Miltamec Soundsquinaez

I sit around in my truck and sometimes write songs and poetry, and never reveal these to anyone outside of musicbanter, and so I'm taking out a mortgage on a $200,000 house next week.

I'll have to say that you did make some good points, but my point is that obscurity and mystery alone will not put you on the map. Opiate didn't have a sound that guaranteed success. It was an alternative metal album at the time when grunge was the scene. Undertow slowed down a bit, but it doesn't sound relatively much like Nevermind or Ten, or the popular rock albums of that time.

As for Lachrymology, you've got a band who is as you've said shrouded in mystery, and so many people are interested in them, so why not throw them a bone every once in a while? Like, Maynard puts jokes up on their websites sometimes. Like when Maynard said he had converted to Christianity, all Tool fans knew it was a joke. He's just keeping up the dialogue with his fans.

Rainard Jalen

Don't get me wrong, obviously it was their music above all that put them on the map. But subtle, creative marketing has been an important part of the Tool chronology, there is no doubting that for a moment.

Well that was kinda my point. Keeping people interested and excited is all part of good marketing. Maynard's a master of that kind of thing.

Miltamec Soundsquinaez

Yes, but IMO, that's to sustain their longevity, and preserve the purity of their art. We are celebrity obsessed society, but my feeling is that you won't see Maynard on Dancing With The Stars any time soon. He's definitely not Gene Simmons of Kiss. When a celebrity becomes over exposed, they become so saturated with self-importance, that they're no longer really good at what made them great in the first place. And shouldn't it be that way? Fans tend to look down on 'sellouts', because they have compromised themselves for the purpose of financial gain. You seem to be arguing that Tool are successful because of their subtle marketing, but I think they're successful in spite of it. I think Tool would have had the chance to make millions and millions more than they have at this point, but they have chosen to remain true to their art.


I'm not exactly sure what you mean by all this subtle marketing. I mean the members of the band seem to have held a collective belief system, which was that letting go of your pain, or crying, was the key to spiritual gain, and there wasn't really a term for that, so they themselves gave it a name-lachrymology. Other than that, I can't really think of too many examples, I mean, what do you want them to do, never make posts on their website, or communicate with their fans in any way?