Opiate (EP)

{{Use mdy dates|date=June 2025}} {{Infobox album | name = Opiate | type = EP | artist = Tool | cover = Tool-Opiate.jpg | alt = Cover art for Opiate, featuring a priest with six arms and hands, with the hands pressed together | released = {{start date|1992|03|10}} | recorded = December 1991 – January 1992 | studio = Sound City (Van Nuys, California) | genre = Alternative metal<ref>{{cite book|last=Johnson|first=Howard|title=X-Rated: The 200 Rudest Records Ever!|year=2002|publisher=Carlton Books|isbn=1842227491}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://ultimateclassicrock.com/top-tool-songs/|title=Top 10 Tool Songs|last=Gatta|first=John Patrick|website=Ultimate Classic Rock|date=February 28, 2019|access-date=May 19, 2021}}</ref> | length = 26:52 | label = Zoo Entertainment | producer = * Sylvia Massy * Steve Hansgen * Tool | prev_title = 72826 | prev_year = 1991 | next_title = Undertow | next_year = 1993 | misc = {{Extra album cover | header = Alternative cover | type = EP | cover = Opiate 2019.jpg | caption = Cover art for the re-release and digital versions }} }} {{Music ratings | rev1 = AllMusic | rev1Score = {{Rating|3|5}}<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/opiate-ep-mw0000276103|title=Opiate [EP] – Tool|last=Erlewine|first=Stephen Thomas|website=AllMusic|access-date=August 23, 2004}}</ref> | rev2 = ''Kerrang!'' | rev2Score = {{Rating|3|5}}<ref>{{cite magazine|author=Mörat|title=Tool 'Opiate'|magazine=Kerrang!|location=London, UK|publisher=EMAP|issue=400|date=July 11, 1992}}</ref> | rev3 = ''Rolling Stone'' | rev3Score = {{Rating|3|5}}<ref name="rollingstone">{{cite magazine|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/artists/tool/albumguide|title=Tool: Album Guide|magazine=Rolling Stone|access-date=April 23, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111210031015/https://www.rollingstone.com/music/artists/tool/albumguide|archive-date=December 10, 2011|url-status=dead}}</ref> | rev4 = ''The Rolling Stone Album Guide'' | rev4Score = {{Rating|3|5}}<ref name="rollingstone" /> | rev5 = ''Select'' | rev5Score = {{Rating|4|5}}<ref>{{cite magazine|url=http://selectmagazinescans.monkeon.co.uk/showpage.php?file=wp-content/uploads/2014/09/albums42.jpg|title=Tool - Opiate|last=Perry|first=Andrew|magazine=Select|page=81|date=September 1992|access-date=October 29, 2019}}</ref> }}

'''''Opiate''''' is an EP by the American rock band Tool. It was produced and engineered by Sylvia Massy and Steve Hansgen. Released in 1992, it was the result of two years of the band playing together after their formation in 1990. ''Opiate'' preceded Tool's first full-length release, ''Undertow'', by a year. It is named after a quote by Karl Marx: "religion ... is the opiate of the masses".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.cdicarlo.com/paper_04maynard.htm|title=Interview with Maynard James Keenan|last=DiCarlo|first=Christopher|website=Cdicarlo.com|date=October 31, 2001|access-date=May 20, 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130112013239/http://www.cdicarlo.com/paper_04maynard.htm|archive-date=January 12, 2013|url-status=usurped}}</ref> It was certified platinum by the RIAA. The EP charted on several international charts when Tool released their catalog to online streaming in August 2019.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.spin.com/2019/08/tool-albums-charting-billboard-200/|title=All Four Tool Albums Now Charting in Top 20 on Billboard, Thanks to Streaming Debut|last=Gottsegen|first=Will|website=Spin|date=August 14, 2019|access-date=August 16, 2019}}</ref>

==Background and recording== ''Opiate'' features seven songs spanning six tracks, two of which are live recordings. Most versions of the EP (all except the cassette) feature the hidden seventh song titled "The Gaping Lotus Experience". On CD versions, the song is hidden at the end of the last track of the album, "Opiate", and begins approximately 6 minutes and 10 seconds into the track after "Opiate" has concluded. Vinyl copies of the EP featured a double groove on the second side; one which contained "Cold and Ugly", with the second containing "The Gaping Lotus Experience" and a small period of silence. Both grooves led into "Jerk-Off".

