Search - Fred Charlton, Da Capo Players, The Section :: String Quart Tribute to Tool

Was expecting so much more

D. Adams | MO, USA | 04/26/2005

(3 out of 5 stars)

"First, let me say that I'm a huge Tool fan, and I don't even like "heavy" music that much. I really enjoy their music and I think Maynard is the best vocalist in rock today. Now, on to these CDs. I didn't like them for the most part. The only reason I'm giving them three stars is because they have a great concept and their are a few pretty good sections in them. The songs just don't represent the darkness of Tool's music. If you want to see what I'm talking about, preview Schism. I think the reason this doesn't work is it's going to be impossible to recreate Tool's sound with a violin. A group like Apocalyptica (four cellos re-creating Metallica if you are unfamiliar) would be different, because it would allow Tool's darkness to come through. Furthermore, Danny Carey on drums is probably half the reason Tool is so wonderful. Put any other drummer in Danny's place, and Tool will not be nearly as good as they are. Once again, a string quartet can't replace a great drummer with their instruments. Overall, if you want to check these out, go ahead, but I'm just saying that you're not going to get nearly the same impact as you will when listening to Tool."

Great idea, mediocre execution.

Jeffrey Sweet | 04/23/2006

(3 out of 5 stars)

"Just a few days ago I was driving to work listening to Lateralus in my car and I was thinking how interesting it would sound to arrange some of the songs for a string quartet, so I was greatly suprised when I came across this very album at Barnes & Noble.



While I think it's an excellent idea and I can think of few bands that would work better in this format, I was very disappointed in the execution. There just seemed to be very little... intensity. Listen to Ticks & Leeches for example, or the end of Schism--not to mention they skip my favorite section of The Patient. If you want to hear how much sonic ass a string quartet can kick, check out recordings by the Kronos Quartet. I would love to see what they could have done with this material."

Exquisite Music

C. Gaudiano | Houston, Texas United States | 12/26/2006

(4 out of 5 stars)

"I first learned about classical tribute albums for metal bands when I heard about the Estonian group Rondellus and bought their magnificent tribute to Black Sabbath, called Sabbatum.



Sabbatum was such a brilliant album that, when I heard about Anotomica, I listened to it and bought the album. Bear in mind, I know nothing of Tool's music. But I do know classical music, and I love this album. The renditions of the Tool songs sound fantastic to me. The music is well-played, and I love feeling the textures of the music and the interweaving of the instrument voices.



The only reason I don't give this album five stars is because of the song "Rampant" on the second CD. It is total crap and not at all enjoyable to listen to if you like classical music; it is disharmonious and disorganized-sounding. It's jarring and unpleasing to the ear. It was also not written by Tool, so I'm rather annoyed that its composer tacked it onto this tribute album.



My advice--Copy all of these songs except "Rampant" onto your iPod and bliss out!"