Tool/Trivia


 * Black Sheep Hit: "The Pot." Maynard's vocals, especially in the beginning, are much higher than normal and barely sound like him, and it's one of Tool's "poppier", more radio-friendly songs.
 * Creator Backlash: After Maynard blew out his voice recording "Ticks and Leeches", he said that he would never perform it live. Since then, it has been played a few times, using heavy vocal effects that keep Maynard from having to strain his voice with the actual screams.
 * Follow the Leader: Inspired a wave of similar-sounding acts in, oddly enough, the Post-Grunge genre. Most of them didn't achieve much success.
 * Lying Creator: Tool is known to spread misinformation about themselves as a way of preserving their mystique. One of their most famous fibs was claiming to subscribe to a philosophy called "Lacrymology," the study of crying, from a book called The Joyful Guide to Lacrymology published in the 1940s. Lacrymology doesn't actually exist.
 * Another example applies to Lateralus, albeit for different reasons. The name of the album was "revealed" in January 2001 as Systema Encéphale, complete with a full setlist . Cue dozens of bogus song files being uploaded on file-sharing networks. A month later, in what was more or less a Take That aimed at the pranksters, the album was revealed to be titled "Lateralus" instead, and that the name Systema Encéphale, along with the entire "revealed" setlist, was all a ruse.
 * Reclusive Artist: The band rarely make public appearances outside of live performances.
 * Write What You Know: A lot of Tool's lyrics can be summed up as "Maynard exploring his childhood traumas", especially his relationship with his invalid mother. Some of his earlier songs included military slang, due to his brief involvement in ROTC.