The other guy is Joe Barresi. Supposedly, everything is done, including vocals. DC also posted pics of their traditional "album is done" lobster dinner.
http://dannycarey.org/...the-stoned-lobsters/

Related, I saw something about those speakers that Ludwig uses.. $195k and anchored down to the bedrock under his studio.
http://egglestonworks.com/...s/the-ivy-signature/

I watched an interview with Mr. Ludwig earlier this week so funny this post and that pic of his studio comes up. Fascinating man and what a career. Looking forward to hearing Tool's latest.

---

A false humanity is used to impose its opposite, by people whose cruelty is equalled only by their arrogance

I did see this. Still very excited..no expectations on timeline though. Having said that their upcoming tour dates etc seem fairly well set in stone and I have to believe likely line up with new material.

On a semi-related note I've been enjoying the Puscifer "What is" album over the past week or so. Really good and worth checking out on streaming at the minimum.

I'm having a hard time getting excited. Old rockers generally don't rock so well.

Honestly seems like most musicians later work compares poorly to their early stuff, but I'm sure folks could point out some exceptions.

If any Band can hold it together it should be Tool. I for one can't wait.

Totally get it. Having said that their body of work (my opinion) has gotten more interesting over the years so here's to hoping that trend continues. I will say that the teaser they had been playing in concert ("Descending" I think?) certainly has that Tool sound I love. Also all tracks being north of 11 minutes is really interesting to me.

I saw them in 2017 and while the setlists are obviously now tailored toward not kicking the shit out of Maynard's voice, they definitely still rock.

Agreed on that "A/Descending" track - love it.

Edit - album cover art leaked:

Things are shaping up for album release and a tour in support of it..

https://www.toolband.com/news/459218/tool-shows

Shoot, I was hoping for some new breakthru in cordless drills or something.

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I miss YaHey

From their appearance at the Rockville festival this weekend, two new songs - one of which is 'Descending' but now with added lyrics!







Track runtimes appear to confirm the rumours.. now to wait for the album release.

I love the sound. They sound like seven other Tool songs that I love. Nothing grabbing me by the throat or the amygdala, though.

Meh, so far.

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The devil made me do it the first time, second time I done it on my own - W

I clicked here thinking someone had some cool new tools.

I said that back in March when this thread started. I'm still waiting....

---

I miss YaHey

Pretty cool!

I see that the official release date is now August 30th. Little later than I was expecting but what's a few more months after 13 years?

You beat me to it. Saw this story today.

https://pitchfork.com/...-album-release-date/

Going to see them Friday night at the legendary Hampton Coliseum (aka the "Mothership"). I'm probably too old for this but looking forward to it anyway.

---

Freedom just around the corner for you. But with the truth so far off, what good will it do?

Nice - enjoy!

They are not coming anywhere close to me but I plan on seeing if I fanagle some work travel and aling a date.

Saw them live a few years back at The Gorge in Washington state. Fantastic show but kinda short.

Notice they didn't specify a year..

Not sure when you saw them last but they're not the Tool of the 90's with moshpits etc in the crowd (the Rockville clips were from a festival, so a little different).

When I saw them in 2017 I was surprised that our arena floor tickets were assigned seating - everyone stood for the show anyway, but there was zero of the rowdiness/moshing etc that I expected. It was actually a very similar vibe to the Roger Waters show I saw last summer, except the music is obviously a lot heavier.

Enjoy - I'm jealous!

1. I could have sworn Justin Chancellor was behind me on Sunset Boulevard in Brentwood this past Sunday afternoon. Aging bearded rocker guy in a black convertible Rolls Royce. I don't think it was him but it sure looked like him

2. I saw a funny tweet/comment: (paraphrased) "So Tool's going to release a new record but we have nowhere to buy it. Well done Maynard. Well done."

3. For the people wondering if/how the crowds have mellowed, keep in mind that their fan base has aged along with the band. ;-) I went and saw Quicksand several months ago and it was interesting to observe the crowd. It was probably 95% white dudes with 40-something-year old dad bods, bobbing their heads, re-living their heydays from the early 90s.

4. Here's a thought: Bands, as I understand it, make their money touring, and not so much on record sales (I'm open to being educated and proven wrong0. How f*cked up would it be if they never release a new record and, instead, just play their new stuff live (or release songs on Youtube) and all this runup is just a sham...

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War is god

The Rockville clips I posted above were from Sunday night (FL time).. almost certainly not him.

A cryptic message saying "Tool MMXIX August 30th" was issued yesterday. I'll go ahead and hope that's the record's release date.

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War is god

I was front row at Dropkick Murphys a few weeks ago.

You're never too old to rock and roll.

Did you survive old timer? If so let's hear about the show!

.........if you're too young to die.

