"Hear me out... So, I imagine you've heard/seen a million different combinations or alterations of the Lateralus track record in regards to rearranging the songs to fit the Fibonacci sequence and what not; but I myself have never felt right about them... They always seemed to presuppose a few things that I don't think the average person could pull from the record without additional software and just outright tinkering to fit whatever scheme they sought... For one, I don't agree that Disposition, Reflection, and Triad are supposed to be split, and I don't agree with those that say you have to trim blank sections off of some of the songs to make things fit... Seems too forceful for me...
I've had an alternate arrangement that I've listened to for years and while I'll admit, it's not perfect, but in my opinion it does flow/sound/fit much better.... My opinion though... I think the logic I took to piece them together is easier to follow as well and doesn't require remastering the CD to achieve it. Again, I figured that if something was to be found or conveyed through this method, anyone with a basic CD player capable of creating a playlist should be able to listen to the album this way... Hell, my Discman from the 90's can do playlists...
Here's my track listing followed by an explanation of the math used:
1,2,3,5,8,6,7,10,11,12,9,13
First, you may notice that track 4 'Mantra' is missing... That song has puzzled me the most about this whole arrangement, but historically, I've placed it either before track 6 ('Parabol') or after track 12 ('Triad'). To me, Mantra fits better between tracks 8, and 6, however, I've also found it fills the empty space at the end of track 12 rather well... Triad ends with 2:12 seconds of silence before the next track begins; Mantra takes up all but exactly one minute of this dead air....
Obviously, the first half of the sequence above is rather easy to follow alongside the Fibonacci sequence; 1,2,3,5,8... The next number obviously is 13, which together, using the sum of the tracks 6 and 7 we get 13... Those two songs should not be split up and they also just happen to fit this position rather well mathematically.
Next, we have the number 21, which if you take tracks 10 and 11 using the sum again, we arrive at 21; another case where these songs should not be split... And keeping the three songs in that piece together, we can then use track 12, 9, and 13 to reach the next number in the Fibonacci sequence, 34; 12+9+13 = 34... Also, placing track one at the beginning of the arrangement and track 13 at the end creates a nice loop when this is put on repeat with the trailing sounds on Faaip De Oaid leading right back into the faint introduction sounds on The Grudge...
So without splitting any of the tracks that were originally written as one piece we can arrive at an arrangement that in my mind, follows the Fibonacci sequence better and doesn't require re-mastering the record to remove dead space... Again, my only snag is track 4 and where to put it...
I'm not aware of any significance to the number 4 in all of this, but given the nature of the song, I've found it goes equally well at almost any point. I've used it at the beginning of the whole record as a track to clear my thoughts before embarking on whatever meditations used while listening to this arrangement. I've also found it to be a nice filler between both halves of the arrangement. Another key thing to notice is that as some of the other arrangements have suggested placing track 13 at the center, Parabol and Parabola achieve this just the same, again with their track numbers adding up to 13... Also, of the 5 times I saw the boys perform Disposition, Reflection, and Triad, they have never been split but were always played as one solid piece... And almost always with Lateralis following afterwords....
Looking at it from the spiritual side or however you want to classify it, this order is on a whole, more balanced and true to the idea of the golden spiral. We start at the beginning; human, hateful, vengeful and holding to our egos and grudges, and slowly, through patience and love we reach the middle of the arrangement as we transcend our ego's and our minds... This leads us to the number 13 being in the middle of our arrangement as others have suggested, with the last half of the 'spiral' riding up towards our divinity. I almost chuckle when I think of track 9 ('Lateralis') being placed right before Faaip De Oaid... The number 9 has a huge significance in nature, the universe, mathematics and geometry that for it to then lead to the 'Voice of God' seems too fitting... The 9 Code... But that's just fanciful over thinking on my part...
There's a whole slew of other thoughts I've had with regards to this whole puzzle... I do seem to get a better vibe from the record this way, not that the original is in any way a bad album; on the contrary its survived the ages as not only my favorite Tool album, but also the best album I have ever heard... Nothing has ever caused this level of obsession in me and nothing has given me the same emotions, inspiration, or rewards as this album.
I'm sure this may be another puzzle that everyone is 'over thinking and over analyzing', but there's something about this album... Something deep and far-reaching that begs to be explored.... Anywho... Since I've finally mustered the courage to throw this message together please let me know what you think..."
