Tool - Fear Inoculum

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q7DfQMPmJRI


Feel this deserves its own thread, especially for any of the other tool fans out there being this is their first release in 13 years.


That said, I have been listening to this constantly since yesterday.
And I swear each time I notice more and more and it just gets more intense.
Justin and Adam are great as always, but Danny? I always knew he was great, but this is just intense. The drumming although not anything super heavy, so complex. Really loving this.

Can't wait for the whole album.
Going far on this one, but if the rest of the album is like this, honestly think this album will be better than 10,000 days and on par with Lateralus and Aenima

 

I appreciate a good long metal industrial song...leave it to Maynard to keep up with long ballads.

 

Got a huge smile on my face as soon as it started. Feels like home, sounds like Tool. Dany is crazy on this track!

 

Leak has leaked.

 

And I called it. On par with Lateralus.
Dare I say just as good if not even better

Was long awaited. It's very tool sounding yet so new. And not a single main track besides the usual tool filler tracks under 10 min.

On the last don't now...7empest...
Holy fuck the album built in to this. For anyone waiting to listen, take the time go from beginning to end. DO NOT skip ahead. The wait is worth it.

I am thoroughly blown away. And I expected it to be good. But not this good.

 

Ok... so I had to wait till I heard the whole album in it's entirety, start to finish before I made any judgements on the album.

Let me qualify this by saying I have been a Tool fan since the time many of the members of this forum were shitting their diapers... and to the extent that I have Tool themed tattoos.

Fear Inoculum (Song) was a disappointment to me. It just seems flat. I expected more from a initial release song on an album following a 13 year hiatus... but I still held hope there were going to be gems on the album.

I was wrong.

Repetative, monochromatic, garbage is the discription that comes to mind. Every drawn out song seems to be the same, and starts to sound like the flesh of a dead horse as it's beaten with a meat tenderizer for too long.

Listening through... I got to the point that I was begging the song to end in hopes the next song would actually be good... and over and over I was disappointed, only to find the next song just as boring and drawn out as the last one was.

I actually thought I had finally found the one song that could save something for the album in 7empest... from around 2:00 to 4:00 minutes it's pretty good... then the last (what seemed like a half hour) of the song was just more garbage.

The ONLY positive thing that comes from listening to the entire album is that I never have to suffer through it again.

 

Fair to say.
Music is subjective.

It's very tool sounding but it is pretty different from other stuff. No where close to as heavy as earlier stuff. But I didn't find it monochromatic.

Think it depends which part of tool you prefer. Earlier or later. I love all their albums but lateralus was my favorite. Hence the parabola tattoo I have.
But I love aenima just as much.

I thought this album fused a bit of their last 3 albums into one.

 

Staind and Tool are both awesome, although perhaps apples and oranges. One of my favorite staind songs is ‘tolerate’- even before mud shovel.

I can’t weigh in on the new tool album yet though, I am however excited they finally dropped a new album after that long of a hiatus.

 

After listening to it on repeat since it dropped Friday morning I’m a big fan of the new album. It’s definitely the classic Tool sound, but it also feels like they’re still pushing boundaries with their musicianship and composition. It’s definitely more introspective and downtempo, but that never bothered me. I never looked to Tool to get my face melted or make me want to punch someone in the face.

There are certainly the standard throwaway songs included, like Litanie contre la Peur and Chocolate Chip Trip, but they’ve been doing that on every album they’ve put out. At this point, I figure that’s just artistic license.

So far, I have to say Descending and Pneuma are my two favorite songs, to the point that I listened to Descending on repeat for a few hours solid on Friday. Fear Inoculum took me a little longer to dig, but I really like it now as well. Overall, even though it seems impossible, I’d say that the guys are even tighter then they were before. Danny and Justin are just on a different planet musically than the rest of us mortals, and it’s awesome to hear Adam taking more “solos” on this album (if you can call them that, I guess). And Maynard still has it with his lyrics and vocals. I really dig how he brought in some harmony tracks here and there. He’s still one of my favorite rock voices still playing today.

Anyway, as a lifelong Tool fan since my sophomore year in high school in ‘92, I feel like this fits into their body of work really well. Is it perfect? Nah, but that’s ok. As long as they stay true to their vision of the band, I’ll always check out what they create.

 

I'd have to agree that Staind and Tool are apples to oranges. I'm a fan (since pretty much day one) of both bands. But there really isn't a fair comparison between the too.

