Collective Unconscious.org

1993
Commercial Release

Album: Undertow
Label: BMG Music / Zoo Entertainment / Volcano Entertainment
Produced by: Sylvia Massey / Tool
Recorded at: Grandmaster Studios, Hollywood, CA, USA - 1992

Album Notes: At the time when Tool's first full-length album was released, the musical landscape was full of long-hair, flannel & Pearl Jam/Nirvana wannabe grunge-bands singing about a bunch of bullshit. Sure, there were a few creative bright spots such as Rage Against The Machine, Alice In Chains, Smashing Pumpkins, Porno For Pyros & other genre-defying acts but nothing like Tool. With luke-warm reception and relatively little airplay on the radio & MTV, it was sink or swim for Tool. They needed a way to prove themselves. After jumping across the pond from Europe - America - Europe - America supporting acts such as RATM & Fishbone, the band was well-honed as far as live performances go. Graduating, so to speak, from the second stage to the main stage of Lollapalooza III, the energy created by their live performances had a positive effect on buzz, touring and ultimately album sales. This album would go on to sell hundreds of thousands copies. This album was censored relatively heavy, depending on where you bought it. Some outlets thought that the rib-cage was too explicit & put a sticker over it. Other chain-stores refused to carry the album due to the very graphic semi-nude pictures contained in the album; an obese woman laying on her side, a picture of Adam's pig with forks sticking out of her, strange-pictures of the band and a man + a man basically laying on top of each other in a strange embrace. I suppose though those pictures give an indication that in a time of carefully crafted, molded 'rock stars', Tool certainly was not about being accepted based on what a record company or the buying public perceive as marketable & cool. That is a constant with this band.