I always thought it was cool to hate Tool because I lumped them in with 90s alt-rock type stuff, but nah, Tool is actually pretty good.

I joined the bandwagon of people listening to Tool over the weekend now that they're finally on Spotify since I'd only listened to Lateralus before. Undertow was definitely my favorite; it's the only one where they sound like regular guys just making an album that is unique while utilizing a lot of tropes at the time. AEnima is pretty good too, definitely bloated with all the interludes but the mix of blunt immaturity with their burgeoning philosophical whatever is amusing. 10,000 Days is enjoyable enough but also feels like overcooked Lateralus. Gotta say I'm still expecting the new one to be in the low B range at best.

I'm not even willing to listen to this new album - no matter how good/bad it is, but 10,000 Days is significant to me because I bought it when I was in 6th grade, when Tool was my #1 favorite band. I'll never forget how obsessed I was with that release, and I remember clear as day buying it from the store, riding home, and putting it in the CD player with sheer anticipation...only to be immediately deflated because it completely fucking sucked . That was the first time I was ever "disappointed" by an artist I looked up to, before that I always worshipped every band I liked as if they were gods or something, but even my pre-teen fanboyism couldn't trick me into liking that shit. The admittedly cool packaging was the only even remotely noteworthy or memorable thing about it.

I did happen to see the JRE clip where Maynard talked about Tool for five minutes, and it was indeed disappointing. That part was just him typing out a tweet about them putting their catalog on streaming services, and he said the name of the album. For those interested in actual details about the album, Adam Jones gave a pretty good update:



https://www.theprp.com/2019/08/02/news/ ... -revealed/

A concept about the number seven is literally the most pretentious thing I've heard today.

It's less that it's about the number seven, and more about the fact that it kept coming up independently and synchronously throughout the process of creating the album. Also mathematics has been an important part of their writing process for a while. They used the Fibonacci Sequence to write the song Lateralus:



https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lateralus_(song)

I never used to like this band, but figured since all the albums are streaming I might as well give them another shot. I guess I can see why people like them now. Playing Lateralus. It's not bad... pretty trippy, droning riff work-outs in the general cynical mode of the 90s rock bands and all. These are super fucking long songs/albums though, even for my standards.

They just announced the album cover today:



They also claim that they will release a new song on August 7th, and preorders will go live that day.

https://www.theprp.com/2019/08/05/news/ ... this-week/

Also, since the band has been on streaming services, each service has been displaying different lists so far for their top songs, which is interesting:



https://www.theprp.com/2019/08/05/news/ ... ic-so-far/

That's a pretty mailed-in album cover.

Tool being mega pretentious is nothing new, they've always had their heads so far up their asses that they were on the verge of choking on their own heads. See: the Fibonacci shit with Lateralus or the whole "play two different songs on 10,000 Days at the same time and it'll form a new song" or the frankly hilarious deep dives on the wiki pages for various songs and albums. Paragraphs about fans wracking their brains over what "Stinkfist" is about because aw jeez they'd never write something so obvious or this one I'll never forget that went something along the lines of "the song is heavily based on the concept of [some latin word] which is the concept of fitting three beats into the space of two".

That's a triplet. The word you're thinking of is "triplet" you pretentious fucks.

(In pretentious German accent) Too dank for you?

In all honesty though, all prog is like that. It's all about making the biggest, most majestic sounding piece of music possible. It seems like a lot of people have a negative perception of Tool because they're so popular, and their fans don't do them any favors in this regard. If you've ever met an overly abrasive Tool fan, you know what I'm talking about. The thing is, their catalog is virtually flawless if we're being honest. In my opinion, they don't have one bad song or album, and they always had a sound all their own. If you can ignore the hype and pretentious fan base, and just enjoy the music, they really are a great band.

Honestly I don't even think Tool is that bad. They're pretty good at the Freak Kitchen/Primus thing where they make their songs very catchy and enjoyable despite all the weird shit they put in them, I've just never met a Tool fan I didn't want to give a swirlie.

This is the thing. I really enjoyed Tool when I was in high school (1998-2001), but the other people that were into them drove me SO fucking nuts, I just stopped listening to them for years. I've since realized how ridiculous that is, but man, they do have one of the most obnoxious fan bases ever.

RELEVANT:

New Song "Fear Inoculum"

Are you talking about a hemiola? That's the opposite of a triplet.

what the fuck is that cover art

Apparently the CD Edition of the Album will have a 4 Inch display in which this cover art will be shown animated, as well as loudspeakers. Speculation though.It's 60-100 dollars in several online shops.

Edit:
The Amazon Product page seems to confirm this:
Fear Inoculum is the long awaited new album from TOOL, and the band's first new album in 13 years. The album will be available digitally, and in a special Limited Edition physical package that includes a CD in a tri-fold Soft Pack Video Brochure featuring a 4" HD rechargeable screen with exclusive video footage, a USB charging cable, a 2 watt speaker and a 36 page insert book and MP3 download card.

The asking price is only $45, I figured it would be at least double that. That's a steal with all that you're getting.

I definitely can relate based on my experience with Tool fans, but man, if there's any band that deserves to have an incredibly passionate fan base, it's them.

I was waiting for the intro to explode into a maelstrom of intensity but next thing I knew the song was over

It actually sounds like the end of the new song is building up to the next track.

Yeah nothing's better than a 10 fucking minute intro track lol

New song was kind of interesting I suppose, but yeah definitely not tremendously exciting. They have an almost ritualistic, hypnotic bent to their stuff.

