Tool, with Maynard James Keenan at the forefront, has been the inspiration for several metal bands that were trying to come up in the scene. To name a few, Earshot and Chevelle. In addition to these bands that gave their best shot at making it in the metal scene, Limp Bizkit’ Fred Durst was also someone that listed Tool as their inspiration.
Keenan did an interview with Jeffrey Rawwin in 2006 where the frontman was asked how he feels about bands like Earshot and Chevelle imitating Tool. The singer replied:
“I don’t mind that we influence other bands so long as they use the influence in the right way. The bands you just mentioned lack a great deal of emotional depth.”
James added that Limp Bizkit frontman Fred Durst’s words about Tool being their inspiration bothered him more. He said:
“I remember Fred Durst listing us as one of his major inspirations in an interview and all I could think of was ‘How can you say that? How can you take what we’ve given and use it to further what we’ve been fighting against?'”
When the interviewer pointed out that it is probably ‘disheartening’ for him, James said:
“It is! I think that’s part of what inspired the album. A lot of these bands see what’s on the surface. Like they listen to our albums at f*cking parties or something, when we make music that you need to properly digest by being alone with the album.”
He added that most bands look at Tool and their aggressive approach superficially and do not take a deeper look to understand the real reason for the aggression. James expressed:
“And all they hear is the aggressive side of things and don’t stop to realize that the aggression is there for a reason, not just to make music to smoke to or whatever.”
This wasn’t the only time Keenan showed his disdain against Durst. When the frontman initially heard Fred name Tool as their biggest inspiration in 2001 he had said:
“If the lunch-lady in high school hits on you, you appreciate the compliment, but you’re not really going to start dating the lunch-lady, are you?”
Besides James, Rage Against The Machine’s bassist Tim Commerford was also quite open about his distaste of Limp Bizkit. The rocker even described the bans as ‘one of the dumbest bands in the history of music.’
You can read Maynard James Keenan’s 2006 interview with Jeffrey Rawwin here.
