TOOL Thread

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People generally don't like the latest Tool record because it sounds insufficiently dissimilar from the last 2 records to justify the 13 year wait, and there are some electronic interludes that flop on their face. Some of the people who dislike it might be Aenima fans mad that Maynard can't scream anymore but I've heard far more about how it's just another Tool record than people talking about Maynard's voice being shot.
The biggest sin of the album is that it's just really fucking boring. I get the impression that this album was supposed to come out directly behind Lateralus but the lawsuit bullshit kept it all tied up for a decade and now we have all this buildup to an album that for all we know is only supposed to be a followup to Lateralus and nothing special of its own, but since it took a decade to make it everyone was expecting a thunderous masterpiece that would reshape the landscape of metal all on its own. The longer a product takes to make, the higher audience expectations reach for the sky.
 
The biggest sin of the album is that it's just really fucking boring. I get the impression that this album was supposed to come out directly behind Lateralus but the lawsuit bullshit kept it all tied up for a decade and now we have all this buildup to an album that for all we know is only supposed to be a followup to Lateralus and nothing special of its own, but since it took a decade to make it everyone was expecting a thunderous masterpiece that would reshape the landscape of metal all on its own. The longer a product takes to make, the higher audience expectations reach for the sky.
Danny Carey's been telling the media they were past the legal shit and 100% working on a record since like 2014 (which is why no one should take him telling people Tool's making a quarantine EP right now even remotely seriously), and Maynard went just shy of telling Joe Rogan "it's not my fault there's no new album, blame the instrumentalists" across several appearances on his podcast.
I think Adam Jones and Justin Chancellor just got really locked into tweaking knobs and fiddling with sliders for the same 5 song ideas they had post-10000 days and that's why only the nerds who enjoy all that shit have a positive opinion on the new record, while everyone there for the hard-hitting metal singles got nothing out of it.
 
I don't want to be that guy who gets all gatekeep-y about music genres, but Tool, even with Fear Inoculum, isn't psychedelic rock. Go listen to Tame Impala, the Oh Sees or King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard and tell me Tool sounds even remotely like that. They don't even sound like the old-school version of psych rock (think Jefferson Airplane).

People generally don't like the latest Tool record because it sounds insufficiently dissimilar from the last 2 records to justify the 13 year wait, and there are some electronic interludes that flop on their face. Some of the people who dislike it might be Aenima fans mad that Maynard can't scream anymore but I've heard far more about how it's just another Tool record than people talking about Maynard's voice being shot.

I liked it well enough though, I'm still listening to it every couple of weeks
IMO, the first couple times I heard the album, I was like, "meh". I agreed with the people that it sounded too samey to their previous efforts and aside from Pneuma and Descending, thought the whole thing was a wasted opportunity, and couldn't wait for 7empest to be over.

But around listen 4 was where the album dug its claws into me, and the more I listened, the more I grew to absolutely love it. I prefer the CD version of the album without those boring ass interludes (except for Mockingbeat; I remember visiting my friend in Calgary the day after it came out, and we were getting ready to go to an Iron Maiden concert but after some time on the road, I needed to relax. Anyways, Mockingbeat comes on, and the bird noises makes his cat go absolutely NUTS. funniest shit I saw all year). Invincible is now probably my favourite thing they've ever done, even.

It really is Danny Carrey's album. Holy shit, he just fucking nails every hit. The whole album could be 80 minutes of Chocolate Chip Trip and I'd be satisfied.
 
The issue is, and this is not perhaps entirely fair on the band, that the album is insufficiently revolutionary and could never live up to the hype after 13 years.

The previous Tool albums were mindblowing not just because they had great music and musicianship, but because back then Tool sounded like no other band on Earth, and each album they put out moved their genre (that I'd describe as progressive hard rock but ymmv) forward. Fear Innoculum is not a terrible album, far from it, but it does sound a lot like the last 2 albums and that is a source of disappointment to a lot of people. It doesn't move their sound forward, which is particularly disappointing because progressive rock and metal has gone through huge changes since 2006. Tool chose neither to get with the times, nor to strike out with something totally new like we all know they are capable of doing. They just did the same old thing, and that's the least Tool-like thing to do.

It's still a good listen, as others have said Danny Carey's drumming is a highlight, but it doesn't blow me away at all.
 
I finally got the Fear Inoculum album and listened to it for the first time yesterday. I think it is fucking awesome. If you dig the Tool albums from the 90's, then this album is not for you. The atheist/grunge/fuck-you-dad phase of Tool left a long time ago. No one is Sober anymore.

However, if you have acid flashbacks or get a boner by reading stuff like this:

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Then WELCOME HOME!
 
Maybe the veterans in this thread could give me some suggestions! I have listened to a couple of TOOL tracks that I absolutely loved:

- Schism
- Lateralus
- Vicarious ( all time favourite )
- Parabola

Anyone have some other tracks in the same vein, that I should be aware of? I'm awful at just trying new music (give me your puzzle pieces), so if anyone would like to throw some ideas I'm all ears.

(I absolutely love A Perfect Circle, if that helps).
 
Maybe the veterans in this thread could give me some suggestions! I have listened to a couple of TOOL tracks that I absolutely loved:

- Schism
- Lateralus
- Vicarious ( all time favourite )
- Parabola

Anyone have some other tracks in the same vein, that I should be aware of? I'm awful at just trying new music (give me your puzzle pieces), so if anyone would like to throw some ideas I'm all ears.

(I absolutely love A Perfect Circle, if that helps).
Honestly I would just go through their albums and listen to mostly everything. I like most of their songs. The Patient is my favorite. Tbf though I haven’t listened to their new album yet, but dig thru their old stuff I’m sure you’ll have a great time!
 
Maybe the veterans in this thread could give me some suggestions! I have listened to a couple of TOOL tracks that I absolutely loved:

- Schism
- Lateralus
- Vicarious ( all time favourite )
- Parabola

Anyone have some other tracks in the same vein, that I should be aware of? I'm awful at just trying new music (give me your puzzle pieces), so if anyone would like to throw some ideas I'm all ears.

(I absolutely love A Perfect Circle, if that helps).
Sober from Undertow is right up there in that conversation if you ask me.
 
Maybe the veterans in this thread could give me some suggestions! I have listened to a couple of TOOL tracks that I absolutely loved:

- Schism
- Lateralus
- Vicarious ( all time favourite )
- Parabola

Anyone have some other tracks in the same vein, that I should be aware of? I'm awful at just trying new music (give me your puzzle pieces), so if anyone would like to throw some ideas I'm all ears.

(I absolutely love A Perfect Circle, if that helps).
WTF is wrong with you? Listen to whole albums and skip songs that trigger your tism. You will probably like NIN and Korn and possibly MSI if you like Tool.
 
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