It was quite an impressive show - incredible musicianship on display. Maynard never has a spotlight on him which was interesting. I guess this is his thing. Hard to even make him out for much of the show. I thought his mic was turned down too low - couldn’t clearly hear his singing all the time. My only complaint.

They played the same set list they have the whole tour - full of fan favorites - aenima, Jambi, schism, the pot, vicarious, stinkfist. Also played 2 new songs, one of which (invincible) was really good.

Strictly no cell phone event as well, until the last song when the band told security to stand down. Nice to watch a show without half the crowd staring at it through their phone.

---

Freedom just around the corner for you. But with the truth so far off, what good will it do?

Professional masters of the two new songs played live.

http://arkonaudio.com/download

Much better than the videos in circulation, thanks!.

Invincible is playing on a loop in the sphere compound.

---

The devil made me do it the first time, second time I done it on my own - W

Awesome. He also has the same cell phone policy at APC and Puscifer shows. Managed to see all three bands live iver the course if 1.5 years and have watched numerous folks get tossed (90% of which were the dumb asses with the flash on).

Agreed on Invincible. Traveling today but am looking forward to hearing the mastered version of this song that was posted on this thread when I get to the hotel tonight.

Sounds like it was a great show.

Album title, "Fear Inoculum" announced by MJK on Joe Rogan's show today.

And they're finally releasing their music on streaming services on 8/2. Pretty incredible that they've released approximately 6.5 hours of music in 28 years.

Surprising because I didn't think any of their previous albums were released that way. I assumed it was because of the effort put into the album covers.

They weren't- that's what is being released on 8/2.

New album comes out 8/30.

My reading comprehension is off. I thought you meant their new album was being released 8/2, not their catalog.

That was my bad - I should have specified "back catalog" vs just "music".

Yeah. Sorry as I'm just now seeing this.

I'm excited to see that the rumors of all the songs being north of 10 appear to be true. Once the pre orders open up I'll be scheduling a day off for the albums estimated delivery date.

Their track record of quality vinyl releases is semi-poor at best. Really hoping they get this new material on wax in a thoughtful way..if not..well at least I'll be able to stream it I suppose.

Looks like they are also teeing up a fall US tour. I won't be missing that one as I'm fairly certain this is it for Tool.

So I had a 1.5 hour round trip drive this morning...listened to Tool the entire time bouncing around albums. I'm enjoying having it streaming much more than I thought I would.

Looking forward to pushing it through my home sound system later today. Specifically Lateralus because, while the vinyl pressing is covered with Alex Gray artwork, the listening experience of those pressings are absolutely horrible. The one/two punch of Parabol and Parabola is what I'm really looking forward to.

Happy Tool Friday 8/2 LR!

This is a great day.

"Throw that Bob Marley wannabe motherfucker outta here."

"Used to be a bunch of assholes that lived in this part of the building here. But we systematically removed them like you would any kind of termite or roach."

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War is god

A friend bought an Alex Grey-signed copy of that Lateralus picture disc (Grey still sells them on the CoSM store, although they seem to go up in price each time he puts another batch up for sale) and doesn't even have a record player. I've been tempted to buy one just for the "collectibility" of it, even though I too have no way to play it. I'd read that the sound quality on them is even worse than the typical picture disc.

The songs Opiate and Right in Two are so spot on for today's sociopolitical morass.

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War is god

I might jump on that..had no idea he was putting signed copies up.

You've heard correctly about the playability of those Lateralus picture disks though I have friends who swear by the quality of other artists picture disks. In the vinyl/tool world the general consensus seems to be that Tool gives no f's about the quality of their vinyl pressings. I have decent Opiate and Undertow pressings but outside of that the other albums are certainly lacking (though there is a Enemia pressing out there that fetches close to 1k on discogs if you're up for it).

On the Alex Grey note I have a book recommendation you might like - "The Mission of Art" by Alex Grey.

How the hell did I forget that Henry Rollins does a spoken word part on Bottom?! My Tool and Rollins fan cards have been pulled.

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War is god

Pretty sure this was posted in another Tool thread but I think it's worth re-posting here. Kids cover 46 and 2:

"It was daylight when you woke up in your ditch..."

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War is god

Title track gets released as well as pre orders opening up on Wednesday of this week. Link go up tomorrow.

I might be one of those nerds pre ordering right when the link goes up..

Yeah I'm going to do the pre-order (as long as it's not all ridiculously-priced special editions). Been a long time since I bought a physical album but I'm pretty sure I'm going that route.

Pre-order opens 05:01 PDT tomorrow (Wednesday)

"Limited Edition Tri-fold Soft Pack Video Brochure featuring:

• 
  Compact disc (79 MINUTES OF MUSIC)
  
• 
  4” HD rechargeable screen with exclusive video footage
  
• 
  charging cable
  
• 
  2 watt speaker
  
• 
  30+ page book
  
• 
  MP3 download card (89 MINUTES OF MUSIC)"
  

Guessing the 10 extra minutes of music on the MP3 download is the new version of Opiate.

