Opiate Ep

TOOL’s first cd. It’s very good but know it’s an EP, having only 6 songs. But so worth having it in your collection of music.

TOOL is an incredible band with spectacular musicianship across the board. If you're sensitive to strong adult language, they might not be for you, but they do not use coarse language just for shock effect. The lyrics and ideas in TOOL's songs can leave you thinking deep thoughts forever - or they can help you get into a better mood or out of a bad one depending on how you interpret. I believe one of TOOL's primary intentions is to inspire listeners to open their minds and think for themselves. There are plenty of fans who idolize this group or specific members, especially "Maynard" James Keenan (MJK), the lyricist and lead singer, but I am not one of those fans. I believe MJK opposes the idea of listeners subscribing to his personal philosophies because we each have our own unique experiences, priorities, values, needs and wants. If you don't think and choose for yourself, you become a slave or mindless follower to the whims of whomever or whatever is feeding or forcing onto you their beliefs and their desires. Open your eyes and your other senses. Observe everything, and then think for yourself. Form your own ideas and opinions. Listen to others, but don't let them control you. If you happen to share same or similar beliefs with others, then you can connect through those commonalities, but there's also nothing wrong with being different and being fine with that. For me, TOOL suggests these kinds of independent thinking ideas, and they do so with spectacularly great music. As a group, I believe some of TOOL's strongest musical influences come from Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin, Rush, Deep Purple, Metallica, and other great rock and metal artists. In their own right, TOOL certainly influences many other artists.

Must have for Tool fans.

I'm not going to bother reviewing the music itself. You either are into Tool or not, particularly this release. This is a reissue by Volcano Records (of which there have seemingly been many - the barcode is 61422-31027-1). The quality of the vinyl is fine. I had no skipping or warping issues upon arrival. The EP itself is barebones, with a plain white label noting the track names and label (without the name of the band). There are no inserts. I can't compare this to any previous release, so maybe this is how it always was -- but the cover print job is pretty meh. It looks like someone took a smaller image and upsized it. It's not bad, it's just not very sharp. It's especially noticeable on the text on the back and the parental advisory on the front (which is not a sticker, but directly printed on the artwork). To me none of that is a "problem", but thought people would like to know. Amazon sells this for a bit over $5 and it gets added to your digital music library (even though I didn't see one of those "AutoRip" icons on here. It's cheaper than really anywhere else. You can't beat the value.

Never heard tool before 2001 when "schism" saturated the Chicago alt rock radio stations. It was then when I became a tool fan instantly. Since I was a broke 16 year old I napstered some of thier music before I could buy any and came across the song opiate. It touched my soul in a tickly, fuzzy way. 17 years later and I'm still a huge tool fan. This record is so great. Every song is punchy and raw with thought provoking lyrics. Last Time I saw this band live (Chicago 2017) they played sweat and opiate from this record. What a show those guys out on. Talk about sensory overload! Even if you're not a huge tool fan or not into thier longer song give this record a try. It's definitely worth how cheap it is The record shipped as shown, no liner inside the sleeve.

I just got this Vinyl EP of Opiate. I love TOOL and love this album but not in vinyl format. The vinyl plays fine but it is cheaply made, very thin and light. Side B has the songs out of order and the song cold and ugly is missing. If you want this album then get it as an MP3 or on a CD. Even for a hardcore tool fan, the vinyl is a waste of money. ^--- that was my first one star review. As you can see I have changed my mind and I'm updating this review. The record is still thin and cheaply made but as I have already pointed out it plays just fine. I had thought that the song cold and ugly was missing. I was mistaken. I put on the album again today and realized that depending on where you set the needle down at the beginning of the B side, you will hear either cold and ugly and the rest of the second half of the album as it was meant to be heard. Or, if you hit the right groove you were here the hidden track at the end of the CD instead. I did not even know this was possible to pull off, on vinyl. I am upping my rating to four stars seeing as how it plays just fine and was not advertised as 180g. At this point I would have to say the biggest downside to it, is that you never know what song you're going to get when you start the B side.

Despite being Tool's first release, Opiate, a six-song EP released in 1992 is one of the best Tool albums to date. Their sound is much more raw and outgoing their more recent material. This album is the perfect example of their heavy, dark, yet at the same time energetic and melodical sound. They have been classified as metal, yet they seem to be in between genres. The album features two live songs which sound amazing. If it weren't for the sound of the crowd and Maynard James Keenan's between song outbursts, you'd never guess they were the live songs on the album. Tool doesn't really compare to many other artists. There is only one Tool and this album is incredible. Although it is only six songs long, it defines the band's sound and is the perfect introductory album to Tool.

I really loved all the songs, my Daughter got me more into them as I already was, she has seen them a few times already. The drummer Danny Carey gave her a pick, and Maynard James Keenan was rocking back and forth as he does and both him & my daughter were in unison, she was over the moon. Wiill be buying all of their album, have a few+ so off to a good start.