Music Wednesdays- “Ticks and Leeches” by Tool

This post is a world away from my last Music Wednesdays post (Snow Patrol)!

Ticks and Leeches is from Tool’s third album, Lateralus. Tool is one of my all-time favorites, and although Lateralus is not my favorite album (that distinction falls to 1996′s  AEnima), it is still incredible.

I really don’t know how to explain the absolute awesomeness of this song. I suppose the closest I could get is by quoting one YouTube commenter who stated that the drum solo was an “orgasm of the soul.” That’s about right.

Danny Carey is by far the most technically proficient drummer I have ever heard, and this song (IMHO) is the greatest showcase of his abilities. This is one of those tracks that you can listen to over and over again, and it is so complex that you notice something different every time, and just get pulled in deeper.

I really wanted to post a live version of this song in order to demonstrate Carey’s abilities (which do not diminish in the least in a live setting), but, as many have noted, the concert-goers are extremely loud and annoying, so I just stayed with the album version.

Good speakers are a boon here, and I would recommend turning them up to eleven.

Enjoy!