Good catch. I somehow missed this but did see someone on the Steve Hoffman forum somehow had these specifics earlier..no idea of the source.

No mention of the vinyl I imagine..I think the move is usually that comes a little bit after the initial release (honestly this is the first new music release I've kept this close of an eye on in years but I hear that is a normal cadence)?

Curious to see if there will be an option for a FLAC download vs MP3.

Guessing no price listed (I'll probably be ordering this at 5:01am tomorrow regardless)?

$45, forgot to mention that part.

That info came from a post on the Toolband subreddit, apparently a record store jumped the gun on the pre-order and had it up today before pulling the page down.

No mention of vinyl (yet) but DC did mention some months back that they had plans for vinyl remasters/reissues at some point. They have to have a huge archive of live recordings built up too from over the years (audio and video..)

Thanks. $45 is honestly about 2/3rds of what I thought they might go for here. We'll see how long their website can survive tomorrow morning.

I was semi concerned that they might make it some sort of "Tool Army" special package. Glad to see that does not appear to be the case (cool with dropping $45 on this but not an additional $50 for the right to order, a tshirt, and a few stickers).

Amazon had the pre-order up when I got up around 5 so I ordered it there.

Also, streaming title track:

http://smarturl.it/TOOLFIs

Chills!!!

That's where I snagged it as well.

Guess I better buy a cd player for the home stereo finally...

I think the CD comes with a digital download... Correct me if I am wrong.

---

Pactimo brand ambassador, ask me about promo codes

New Tool !!!!! I'm so F'ing excited !!! Just heard it on the radio.

https://www.google.com/...ong-in-13-years/amp/

---

To breathe, to feel, to know I'm alive.

You're correct. It's a MP3 download..was hoping for a FLAC version but hell it's been 13 years since they've released anything so I'm not going to be that guy.

I might cancel the order over the next week and wait for the vinyl though as I'm guessing the album will go streaming pretty quickly as well (which will be MP3).

Or I end up buying this, a cd player, and the eventual vinyl. Tool is really good at separating me from my money..

I just picked up a turn table so I will grab the vinyl too most likely.

I am just glad to listen to TOOL on Spotify now.

---

Pactimo brand ambassador, ask me about promo codes

Word on the vinyl version seems to be "Novemberish". That's by way of The Record Exchange in Boise who was informed by Sony.

They magically showed up on Pandora too. Tis a glorious day.

---

__________________________________________________
Kotter
Getting back into the game...
Slower than you.

They magically showed up everywhere - Spotify, Pandora, iTunes, Amazon etc - last Friday (8/2). All their albums were in iTunes' top 10 at one point over the weekend.

I downloaded them all on I-Tunes. It is awesome to have them on my phone. I've had my I-Tunes on Artist (tool) shuffle for a week now. Don't plan on changing it any time soon. Great for long bike rides and runs.

Some of the best songs for grinding up big climbs (looks around for BLeP)

Heard it on Sirius today while driving. Damn that was good.

---

--------------------------
The secret of a long life is you try not to shorten it.
-Nobody

That bass tone - damn near perfection.

---

Freedom just around the corner for you. But with the truth so far off, what good will it do?

Speaking of base tone - just watched this video the other day which breaks down Schism. Very much base forward.

He goes into all of the instruments (and vocals), the timing, tone, etc. I thought it was really interesting: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ScRG40_7zb0

Re: bass, this is one of my favourite Tool-related YouTube videos.

Yeah - that is a fantastic one. He, to me anyhow, comes off as the most interesting member of the band (though to be fair outside of Maynard I don't see the other ones speak too often).

Those Rick Beato videos are a wormhole that I try not to go down - when I do, next thing I know I've wasted an hour watching "Top 20 Guitar Licks" or "Guitar Greats of the 80's".

Justin Chancellor is my favorite bass player. How many bass players have that distinctive of a sound - not many. You know its him when you hear it. I had the pleasure of seeing Tool live back in May and was fixated on watching him play. Sounded nearly as good live as he does in recordings.

---

Freedom just around the corner for you. But with the truth so far off, what good will it do?

Those Rick Beato videos are a wormhole that I try not to go down - when I do, next thing I know I've wasted an hour watching "Top 20 Guitar Licks" or "Guitar Greats of the 80's"

You're telling me. Right after posting that video next thing I knew is I was 30 minutes into his video on why you should learn music theory.

Pretty fascinating wormhole though.

In the event some of you folks just can't be chill and wait a few weeks to be surprised either..here's a review by the 2 owners of metalinjection track by track (it's positive for what it's worth):

https://metalinjection.net/...fear-inoculum-review

One.

Week.

---

War is god

I started a thread while back trying to put together a list of old rockers who managed to put out one more great hit late in their career. It was a short list, but Thunderstruck was what inspired it for me (they were in their 40s when they released it).

