Lateralus
Lateralus (/ˌlætəˈræləs/)[2] is the third studio album by the American rock band Tool. It was released on May 15, 2001, through Volcano Entertainment. The album was recorded at Cello Studios in Hollywood and The Hook, Big Empty Space, and The Lodge, in North Hollywood, between October 2000 and January 2001. David Bottrill, who had produced the band's two previous releases Ænima and Salival, produced the album along with the band, and became the last Tool album produced by Bottrill to date. On August 23, 2005, Lateralus was released as a limited edition two-picture-disc vinyl LP in a holographic gatefold package.
This article is about the album. For the song from the album, see Lateralus (song).Lateralus
May 15, 2001
October 2000 – January 2001
- Cello (Hollywood)
- The Hook (Hollywood)
- Big Empty Space (Hollywood)
- The Lodge (Hollywood)
78:51
- David Bottrill
- Tool[1]
The album debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart, selling more than 555,200 copies in its first week of release.[3] It was certified triple platinum by the RIAA on April 15, 2021.[4] On February 13, 2015, the album was certified Gold by the BPI.[5] It was also certified double platinum in both Australia and Canada.[6][7] The band won the Grammy Award for Best Metal Performance for the song "Schism" in 2002.[8] Lateralus was ranked No. 123 on the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's "Definitive 200" list.[9]
Composition and content[edit]
Drummer Danny Carey sampled himself breathing through a tube to simulate the chanting of Buddhist monks for "Parabol", and banged piano strings for samples on "Reflection".[26] "Faaip de Oiad" samples a recording of a 1997 call on Art Bell's radio program Coast to Coast AM.[27] "Faaip de Oiad" is Enochian for The Voice of God.
"Disposition", "Reflection", and "Triad" form a sequence[1] that has been performed in succession live with occasional help from various tourmates such as Mike Patton, Dave Lombardo, Buzz Osborne, Tricky, and members of Isis, Meshuggah, and King Crimson.[28]
The title track, "Lateralus", incorporates the Fibonacci sequence.[29] The theme of the song describes the desire of humans to explore and to expand for more knowledge and a deeper understanding of everything. The lyrics "spiral out" refer to this desire and also to the Fibonacci spiral, which is formed by creating and arranging squares for each number in the sequence's 1,1,2,3,5,8,... pattern, and drawing a curve that connects to two corners of each square. This would, allowed to continue onwards, theoretically create a never-ending and infinitely expanding spiral. Related to this, the song's main theme features successive time signatures 9/8, 8/8, and 7/8.[30] The number 987 is the sixteenth integer of the Fibonacci sequence.[31]
"Eon Blue Apocalypse" is an instrumental piece in-between "The Grudge" and "The Patient" [32] The track "Mantra" is the slowed-down sound of Maynard James Keenan gently squeezing one of his cats.[10]