The song "Sweat" was featured on the ''Escape from L.A.'' soundtrack.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0116225/soundtrack|title=Escape from L.A. (1996) - Soundtracks|website=IMDb|access-date=October 26, 2011}}</ref>

"Cold and Ugly" and "Jerk-Off" were recorded specially for the album at the Jellö Loft Hollywood on New Year's Eve 1991 with a live audience. As a result, these two songs have never been available as true "studio" recordings except for the band's 1991 demo tape ''72826''. This demo tape also featured early versions of "Hush" and "Part of Me" (as well as "Crawl Away" and "Sober", which would eventually make it on ''Undertow''), and was used to get the band signed. All four songs were re-recorded for the EP.

In the original CD inserts for the album there is a collage of photos of the band members as children, among various items and trinkets, and also includes a picture of someone engaging in necrophilia with a well-decomposed cadaver. In reality, it is a friend of the band joking around in prop maker Stan Winston's studio.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://toolshed.down.net/faq/faq.html|title=The Tool FAQ|website=The Tool Page|access-date=October 26, 2011}}</ref>

A black and white music video was made for the track "Hush", the band's first. The Canadian music channel MuchMusic played it regularly.<ref>{{cite episode|title=Tool interview with Theresa Roncon|series=Spotlight|network=MuchMusic|location=Toronto|airdate=February 1997|transcript=Tool interview with Theresa Roncon|transcript-url=http://toolshed.down.net/articles/index.php?action=view-article&id=February_1997--Muchmusic.html}} Transcribed by Rory Mitchell and archived at the Tool Page. "Theresa: We played it all the time on MuchMusic."</ref>

==Music and lyrics== Along with ''Undertow'', many Tool fans consider ''Opiate'' to be the band's heaviest album.<ref name="toolband2013">{{cite web|url=http://www.toolband.com/news/letter/index.php?t=1&id=80|title=TOOL: NEWSLETTER|website=Tool Army|access-date=December 17, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160403145359/http://www.toolband.com/news/letter/index.php?t=1&id=80|archive-date=April 3, 2016|url-status=dead}}</ref> The connection fans have to the EP was addressed on the song "Hooker with a Penis" from their third release and second LP ''Ænima''. The EP features straightforward song structures in place of the progressive traits the band became known for later in their career. In a 2013 interview, guitarist Adam Jones stated "I love metal, but I love the other stuff that's been contributed by the band. When we started out, the record company said that we had to pick our heaviest songs, because that's the impact - you're metal and that's really important."<ref name="toolband2013"/>

Lyrical subjects explored on ''Opiate'' include censorship and organized religion.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.mywire.com/pubs/RoughGuidesMusic/1999/10/01/284720?extID=10051|title=Tool|last=Joyce|first=Craig|publisher=Rough Guides|date=October 1, 1999|access-date=May 13, 2007|quote=The first release from OPIATE, “Hush”, was a condemnation of censorship, something the band have repeatedly run into.}}</ref>

