The title does a great job of describing the album, both mentally stimulating and uncomfortably vile, aswell as acknowledging the most broad theme that releasing oneself from whatever “shit” is necessary to progress as a human being. Enema, on the other hand, is the flushing of shit out of the anus.
In broad terms, the entire process of anima development in a male is about the male subject opening up to emotionality, and in that way a broader spirituality, by creating a new conscious paradigm that includes intuitive processes, creativity and imagination, and psychic sensitivity towards himself and others where it might not have existed previously. In Carl Jung’s school of psychology the anima is the unconscious feminine part of the male psyche. Maynard James Keynan, lead singer of Tool, 1996Įnough waffling about context though what are the themes of AEnima? Let’s begin with the title, AEnima is the merging of two words Anima and Enema. If they just pick up a magazine and it's all spelled out for them, they're not discovering anything. I'd rather have them seek out the information, then they've made some effort, then they deserve to find out what the songs are about. C’mon, what else are you supposed to do with a tool than to make something out of it? Please go get the album, listen, do your own amount of research and consider this a cheat sheet. A lot of the great thing about Tool is figuring it out, which is a very rewarding experience. But in no way do Tool “preach” anything, in fact AEnima goes to great efforts to distance itself from appearing as any sort of doctrine.ĭisclaimer. On AEnima Tool, as on all their albums, present a strong ideology centred around the importance of inner strength and the ability to think for one’s self. However I argue the track listing is incredibly well thought through and executed when considering the greater themes of the album. 1: AEnima does hurtle the listener from quiet meditative bridges into crushing riffs, yelling and pounding drums on an almost track by track basis. I have to agree wholeheartedly with criticism no. The major criticisms my friends have of AEnima are 1, it is sonically very inconsistent and 2, it is too preachy. It’s not that I disagree with any of the points my friends are making, but I feel perhaps a lack of understanding of AEnima is why they underrate it compared to 10,000 Days. For me 10,000 Days is lacking in the kind of thematic depths that makes Aenima one of (if not my absolute) favourite album. One friend claims it is the first time Tool have created a proper concept album and it is also the most personal of albums for MJK because a major suite of the tracks relate to the loss of his mother. For them, 10,000 Days is the best of Tools albums they point to the overall cohesiveness of the album, the quality of mastering and the way the album works as a perfect soundscape for drugs experiences. I’ve been compelled to write about my interpretation of Aenima for a while now because of a long standing debate with my friends about the quality of 10,000 Days.