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Oct 30, 2017
15,278
I called everyone armchair expert, which is inclusive of me.
Everyone is an armchair expert on Tool's creative output and what album does and does not work for whatever reasons and I couldn't overstate how little of a shit I give

That doesn't sound like it includes you. It sounds like you want us to know that you don't give a shit what others think. But, whatever. I just feel that post was uncalled for.
 

EatChildren

Wonder from Down Under
Member
Oct 27, 2017
7,026
That doesn't sound like it includes you. It sounds like you want us to know that you don't give a shit what others think. But, whatever. I just feel that post was uncalled for.

It most absolutely includes me. The only thing i'm a legitimate expert on is how to avoid paying off my student loan. But nevertheless another fair call, and I'll be less snarky in future.
 
OP
OP
astro

astro

Member
Oct 25, 2017
56,849
I walk outside and cross the street, and someone is playing the new track in their car as I load up Spotify.

Today is Tool Day.
 

Fatoy

Member
Mar 13, 2019
7,216
Like all the best Tool songs, this does not feel as though it lasts 10+ minutes. That's always been their best facet as far as I'm concerned; a lot of 'experimental' or off-kilter metal music gets dull and indulgent quickly, but despite being dynamically pretty complex, a good Tool song never feels boring or obtuse.
 

LGHT_TRSN

Member
Oct 25, 2017
7,120
The only thing I know about Tool fans is there can be no consensus. Everyone has their favorite track/album. Maybe you like their older stuff. Maybe you like their newer stuff. There's no wrong answer.
 

E_i

Member
Oct 27, 2017
9,133
I went and preordered the CD, saw that $45. It comes with a little LCD screen. What?
 

Deleted member 7130

User requested account closure
Banned
Oct 25, 2017
7,685
It's fine. Not the track to purposefully repeat, but I'll let it play out if I'm too lazy to hit skip.
 

EatChildren

Wonder from Down Under
Member
Oct 27, 2017
7,026
Seeing someone respond with civility instead of a never ending trade of argumentative blows is so refreshing, it's a shame it's such a rarity these days.

anigif_enhanced-19961-1414084811-15.gif


Dear everyone; I'm sorry for being a dick.
 

Turin

Member
Oct 27, 2017
5,454
As I said in the other thread, it's a song that gets better as I sit with it.

Still not blowing my socks off but a pleasing listen.
 

Andokuky

Banned
Oct 25, 2017
721
Apple Music lists the album as 10 songs, 37 minutes. Is that accurate? So the other 9 songs total 27 minutes?
 

JetSetSoul

Member
Oct 28, 2017
1,185
Holy shit, I've got more chills the third listen.

Some of these time changes, and absolute control over the timing of the piece. Fucking right....
 

Cyanity

Member
Oct 25, 2017
9,345
There's no way Tool actually spent 15 years making this music. Nothing good ever comes from these decades long droughts anyway. It just feels like laziness or complacency to me tbh.
 

saenima

Banned
Oct 25, 2017
11,892
The only thing I know about Tool fans is there can be no consensus. Everyone has their favorite track/album. Maybe you like their older stuff. Maybe you like their newer stuff. There's no wrong answer.

Hey i like all their albums! Even Opiate!

But yeah it sometimes feels like there's a 90s Tool fanbase and a 00s Tool fanbase.
 

show me your skeleton

#1 Bugsnax Fan
Member
Oct 28, 2017
15,593
skeleton land
There's no way Tool actually spent 15 years making this music. Nothing good ever comes from these decades long droughts anyway. It just feels like laziness or complacency to me tbh.
they never said they did and it'd be mad to believe that. some of this stuff is very old/has existed in some form, but it's not 15 years worth of work. they had legal issues and general change in focus in life (kids etc.).
 

BourbonAFC

Member
Oct 26, 2017
1,446
Apple Music lists the album as 10 songs, 37 minutes. Is that accurate? So the other 9 songs total 27 minutes?

Believe it was reported in Revolver that the album is 9 tracks (7 songs, 2 segues) totalling 79 minutes. 89 minutes of music comes with the mp3 download card included with the physical edition.
 

