Tool
Salival

THE REVIEW

In 2000, shortly before the release of the highly anticipated "Lateralus," "Salival" comes out, a canonical collection of live tracks, covers, and rarities.

The album begins with two live versions of the band's classic tracks, "Third Eye" (from "Aenima"), introduced by a Timothy Leary sample, and "Part Of Me" (from the "Opiate" EP), performed with admirable technique and precision: for those who have never had the luck to hear Tool live, these two tracks are enough to discover the band's on-stage performance, capable of recreating songs with absolute fidelity and at the same time with great intensity despite their highly complex arrangements. This is followed by an interesting alternative version of "Pushit," also live, completely different from the original in "Aenima," much more centered on melody and tribalisms. "Message To Harry Manback II," on the other hand, is the first studio track on the album: it is indeed a curious reprise of the eponymous track from "Aenima," whose theme is reprised by a string section instead of a piano. The subject is the same: a man of clear Italian origin leaves an insulting message on the answering machine of a certain Harry Manback, including some insults in Italian.

This is followed by two more live tracks: the instrumental "Merkaba," in which drummer Danny Carey showcases his remarkable technique while the rest of the band indulges in feedback, samples, delays, and various noise effects, and "You Lied," an excellent cover of the English band Peach (the band where bassist Justin Chancellor played before joining Tool in '96). But the main course is served at track seven, a courageous and extraordinary reinterpretation of a Led Zeppelin classic, "No Quarter," this time in studio. Courageous because it has been rearranged and reinterpreted in a very personal way; in fact, only the initial theme resembles the original, the rest is entirely the work of Tool (even the lyrics have been modified), extraordinary because it might even be better than the original, one of the absolute best songs by the historic English quartet. The final track, "L. A. M. C." (acronym for Los Angeles Municipal Court), is nothing more than a voicemail message from the Los Angeles municipality answering machine plastered over a series of industrial noises, the usual Tool oddity. The surprises are not yet over, because after a few seconds of silence, four simple chords (strange as it may seem for a band like Tool) introduce the hidden track, "Maynard's Dick" (translation: Maynard's dick), an enjoyable little song in pure grunge style, clearly written at the beginning of their career.

In summary, it is an unmissable album. It falls a step below "Aenima" and the following "Lateralus" due to its nature as a collection and not an actual album, yet it is very appealing to any self-respecting Tool fan. It is logical that for those who do not know the band and want to discover them, it is not the most suitable work, but nonetheless, it is an album to have.