---

-----------------------------Baron Von Speedypants
-----------------------------RunTraining articles here:
http://forum.slowtwitch.com/...runtraining;#1612485

Nice.

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War is god

Yessir!

I'm off next Friday as well. Bow hunting season opener coupled with an afternoon with new Tool music. Can't fng wait.

Also it seems to be confirmed that the vinyl comes in November if that is your thing.

I must have listened to the new track twenty or so times now. Like most Tool songs, it grows on you with every listen. I'm literally counting down the days for the full release.

Tool is a very conceptual, progressive type of group, so I'm expecting (and reaffirmed by the review above) this to be a somewhat predictable evolution in their catalog, and I expect it to be their last, all things considered. The musicianship will be everything we've come to expect, no doubt. You just have to go into it appreciating what they do and let the music take you where it goes without any expectations, and it will be worth the wait.

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The devil made me do it the first time, second time I done it on my own - W

So much yes.

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The devil made me do it the first time, second time I done it on my own - W

100% with you.

Here's what really stuck out to me from the review: "It contains the forward thinking progressiveness and sonic capabilities of their last two albums, but the aggressive instrumental attack of their first two albums"

That combo sounds amazing and I can hear it in the title track. I hear a lot of Aenima in it...especially at the 7 minute mark (Probably not a coincidence considering how much emphasis that have put on that number. Seriously try it out - guitar tone changes to be more aggressive at that point) and last few minutes.

This is fan-fucking-tastic. I suspect that this will be their last album due to age. I hope it isn't. I've only seen them once in concert. It was an amazing visual and audio spectacle. I cannot wait to hear the whole album. It's amazing how much of a following they have considering how little music they have put out.

I was sent a link to a leak. It's like a test of willpower right now not to download/listen.

My copy arrived today. And now I have realized, I don’t own a fucking CD player...

---

Pactimo brand ambassador, ask me about promo codes

A day early!

You have a download card with that CD. Give it a shot.

I have my laptop that streams to a Bose system via bluetooth, and an Xbox, but yeah.. no actual CD player.

Gave in to temptation and been listening to the leak (minus the interludes) all week... it's awesome. Still excited to get the physical copy tomorrow though.

Over on the Tool subreddit people are already taking apart the packaging to try and hack the electronics to find hidden content!

That site isn’t active yet 😩

My wife’s laptop is the only one in the house that has a cd rom. And it won’t play to a Bluetooth device kindly.

Now trying Xbox- got it running!!!!

---

Pactimo brand ambassador, ask me about promo codes

Dude..you are a life saver. I thought I was in the same boat without a CD player (was just going to listen to the disc in the car and stream it on the home system once it arrives tomorrow) but as I'm laying here in bed watching some YouTube I somehow forgot that we have our xbox360 sitting RIGHT UNDER the bedroom tv and as you mentioned it plays cds (ps4 on the main setup but it does not play cds)!

Guess I DO have a CD player.

Thanks man and enjoy!

Just listened to Invincible 4X on my run this morning, earphones at max volume. What a great track. Can’t wait to delve into the rest of the album.

---

Freedom just around the corner for you. But with the truth so far off, what good will it do?

Listening to it for the first time as I post, just finished song #2.

Pneuma is fucking heavy, wow. I want to say Danny is driving the train so far, but Adam and Justin are just as present, and Maynard ties it all together. Brilliant so far!

---

The devil made me do it the first time, second time I done it on my own - W

Invincible... like it, don't love it. The long chugging windup pleads for a Vicarious-style vocal explosion that never comes. Maynard's angelic style singing is flawless, but never reaches or exceeds the building intensity and urgency of the rhythm. That's what makes an epic Tool song a tool song. This one doesn't deliver on that front.

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The devil made me do it the first time, second time I done it on my own - W

just started listening. I started on song one: Fear Inoculum have listened to that song a few times now.

That one's really grown on me. I listen to it almost daily since its release.

---

The devil made me do it the first time, second time I done it on my own - W

Yep.. really good. Tool is one of those bands that I absolutely love but kind of forget about until I hear them and then realize how good they are and then listen for a few days till I forget about them again.

Descending...good song. Nothing immediately grabs my attention aside from the atmospheric qualities. It's straying into prog metal jam band territory, which seems to be the overall vibe of the album so far.

---

The devil made me do it the first time, second time I done it on my own - W

sphere wrote:

Invincible... like it, don't love it. The long chugging windup pleads for a Vicarious-style vocal explosion that never comes. Maynard's angelic style singing is flawless, but never reaches or exceeds the building intensity and urgency of the rhythm. That's what makes an epic Tool song a tool song. This one doesn't deliver on that front.

---

Freedom just around the corner for you. But with the truth so far off, what good will it do?

