April 1st 2011 Update: For some strange reason this page is getting a lot of search traffic from people looking for information about the hidden track – Problem 8. This was mentioned in the Tool Band newsletter. However, this was posted on the 1st of April…so I am 99% certain that this is in fact an April fools day joke. Think about it. if tool puts the energy into writing a song and its good they will make sure its heard, if its not good they will make sure its not heard. Every year they do something silly like this.
Original Opiate review: Opiate is an EP by Tool. Released in 1992, it followed two years of playing together after their formation in 1990. It is named after a quote by Karl Marx: “Religion is the opium of the masses”. Unlike their later releases, Opiate does not incorporate the progressive aspect of later recordings. Opiate does, however, immediately display the band’s technical prowess. Much of the album uses problems of society as a focal point. Topics range from extreme censorship, ethical choices, and religion as a form of control.
In retrospect, Opiate seems a little haphazard, but it’s possible to hear the seeds of Tool’s oppressively bleak, cerebral metal in such cuts as “Sweat” and “Opiate.” The two live tracks, “Cold and Ugly” and “Jerk-Off,” don’t sound out of place, since they share the same churning riffs, black noise, and doom that characterize Tool’s sound. This is not as developed as either Undertow or Aenima, but it’s possible to hear the roots of those albums all over this EP.
[phpbay]tool opiate, 3, 306, “undertow”[/phpbay]
Track List:
1. “Sweat” – 3:46
2. “Hush” – 2:48
3. “Part of Me” – 3:17
4. “Cold and Ugly (Live)” – 4:09
* Recorded on December 31, 1991 at the Jello Loft, Hollywood, California
5. “Jerk-Off (Live)” – 4:23
* Recorded on January 1, 1992 at the Jello Loft, Hollywood, California
6. “Opiate” – 8:28
* Contains the hidden track “The Gaping Lotus Experience”, which plays at 6:06 into track 6, referring to the number of the beast (666).
