Hey to each his own.
I agree with uberwaltz. Many Tool fans have a hard time accepting anything after Aenima, which I fully understand. It's really interesting to hear the progression that the band has made over the years. With each album you can see how they get more melodic and experiment with polyrhythms, time signature changes, etc. For many, that may not be as exciting as their earlier, straight up rock sound.
Personally, I think the album is beautiful and showcases just how talented and outside of the box thinking the band is as a whole.
Just a quick and funny footnote:
I find it hilarious and sad at the same time that throughout the hundreds of thousands of years of human existence, within 7 days of each other, Tool release the brilliant album that is Fear Inoculum and we also got to witness the train wreck that was the VMA awards.
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Let me know when they release it on vinyl. |
I wore a Tool T-shirt the other day. I trust that doesn’t mean I’m mature. 🕺🏻
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Interesting take on it Helomech.
However your opinion is welcome and just as valid as anybody elses and thanks indeed.
Upon hearing Fear I did think that it would not sit well with a lot of hard core Tool fans.
However after 13 years there is no way it was ever going to sound like early Tool, more a progression and maturity of their sound.
To my ears it is a great album and more accessible to many I feel but I can see that die hard Tool fans of yore will not take to it easily.
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You asked, so here is my opinion: it's the least good album they've produced, and by a wide margin. I didn't much care for Lateralus or 10,000 Days upon initial listen but felt they had enough potential to draw me back for subsequent listens and they grew on me. I can't say the same for FI, unfortunately. Nothing about it is grabbing me, and the sound quality suffers from some periodic distortion that makes it that much harder to enjoy. |
Yea my daughter has that special edition too, I find the darn glasses are a storage nuisance though ... Lol. |
I bought the special edition of 10,000 days when it came out which has built-in fold out glass magnifying spectacles to look at the pages of artwork and I thought that was an extravagance at about $25.00 if I recall correctly, but this is too much. |
Agreed Roxy, it's crazy pricing so far.
Saying that a store in Holland is offering vinyl at 35 € which is a bit more sensible.
I can wait though, the Qobuz hirez is very good listening indeed. |
I heard 1 song from it for the first time today and liked it, but I can't buy the CD until it comes out in a normal edition that's under $100.00.
I still like 10.000 days very much. |
Wow. Some good points.
Yes, I also feel they’ve "matured". Anyone expecting to hear their earlier material such as Undertow or Aenima (frankly, I think all want more of that), won’t find it anymore in Tool. Opiate and Undertow were more of the traditional 90’s rock style but in Aenima you can see how they started to get more melodic and mature.
Lateralus went even further in that direction. 10,000 days, I just didn’t care for. It just wasn't my cup of tea and not the sound I wanted to hear from Tool. So because of that, I was not as excited as I wanted to be a few months before Fear Inoculum came out.
That said, a few weeks ago when I heard the single, my initial impression was that it was pretty good. I didn’t love it, but I thought it was pretty good.
Now, this is a very important part of my assessment... After I listened a few times the song grew on me to the point where I couldn’t stop playing it. I played it INCESSANTLY. I just heard it in a different way that upon first listen I couldn’t grasp completely. And this is the main sticking point with me and Tool. In my 44 years on this Earth I’ve never heard a band that made music that grew on me more than Tool. It was after I listened to the single many, many times that I became extremely excited for the album.
The album is 1 hour and 26 minutes of information overload. It’s just too much to grasp on first listen. After I listened to it the first time, there were two songs that I was iffy about and they were Pneuma and Culling Voices. After a few more plays of both, I can’t stop playing them. Again, that’s the thing with tool. For some reason they make music that my brain hears differently every time I hear it. They’re ridiculously talented. |
I think it's a great sounding record, I miss some of the vitriol and rawness of their earlier work. |
I listened to it yesterday and enjoyed if very much. In fact i'm going to listen to it again today. two thumbs up! I also listened on Qobuz and it sounded really good. |
Imho it is very different from earlier work but as that last effort was 2006 what else could one expect.
Some would say they have mellowed, I would say it more like they have matured.
Just like the latest APC effort, Eat The Elephant, was a masterpiece imho, so will this be considered so in the future.
I think it's appeal is greater and possibly a little more intellectual in its approach.
Only listened in hirez Qobuz stream but based on that I will be buying the vinyl.
Btw, just in case you could not tell, yes I give it a huge thumbs up! |
I'm glad you started the thread. Tool is a band I always loved but never followed through with purchases. I'll be watching..... |