Being a fan of Tool, over the course of multiple decades, I know the drill with the filler songs and the fact that some of their songs take a minute, or two, or three to start to develop... but this album is horrible. It's almost like they purposly made garbage to sit back and watch their fans lap it up.

The filler songs deserve a formal puplic apology... yes, they are THAT bad.

The fact that there is over 8 minutes of filler songs shows laziness (for lack of a better word).

The songs themselves are unbearably long... On my first (and second) listen... I found myself begging for the song to end hoping the next one would actually be good.

The songs are dreadfully repetitive. I can't believe people actually say they like Pnuema... there is a point in the song where there is over a minute and a half of essentially the same 4 bass notes over, and over, and over, and over, and over, and over, and over, and over again.

The tempo changes in most of the songs make absolutely no sense what so ever.

It sounds like a demo tape of the band members doing solos and riffs just to prove they still can play... then mashed together and mailed to Maynard so he could do a half assed job of dubbing (boring/monochronatic/unremarkable) lyrics over.

 

That sucks that you don't like it Matt. I've been sitting on the album for like a week and a half (couldn't help myself and go ahold of the leak) probably like 10-15 listens at this point and I couldn't disagree with you more. I love this album and can't get it out of my head. The song length is daunting, but it feels like they go by so fast to me. I just get locked into Adam or Justin's groove and before I know it the next song is starting up. I can't even pick a favorite song because it feels like it changes every listen; Pneuma, Invincible and Culling Voices are all up there. Danny is a beast on this album, although I'm not a big fan of the synths he has going on on CCTrip, I love the polyrhythms he's got going on throughout. I feel like this is Adam's best work as a guitarist, dude's still got that mean tool rhythm going on and feather's in a bit of lead stuff here and there. Justin's bass is pretty standard but he's got a few bass lines that get stuck in my head and I love the Tool delayed bass sound. Maynard's vocals are sparse, but fit well with the album overall, especially love him in Pneuma, 7empest, and Culling Voices (is it about the sexual assault allegations that got thrown his way a year or so ago?).

Minor Complaints: Where is angry Maynard? I miss him. Why so serious, and where's that Tool sense of dark humor? God damn they shit the bed. Editing? I really do feel that they could have tightened things up a bit, there are a few parts that can drag and get a little repetitive. I feel like that after 13 years they had so much they just had to get out that it all got stuck in there.

Overall I like the album, but not sure where it fits yet. It's new so I can't get enough of it, but when the dust settles who knows where it'll land (I'll need 13 years of listening to see). But top 6 tool album for sure lol. I do hope they ride this wave now that they're out from under their record contract and keep writing. If this is the last we hear from them I'll accept it, but damn if I don't want to see what comes next.

 

Ive never been much of a Tool fan, but since this album is new and my friends like this group, I attempted to give it a listen. When a song is 15 minutes long, and you skip ahead 4 minutes and its still considered the intro, thats a big turn off for me. Glad I dont have to force myself to buy tickets this November.

 

As others have stated, it does take multiple listens to fully digest the music. Its so diverse and complex, but without being complicated. Its an evolution of this band and perfectly placed in Tool's catalog in the year 2019.

Remember, Maynard himself has stated that music was always cathartic to him - that he gets out whats on his mind and then moves on. He's no longer an angry young man who needs or even wants to make music like Opiate. Rather, there's a sense of sadness and hopelessness with the human race and that if people don't do something about it, everyone is doomed.

I find with Maynard's Tool/APC/Puscifer, you can select music based on your mood and demonstrates a real diversity that not many musicians possess. Wanna thrash? Listen to Jerk Off. Wanna chill? Listen to Eat the Elephant.

 

Patience grasshopper. This band is not for everybody and if you can't sit through the intro, then feel free to move on.

 

You can always watch this while you're waiting

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Yw8aaqnnrg

 

Not sure Staind has anything to compete with Seether... Since when is music a competition? Sport!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mF53On_P7qI

 

Staind and Tool are completely different bands, they are in two totally different genres of rock lol.

To that point, Aaron Lewis' cover of 'Sober' was awful

I do like some of Staind's early stuff though. Used to listen to Break the Cycle on repeat back in high school.

 

how about some Creed for competition

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iBBqjGd3fHQ

 

Loving the new album -- agree, it has to be listened to end-to-end. I've probably got 10 runs through it already, still keep hearing new things. This is a rare time when I wish my work commute was longer.

 

Yes, can we please not mention Staind in the same breath as Tool? Aaron Lewis is good, but come on.