Steven Wilson Calls Tool "Samey" and "Monotonous" in 2003, Wants to Produce Them Like Opeth
This was recorded at a Q&A session in Tel Aviv, Israel on January 24, 2003. Steven Wilson was answering questions from dozens of fans at the Jah-Pan Club.
Now, I'm a big Steven Wilson and Porcupine Tree fan. But I really don't think he comes off well here.
It's one thing to say Tool isn't your thing, or even that you find their albums monotonous. That's obviously subjective. But Wilson goes quite a bit further than that. He says Tool are an “amazing band,” then immediately says:
>“I think their music is kind of lacking in some depth. It’s kind of samey.”
And then comes the part that really struck me as egotistical:
>“The one thing I think I brought to Opeth was a depth in the production…”
So, essentially: Tool lack depth, but Steven Wilson is the producer who could give it to them.
He even says of the kind of production he brought to Opeth:
>“It has things you can listen to and you don’t get bored.”
Which, in the context of what he's saying about Tool, is a pretty incredible statement. Tool fans can debate whether their sonic palette is deliberately narrow or whether certain songs/albums share a recognizable sound, but suggesting that Tool's records lack the detail or depth necessary to keep a listener interested is something else entirely.
And remember, he's specifically talking about a band that had already released Ænima and Lateralus at this point.
He then broadens the criticism to metal in general:
>“I have a problem with a lot of heavy metal records: you basically heard everything you need to hear within the first three minutes.”
And absolutely unloads on Korn:
>“They’ve only got one idea: and it’s ‘I hate you mom! I hate you dad!’ That’s it! Okay. Every song is the same.”
Then he circles back to Tool:
>“I love the idea of Tool, but I find their albums a bit monotonous.”
And finally:
>“I just think they’re a band that I can really—from a production perspective—work with.”
That's the part I can't get past. He isn't merely saying, “I'd love to produce Tool because I think I could bring something different to their sound.” He's basically establishing that their records are samey, monotonous, lacking in depth, and potentially boring, then pointing to himself and his work with Opeth as evidence that he could provide the depth they're missing.
Again, I'm saying this as someone who genuinely likes Steven Wilson's music and thinks he's made some phenomenal records. And obviously he repeatedly says in the clip that he loves Tool and thinks Lateralus is great.
But the combination of “Tool lack depth” + “I brought depth to Opeth” + “you don't get bored” + “I could work with them” comes across to me as remarkably arrogant.
There's another part of this that I find interesting, too. After criticizing Tool as “samey,” “lacking in some depth,” and “a bit monotonous,” Wilson suddenly makes a point of telling the audience that the guys from Tool came to his band's show in Los Angeles, really loved it, and that he “got on really well with them.”
>“And I met some of the guys from Tool. We did an American tour in October-November. And the guys from Tool came down to our L.A. show and really loved it and I got on really well with them.”
That part almost makes the whole thing sound more ego-driven to me. There's something a little strange about essentially saying: Tool's records lack depth, I could improve them as a producer—and, by the way, Tool came to see me play, loved my show, and we got along great.
It almost has a “they admire me too” quality to it.
I'm not saying Wilson was literally jealous of Tool; none of us can know what was going through his head. But taken together, the comments can come across as surprisingly competitive: he clearly admires Tool, clearly wants to work with them, but also seems very eager to establish that he has something artistically that Tool doesn't—and that Tool themselves already respected what he was doing.