TOOL’s ‘Ænima’: Facts Fans Probably Don’t Know
We are just investigating unknown facts about the “Ænima” album. We did some research about the facts listed below. Anybody knows it or not.
Then we saw that nobody knows the unknown facts about the “Aenima” album listed below. Ænima was released on vinyl on September 17th, 1996, and on Oct. 1 on CD and other formats.
What do we know about TOOL’s Aenima album:
1-How To Pronounce Album Title
Have you ever wondered why Tool used a different character for the album title? Many people wondered about the meaning of the “Aenima” album title. The band members answered: “A cross of ‘Anima’ (Latin for ‘soul’) and ‘enema’ (well, you know) – suggesting their intriguing mix of high and low art.”
2-Bill Hicks
Bill Hicks was a comedian who passed away in 1994. While he making his shows, he used dark humor to entertain his fans like Tool. That’s why the Tool band saw him as a band member. After Bill Hicks‘s tragic death in 1994, Tool wanted to live his memories. That is why they dedicated the “Aenima” to Bill Hicks.
3-Lines From Bill Hicks
Bill Hicks affected the entire Aenima’s album-making process. While the band was writing the “Third Eye”, they used Bill Hick‘s two speeches: “One Good Drug Story” and “The War on Drugs.”
Who played bass on the Aenima album?
4- Paul D’Amour leaved the band
While the band was making the “Aenima” album, they started to record it with original bassist Paul D’Amour. We can see some demos of him as bassist on the tracks called “Stinkfist,” “Aenima,” and “Eulogy.” Then, Justin Chancellor took his place in the band.
5-Half Empty or half full?
The band could not decide the title for the “H.” track. Half of the band members wanted to use “Half Empty” as the track title, and others wanted to use “Half-Full.” Because of the disagreement of the name, the band gave the name “H.” to the track.
6. Useful pranksters
“Useful Pranksters” is a tricky song for the fans. The interlude song named “Useful Idiot” includes the sounds from the record players skipping sounds. This song took place at the end of the first side to make an illusion to the audience.
7. Marijuana Cookies
The album includes offensive tracks named like “Die Eier von Satan.” The track title means “the balls of Satan” or “the eggs of Satan” in German. The band writes offensive lyrics for the tracks. We see in the words that they give a recipe for the edible marijuana cookies when we convert the track lyrics to English.
8. Success
TOOL band released this album in 1996, and the album sold 150.000 copies the week it was released. This sales record peaked the album number 2. In 2003 it was certificated three times platinum. That is why people regarded the best rock album of the 1990s. The album became popular again in 2019. The album became popular again in 2019 because they released their discography to digital platforms and streaming services 2019. the “Aenima” peaked at No. 10 on the Billboard 200.
9. Wrong Pressing
The band used fictional discography to insert the European version of the CD. European. This version includes 16 fake album covers with those satirical titles: “Gay Rodeo, Bethlehem Abortion Clinic, Bad Breath, The Other White Meat, Two Weiners For Daddy, Three Fat Brown Fingers, Mungey the Clown, I Smell Urine, The Christmas Album, Iced Pee, Spring Boner, Tetanus for Breakfast, Crapsteaks Smothered in Dictators, Nurse Ketimella’s Kitchen, Just Up That Dirt Road: Tool Live! at the Acropolis and Brown Magic and Big Appetites: Music from the Movie Soundtrack Jelly Donut.”
10.” Stinkfist”
When Tool first released the album, they had taken so many negative reviews about the titles. When MTV released that song, they needed to change the “Stinkfist” name to the “Track #1”.MTV thought that the track name could be offensive for some people. Fans were not happy about the blackout.
11. Maynard James Keenan show special care of his voice
Maynard James Keenan did not care about his voice. He started drinking and smoking at a young age. He continued this habit after he became a famous band frontman. Those habits started to affect his voice badly. He could not make his iconic screams anymore. That’s why he decided to leave these bad habits during the album-making process. He started a healthy life. He paid attention to what he ate and drank. Also, he started paying attention to how long he used his voice.
He explains the situation in those words: “The best way I can describe it is to use that pregnancy metaphor,”. “You are all-out running around, and everyone’s like, ‘Hey, let’s go to this place.’ Everybody unconsciously wants to walk into the smoky pub, and here you are, the pregnant woman, standing at the door saying, ‘I really cannot go in there.’ And they go, ‘Oh, right. You cannot go in there. OK, well, we will find someplace that is not as fun so the pregnant woman can hang out with us.’ That is kind of how you start to feel at that point where you realize you have got this responsibility that they do not have.”
He also continued: “You have got these two little flaps of skin in your throat that are very volatile. And there are things you cannot do. Otherwise, they do not work, so the sounds do not come out. You cannot just buy another piece of equipment to replace it. As time goes on and you get a little older, those weird kinds of tensions start to come out. But once again, art is tension. Art is stress and release. So, those juxtapositions are exactly what makes us who we are and between my brothers and me, it’s the same thing. You kind of need that.”
12. Maynard James Keenan made research to avoid repeating himself
Maynard James Keenan used the negative subject of sexual abuse and the dark side of religion for the “Undertow” album. Yet, While the band was making the “Aenima,” He wanted to change his attitude. He wanted to give a more positive message to the world. That is why he made some research about it.
He explains this situation with these words: “Right around Aenima I was trying to figure out a way to transmute that stuff and let it go. And finding different paths to disintegrate that negativity. I did a lot of esoteric, spiritual, and religious reading. I did a lot of mathematics and read psychological books. Just a lot of introspection, a lot of sound minds, sound body world studies. Somehow, I managed to dodge that third album road stories bullet and take the songs in a more esoteric, spiritual direction while still hanging on to some of the emotions and some of the charged feelings.”
