A busy day today for us Tool website administrators, with a doubly whammy of Fear Inoculum news coming out while I’m firmly ensconced in my office.
First up is the official confirmation of the Fear Inoculum track listing. This appeared on the @toolmusic Instagram account a few hours ago, and contains some interesting titles:
Also out there today is a range of Fear Inoculum reviews from an assortment of media outlets. It sounds like these reviews are based of a single listen as opposed to a more considered opinion, so are interesting reads but to be assumed there’s a bit of hyperbole happening here. That said, the reviews are largely glowing. Below are a few snippets:
Note: spoilers aplenty below for those who care about such things!
From the Revolver review “Tool’s ‘Fear Inoculum’ Is a Masterpiece to Be Dissected for Years to Come:
“Pneuma” is all tension and release, guitars stately and crushing amid a mountain of beats, as Keenan wails: “Wake up! Remember: One breath! One word! One spark!”
https://www.revolvermag.com/music/review-tools-fear-inoculum-masterpiece-be-dissected-years-come
Next up is Metal Injection who sent two reviewers along and had the following to note about one of the segues:
Frank: The album leaves us with jungle sounds, and monkey noises. In usual Tool fashion, I feel like I’m being pranked by sitting here listening to this, but also wonder if there is something hidden I’m supposed to look for. Why are they doing this to me…or am I doing it to myself!?
https://metalinjection.net/reviews/tool-fear-inoculum-review
Finally, Loudwire gives us some thoughts on the closing epic 7empest:
This thing is BRUTALLY heavy and there’s no breathing room at all. No little soft transitions to connect crucial landmarks, just vicious and relentless metal. How can a band string together so many gigantic parts without taking a breath? Tool give absolutely no fucks.
https://loudwire.com/tool-fear-inoculum-full-album-what-to-expect/
Don’t know how to feel about CCtrip being on the album.
Don’t trip chocolate chip!
Was a little stunned, but think it’s pretty cool. The perfect antidote to all the Tool copycats wailing miserably about ‘Prions’ ‘Haxons’, ‘Flaccions’ and whatever sophomoric pseudo intellectual horseshit they ruin otherwise pretty okay music with.
Oh I love the name, it fits well with Tool and Danny, but the track itself is a bit underwhelming if it’s the same as the live version.
I’m confused, and possibly thrown off. If we pre-ordered the special addition CD bundle, do we NOT get the bonus tracks?!
You do, the bundle has a download code.
It didn’t mention that… 🤔
It does mention it. It’s at the end where they list the download only tracks.
Goofy song titles. lol
Can’t wait to hear what the rest of the album offers.
I’m so excited!
all sounds great. just Tool doing what Tool do no concern with what anyone else is doing. cant wait
Sevenempest.
Any sources revealing track lengths? As of right now iTunes Store has placeholders with them all at 03:00 (except Fear Inoculum).
iTunes is showing the track lengths now.
Sweet baby jeebus let this thing leak! I’m all ordered up but cannot wait.
I’m actually most looking forward to Danny’s trips throughout the album. Not slagging the other guys at all, but he is the most gifted and mastered player among them, so to hear he is a focal point and lead in a lot of sections is exciting.
Bring on this 7empest!
I can wait to digest this over the next several years. 7empest sounds like it’s going to wild.
My apologies if this has already been posted but iTunes have the track lengths up.
Yeah… not pumped about CCTrip being in the tracklist. An instrumental track which was really kinda boring when I endured it at a show years ago.
Kinda feels like we are getting shortchanged on that one.
That’s something you’d expect to be on the additional tracks in the digital download.
So that’s 4 songs we’ve heard from the album that haven’t been particularly memorable.
Speak for yourself I suppose – I find 3 of the songs we’ve heard already pretty memorable. The amount of “music” we are getting on this album is about the same as the last.
Correct! If you take off Chocolate Chip Trip we still have over 74 minutes of “music” the same as Lateralus! Plus we get the segues some of which I am keen too.
Invincible and Descending are going to sound incredible with that studio polish.
anything you are pumped about? either with this album, or life in general?
Maynard, I’ve been following this site for years and I don’t believe I’ve seen you ever post anything positive. You just keep telling others to stop liking the songs. Maybe it’s your tastes that have changed, rather than Tool letting you down.
I’ve posted positive comments.
If you’re not happier after the 30th we’re all giving up hope on you Nerd. ha ha!
Descending is a write off because it’s just a weak excuse for a song.
CCTrip will surely be almost identical to the live performances, so that will be disappointing.
But I am interested in hearing the songs I haven’t heard yet, and look forward to hearing Invincible.
