Tool

By combining grunge-era alternative rock, metal, and prog over their long career, Tool became one of the most successful and highly regarded bands to labor under the progressive-metal banner. Singer Maynard James Keenan, guitarist Adam Jones, bassist Paul D'Amour , and drummer Danny Carey started Tool in Los Angeles in 1990, and after working at it for a couple of years, they got a deal with Zoo Records and released the EP Opiate in 1992. The record met with moderate success at the time, but it was Tool's 1993 debut LP, Undertow, that really made the band's name. Playing in that year's Lollapalooza festival helped spread the word, and the album reached No. 19 in the charts. By the time Tool released the 1996 follow-up, AEnima, D'Amour had departed, with Justin Chancellor taking his spot and solidifying a lineup that would remain in place for decades. The album's almost-title track "Aenema" earned the band a Grammy for Best Metal Performance. The LP made it all the way to No. 2, and eventually achieved triple Platinum status. A couple of factors caused a long wait for the next album, one being a lawsuit brought by Volcano Entertainment (the label that had supplanted Zoo), and the other being Keenan's participation in side project A Perfect Circle with Smashing Pumpkins' James Iha and others. When Lateralus was released in 2001 it proved to be Tool's most popular album yet, reaching No. 1 and containing the No. 2 Alternative hit "Schism." After touring in support of the album, Keenan went back to A Perfect Circle for a while, and it would be another five years before the next album. 2006's 10,000 Days turned out to be another international No. 1 record, and gave the band another big Alternative hit, with "Vicarious." Subsequently, another lawsuit - which dragged on for eight years but was eventually settled in the band's favor - resulted in an unprecedentedly long wait for the next album. But Fear Inoculum appeared at last in 2019, displaying a more nuanced sound and more prog-influenced sound than ever. Once again, Tool landed at the top of the album charts at home and abroad.