MilkBeard

Member
Oct 25, 2017
7,778
I'm enjoying the song quite a bit. Bout to give it another listen after running some errands.

There are some minor things about it that I can nitpick, but I can do this with all of their albums. I had nitpicks with 10,000 Days, and yet I still enjoy listening to it a lot; it has some great moments. I think Fear Inoculum will be the same way.

The song does recycle some "Tool sounds", and I notice it the most with Adam's guitar. I think he does this purposely a lot, as I remember them talking about how Rosetta Stoned was him repurposing a lot of older Tool riffs in a new way.

But at the same time, this isn't really a bad thing. In fact, this sounds way better than most older bands do when they "come back" with a new album after a long time. They don't have to recapture the magic or fit with new trends; they still have it, even if at times it does sound somewhat samey to their older music. And Fear Inoculum definitely is a song that doesn't "feel" like 10 minutes, and it has some great moments, and leaves you wanting. I think that is the point of the track, especially if it's the first one on the album. The ending that a lot of people say "sounds by the numbers" is actually my favorite part, because it builds and sounds great, like it is building into something; the rest of the album. We will see how it fits into the bigger picture.

The song also doesn't necessarily "give" you want you want as a listener, but still sounds great and delivers a great vibe. I'm happy with how it turned out, and I think with the three songs I've heard so far, it will be a solid album.
 
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garion333

Member
Oct 27, 2017
2,722
I'm fully on the train that finds the song to be highly derivative of their earlier work. I'm positively shocked by that. The song is basically cribbed from Pushit to Jambi to Wings to ending like 46&2. It's nuts to me. I didn't care for a fair portion of 10,000 Days, but at least it had fresh ideas.

This song has tiny fresh bits, but is mostly repeating what they've done before. I'm seriously in shock. It does get less shocking the more I listen to it, but it doesn't help that I've been listening to so much of Tool lately thanks to (the remastered versions) being on streaming services.
 

EatChildren

Wonder from Down Under
Member
Oct 27, 2017
7,026
There's no way Tool actually spent 15 years making this music. Nothing good ever comes from these decades long droughts anyway. It just feels like laziness or complacency to me tbh.

They didnt. It took 15 years for them to release a finished work, but not 15 years of work. They were all busy off doing other personal ventures in the meantime.

It's like when people say that if Half Life 3 got released today it better be 12 years worth of quality. It's not quantifiable nor accurate. It just means the creators felt they had no interest in or value to working on said project in the meantime, and if they get around to it the output shouldn't be proportional to the time passed.

Overhype is a thing, I guess.
 

thewienke

Member
Oct 25, 2017
15,918
It's decent.

I'm not a huge Tool stan though. I really strongly prefer their more energetic and angrier stuff from Aenima (which is an absolute favorite album of mine as well).
So to my layman ears, it sounds like another popular band predominantly from the 90s has gotten older and lost a bit of their edge. Music on the whole has softened across genres though so that's probably just a sign of the times.
 
Oct 25, 2017
4,553
It is definitely a Tool song.

Is that a bad thing in 2019? I'm not really too sure.

It's enjoyable. I'm not ready to call it great. Certainly could be worse I suppose.

It definitely does not feel like a 10 minute song though, which is a plus.
 

TheModestGun

Banned
Dec 5, 2017
3,781
Don'r get defensive, I'm obviously a fan. I was lamenting not enjoying anything since Aenima as much. That album is in my top 5.

And I really do not like this track, and I was really excited to hear it. I thought tine away could have helped with the issues I had with 3 and 4.
Hmm. Interesting. I think Lateralus is absolutely their best album. The problem is that 10,000 days feels derivative of Lateralus. But Lateralus sounds nothing like AEnima. AEnima IMO is a great album but is very much a product of the post grunge era.
 

TheModestGun

Banned
Dec 5, 2017
3,781
Thank you, I thought I was insane and the only person who ever thought this. Danny Carey is an obviously amazing drummer but the production of the percussion on their albums has always sounded bad to me, except in a few songs on 10,000 Days (e.g. Vicarious, The Pot - I think, I'd need to go back and listen to the album again) where I swear it was like they'd replaced 20 year old microphones with brand new ones for those tracks only.


