"Undertow" 30th Anniversary Tribute | Perth

A suspiciously sober selection of Perth’s finest musicians that is Arizona Bayswater, celebrate the 30th Anniversary of Tool’s debut studio full-length album “Undertow” at Badlands Bar in Perth on Saturday 29 April, with special guests WAge Against The Machine performing the best of (you guessed it) Rage Against The Machine.

Arizona Bayswater is a Tool-bute band hailing from Bayswater, Perth. Band members include drummer Russ Loasby (Stacked Actors, Mashing Potatoes, Some Like It Yacht), vocalist Dez Richardson (The B-Tools, The Brown Study Band, Dr Bogus), bassist Marty McFly (Back to the Future parts I, II & III) and guitarist Ros Wheeler (The Real Thing). These guys are combining their lifelong influence and appreciation of Tool's music to offer the West Aussie Tool Army faithful an authentic sonic experience that takes you shoulder deep beyond the borderline.
Released on April 6, 1993, “Undertow” was recorded from October to December 1992 at Sound City Studios in Van Nuys and Grandmaster Recorders in Hollywood. The album includes some tracks the band decided to not release on their debut EP Opiate

The palpable angst and skewed, propulsive drive that tore through songs like “Sober,” “Prison Sex” and “Undertow” were inspired in part by the tidal force of the ‘90s alt-rock/metal scene that was building across the country. The album also expressed the frustrations the band members were facing before they achieved popularity. (www.loudwire.com)

The front artwork for Tool’s Undertow was accepted without issue, but when the folks at Kmart and Wal-Mart saw images of a nude men and women in the inner sleeve, along with pictures the band with pins in their heads, they weren’t pleased.

To combat this, Tool reissued a different version of the album, featuring nothing more than a barcode as the front cover.

Initial versions of this release also came with a note that explained the censorship, and offered fans to receive a free copy of the offending artwork.

“It came to our attention recently that many stores across our fine and open-minded country would not stock Undertow because of our explicit artwork”, the group explained.
(wwwtonedeaf.thebrag.com)