Ænema

This article is about the Tool song. For the album on which it appears, see Ænima.
"Ænema"
Single by Tool
from the album Ænima
ReleasedAugust 9, 1997
GenreAlternative metal, progressive metal
Length6:39
LabelZoo
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)David Bottrill
Tool singles chronology
"H."
(1996) 		"Ænema"
(1997) 		"Forty Six & 2"
(1997)
Audio sample
Excerpt of "Ænema"
Wikiquote has quotations related to Ænema.

"Ænema" is a song by American rock band Tool, released as the third single from their second major-label release Ænima. Adam Jones made a video for the song using stop-motion animation; it is included in the Salival box set. The song reached number twenty-five on the US Mainstream Rock Tracks chart in August 1997.

The song makes extensive use of hemiola, a musical technique in which the emphasis in a triple meter is changed to give the illusion that both a duple and a triple meter occur in the song.

The song is cast in terminally climactic form,[1] in which two verse/chorus pairs give way to a climactic ending on new material.

Music video

Adam Jones directed the video for "Ænema" which features stop-motion animation with art design by Cam de Leon. The video revolves around a humanoid figure with alien-like features. Throughout the video the character ventures through an aquatic room. A hose-like organ (resembling an umbilical cord) which squirts out water protrudes from its abdomen and fills the room in which the figure stands. At one point the figure starts to dress itself as images of embryos are shown briefly. Towards the end of the video a human character wearing a business suit tosses a water-filled box in which the figure is contained.

Track listing

No.TitleLength
1."Ænema" (P.M. version)6:39
2."Ænema" (A.M. version)6:39

Awards

Tool received the Grammy Award for Best Metal Performance for "Ænema", at the 40th Grammy Awards in 1998.[2]

Charts

Chart (1997) Peak
position
US Mainstream Rock (Billboard)[3] 25
Chart (2019) Peak
position
Canadian Digital Song Sales (Billboard)[4] 46

References

  1. ^ Osborn, Brad (2013). "Subverting the Verse–Chorus Paradigm: Terminally Climactic Forms in Recent Rock Music". Music Theory Spectrum. 35 (1): 45. doi:10.1525/mts.2013.35.1.23. hdl:1808/19147. Archived from the original on 2016-01-10.
  2. ^ Morse, Steve (January 7, 1998). "Paula Cole a leader in Grammys" (fee required). The Boston Globe. The New York Times Company. Retrieved December 17, 2009.
  3. ^ "Tool Chart History (Mainstream Rock)". Billboard. Retrieved August 7, 2017.
  4. ^ "Tool Chart History (Canadian Digital Song Sales)". Billboard. Retrieved November 28, 2021.