Culling Voices... trying to not get annoyed at Maynard's refusal to bring his head above water. "... don't you dare point your finger at me": how does *that* theme get delivered in a Tool song ending in heavy guitar chords and not get a forceful delivery? Fucking let it out, man!

On to my most anticipated track, the Danny Carey show...

---

The devil made me do it the first time, second time I done it on my own - W

Chocolate Chip Trip...my wife called and interrupted halfway through and I lost my place. I was hoping for a little more groove, more Justin, a more innovative composition. I'll have to revisit this one.

Now 7empest, the song that was blowing insider's minds months ago...

---

The devil made me do it the first time, second time I done it on my own - W

Pfft, the album is old news.

Almost halfway through 7empest and it's fucking brilliant. Exceeding expectations.

---

The devil made me do it the first time, second time I done it on my own - W

This is what we've been waiting for. Jesus, that's heavy shit.

The tempest must be true to it's nature...

---

The devil made me do it the first time, second time I done it on my own - W

Not sure that this is the best way to express this but all of the instruments seem to have an amazing individual but collaborative presence. Really enjoying that aspect! One of my favorite "Tool sounds" is the tone of Adam Jones's guitar and man does it stand out well on this album.

Here's a weird criticism I have of the album so far (and this is very likely due to me listening to the demo/instrumental version too many dam times) but I kinda wish they left Descending as an instrumental. Interesting to hear where that song ultimately landed after the variations that have been floating around the past 2+ years (including the very different one I heard live at their concert at the Gorge.

Overall I'm super pleased with this album but to be fair I was pretty open and also had a decent sense of what it would sound like considering 3 of the tracks (not including the interludes) have been floating around for a while.

Agreed. Don't hate it but my initial reaction was "this one doesn't have any teeth". It leaked a while back and I wrote it mostly off after 2 or 3 listens.

Christ...can't tell you the last time a new song gave me chills but that intro to 7empest certainly did the trick - "Here we go again!"

More tour info: https://toolband.com/...-american-tour-info/

Looks like I know what I'm doing 11/18 and 11/22..

Not much of a west coast (or northwest rather) swing..out of those places listed which one would be a good destination concert venue?

The AZ show sounds like an interesting location but I also need to get my ass down to LA at some point over the next few months..

Second listen to Pneuma, and it felt like a completely different song than on first listen. Maynard just serves to give meaning to the music in this piece, while the other three absolutely shine individually and collectively.

This is in their top three long form songs, along with Lateralis and as of now, 7empest.

It's gonna take a dozen listens and twenty-plus hours to fully appreciate this album, but it's a solid A so far, as long as you don't require early-mid career 5-minute mommy issues Tool to satisfy your cravings.

They didn't phone this one in or cobble together unused takes and riffs from the cutting room floor. Halfway through my second listen, this is Tool doing what they do best, as well as they've ever done it.

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The devil made me do it the first time, second time I done it on my own - W

Second listen to 7empest. Chills at least 3 times. Adam's guitar just screams on this track like I don't think I've heard from him before. Danny and Justin just hammer it start to finish. Maynard's whisper to growl is pitch perfect. Everything comes together in this song, like a career opus. It is absolutely brilliant.

---

The devil made me do it the first time, second time I done it on my own - W

Agreed.

Anyone else do the super special CD package ? Just gave mine a brief glance over but plan to play around with it more tonight. Thoughts/impressions or just any general comments on if it was worth it?

For the record I'd be hard pressed not to rationalize it just because it's Tool and just so dam unique. This is also the first CD I've bought in at least decade (last one was The Racanteours 2nd album I think). Think I'll be snagging 10k days and anemia on CD soon As well since my nifty xbox360 CD player sounds pretty amazing on my system (thanks again Sully!).

The difference in what you can pick up on the CD vs streaming is pretty remarkable on this one. I know they are a fan of the medium so makes sense that they would do it right (and on that note I'm not holding out much hope for the vinyl but I'll still be one of the first to pre order it).

My God; It’s full of stars.

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War is god

Yeah.. played around with the screen and flicked through the book, did not play the CD yet though (and I'm going to take credit for the Xbox idea ;) )
Overall pretty happy with the purchase, but the excitement of the album managed to get overshadowed by the tour announcement.

Wife was semi-impressed with the packaging until I answered her "And that was just for regular CD price?" question.

It did inspire me to break out my copy of Salival tonight. Also planning on buying the remainder of their catalog on CD.

Ah, then thanks to you for the xbox360 idea. Evidently the quality is due to Microsoft investing in a firm specializing in CD components as part of their goal of making the xbox a legit media center. I can attest it's pretty awesome quality and there are a number of hacks out there to make it even better if that's your thing.

I've never owned (or listened I don't believe) to Salival. It's a reordering of one of their albums I believe ( I do have the google on my cpu..just being lazy )? Is there anything else interesting about does the reordering of tracks make it worth it?

