With guitar chords that sound like malfunctioning machines and lyrics full of kinky indulgence and self-flagellation, some might mistake Tool as a step-sibling of heavy metal or Goth. In truth, the band that Maynard James Keenan built more than two decades ago in Los Angeles is more of a direct descendent of the art rock fringe that dominated the 1960s and '70s.

But unlike Genesis, Ziggy Stardust & the Spiders from Mars, the original King Crimson or Pink Floyd, Tool has had an unusual amount of consistency, longevity and mainstream success. The difference: Unlike those who blazed the avant garde trail, but fought to get their music heard, Tool came along right when radio needed them most.

By the 1993, the year Tool's slithering debut Undertow was released and sold more than three million copies with the help of lead single, "Prison Sex," popular music was looking for change. Grunge was on the wain (it would officially die with Nirvana lead singer Kurt Cobain the following year) and glam metal acts like Guns N' Roses had worn out their welcome on radio and MTV.

"Alternative rock" stations (is "alternative rock" even considered a genre anymore?) needed something new and the grinding, haunting guitar dirges that served as Keenan's Undertow muses were the ideal rock evolution. Even better, Tool's freaky stop-animation video for singles "Prison Sex" and "Sober" — featuring a world where humanesque beings are tortured, groped and generally tormented — was the perfect multi-media venue to distribute the songs.

It was an early cringe-worthy version of Can't Miss TV.

Tool is not an art process that can be rushed. In 17 years, Keenan and his bandmates have released only four studio albums with the last being 2006's 10,000 days. This current tour (which hits the Toyota Center Sunday night) should be be a nice greatest hits package comprising those early hits along with other radio favorites like "Stinkfist" (possibly the most-revoltingly great song title ever) and relatively more recent works like the "The Pot" and "Jambi."

Tool has also always taken great care to fill their live shows with the same type of uncomfortable imagery and sonic disequilibrium as their albums and videos. You should leave feeling like Halloween came early.

Tool, 8 p.m. Sunday at Toyota Center

Tickets $45-$65