Music
All-Time High (And Low) Scores
Best of 2009
Best of 2008
Best of 2007
Best of 2006
Best of 2005
Best of 2004
Best of 2003
Best of 2002
Best of 2001
Best of 2000
Best of the Decade
Upcoming &
Recent Releases
75
Alberta Cross
70
The Album Leaf
69
Alkaline Trio
66
Animal Collective
84
Animal Collective![]()
50
Athlete
82
Beach House![]()
81
The Besnard Lakes![]()
65
Black Rebel Motorcycle Club
64
Dan Black
75
Mary J. Blige
75
Blockhead
79
Blood Red Shoes
70
David Bowie
64
The Brian Jonestown Massacre
72
Broken Bells
65
V.V. Brown
72
The Brunettes
71
Basia Bulat
78
Carolina Chocolate Drops
79
Johnny Cash
79
Chew Lips
82
Chicago Underground Duo![]()
79
The Chieftains Featuring Ry Cooder
76
Citay
66
Clem Snide
77
Clipd Beaks
78
Clogs
66
Cold War Kids
75
Easton Corbin
80
Crazy Heart
70
Jamie Cullum
66
Fyfe Dangerfield
72
Delphic
64
Dinowalrus
78
Drive-By Truckers
59
Editors
71
Eels
70
Efterklang
81
Eluvium![]()
82
Erland And The Carnival![]()
57
Everybody Was In The French Resistance...Now
63
Excepter
78
Field Music
76
First Aid Kit
68
Josephine Foster
82
Four Tet![]()
71
Nils Frahm
74
Freeway & Jake One
75
Frightened Rabbit
82
Fucked Up![]()
64
Peter Gabriel
79
Charlotte Gainsbourg
80
Galactic
67
The Gilded Palace Of Sin
73
Ernest Gonzales
59
Good Shoes
79
Gorillaz
70
Adam Green
79
Patty Griffin
76
Groove Armada
67
H.I.M.
43
Hadouken!
73
Harvey Milk
68
Juliana Hatfield
66
Jimi Hendrix
88
High On Fire![]()
80
Hot Chip
66
The Hot Rats
88
Ray Wylie Hubbard![]()
54
Hurricane Chris
76
Jaga Jazzist
76
Jaheim
70
jj
79
Freedy Johnston
54
Nick Jonas And The Administration
57
Ke$ha
66
Alicia Keys
74
The Knife In Collaboration With Mt. Sims And Planningtorock
63
Lady Antebellum
65
Dawn Landes
82
Lawrence Arabia![]()
74
Ted Leo & The Pharmacists
82
Liars![]()
72
Lightspeed Champion
37
Lil Wayne
82
Lindstrom & Christabelle![]()
68
Little Boots
75
Local Natives
75
Los Campesinos!
67
Lostprophets
65
Ludacris
73
Magnetic Fields
74
Massive Attack
58
Katherine McPhee
66
Daniel Merriweather
76
Pat Metheny
72
Midlake
64
Holly Miranda
79
Allison Moorer
83
Motion City Soundtrack![]()
53
Mudvayne
65
Mumford & Sons
55
Never Shout Never
85
Joanna Newsom![]()
81
Scout Niblett![]()
74
Nneka
75
Oh No Ono
70
OK Go
71
Omarion
77
Owen Pallett
84
Pantha du Prince![]()
77
Past Lives
84
Pavement![]()
78
Phantogram
65
Pit Er Pat
86
Polar Bear![]()
64
Priestess
67
Quasi
77
Corinne Bailey Rae
71
The Red Krayola With Art & Language
81
Fionn Regan![]()
77
Retribution Gospel Choir
57
Martin Rev
64
Rjd2
65
Rogue Wave
82
Jack Rose![]()
76
The Ruby Suns
78
Sade
77
Gil Scott-Heron
77
Shearwater
69
Blake Shelton
84
Shining![]()
68
Shout Out Louds
80
Thee Silver Mt. Zion Memorial Orchestra & Tra-La-La Band
73
The Soft Pack
80
Spoon
63
Ringo Starr
68
Story Of The Year
71
The Strange Boys
77
Strong Arm Steady
79
Surfer Blood
60
Tape Deck Mountain
82
These New Puritans![]()
71
Robin Thicke
76
Tindersticks
81
Titus Andronicus![]()
72
Toro Y Moi
63
Josh Turner
81
Vampire Weekend![]()
79
Laura Veirs
79
Butch Walker And The Black Widows
63
The Watson Twins
69
We Are Wolves
66
Kanye West
64
Wetdog
51
The Whigs
67
White Hills
79
The White Stripes
72
The Whitefield Brothers
68
Wu-Tang Clan
75
Xiu Xiu
78
Yeasayer
73
You Say Party! We Say Die!
63
Young Money
61
Rob Zombie
Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed albums.
Lateralus

Generally favorable reviews
Based on 15 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?
