i listen to a lot of Tool, they are my guilty pleasure. i get it that they're not the greatest, and i have tried to avoid the pitfalls of turning into the stereotypical tool fan. with the exception of lateralus and salival, their albums are usually great in a single area and lack in other areas, which makes it difficult to pick their best album. in order to enjoy Aenima, you need to focus on the rhythm and the guitars, and treat the vocals as an extension of the powerchords, rather than as lyrics, because admittedly they're awful. on the other hand, you really have to get past how boring 10,000 days is, and really listen to the lyrics, in order to enjoy it. in both cases, however, there are exceptions, like Hooker With A Penis which imo is the most honest and based view of the music industry, and Rosetta stoned, which has godlike instrumentation which puts it in the top 10 tool tracks. this is why it's so hard to pick a best album, with all the strengths and weaknesses and their accompanying exceptions. but fuck it salival is the greatest
ranked by instrumentation:
Salival > Lateralus > Aenima > Undertow > 10,000 days > Opiate
ranked by lyrics/meaning:
Salival > 10,000 days > Lateralus > Opiate > Undertow > Aenima