10 Perfect Hard Rock Albums Of The 2000s
4. Lateralus - Tool
Oh... and you thought that A Perfect Circle was the only kind of prog rock that was going to get some air time? Think again. When Tool got to the 2000s, they were already one of the wildest rock bands out there, getting a lot of their zany fixations out on the record Aenema a few years prior. After taking years away from the spotlight and getting really involved in psychedelics though, they practically created their own world on Lateralus.
Being one of the more sizable endeavours in the band's catalogue, a lot of the appeal behind this record is just how much these guys were willing to push themselves out of their comfort zone, whether that meant with different time signatures or some more heavy lyrical themes. When most bands were talking about their childhood trauma, songs like The Grudge and Schism were important case studies about how we deal with the pain and hurt in our lives.
Also, this might be the home of the definitive prog rock song with the title track, with the entire thing being built around the concept of the Fibonacci sequence and eventually looping in on itself for nine minutes of musical bliss. Whereas metal was always used as a means of escape from the real world, listening to this album is like stepping into a completely different plain of existence.