The first time I heard the band, Tool, I liked them. Back in the early nineties there wasn't anybody who sounded like them. Their sound was brutal and raw to me. I had no idea what they looked like or what they were about. I knew their video for "Sober" was one of the coolest things I had seen by a band. All of this should have laid a perfect foundation for me to become a huge fan.
As soon as their star started to rise, I tried to distance myself from anything they represented. They were becoming huge and everybody had their cd. I didn't, though. Their next cd was released many years later. Plenty of time for me to cool off and accept the fact I like Tool, and actually buy an album. No way. Something this big can't be that good. Every song sounded the same, right? Always in 6/8 or 6/4. Talking about political shit and society's undoings. Oooooo. Big fucking deal. By this time they're mutli-platinum and major rockstars. Even more reason for me to dislike them. Many years pass and I have yet to procure myself a Tool cd.
In the early 2000's "Lateralus," their fourth release was dropped and I could not have cared less. It pissed me off that they had a song about one's past and making certain decisions in life that will result in certain outcomes and dealing with your own shit head on. My own band had a song about that same subject called, "Saturn Rising." Theirs was called "The Grudge." Even more reason to begin despising them. The collective unconscious strikes again. This notion of everybody thinking in the same way around the same time freaks me the fuck out. Digression.
I feel if everybody listened to me and my ravings and rantings on why everybody should hate Tool, Tool wouldn't have become so popular. There wouldn't have been so many Tool sound-alikes. The sound-alikes water down the good music gene pool, don't you know? The girls wouldn't be so into Maynard. Tool could have been my own little secret. My personal freak show. Allowed to please only those I wished when I wanted. Instead, they break my heart and turn into a gargantuan money making machine. I hear dreadful stories from people who heard something from someone else who heard from someone else that Maynard is a dick and wears Prada. He must be the devil. Hey, if I could afford it, Prada would be adorning the Dan'skin all the time. I would look so smooth.
The new age occult aspect never helped their cause of convincing me to join their army of geeks. I even got banned from Tool's website bulletin board. I was asking to part of the Tool Army. They were asking for money to join. So I gave them my address as; Oneass ToFuck 666 Fuck You Boulevard, Fuck You FY 66666. Something like that. The administrator didn't like that one bit. That'll show me. Just when I'm ready to be part of the Tool Revoltution, I get snubbed for doing what I think the band and its members would find funny. Of course, I know I don't have a clue as to what anybody really thinks about anything, at all. More digression.
We cannot support sound alikes. The idea of cover bands playing on the same night as original bands should be outlawed. Also, we can't allow our favorite local band become a huge national and international star. If we do, we'll end up hating what they started. We have to slowly build them up and keep them at a certain level. They have to be like shrubs. If you let them go, watch out. If you keep them trimmed they can be beautiful. Here's a list of some bands that have gone by the wayside for me and in which I feel I contributed to their widely popular demise:

Tool
Monster Magnet
White Zombie
Pearl Jam
Beastie Boys




That's about it for now. For more information on what Danfro is thinking on this subject, come back soon. It will be continued.
-Danpoop