join Date: May 2006 Location: London Posts: 22	I prefer Ænima. I was never able to get into this EP at all. Maybe I should give it another listen.

05-10-2006, 11:20 AM	#7 (permalink)
~nutshell~ Music Addict Join Date: Apr 2006 Posts: 103	I love both Aenima and Opiate.

05-10-2006, 11:31 AM	#8 (permalink)
Stone Magnet Music Addict Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: Keswick, Ontario Posts: 731	I love everything Tool's ever released. I'd give every EP and every LP 10/10. Pretty good review though (even if the rating is too low :-P). __________________ Lock to field screen, row the ocean onto sentient ground. New rites of a Vedic sun to attend the blue horizon. Prevails flight resplendent, sails the shrine effulgent windship. Stillness breathes apex supreme - I walk toward the mountain. Crowns the sovereic rite to freedom. Shored the origin forms to a ground accede. Axiom core of the light shrine flight to shining. Glows serene to attenuate the space and time.

05-10-2006, 04:39 PM	#9 (permalink)
Merkaba Whitewater! Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: New Zealand Posts: 2,885	Haha, see my post post above for a sort of re-evaluation. __________________ She thinks I'm a reclusive genius, she's going to be very disappointed when she finds out i'm a reclusive wanker

05-10-2006, 07:27 PM	#10 (permalink)
<<<>>> Dependent User Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: between yo' legs Posts: 397	hmmm opiate, well it's no Ænima that's for sure. But that doesn't take away from the fact that it's still a highly effective album. I prefer this to all other albums besides Ænima. It showcases a young band with a lot of potential's first stage in their developement. Tool started off a lot more cynical and pissed off with a "poison tipped dart" aimed at organized religion this time. In conclusion "Opiate" would probably earn at least an 8/10 for me. It's the middle-ground between Undertow's more hardrock grooves and Ænima's sludge-rock frustration. __________________ -)-)-)-)-)-)