Lateralus (idea)

One common criticism some people throw at Lateralus is that, while the song progression indeed makes sense lyrically (if you give the proper time to dig your way that deep into the album), the individual tracks do not segue together musically (at least not as well as they should, the only excpetion being the songs Disposition and Reflection). If you are one of those people who would much rather enjoy an album that effortlessly flows from one track to the next, without caring about the lyrical and thematic progression of the album as a whole, here's something you can do.

A secret track listing has been suggested, one that seems so coincidental it's hard to believe that the band didn't intend for it to be stumbled upon. What you do is simple. You grab a piece of paper, and write down the track numbers 1 to 12 in a straight line, from left to right. You should end up with something like this:

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

Now, take a pencil/pen, whatever, and draw a line up the paper, from the number 6. Curve this over to number 7. Then draw a line down, and curve over to number 5, and then to number 8, and so on and so on. Notice we are getting a spiral pattern going (note the lyrics to the title track). Once you incorporate all 12, follow the spiral round, and write them out in the order they appear (i.e. starting with 6 and ending in 12). You should end up with this track order:

6 7 5 8 4 9 3 10 2 11 1 12

Add 13 onto the end of this. The new track listing is now:

1. Parabol
2. Parabola
3. Schism
4. Ticks and Leeches
5. Mantra
6. Lateralus
7. The Patient
8. Disposition
9. Eon Blue Apocalypse
10. Reflection
11. The Grudge
12. Triad
13. Faaip De Oiad

It's Unbelievable (and honestly quite stunning) that this works. Reading the lyrics to the title track after coming across this will quite possibly be the largest toolgasm you'll ever experience. So instead of the default track listing, which focused on lyrical progression, we have a spiral track listing, one that focuses on the musical aspect. Spiralling out, if you will. This can be further explained if I quickly quote machfive:

The song seemingly endorses such abstract thought, and portrays the separation of body and mind in a dismal light. You must see things for what they are, and to glean everything that you can without becoming obsessive about it. Devoting time and energy to searching for the patterns and deeper meaning behind everything cripples your ability to see the real truths, and our intuitions must be relied upon if one is not to leave "opportunities behind."

Is this is a coincidence, I'll eat Danny's hat and kiss Maynard's hairy arse. Whether this is down to Tool wanted to add several more layers of depth to their masterpiece, or they're simply just fucking with our heads again, we don't know, and, as machfive has suggested, we will probably never know. This is the mother of all toolgasms, and another example of why Tool are simply one of the most intelligent, thought provoking and downright best (if not, the best) bands on the planet today.