Lateralus

Tool's third album came out in May 2001 and went straight to number one in America, which is strange for a record this dense: thirteen tracks, seventy nine minutes, songs that change time signatures the way other bands change chords. Schism won the Grammy for best metal performance. The painter Alex Grey did the artwork, those see-through bodies full of eyes and energy lines that became the band's whole visual identity. It is heavy music for people who want something to study, not only something to shout along with.