A video has been making its way around the internet over the last two months or so, of a group of middle school music students covering Tool‘s “Forty Six & 2” off 1997′s Ænima. If you have seen it already, and are thinking, “This video is old….” TOO BAD! These kids are incredible and deserve all the recognition and attention they can get. So watch it again.
If you haven’t seen it before, then you are in for a treat, even if you aren’t overly familiar with Tool. Tool is not an easy band to cover, as their music is not only heavy, psychedelic, and extremely intricate, but most of their songs are played in various, difficult time signatures. Tool is intellectual rock at its highest levels. In order to play Tool, you have to be a student of music. The only other band that rivals them in actual composition and intricacy of their songs is perhaps Dream Theater (which is a whole other discussion on complex writing).
The people behind the scenes in this video obviously know what they are doing from a production, mixing, and sound engineering standpoint, but that takes nothing away from this group of kids that are absolutely destroying a very difficult song to play. The drummer is outrageous, keep your eyes on him. The singer, while it is difficult to imagine a young girl singing the dark, disturbing lyrics of Maynard James Keenan, has a beautiful voice, which gives this version a unique contrast (and remember, she is like 12-13 years old, and her voice is already powerful). And then there is the bassist; this kid is clearly enjoying himself. And how about the Tiny Tim and his wood blocks? That kid is awesome!
Every one of these music students does an unbelievable job at re-creating a very difficult song to play. That, and the fact that they are the up and coming musicians of the next generation gives us hope that there will be great music for years to come. If they were my students they would definitely get an A+!
Check out this video: