Undertow (Tool album)

For other uses, see Undertow (disambiguation).

Template:FixBunching {{Infobox Album | Name = Undertow | Type = studio | Artist = Tool | Cover = Tool-Undertow.jpg | Released = April 6, 1993 | Recorded = October - December 1992 at Grand Master Studios, Hollywood, California | Genre = Progressive metal, alternative metal | Length = 69:13 | Label = Zoo Entertainment | Producer = Sylvia Massy, Tool | Reviews =

• About.com link
• Allmusic link
• Entertainment Weekly (A-) May 28, 1993
• Q October 2000
• Spin (Favorable) 7 October 2003

| Last album = Opiate
(1992) | This album = Undertow
(1993) | Next album = Ænima
(1996) | Misc = Template:Extra album cover 2 Undertow is the debut full-length album by American progressive metal band Tool, released in 1993. At the time, grunge was at the height of its popularity, and pop punk was slowly beginning to gather mainstream attention. Undertow helped heavy metal music remain prominent as a mainstream musical style, and allowed several later bands to break through to the mainstream. Allmusic saw the album's success in the "striking, haunting visuals that complemented the album's nihilistic yet wistful mood." It was eventually certified double platinum by the RIAA on May 14, 2001.As of July, 7, 2010, Undertow has sold 2,910,000 Copies in the US.

The album was recorded between October and December 1992 at Grand Master Studios, Hollywood, California, by Sylvia Massy. Some of the songs featured on the album are songs that the band decided to not release on their first EP Opiate.

Album art

The album art was designed by Adam Jones. Photos in the liner notes of a nude obese woman, a nude man of normal weight, and the band members with pins in the sides of their heads generated controversy, resulting in the album being removed from stores such as Kmart and Wal-Mart. The band reacted by releasing another version, which depicted a giant bar code on a white background. This version of the album included a note from the band.

File:Tool-Undertow-note.jpg

The note from Tool that accompanied some censored versions.

When the original cover is held up to a light, the obese woman inside is seen encircled by the ribcage.

The message on the photographs of the band members reads "Trust me trust me trust me trust me trust me I just want to start this over say you won't go this is love I'll make weapons out of my imperfections lay back and let me show you another way only this one holy medium brings me peace of mind cleanse and purge me in the water twice as loud as reason euphoria I've been far too sympathetic no one told you to come I hope it sucks you down life feeds on life this is necessary." This passage has several lyrics from the album's songs.

In some versions of the album, when the black cd tray is removed from the case, an obscure picture of a cow licking what appears to be its genital region is revealed. In other versions of the album, released internationally, the picture of the cow licking the genital region is viewable without problems under the transparent backing of the disc case, the ribcage is also on the front cover of the album, but the obese woman is absent from the booklet of the musical album, only the members of the band are depicted.

Adam Jones' pet pig, Moe appears on the back cover amid an array of forks standing on end.

Album information

Comedian Bill Hicks is noted as "inspiration" in the liner notes. His presence would feature again on Tool's next album.

Chris Haskett, then with the Rollins Band is credited in the liner notes with "sledge hammer", probably relating to the "three pianos and shotguns smashed with sledgehammers" on Disgustipated. Of recording this track Adam Jones recalls a story in which the band purchased two second-hand pianos with the intention of blasting them with shotguns in the indoor parking lot of Grand Master Studio and putting the resulting sounds to tape. Apparently the man running the studio was happy as long as they cleaned up the mess afterwards. Since the incident, Tool has been approached by other bands claiming to have seen the shotgun holes left by them in the carpark wall.

Track listing

All songs written by Tool unless otherwise noted.