My wife was also semi-interested. For the first 5 seconds of watching the cd case screen she was anyhow. Turned around briefly to finish making skipjack jr some fish tacos and she was gone a few seconds later (we never got to price though). She has however been really into listening to Fear Inoculum (the single) the past few weeks. Says the beat/flow of the song puts her into a semi trance-like state if she just focuses on the music and lets it happen..thought that was interesting.

It's a CD/DVD set of live and rare tracks (Pushit really stands out with an alternate/live treatment) as well as a couple of covers (Zeppelin's "No Quarter" and "You Lied" by Justin Chancellor's former band Peach). DVD is a handful of their early videos (Sober, Prison Sex, Aenima and Stinkfist) and Hush, probably the most un-Tool video they've done. Also has a hardcover booklet kind of similar to the Fear Inoculum one, with stills from their videos, artwork and band pics.

I think the reordered album you're referring to is "The Holy Gift", which is Lateralus with the track order based on the Fibonacci sequence. Parabol/a is perfect as an album opener, IMO. Nerdy explanation!

Not sure where my fellow LR Tool fans are life stage-wise for the most part but this gif totally nails it for me.

Best Tool album?

Lateralus is it in my opinion.

I literally was digging through this thread trying to watch and listen to whatever came up but had to keep turning my phone up to drown out kids asking for cups of milk and whatnot . Puppy romping, 4 years old trying to boss me around, Tempest blasting lol.

Ænima > Lateralus > Undertow > 10,000 Days > Opiate

You can't really rank a Tool album in the first week of release given the density and complexity of the material. Initial impressions are that it falls somewhere around the middle of the pack, maybe fighting Lateralus for second place.

But it ultimately depends on your criteria and what you're looking for in a Tool Album. For the direction they've headed (longer, multi-part song structure), this is their best work, but it lacks those shorter roundhouse kicks to the face songs (The Grudge, Vicarious, Forty Six and 2, Stinkfist, etc) which detracts from the complete Tool experience somewhat.

Even ranking 10,000 Days near the bottom, damn that album has some good songs. Vicarious, Jambi, The Pot, Right in Two. They're all just so damn good.

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The devil made me do it the first time, second time I done it on my own - W

+1000

---

Eliot
blog thing - strava thing

Question for anyone who can answer: Have you pre-ordered tickets before via ToolArmy access? If you have, does the link for that become obvious once the magic time arrives? e.g. under the ToolArmy tab of their store?

I thought I joined prior to their last tour but I guess not, so now I'm one of those terrible new army members looking for how to pre-order my tickets.

Would have loved to see a venue like Red Rocks on the tour list. I saw them there for Aenima. Prior to that I saw them in a very small venue in Denver; looked like a roller rink inside. Anyway, this tour's Philly date lines up well with my birthday. Nice I'll have something kick ass to do that "weekend", presuming I can get tickets!

(eta quotes on weekend as, oops, Philly's date is Monday.)

---

To breathe, to feel, to know I'm alive.

I'd have to agree with you on Lateralus being #1.

Most listened to for me is Undertow though. That was pretty much the soundtrack of my soph/jr high school years.

No experience with Tool Army or their presale.. planning on taking my chances with the regular sale on Friday (got my buddy handling the AC tickets and I'm getting our Philly ones).

Not specifically replying to you, just to thread in general...has there been any chatter about further supply of the CD? I'm absolutely not willing to pay scalper prices (currently ~$240 from amazon resellers).

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Eliot
blog thing - strava thing

Right now Ebay pricing is all over the place depending on condition, but going for up to around $200-250 (first edition, which has a couple of typos in the liner notes - same version I have)

I've seen analysts predicting that this album will outsell some Taylor Swift album this week (that currently holds a sales record). Nothing concrete to go off of but I would assume they will open up cd sales again very soon. Probably want to give us super special edition people a few days of feeling super special is my guess.

...but yeah..don't go for the scalper garbage. I mean the cd package is neat and all but it's going to be the exact same pressing on the "regular" copies of the CD.

Looks like the Tool Army presale is only for VIP packages (at $500 a pop).

Well, crap. Double crap. Thanks for the intel.

ETA - Well happy birthday to me.

What's the 411 on AC? Is that a smaller more intimate venue? If so, maybe I'll try my chances of getting tickets there through gen pop sales.

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To breathe, to feel, to know I'm alive.

I had the good fortune of being stuck in LA to San Diego traffic for four hours on Saturday morning so I got sit uninterrupted and listen to it all the way through twice on a really good sound system.

I like this record a lot.

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War is god

Capacity is about half of the Wells Fargo, so definitely more intimate.. basically minor-league hockey arena size. Last time they toured close to this area in 2017 we saw them at the Hershey Giant Arena, which is the same capacity as Boardwalk Hall - my buddy who was with me also saw them at Boardwalk Hall in 2007 and said it was pretty much the same in terms of crowd size, setup etc.