Also, if you decided to listen to iPhone recordings of their other new songs, that’s your fault. Tool has released one song, not 4.
I’ve listened to both Invincable and Descending a ton of times now, but the studio versions have me excited. I wouldn’t be surprised if there’s riffs on both of these that weren’t played live. I have a feeling both will have some surprises. If not I’ll still be happy as they’re awesome tunes. The bass on Invinceable is going to knock my head off.
Yeah I felt the same way actually. Over half the damn album is already been released, or played, whatever. Fear Inoculum was underwhelming upon first listen but it grows on you, just like 10,000 Days did honestly. But Descending is only cool at the end with the musical crescendo, and Invincible is just a soft underwhelming song in general which is what I would expect from an aging tool in their 50’s. I can’t really see 13 years of waiting being made worth it by the remaining 3 songs, and 3 2 minute seques.
I for one am freakin stoked that we get a DC solo track. It’s justified, has been said by many that he’s worth the price of admission alone. I concur. Be awesome to hear him fully unrestrained on a studio track. Don’t really understand the people whinging that they’ve heard 1/3 of the album already… like. Don’t listen to the crappy live bootlegs then? They play new music, people complain. They don’t, people complain. UghHGHgh. Seems like Tool have provided more “actual” music than ever with this album, getting a full album run time without interludes. A Tool release clocking… Read more »
Did someone finger bang your virgin before you even got a chance to smell her flower? … that’s why I’ve only listened to the new tracks once or twice. I want to listen to the new album, beginning to end, without interruption and just feel it without over analyzing … you know … just like Tool does with live shows. I just want to know what mind altering substance is in those Chocolate Chips?
Very excited about the new album. Happy to hear that there is still some primal energy on the album and it’s not entirely easy listening. So this has me hyped now. I enjoyed the recent APC offering, even though some of you were tepid about it. Also, can’t wait to see what Puscifer has in store for 2021. I feel fortunate that Maynard is a creative powerhouse at this point in his life. Also his recent interview on Rogan had him opening up more. All good things.
Quick question: Fear inoculum, culling voices, invincible, descending, and 7empest: are these the only “songs” and the rest are segues? Are the bonus digital tracks just segues?
CCTrip sounds like an “instrumental” song, so probably a bit more than a segue. Pneuma seems like a full blown song from what I’ve read.
Pneuma is definitely a proper song.
I think just like when Lateralus came out, most the people in my high school at the time that were previous tool fans, jumped ship at first listen of that album. Multiple best friends of mine HATED Lateralus after they got used to Aenima. I loved Lateralus. But Tool lost alot of fans with that release, but they gained a whole new type of fan base, and kept some of the old ones too. Same thing with 10,000 Days, they lost some Lateralus fans on that one, but gained more new types of fans. Fear Inoculum will see more older… Read more »
This could be a very sound theory and one that won’t get shit slung at you for stating it as in some of the Facebook groups. I’m an old TOOL fan from 1993 and I’ve loved every release more than the last, but 13 years is a really long time. It’ll be interesting to see how it’s regarded a year from now relative to the rest of their albums. There’s no way it’s going to suck as they’ve all come a long way as musicians since 2006 and have continued to tour enough to stay sharp live. I’m really glad… Read more »
I’ve been listing since 1994 or so…undertow blew me away. I’m now 40 and I’m super excited to hear new T00L. It has been a really long time, but driving to work today and hearing Fear Innoculum on the Octane (SiriusXm) is amazing. After so long, they still sound like…TOOL. I hear different parts of each album within that song, Undertow and 10K mostly, with some laterlus mixed in and the ending in particular sounds like 46&2. It has everything. Personally if I had to rank the albums it would go like this Laterlus Undertow (you could put this on… Read more »
Am I misconceiving something? The tracklist posted above suggests 7 Songs. But I recently saw that Itunes and Amazon give us a different tracklist:
https://music.apple.com/us/album/fear-inoculum/1475686696
https://www.amazon.com/Fear-Inoculum-Explicit-TOOL/dp/B07W3NP8N5/ref=tmm_msc_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr=
What does that mean? Does the Cd just contain 7 Songs? Is 86 minutes of music too long for a Cd? Why should they say the full album tracklist contains just 7 songs, while at the same time “Litanie contre la peur”, “Legion inoculant” and “Mockinbeat” are meant and listed as full album-tracks?
The extra tracks are listed on the digital release. On the physical release on the 7 main tracks are available.
There’s an unboxing vid on YouTube. The packaging is off the charts!
SPOILER ALERT, CLICK LINK FOR Unboxing teaser…LYRICS AND ARTWORK ARE SEEN
https://youtu.be/QUAgFeaWT4g