1. "Intolerance" – 4:53
2. "Prison Sex" – 4:56
3. "Sober" – 5:03
4. "Bottom" – 7:13 (Tool, Henry Rollins)
5. "Crawl Away" – 5:29
6. "Swamp Song" – 5:31
7. "Undertow" – 5:21
8. "4°" - 6:02
9. "Flood" – 7:45
10. "Disgustipated" – 15:47

"Disgustipated" is track 69 on most pressings in North America (causing most CD players upon reaching the end of track 9 to advance through tracks 10-68, which contain no data, at a rate of about 4 seconds per track until track 69 is reached). It also appears as track 39, track 10 (mostly in Europe) or as a hidden track following "Flood" on track 9. On certain Japanese imports, "Disgustipated" is track 70, with a short live version of "Flood" as track 71. The exact breakdown of "Disgustipated" is as follows:

Percussion/animal sounds – 0:00 - 1:10

Preacher's speech – 1:11 - 2:32

"Disgustipated" – 2:33 - 6:45

Crickets – 6:40 - 13:50

Phone message – 13:51 - 15:47

Release history

Region	Date	Label	Format	Catalog	Distributor	Notes
United States	1993 (1)	Zoo Entertainment	Vinyl	ZP11052-1	BMG Music	Grey vinyl (promotional)
				ZP11052-1		Clear vinyl (promotional)
	April 6, 1993 (original release)		CD	72445-11052-2
			Cassette	72445-11052-4
			Vinyl	72445-11052-1
			CD	72445-11073-2		Barcode cover
			Cassette	72445-11073-4		Barcode cover
			CD	D 153661	BMG Direct Marketing
Canada				BG2-11052	Columbia House
Germany				72445-11052-2	BMG Music
United States	1996 (2)	Volcano Entertainment	Vinyl	72445-11052-1-RE		Repress
			CD	61422-31073-2		Barcode cover
Europe	1998			7243 8 46690 2	Virgin
United Kingdom		Music For Nations		CDMFN 246
Canada	1999 (3)	Volcano Entertainment and Tool Dissectional		61422-33010-2	BMG Music Canada
United States			Vinyl	61422-31052-1	Sony BMG Music	Released in the original Zoo sleeve
Europe			CD	0550032
Japan	June 27, 2001			ZJCI-14006	Avex
United States	2004 (4)		Vinyl	61422-31052-1	Sony BMG Music
Japan	May 10, 2006		CD	BVCQ-21070
Europe	May 15, 2006			82876536472

1. The promotional vinyl did not include the final track "Disgustipated" so that the entire album could fit onto one disc. Because it is promotional, it is possible that it was released before the regular pressing, therefore, only the year is listed.
2. The year 1996 represent the year that Volcano Entertainment began using its own logo on releases which formerly used the Zoo Entertainment logo. In reality, 1996 reissues with the Volcano logo may not have actually been widely distributed until early in 1997.
3. The year 1999 represents the year that Tool's Tool Dissectional label was used in conjunction with Volcano. Strong evidence supports a North American reissue date of July 1, 1999, however, the European ones are unknown. To be cautious, only the year is given for all releases of this nature.
4. The year 2004 represents the year that Sony BMG was created. These reissues contain artwork that depicts Sony BMG as the distributor. Since Sony BMG's pressing schedule is not known, the actual release date may be sometime in 2004 or 2005.

Charting

Albums

Year	Chart	Position
1993	Billboard 200	50
1993	Top Heatseekers	1

Singles

Year	Single	Chart	Position
1993	"Sober"	Mainstream Rock Tracks	13
1994	"Prison Sex"	Mainstream Rock Tracks	32
1994	"Sober"	Mainstream Rock Tracks	23

Accolades

Publication	Country	Accolade	Year	Rank
Raw	UK	Albums of the Year	1993	6
Raw	UK	90 Essential Albums of the 90s	1995	*
Visions	Germany	The Best Albums 1991-96	1996	*
Pause & Play	US	The 90s Top 100 Essential Albums	1999	11
Classic Rock	UK	The 100 Greatest Rock Albums of All Time	2001	87

(*) designates unordered lists.

Personnel

Tool

The band members are listed under aliases in the linear notes.

• Maynard James Keenan – vocals (listed as "Mastresticator")
• Adam Jones – guitar, sitar, backing vocals (listed as "Bastardometer")
• Paul D'Amour – bass, backing vocals (listed as "Bottom Feeder")
• Danny Carey – drums, backing vocals (listed as "Membranophones")

Additional musicians

• Henry Rollins – guest vocals on "Bottom"

Production

• Statik - programming on "Disgustipated"
• Produced and mixed by Sylvia Massy
• Mixed by Ron St. Germain

References