This was the 2009 AC show, you get a few glimpses of what it looks like venue-wise:

After posting my question, I googled the answer. Thanks for confirmation. I was at the Hershey show, too.

I also perused ticket prices for both AC and Philly. Less expensive than VIP, all the way up to same as VIP (lower level in Wells Fargo) By the time I add in parking, TicketMaster fees and that I don't know I'll make it to another Tool concert after this, I have come to terms with the VIP price. That said, I understand the bait-and-switch frustration expressed by angry fans on social media. I definitely felt a taken when I first read your earlier message this morning.

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To breathe, to feel, to know I'm alive.

I got mine here:

Main Street Music
4.6 (96) · $$ · Record store
Philadelphia, PA · (215) 487-7732
Open ⋅ Closes 7PM
Store with new & used CDs, vinyl & DVDs

They had a stack of them when I went to pick up mine.

If you call, find out they have it, and they won't ship it to you, let me know; I'll go pick it up and ship it to you.

[/url]

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To breathe, to feel, to know I'm alive.

You have until midnight tonight.

https://store.toolband.com/...d-edition-cd-package

Thank you so much for the offer to help! I was just about to ring them and then I saw the next reply to the thread...

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Eliot
blog thing - strava thing

Done. Thanks for that. Wouldn't have noticed that otherwise.

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Eliot
blog thing - strava thing

Glad you got in on it.

I sent a friend who missed out on the initial release to Main Street today after seeing Tsunami's post.. they no longer have any and told him that he'd be extremely lucky to find it anywhere at this point (at non-crazy prices, anyway).

Less than an hour later, Tool announced this sale on social media.

Managed to score tickets for AC, one of my most frustrating ticket buying experiences ever. Fuck Ticketmaster. I'd find 3 seats together, then they'd disappear as soon as I put them in my cart. The seats I ended up with - 1st level, a few sections back from the stage - were the same price as ones right up front on the floor.

My buddy ended up having to get our Philly ones through StubHub. He won't tell me how much he paid over face because he feels he should eat the markup as he was late getting on the Ticketmaster site at 10am.

I'm glad you got through. It's a shame how frustrating it is. I was surprised to read last night on the Wells Fargo ticket link, all the notes about ticket limit, can't get around it by buying via multiple browser sessions, will check for duplicate orders before distributing the tickets, etc. Hopefully it results in more people overall paying less?

When my friend asks me what he owes me for the ticket, I plan to respond with What ever you think is fair. Had I asked ahead of time I doubt he'd have agreed to the VIP price. In the end I will enjoy seeing the show with a friend who loves the band too, vs going alone.

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To breathe, to feel, to know I'm alive.

I don't use Ticketbastard frequently at all so I'm unfamiliar with its intricacies. I looked at tickets for the Monday, October 21 show in LA, but all that were shown to me at about 10:00:30 am and all subsequent reloads and reentries are tickets noted as resale with the minimum price being $350 a pop. Fuck that. I'll buy some bottles of Caduceus wine instead.

Did Ticketbastard shunt me into the resale marketplace or did the show really sell out that fast?

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War is god

I was signed in on their site 15 minutes early, and a few minutes before 10:00 the screen popped up a "Click here to join the waiting room" message. Did that, and just after 10:00 I got a different screen showing I was about 2,000th in line. Yay. That took about 5-6 minutes to godwindle down to 1st, then the seat map appeared, and after several rounds of the process I mentioned above (including being redirected to a page to prove I wasn't a bot, presumably because I'd tried to buy tickets so many times) I managed to snag seats at around 10:20.

Granted, that was Atlantic City so it probably didn't sell as fast as LA.

Thanks. The waiting room and being 2,000th is what I remembered from the last time I used Ticketbastard (though I can't recall which show it was for). This was a weird experience that makes me think there was a technical snafu. I entered Ticketbastard normally, searched for "Tool," saw the list of shows (all without reference to an aftermarket marketplace), then when I chose "my" show all I was presented with were aftermarket tickets literally 30 seconds after the tickets went on sale. Maybe the shows sold out during the presale?

Oh well. I'm about 120 miles south of Staples Center so I didn't really want to go up there anyway. I'll catch them the next time they tour.

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War is god

Out of curiosity, I just looked at the AC tickets (11:30am PDT). There are still a lot available even at under $100 per ticket.

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War is god

Yeah lots of seats higher up and/or further back, or random singles scattered throughout.

Boardwalk Hall has a cool little feature on its website that lets you see what your view of the stage will be - this is from the section I got:

Predictably Fear Inoculum has crept up to the number 1 spot for me.

Also I'm completely reversing my opinion on "Invincible". Really digging that track now (especially the last 5 minutes or so).