Umm what? Sounds bad? As an audio engineer here. His drum sounds and the engineering on Lateralus and AEnima are considered top notch. I think people get confused by the "openness" of his drum sound. Danny Carey uses very little dampening and relies heavily on tuning his toms into the key of D. He is considered a god of drums sounds and drum tuning.
 
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Oct 30, 2017
15,278
It's decent.

I'm not a huge Tool stan though. I really strongly prefer their more energetic and angrier stuff from Aenima (which is an absolute favorite album of mine as well).
So to my layman ears, it sounds like another popular band predominantly from the 90s has gotten older and lost a bit of their edge. Music on the whole has softened across genres though so that's probably just a sign of the times.
Age plays a large role in this I think. Most musicians struggle to maintain the speed and dexterity of their younger selves so the music softens as musicians have to dial it back. I mean, shit, Meshuggah is still heavy af but you can clearly hear a difference when listening to Koloss and going back to something like Chaosphere or Nothing.
 

bounchfx

Member
Oct 25, 2017
6,653
Muricas
ehhhhhhhhhhhh

like, it's fine. it sounds fine. everything's fine. but it sounds like tool trying to recapture the lateralus magic and it comes off like them covering themselves. we'll see how it flows within the full album
Pretty much how I'm feeling at first listen. I enjoyed it but didn't love it, maybe that will change with repeat listens. Hope some of the songs have a little more energy
 

Lakitu

Member
Dec 8, 2017
1,670
I'm fully on the train that finds the song to be highly derivative of their earlier work. I'm positively shocked by that. The song is basically cribbed from Pushit to Jambi to Wings to ending like 46&2. It's nuts to me. I didn't care for a fair portion of 10,000 Days, but at least it had fresh ideas.

This song has tiny fresh bits, but is mostly repeating what they've done before. I'm seriously in shock. It does get less shocking the more I listen to it, but it doesn't help that I've been listening to so much of Tool lately thanks to (the remastered versions) being on streaming services.

Literally post release of 10,000 Days had people claiming that 'song a sounds too much like song b from Lateralus' and 'that riff was totally taken from The Grudge'
 

LGHT_TRSN

Member
Oct 25, 2017
7,120
Remember when the single Vicarious came out and everyone thought it was derivative of Lateralus?
 

Deleted member 38227

User requested account closure
Banned
Jan 12, 2018
3,317
Age plays a large role in this I think. Most musicians struggle to maintain the speed and dexterity of their younger selves so the music softens as musicians have to dial it back. I mean, shit, Meshuggah is still heavy af but you can clearly hear a difference when listening to Koloss and going back to something like Chaosphere or Nothing.
Demon of Surveillance reminds me a lot of Chaosphere, but yeah, the album is much calmer for Meshuggah.

And I like this song, but I have listened to Tool since the beginning and the style is wearing thin for me now. I'll probably only stream the album. The noodly bits hang together much better here than on 10,000 Days.
 

Jebral

Member
Oct 29, 2017
389
I learned today that people don't like 10,000 days? Huh. I've found over the years that I really can't stand talking about music. I sure do love listening to it! Music just seems especially ESPECIALLY subjective, more than other art forms I'd say. I gave up a long time ago ever reading music reviews.

Anyway, cool song, can't wait to hear it in the context of the rest of the album.
 

Altazor

Member
Oct 25, 2017
8,135
Chile
Remember when the single Vicarious came out and everyone thought it was derivative of Lateralus?

remember when Tool fanboys thought the actual 10,000 Days album was a "decoy" released due to online leaks and that Right in Two proved that the "real" new Tool album was totally going to be released later? I fucking LOL'd at that back then and I still laugh when I think about it
 

Deleted member 38227

User requested account closure
Banned
Jan 12, 2018
3,317
remember when Tool fanboys thought the actual 10,000 Days album was a "decoy" released due to online leaks and that Right in Two proved that the "real" new Tool album was totally going to be released later? I fucking LOL'd at that back then and I still laugh when I think about it
Weren't the decoy song titles taken from The Mars Volta?
 

