Back to progressive with Tool

After Dream Theater droppped out of my playlist, I thought I wouldn't be straying near progressive for a while...but then I came across Tool. They satisfied my hard rock cravings and at the same time, made some of the best progressive I have heard in a while.

[This image is originally from http://amiross.blogspot.com/2007/12/tool-band.html]

Tool really put a lot of thought into their music. While most big progressive bands, especially progressive metal like Dream Theater, concentrate mainly on melodic complexity, Tool's trademark is the use of very unusual, varying time signatures, and hard-hitting, significant lyrics. Their song and album themes cover everything from political and social commentary, to mathematics and nature.

Their sound is characterized by heavy, wholesome, distorted riffs, a driving and inventive bass (I personally really like the bass sound of Tool), subtly melodious and haunting vocals, and thoroughly absorbing rythms (Danny Carey's drumming lend an incredibly infectious power to all of Tools songs). All the ingredients for a great hard rock performance.

If, however, you allow yourself to penetrate a bit deeper into their music, you discover the kind of deliberate thought that each song of Tool features.

Keenan's lyrics (and the perfectly complementing vocals) unfailingly send chills down the spine. Beautifully constructed verses, and perfect vocal timing. Nowhere does this come out better than in Lateralus, where the lines of each verse have a peculiar property: if you count the number of syllables of each line, the number oscillates up and down the Fibonacci Series (the song itself is about spirals- which, in nature, are described by the Fibonacci Series- and how one should live life not linearly and fixedly, but laterally, allowing oneself to move away from narrow-mindedness and explore the beauty of the world. I can't help but smile at that.)

Jones's guitaring style isn't anything specific...though metal-style play seems to be an underlying characteristic in many songs. Jones, like the other band members, likes to experiment with guitar sounds...which gives Tool's songs a whole range of interesting guitar sounds, and complements the theme of the band.

Justin's bass, as I noted earlier, has a great texture to it. And he plays the instrument inventively enough to capture your interest, as well as shoots a great deal of energy into the music.

Drummer Danny Carey, of course, is the man behind all the lovely crazy-time signatures and accenting. All things put together, Tool are just great if you wanna rock out...and don't want some easy listening at all.

Check out the video of Vicarious: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UUXBCdt5IPg

Understanding Symmetry

I have been reading a book over the past few weeks, whenever time would permit, called 'The Equation That Couldn't Be Solved', by mathematician Mario Livio. So far, I'm about halfway through it, but I thought I'd put up a word here anyway.

This book talks about the mathematical theory of symmetry developed by Niels Henrik Abel and Evariste Galois, two mathematicians separately tackling the solvability of the quintic equation (an algebraic equation in one variable, of degree 5), which mathematicians had struggled with for over 200 years at the time.* It tells the heart-rending tale of their lives (really, mathematicians aren't always a bunch of grey-haired, high-collared, pince-nez-wearing geezers. Both the protagonists of this book are very young, and live intense lives...but I'll let Livio do the telling) and gives, beautifully and accessibly, the concept of group theory.



Returning to the mathematicians' quest...sadly, they discovered not the general solution, but rather proved the lack of one (of course, this was just as exciting), at least one using the common algebraic operations. But then, unexpectedly, Galois came up with something altogether new...a group theory. In it, he used a new concept, that of mathematical symmetry, to determine whether an equation of a given degree was solvable using algebra. While this was a massive achievement in itself (even more for the fact that Galois was barely 20 years old at the time he came up with it), group theory went on to find application in a whole lot more of mathematics. It showed up wherever symmetry played a role...and symmetry is very popular in nature.

I wanted to provide a general idea about the working of group theory, but I think that should wait until I've finished the book...don't want to put some half-baked understanding out here. So I'll edit this entry in a few days, once I'm through.

Meanwhile, if you can, be sure to pick up the book. It's not just for students of mathematics...you don't even need to have done a whole lot of algebra in school. That's one of the great things about the book- without a lot of mathematical jargon or squiggly equations, Livio manages to bring out quite gracefully, one of the most deeply satisfying concepts in mathematics.

Or you can order it here: http://www.amazon.com/Equation-That-Couldnt-Solved-Mathematical/dp/0743258215/ref=pd_bbs_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1208546525&sr=1-2

Happy reading. Later.

First Breath

Hi.

I'm beginning this blog to put down in one place, all new things, ideas and thoughts I come across. Ordinarily, I get absorbed by one thing or another, and then proceed to shower my excitement about it to anyone who's too slow to escape. Here, I hope to shower several people at once with the stuff, as well as give them an option in hearing (or, rather, reading) about it.

On this blog you'll find all sorts of things, from physics, the sciences, mathematics and economics to music, entertainment, art, and maybe occasionally a piece of writing, when I feel so inclined. I don't plan on making the blog journalistic, but really I haven't a theme for this blog...just trying to share anything that captures my imagination.

So, with a deep first breath, I enter the blogosphere...hello, everybody.