Based on 401 votes
Read user comments
Rate this album >
Album Info
Label: Volcano
Release Date: 15 May 2001
Discs: 1 disc
Genre(s): Alternative, Rock, Metal
Summary
The band's first album of new material in five years was produced by Tool with David Bottrill and features 13 tracks.
Also By This Artist: 10,000 Days Salival
Also On Metacritic
MUSIC: A Perfect Circle: Thirteenth Step
Also On The Web: The Tool Page (Unofficial Site)
What The Critics Said
All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...
Dot Music
It is dense, it is long, it is complicated. It is also a magnificent triumph of artistry over blind anger.
Read Full Review >Wall of Sound
A 79-minute sonic sojourn of hard rock delivered with an arty, fusion-conscious sensibility rooted most obviously from the likes of Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath, and Jane's Addiction.
Read Full Review >E! Online
Lateralus takes the L.A. band over the edge with elongated musical movements that simmer under heavy-duty distortion, Middle Eastern percussion and freakish guitar-and-drum time signatures that will make musical mathematicians (i.e., prog-rock dorks) as excited as the kids in the mosh pit.
Read Full Review >Q Magazine
Ultimately, it's Tool's experimental, borderline progressive, edge that proves most rewarding. [Aug 2001, p.141]
Rolling Stone
So much of Tool's third full-length studio album makes so little sense at first. But that is one of Lateralus' most endearing qualities: It rolls out its pleasures and coherence slowly, even stubbornly.
Read Full Review >CDNow
Tool has made an album that's undeniably its own, yet one which adds layers of subtlety, texture, and meaning that move its sound forward into complex new territory.
Read Full Review >Sonicnet
The band continues to rock in the Rush/Metallica eight-minute flexathon tradition: it may impress you with individual lines, but in the end, it excels mainly at musical gymnastics.
Read Full Review >Spin Cycle
"Lateralus" is primarily a collection of puzzling time changes, haunting vocals and beyond-intricate percussive patterns that create a theme rooted more in Eastern philosophy than in rock and roll.
Read Full Review >New Musical Express (NME)
They're the metal Radiohead. Though it's definitely a million times more metal than anything the Oxford miserablists have recorded, 'Lateralus' still easily contains the same amount of misery and self-obsessed navel-gazing.
Read Full Review >Alternative Press
Lateralus could have been released four years ago, for all the sonic progression that's contained (or not contained) within its 79 minutes. [Jul 2001, p.57]
The Onion (A.V. Club)
Tool's songs are long because the band takes its time, resisting show-offy displays of speed in favor of texture and minimalist mood, borrowing key elements from Far Eastern music and industrial rock along the way.
Read Full Review >Neumu.net
Research has led me to conclude that the correct, and possibly only, way to fully appreciate this album is at extremely high volume on a decent hi-fi whilst massively stoned out of your gourd.
Read Full Review >Entertainment Weekly
The music has a clean, fluid flow but sounds thin-blooded and far less visceral -- freeze-dried -- next to newer, younger Ozzfest regulars, like Staind, who have followed in Tool's wake. [25 May 2001, p.77]
Blender
Lateralus sounds like Black Sabbath jamming with Genesis at the bottom of a coal shaft. [Jun/Jul 2001, p.115]
Pitchfork
Now, with the early new century demanding "opuses," Tool follows suit. The problem is, Tool defines "opus" as taking their "defining element" (wanking sludge) and stretching it out to the maximum digital capacity of a compact disc.
Read Full Review >What Our Users Said
The average user rating for this album is 9.4 (out of 10) based on 401 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.
Joe H gave it a10:
This is the album I keep coming back to over and over and over again! My CD collection would never be complete without this album and to this day, it is the only album to which I continuously listen. Each and every song is a testament to how talented Tool is. Listen to this album!
Dogstarr gave it a10:
Easily the best Tool album, though Aenima is a very close second. I think this is the only really classic heavy record of the 21st Century. I'm as much a music snob as most music critics and a musician, unlike many pro critics I like heavy rock (most of them primarily like jazz and automatically drop scores on heavy stuff before even hearing it, or so it seems). I'd go as far as to say this is the best heavy rock album since Physical Graffiti, which makes sense, as Tool's easily the best and most imitated heavy rock band since Zeppelin. If you like heavy rock/metal/industrial, this is an absolute must have in your collection, but you probably already have it if you like heavy stuff.
Dylan L. gave it a10:
Does anyone else find it hilarious that there are basically only three different rating's on the hundreds of votes cast for this album? 10's, 9's, and 0's...Well, might as well just say the obvious, Do yourself a favor and put away your petty self-reaffirming text ammo, listen to this album...it's good for you.
Patrick S. gave it a10:
About as perfect as an album can get. There isn't much on this album that could really change for the better, and it's not often that you can say that about an album.
Cian H gave it a10:
Quite possibly the greatest album ever recorded, it takes time to find the sweet spots but it's oh so worth it. Genius.
Marshall B. gave it a1:
Painfully boring, meandering garbage.
Bryan gave it a10:
Great album..... I have no idea how pitchfork does there reviews (some are good, some are wayyyy off). This is one of the greatest albums I've heard.