Bacon

Member
Oct 26, 2017
1,629
Literally post release of 10,000 Days had people claiming that 'song a sounds too much like song b from Lateralus' and 'that riff was totally taken from The Grudge'

I love 10,000 days but I do think some of it is pretty much Lateralus Part 2. And I'm not saying there's anything even wrong with that because it's still really good.
 

LGHT_TRSN

Member
Oct 25, 2017
7,120
remember when Tool fanboys thought the actual 10,000 Days album was a "decoy" released due to online leaks and that Right in Two proved that the "real" new Tool album was totally going to be released later? I fucking LOL'd at that back then and I still laugh when I think about it

Haha yeah I remember that shit. Tool fans have such a deep emotional connection to the band and the music that every time they come out with something new it takes time for some people to reach acceptance.
 

TheModestGun

Banned
Dec 5, 2017
3,781
Demon of Surveillance reminds me a lot of Chaosphere, but yeah, the album is much calmer for Meshuggah.

And I like this song, but I have listened to Tool since the beginning and the style is wearing thin for me now. I'll probably only stream the album. The noodly bits hang together much better here than on 10,000 Days.
Which is interesting, because I think Meshuggah's song "Born in Dissonance" off of their 2016 album is one of the heaviest songs of all time. Just absolutely crazy stuff.
 

miobrien

Member
Oct 30, 2017
211
I enjoyed the song. It's nice to hear a new T00L track. It's been too long! All the parts are there. The percussion was very nice. Characteristic guitar riffs.

Overall it's definitely too long. I think this is because there's no real climax or crescendo — like The Grudge — where it just gets louder and heavier and crazier.

Maynard's vocals were a bit different. Reminded me more of his APC vocals. Could be that he's getting older right? Difficult to scream and stuff when you're 50-60?

Anyway I think this is a good sign — all the classic Tool pieces are here. There's much more to come on August 30!!!!
 

Moebius

Member
Oct 28, 2017
5,383
New song is awesome. I do hope though that Maynard's vocals are more intense on other songs. I don't need him screaming but I want to hear the intensity.
 

garion333

Member
Oct 27, 2017
2,722
Literally post release of 10,000 Days had people claiming that 'song a sounds too much like song b from Lateralus' and 'that riff was totally taken from The Grudge'

And they were wrong. I'm not wrong. :P

Remember when the single Vicarious came out and everyone thought it was derivative of Lateralus?

Vicarious could have been on Lateralus, easily. It's the most Lateralus-sounding record of the bunch. So, in that way, folks weren't wrong.
 

Christian

Member
Oct 25, 2017
9,636
Clearly, he is a pleb who has no idea what he's talking about. May I direct you to a like-minded Tool expert?


Holy shit. What a review.

I love the new song.

Everyone is an armchair expert on Tool's creative output and what album does and does not work for whatever reasons and I couldn't overstate how little of a shit I give. I'm not dismissing personal opinion on the matter, absolutely have your own and relative expectations, I've just long realised it's a defunct, aimless conversation to have because no amount of trying to convince someone one way or the other is going to change anything. Tool is a band with a distinct core sound that they've never strayed from yet have tweaked between albums to give each work a specific identity unique to the others. People literally thought 10,000 Days, when it leaked, was a joke because it wasn't Lateralus 2.0. I think it's remarkable and brilliant. People still hate it because it's not Undertow. Whatever.

This sounds good. Sounds like Tool. A lot more Lateralus in there than 10,000 Days. I'm sure I'll grow to love it more and more as time goes on, as I have with all their work. Just happy I'm getting something, anything new and good.

Editing your post into mine after the fact, because I got to that Pitchfork review and had to render my exclamation of its pretentiousness. I'm old enough that I remember the reaction to TOOL's last pair of albums when they were nearing release, and it's amazing how different the first impressions of all of them were against how people feel now. I don't know if I've ever seen such a disparity for anything else I've followed as a big fan.
 
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LGHT_TRSN

Member
Oct 25, 2017
7,120
Vicarious could have been on Lateralus, easily. It's the most Lateralus-sounding record of the bunch. So, in that way, folks weren't wrong.

No disagreement here. Vicarious sounded like a track they came up with while creating Lateralus and it just didn't fit on the record.

Then 10K Days came out and the other tracks didn't resemble Lateralus nearly as much.