==2013 reissue== On March 26, 2013, the band released a special 21st anniversary limited edition package of the album, which includes bonus features, such as new artwork. The artist Adi Granov provided the illustrations for the packaging and It was limited to only 5,000 copies.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.revolvermag.com/news/tool-announce-21st-anniversary-edition-of-opiate-with-commemorative-limited-edition-package.html|title=Tool Announce 21st Anniversary Edition of Opiate with Commemorative Limited Edition Package|website=Revolver|date=February 25, 2013|access-date=March 11, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130318030740/http://www.revolvermag.com:80/news/tool-announce-21st-anniversary-edition-of-opiate-with-commemorative-limited-edition-package.html|archive-date=March 18, 2013|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://consequenceofsound.net/2013/02/tool-marks-21st-anniversary-of-opiate-ep-with-limited-edition-reissue/|title=Tool marks 21st anniversary of Opiate EP with limited-edition reissue|last=Geslani|first=Michelle|website=Consequence|date=February 26, 2013|access-date=March 11, 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://loudwire.com/tool-limited-edition-opiate-ep-reissue/|title=Tool Unleashing Limited-Edition 'Opiate' EP Reissue|last=Bowar|first=Chad|website=Loudwire|date=February 25, 2013|access-date=March 11, 2013}}</ref> The packaging was also done with a Heidelberg Cylinder Press.

==Track listing== {{Track listing | all_lyrics = Maynard James Keenan | all_music = Adam Jones, Keenan, Danny Carey and Paul D'Amour | title1 = Sweat | length1 = 3:46 | title2 = Hush | length2 = 2:48 | title3 = Part of Me | length3 = 3:17 | title4 = Cold and Ugly | note4 = live | length4 = 4:09 | title5 = Jerk-Off | note5 = live | length5 = 4:24 | title6 = Opiate | note6 = the song ends at 5:20. The hidden song "The Gaping Lotus Experience" starts at 6:10, after 50 seconds of silence. | length6 = 8:28 | total_length = 26:52 }}

'''Notes''' * "Cold and Ugly" and "Jerk-Off" were recorded live on New Year's Eve 1991/1992 at the Jellö Loft, in Hollywood, CA.

==Personnel== Personnel taken from ''Opiate'' liner notes.<ref>{{Cite AV media notes |title=Opiate |others=Tool |date=1992 |type=CD booklet}}</ref>

'''Tool''' * Maynard James Keenan – vocals * Adam Jones – guitar * Paul D'Amour – bass * Danny Carey – drums

'''Additional personnel''' *Sylvia Massy – production, engineering, mixing *Steve Hansgen – production *Tool – production *Jeff Sheehan – engineering assistance *John Jackson – mixing assistance *Eddy Schreyer – mastering

==Charts== {| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center" !scope="col"|Chart (2019) !scope="col"|Peak<br/>position |- {{album chart|Australia|43|artist=Tool|album=Opiate EP|rowheader=true|access-date=August 10, 2019}} |- {{album chart|BillboardCanada|85|artist=Tool|rowheader=true|access-date=August 13, 2019}} |- {{album chart|Switzerland|87|artist=Tool|album=Opiate EP|rowheader=true|access-date=August 14, 2019}} |- {{album chart|Billboard200|59|artist=Tool|rowheader=true|access-date=August 13, 2019}} |}

==Certifications== {{Certification Table Top}} {{Certification Table Entry|region=Australia|type=album|award=Platinum|relyear=1992|certyear=2019|access-date=August 10, 2019}} {{Certification Table Entry|region=Canada|type=album|artist=Tool|title=Opiate|award=Platinum|relyear=1992|certyear=2021|access-date=September 10, 2023}} {{Certification Table Entry|title=Opiate|artist=Tool|type=album|relyear=1992|region=United States|award=Platinum|certyear=2005|access-date=February 23, 2016}} {{Certification Table Bottom|nosales=true|streaming=true}}

==References== {{Reflist}}

==External links== {{Wikiquote}} * {{discogs master|1061|Opiate}} * {{MusicBrainz release group|id=bec2ca63-468d-46bc-895c-75861d931fb9|name=Opiate}}

Category:1992 EPs Category:Tool (band) albums Category:Albums produced by Sylvia Massy Category:Zoo Entertainment (record label) EPs Category:Albums recorded at Sound City Studios Category:Alternative metal EPs