Editing Tool (band) (section)

===''Undertow'' (1993–1994)===
{{main|Undertow (Tool album)}}
{{listen|filename=Tool - Undertow - Prison Sex - sample.ogg|title="Prison Sex"|description="Prison Sex" was removed from the MTV playlist and deemed too graphic and offensive by [[MuchMusic]].<ref name="Stepping Out From the Shadows"  /><ref name="sfc94" /> In this sample, Keenan begins his metaphorical treatment of [[child abuse]].}}

The following year, at a time when [[alternative rock]] and [[grunge]] were at their height, Tool released their first full-length album, ''[[Undertow (Tool album)|Undertow]]'' (1993). It expressed more diverse dynamics than ''Opiate'' and included songs the band had chosen not to publish on their previous release, when they had opted for a heavier sound.<ref name="Jones a Master of Many Trades" /> The band began touring again as planned, with an exception in May 1993. Tool was scheduled to play at the Garden Pavilion in Hollywood but learned at the last minute that the venue belonged to the [[Church of Scientology]], which was perceived as a clash with "the band's ethics about how a person should not follow a belief system that constricts their development as a human being."<ref name="Stepping Out From the Shadows"  /> Keenan "spent most of the show baa-ing like a sheep at the audience."<ref name="33 things" />

[[File:Tool-logo-early.jpg|thumb|upright|right|A band logo created by longtime collaborator Cam de Leon,<ref name="Lowe Law 2006" /> this wrench is an example of "[[phallic]] hardware" in Tool's imagery.<ref name="Buffalo News 1997" />]]

Tool later played several concerts during the [[Lollapalooza]] festival tour, and was moved from the second stage to the main stage by the group's manager and the festival co-founder [[Ted Gardner]].<ref name="pettigrew1997" /> At the last concert of Lollapalooza in Tool's hometown Los Angeles, comedian [[Bill Hicks]] introduced the band. Hicks had become a friend of the band members and an influence on them after being mentioned in ''Undertow'''s liner notes.<ref name="Garza 1997" /> He jokingly asked the audience of 10,000 people to stand still and help him look for a lost contact lens.<ref name="Kevin Booth" /> The boost in popularity gained from these concerts helped ''Undertow'' to be certified [[RIAA certification|gold]] by the [[Recording Industry Association of America|RIAA]] in September 1993 and to achieve platinum status in 1995,<ref name="Circus 1997" /> despite being sold with [[Corporate censorship|censored]] album artwork by distributors such as [[Wal-Mart]].<ref name="Axcess" />{{sfn|Sherry|Aldis|2006|p = 176}} The single "[[Sober (Tool song)|Sober]]" became a hit single by March 1994 and won the band ''Billboard''{{'}}s "Best Video by a New Artist" award for the accompanying [[stop motion]] music video.<ref name="Jones a Master of Many Trades" />

With the release of Tool's follow-up single "[[Prison Sex (song)|Prison Sex]]", the band again became the target of censorship. The song's lyrics and video dealt with [[child abuse]], which sparked controversial reactions; Keenan's lyrics begin with: "It took so long to remember just what happened. I was so young and vestal then, you know it hurt me, but I'm breathing so I guess I'm still alive ... I've got my hands bound and my head down and my eyes closed and my throat wide open." The video was created primarily by guitarist Adam Jones, who saw it as his "surrealistic interpretation" of the subject matter.<ref name="hypno" /> While some contemporary journalists praised the video and described the lyrics as "metaphoric",<ref name="much" /><ref name="sfc94" /> the American branch of [[MuchMusic]] (which asked Keenan to represent the band in a hearing) deemed the music video too graphic and obscene,<ref name="Stepping Out From the Shadows"  /> and MTV stopped airing it after a few showings.<ref name="sfc94" />