just because i say that the lateralus songs are more complex (which they are), there are still plenty of polyrhythms and such on ænima (eg-46&2). i honestly don't think that lateralus is actually 'better' than ænima, i just think that the best artwork/sound package would be lateralus. Now, don't get me wrong, i love ænima as well. there is about every time signature imaginable for a progressive rock band to play in lateralus.

The music on lateralus is also much more complex with the polyrhythms and such in every song (except for parabol/a). and that's just the artwork on lateralus. if you listen to the album while looking through the booklet, it's a lot cooler to make connections between the artwork and the music. look through the booklet and find yet many many more interesting things. plus on the back of the outside cover on lateralus, there's plenty of little switches and such that are really complex, but if you follow the 'map,' you can find out some really interesting things. the outside cover is transparent so you can see the cool lateralus guy that's on the inside of the cd case along with the 'tool' and 'lateralus' logos on the outside, and it looks really sweet. first off, lateralus is the only cd i know that has a cover you have to pull off of the cd case in order to open the cd case, which is really cool. before you jump all over me, hear me out.

Lateralus definitely has the best artwork/sound all in one package.

Tool aenima album cover meaning