Yesterday, I got Tool’s highly anticipated DVD video for “Vicarious” off of their latest album, 10,000 Days. Though the album has been released over a year ago, there was no sign of a video to support it. My guess is that aside from the fact that the band has been touring nonstop since the release date to this day is that there is no longer a market for music videos. MTV and its affiliates are a mere shadow of what they once were. It’s almost pointless to create a video as there is no longer a venue to show them. Instead, Tool has released their last few videos directly to DVD where their fans could purchase them for around 10 dollars each. Considering the quality of their videos, extra DVD content, and packaging, it’s a purchase I am happy to make.

Right off the bat, the packaging is awesome and is designed in the same motif of the 10,000 Days jacket. There is a pair of stereoscopic lenses built into the packaging that you look through to view a series of cutout images which are also included with the DVD. A stereoscopic image is one that has two versions of the same subject taken at a slightly different angle from each other. When viewed through the glasses, the mind melds the two images together and perceives a 3D image. Pretty cool stuff. But thats just the tip of the iceberg because then I watched the video…

Trying to describe what the “Vicarious” video about is pointless. Its an explosion of phychadelic and haunting shots. Like all of Tool’s videos, they are open to interpretation and are more about setting mood than telling a story. Pretty much every Tool video contains similar imagery and this newest one is no exception. We have the twitchy, humanoid character who seems lost in his surroundings while strange, organic creatures look to devour him. That is the basic idea behind their videos, however each one always approaches the subject matter a little differently often with shocking and disturbing results.

One of the stereoscopic cards included with the DVD.

I have to say that “Vicarious” uses color in a much more interesting and dramatic way than their previous videos. The stark environments and ghostly characters pop when a splash of color is introduced. This gives meaning and importance to the moment particularly when we enter the “Net of Being” and at the climax when the music whips to a frenzy and the screen jolts to life with erratic and jarring bands of color. It made my head explode.

There can be no doubt that the early Tool videos for “Sober” and “Prison Sex” are highly influenced by stop-motion pioneers, The Brothers Quay. The Quay brothers looked to created strange, hostile worlds that are in a constant state of decay. They employed a heavy amount of texture and grit in their work, and they eschewed smooth motion for nervous, frantic articulation in their quirky characters. “Vicarious” is a first for Tool videos in that its all done in CGI. However, I was happy to see that a very conscious decision was made to keep that choppy aesthetic to the character’s animation.

Adam Jones, Tool’s guitarist and dare I say it mastermind behind the band, has had an amazing career doing special effects work for a host of memorable feature length movies. He is an extremely gifted sculptor and musician, and pretty much designs everything you see from Tool. He serves as the director for all their videos, and on “Vicarious” shared the directing credit with Alex Grey whose paintings were so inspiring to the band that he did the artwork for Lateralus and 10,000 Days.

The DVD has a few extras that include a behind the scenes of the video. I like the fact they stressed that even though it was all CGI it didn’t mean that it was a cake walk to produce. There is a myth out there that computers and CGI somehow make everything easy. This is not the case. While CGI can do amazing things, it comes with its own set of hurdles and limitations. There is also a commentary track with (of all people) commedian David Cross. David has had a long time relationship with the band as Tool can be seen in HBO’s awesomely hilarious Mr. Show. The commentary was pretty funny at times as he tried to make out what he’s seeing onscreen.

Besides the fact that Tool just kicks ass, one of the major reasons I love these guys is that they take the time to craft their work. Even though it may take several months or years for them to release a new album or video it is always top notch stuff.

Thank you, Tool. I am once again blown away.

You can purchase “Vicarious” from Amazon.com.