Are there any Tool fans here?

@auxinport I was wondering how Maynard's winery was going to do. That's a tough climate for a cab grape. I remember watching a video of him starting that up from scratch and hoping he could pull it off. Glad it is working out. The restaurant is supposed to be good too. Did you get try that?

I'm not a fan of Tool, and have no comment on the quality of their recordings. I suspect they, like most others, take their work seriously and have invested significant time and resources in their work. Occasionally I make videos of our motorcycling adventures, and my process begins with collecting media assets, organizing those assets, finding the right music, and editing the video to that music. This is a video I made with a Tool track for my best friend from high school. I guess you could say, this is what the song means to me now. I hope they (Tool) would be honored that I chose their music to compliment the spirit of our adventure.

https://vimeo.com/46799222/general

Now, THIS is some great drumming! I love drummers who play music, and she certainly does. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Yw8aaqnnrg

Here's a tribute to the person who was arguably the best jazz drummer of all time ... and no, it is not Shelly Manne:

Click on each picture for the videos. 

https://video.search.yahoo.com/search/video;_ylt=Awr9BNoYrLVdAcYAJT5XNyoA;_ylu=X3oDMTEyNDloNHFiBGNvbG8DZ3ExBHBvcwMzBHZ0aWQDQTA2MDdfMQRzZWMDc2M-?p=stan+levey+drummer&fr=chr-yo_gc#id=4&vid=c542367ae55fdc75adca5ff89a1e41b2&action=view

Lifelong fan here, enough to call them my favorite band of all time. 
Saw them live 8-9 times, my 10th coming up in a few weeks.

It's funny, despite the 'prog rock' label, I always enjoyed Adam Jones' minimalist take on his guitar parts and sounds. He lets the band breathe. Danny Carey brings the math into the band, but it's so far away from any of the conventional prog rock that I have trouble listening to. Maynard is, despite his seemingly infinite capability for projecting his voice, a melodic, graceful virtuoso. And Justin Chancellor's bass, I would argue, is the single biggest 'signature sound' going in rock music right now. There is nothing like it.

Ironically, some of the comments that look at Tool's surface and connect it with 'society's decline' or whatever - it could not be further from the truth. Just spend some time with the Lateralus album. Try to get past the density, the noise, whatever you're perceiving that makes it intimidating to you. The whole album, literally, (laterally?) is about human progress- on a personal level, as well as as our species as a whole. 

I'm also pleasantly surprised at some of the comments about Undertow being their best album sonically. Interesting- makes me want to revisit the album from that perspective. Undertow always sounded a bit 'naive' to me in its production, especially drums, ESPECIALLY the cymbals. But that 'naivete' does translate to a more intimate, (and arguably truthful) recording style as far as critical listening is concerned. 
As the band's conceptual frameworks expanded, so did their sound, and the sound became 'bigger', which I enjoyed.  Ænima still has some my favorite recorded moments of music in history. (The intro / first verse to "Eulogy"!). The sonic punch of "Lateralus" is hard to match by any other band on the 'harder' side of the rock spectrum. 

Lastly - I've really really enjoyed the last album Fear Innoculum. It's a completely different beast. It will take years for people to truly digest it. I just keep nibbling on it. 

@ zyphryx  - nope.  I live in California and had a friend traveling to Arizona.  I asked him to get me a couple bottles of the wine.  They don't do straight cabs anymore.  It's all blends of one sort or another.

On another note:

Ironically, some of the comments that look at Tool's surface and connect it with 'society's decline' or whatever - it could not be further from the truth. Just spend some time with the Lateralus album. Try to get past the density, the noise, whatever you're perceiving that makes it intimidating to you. The whole album, literally, (laterally?) is about human progress- on a personal level, as well as as our species as a whole.

There's a big misconception here from non-fans that there is a big decline based on music.  A lot of people don't know or don't realize that there is an extreme amount of complexity in rock/metal.  Many of the metal artists over the years write about complex issue as well as social issues, depression, politics, war, etc.  Here's a zinger.  Back in 1991 I was a big fan of this group, but as I went through the lyrics I made a startling discovery that this was a tragic love song!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S6LL5iA6y9o

I thought it was very interesting at the time.