The Weird, Enduring Appeal of Tool

If you were listening to rock radio in the early nineteen-nineties, you might have heard a song called "Sober," which reflected the genre's new mood. In the wake of Nirvana's success, rock and roll was growing more sullen and more introverted, embracing dark colors and minor keys. "Sober," which was released in 1993, had a heavy neck-snapping rhythm and a howling, tormented refrain: "Why can't we not be sober? The song was a breakthrough hit for a California band called Tool, which played the Lollapalooza tour the same year, and made a sufficiently impressive racket to be elevated from the second stage to the main stage, joining Alice in Chains and Rage Against the Machine. Back then, bands such as these were often classified as "alternative," a rather vague and cringeworthy term that nevertheless turned out to be a pretty good description of Tool, which has spent the past three decades building an impressive following, and legacy, by stubbornly refusing to act the way rock bands are supposed to.