Ænema
title: "Ænema" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["1996-songs", "1997-singles", "grammy-award-for-best-metal-performance", "songs-written-by-maynard-james-keenan", "songs-written-by-adam-jones-(musician)", "songs-written-by-danny-carey", "songs-written-by-justin-chancellor", "stop-motion-animated-music-videos", "tool-(band)-songs", "volcano-entertainment-singles", "song-recordings-produced-by-david-bottrill"] topic_path: "arts" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ænema" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0
::data[format=table title="Infobox song"]
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| name | Ænema |
| cover | tool_aenema.png |
| type | promo |
| artist | Tool |
| album | Ænima |
| released | 1997 |
| length | 6:39 |
| label | Volcano |
| prev_title | H. |
| prev_year | 1997 |
| next_title | Forty Six & 2 |
| next_year | 1997 |
| misc | {{Audio sample |
| type | promo |
| file | Tool - Ænima - Ænema - sample.ogg |
| description | Excerpt of "Ænema" |
| :: |
| name = Ænema | cover = tool_aenema.png | alt = | type = promo | artist = Tool | album = Ænima | released = 1997 | recorded = | studio = | genre =
- Alternative metal
- progressive metal | length = 6:39 | label = Volcano | writer =
- Maynard James Keenan
- Adam Jones
- Danny Carey
- Justin Chancellor | producer =
- Tool
- David Bottrill | prev_title = H. | prev_year = 1997 | next_title = Forty Six & 2 | next_year = 1997 | misc = {{Audio sample | type = promo | file = Tool - Ænima - Ænema - sample.ogg | description = Excerpt of "Ænema"
"Ænema" is a song by American rock band Tool. It was released as a promotional single from their second studio album, Ænima (1996). Adam Jones made a video for the song using stop-motion animation; it is included in the Salival box set. The song peaked at No. 25 on *Billboard*s Mainstream Rock chart in August 1997.
Musical style
The song makes extensive use of hemiola, a musical technique in which the emphasis in a triple meter is changed to give the illusion that both a duple and a triple meter occur in the song.
The song is cast in terminally climactic form, in which two verse/chorus pairs give way to a climactic ending on new material.
Music video
Adam Jones directed the video for "Ænema" which features stop-motion animation with art design by Cam de Leon. The video revolves around a humanoid figure with alien-like features. Throughout the video the character ventures through an aquatic room. A hose-like organ (resembling an umbilical cord) which squirts out water protrudes from its abdomen and fills the room in which the figure stands. At one point the figure starts to dress itself as images of embryos are briefly shown. Towards the end of the video a human character wearing a business suit tosses a water-filled box containing the figure.
Track listing
| title1 = Ænema | note1 = P.M. version | length1 = 6:39 | title2 = Ænema | note2 = A.M. version | length2 = 6:39
Awards
Tool received the Grammy Award for Best Metal Performance for "Ænema", at the 40th Grammy Awards in 1998.
Charts
::data[format=table] | Chart (1997) | Peak position | |---|---| ::
::data[format=table] | Chart (2019) | Peak position | Canadian Digital Song Sales (Billboard) | |---|---|---| | 46 | | | ::
References
References
- Osborn, Brad. (2013). "Subverting the Verse–Chorus Paradigm: Terminally Climactic Forms in Recent Rock Music". Music Theory Spectrum.
- Morse, Steve. (January 7, 1998). "Paula Cole a leader in Grammys". The New York Times Company.
- "Tool Chart History (Canadian Digital Song Sales)".
::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::