Fuck man, what's it been, 13 years?

It sure sounds like Tool, and it sounds good. It is a hell of a lot like some of the ideas they did on Salival, specifically Pushit and Third Eye. Considering that those versions of their songs were (IMO) way better and more atmospheric than on the original albums, I'm immensely stoked to hear the rest. Agreed that this sounds like a lead-in or intro song, but dammit I enjoyed every second of it despite how mellow it was.

I also just want to give a shout out to how damn good the production is on that song. The guitar tone is classic Adam Jones with that dry Diezel distortion and a little bit of fuzz mixed in (love the lead tone towards the end too), the drums are punchy and tight, the bass hits hard and has the right level of depth and pick attack, and Maynard's voice has really aged well. I know music in general sounds great nowadays, but this is just an extremely dynamic, perfectly-performed, organic-sounding recording that is on a whole other level vs. so much modern rock and metal.

I enjoy all their albums and EPs, as well as the gradual transition from hard rock into prog. I appreciate the catchy riffs and energy in the earlier material and the plodding drum and bass grooves in the later albums. This is obviously a continuation of 10,000 Days' sound and I don't mind if it ends up being a more introspective album. I just hope there's enough new ideas for it to feel like an evolution instead of a retread.

As for whether Tool is pretentious... yeah, no shit, but that's part of the charm, and it's honestly hard to find prog rock/metal bands that aren't. They also very clearly play into that image with all the pseudo-mysticism and secrecy. Just don't take it too seriously, because I don't think the band does.

I like the writing direction of this a lot! It reminds me of post metal bands like Neurosis and Cult Of Luna in the sense that it takes a small number of sections and builds and expands on them, and lets them ferment and grow, rather than being all ADD and jumping from one part to the next. That direction can be great too, but for a while I've found this composition style to be much more immersive, personally. Tool had done this sort of thing before with songs like 10,000 days, Triad and The Patient, but it seems like what we've heard so far is treading more into that territory as a staple rather than a one-off endeavor.

Is it worth the 13 year wait? I don't know and honestly don't care, because in that time I was busy listening to a slew of other great bands, so I wasn't bored really. Either way, between this and the live recordings of those other new songs, I'm excited!

I was going to just wait until the album released, because whats another few days compared to 13 years? Nevertheless, I couldn't resist and decided to splurge. In my opinion, it's amazing. The drumming is absolute fire and the bass works super nicely with it to build the entire song. Maynard's vocal performance is incredibly beautiful and places lyrics and vocal melodies at perfect points in time. The hypnotic guitar work is awesome, and the extra percussion and instruments are thrown in perfectly. It's Tool, and they're fucking back. Shit had me close to tears at a few times, to be perfectly honest. Pre ordered the special edition after listening. Can't wait.

A Lifelong Tool Fan's Desperate Plea For the Band to Never Release the New Album:
https://www.esquire.com/entertainment/m ... -released/

And this is why Tool fans fucking suck. This unappreciative, entitled asshole “fan” needs to fuck right off with his “keep pure things pure by not releasing anything” talk.

I had that exact same thought until I saw at the bottom of the article he's a comedian and then I figured the article had to be written at least a bit tongue-in-cheek. Because surely nobody's that vain, right?

I get the distinct impression that this guy doesn't really pay attention to music in general and hasn't found a new band that he likes in at least 15-20 years.

This new song is perfectly serviceable. It's not amazing or even bad. It just sort of exists. Which is exactly what I expected.

I finally got a chance to listen to the track the other day and it is everything I could've hoped for. The clean production and the dynamic percussion were my favorite things about it; also Maynard sounds like an alien (in a good way). I'm definitely curious to hear this in the context of the album, but this first song is a great start!

The new Tool song, I wrote this as I listened to it:
It gets better as it goes on.
It's good, I mean the hype already makes me sceptical so I'm inclined to tell myself I dislike it more than I do. I like the thicker guitar riffs more than the choked parts. The percussion is all really cool.
MJK is MJK.
I’m not putting this on over Sober or Prison Sex or Vicarious. But I’ll see how it fits with the rest of the album.

The new song does sound like Tool, yes... but it sounds too much like Tool.

Tool have built on their sound and experimented with more or less every album that they've released. No two albums have sounded the exact same, stylistically (with the possible exception of Opiate and Undertow). The new single has all the elements that define Tool, yes, but it's so forced, it's not even funny. "Sure, we can put tribal drumming in the soft sections and it'll sound like Tool!" I have a strong suspicion that they haven't made any efforts at writing anything during their 13-year absence, and they're sounding not like Tool but somebody trying to imitate Tool.

Oh, and I also see that Maynard has finally discovered the joys of Auto-Tune.

Well, you listened to it. Too late now.


That's a hemiola. The word you're thinking of is "hemiola" you pretentious fucks.

Yeah I got owned

Actually, I believe they overwrote for the album.



It was, I believe, paralysis by analysis that led to quite a bit of frustration, such as Maynard having written lyrics and then the other 3 changing the music which led to scrapping said lyrics.

You were following your heart. And that's what matters.

The new Tool song sounds like a more successful version of what Rian Johnson was unsuccessfully trying with subverting expectations. Each part in the song does something completely different from what you expect when it starts. On first listen of course that's all it does, but maybe once there's a whole album there's something more to it.

The album leaked. It's fine but probably their worst. Really chill and repetitive jam material.