TOOL — Prison Sex (review)

TOOL — Prison Sex album cover Single · 1993 · Alternative Metal Buy this album from MMA partners
3/5 ·
Doomster
"Prison Sex" is a single released in 1992 by the American alternative metal/"prog" metal (I hesitate to call them that, to be honest) Tool. It was released as the second track of the band's debut album "Undertow" and is the second single from that album.

As for the actual song itself, it has a really grungy, even somewhat sludgy feel in it...something not present on the rest of the songs on the album. The band would later adapt this sludgy feel on their following "Aenima" album. The song also has a few interesting ambient sounds which give off a very dirty feel, demonstrated in the creepy intro played on the bass, which sounds like iron being twisted. Vocally, it is top notch like always. Frontman Maynard James Keenan has a very distinctive voice which keeps the music alive and flowing. The song is very disturbing in terms of lyrics...probably about the cycle of child abuse. The lyrics are disturbingly detailed and vulgar, but have a point to get across. Bass is audible like always in Tool songs, which is always a plus - on this particular album, Paul D'Amore was in charge of the bass, and while I still think he is inferior to the succeeding Justin Chancellor, he is still a very competent player. For the majority of the song, guitarist Adam Jones plays a grungy, taunting atmospheric riff. The song is also very short, at only 4:57, one of the shortest songs the band have ever written.

Even though this is no masterpiece, it's still a nice little single by one of my favorite bands. As you can see by the tracklisting, it also comes with a few live versions of other songs from their early material - "Opiate", "Undertow" and "Intolerance". If you're a fan of alt. metal with progressive tendencies, and are willing to kill a few bucks, you'd be a fool to pass this single up.
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