My track ranking after a week or so of pretty consistent listening:

Culling Voices
7empest
Invincible
Pneuma
Fear Inoculum

The rest I have not given a ton of time to yet.

After dozens of repeated listens, my order is:

Pneuma (what a bass line, and the explosion around 9:20)
Invincible (yes - LOVE the last 5 minutes)
Culling Voices
Descending
7empest (I really dislike the first few minutes of this song - sounds like any number of lame metal bands I can hear on my local FM rock station)
Fear Inoculum

Let's be honest - that is the album. 6 monster tracks. The filler tracks and the drum solo add nothing and are pretty awful - they don't even flow into or out of the bookend tracks. Pretty disappointed in that aspect of the album.

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Freedom just around the corner for you. But with the truth so far off, what good will it do?

Agreed - IMO they have zero bearing or relation to the actual songs on the album. At least previous albums' fillers (some, anyway) added something. I wouldn't miss Chocolate Chip Trip if they left that off, either.

My order right now:
Invincible
Pneuma
Descending
Culling Voices
Fear Inoculum
7empest

Seems 7empest has really shot down the list for a number of folks. I'm still digging it but notice that after the first 5 minutes it gets kinda meh...also 15 minutes of it is about 5 minutes too long in my opinion.

But that first 5 minutes is pretty kick ass. Maintains a higher rank on my list due to it being the closest thing to "angry Maynard" on the album but it's not getting nearly as much playtime as it did a week ago.

Intentionally listened to Chocolate Chip Trip on my way to lunch today...I just don't get it to be honest. Must be DC playing with some interesting time signatures and sounds/frequencies that I'm sure culminate in a formula that explains the universe...unfortunately I'm not sharp enough to unravel it so it just sounds like a bunch of random noise with drums going on.

Threw on a few Beastie Boys records yesterday and came to the realization that THAT'S how you do interludes/instrumentals. These Tool interludes just seem like a waste of time to me.

..but watch in a few weeks one of them will somehow be my #1 track.

Same here. When we saw them in Hershey in 2017, DC did what seems to be a precursor to CCT and even then there were lots of people looking at each other with "WTF" looks during the "synth/loops" part of it. The drum solo part was cool live though. And then.. Eulogy kicked in for the first time since 2001 and restored order.

Descending is my favorite right now. I played it loudly in the truck for my seven-year old daughter on Saturday afternoon and told her that I was playing it for her because I thought she'd like it. At the big buildup and crescendo at about 10:45, she said "I actually like it so much my eyes are watering." ;-)

7empest is my second favorite, I think.

As far as the interludes go, I like them, especially Chocolate Chip Trip. They (and especially Chocolate Chip Trip) are pretty musically indulgent so I wonder if they're a farewell from Carey (who I think does those electronics, or perhaps just most of them) because this is probably the last Tool record.

ETA: As I drove my daughter to school this morning, she asked, "Daddy, can we listen to Tool?" Proud daddy moment.

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War is god

ETA: As I drove my daughter to school this morning, she asked, "Daddy, can we listen to Tool?" Proud daddy moment.




May I be the first to nominate you for father of the year?

My son (7) has been listening every morning for the past week on the way to school since it's been a permanent resident in the CD player and telling me he likes it...it's only a 8 minute drive though (we moved to a small town) so he might just be placating me since it's clear I dig it so much. Either way I'm going to take credit for his future predictable interests in weird time signatures and awesome prog rock. Now that I think about it he was not even a thing when 10k days came out...holy shit I'm getting old....

I have no doubt I'll be a fan of the instrumentals in the near future...will be reporting back.


EDIT: I may be the LR worst Tool fan as I somehow kept skipping over "Descending". Somehow kept on skipping past it and not paying attention to the final version after hearing so many various versions of it over the past few years (and actually LIVE at The Gorge in 17). Going to correct that error soon.

I've been wanting to weigh in, having rolled through the prior two studio albums as well to reconfim my thinking.

My 1st listening to Lateralus when it came out was, meh. Years later, I have no idea wtf led to that assessment, though I know I was bothered by lyrics I couldn't hear. Maynard is turned down a little and I miss out. This is what I distinctly recall irritated me about 10,000 Days, which seemed like an album I could only appreciate alone b/c the lyrics are so hard to hear.

Enter Fear i.can't.spell.it.yet. I was mostly under-whelmed. Don't get me wrong, excited AF to have new Tool, just missing the more aggressive lyrics. Initial impression, 7empest was my favorite and the other songs seemed soft. But really, lyrics aside, none of the music is easy listening. Guess I'm just impatient.

This week I can confirm, Culling Voices is definitely my favorite on this one. But I have a question!

What is all this "filler" to which y'all refer? I have promised myself to never listen to Chocolate Chip Trip again, after giving it several tries in the house and in the car. But that is the only one on my CD, which has just 7 tracks. MY better half pulled the song list up on the google, and it seems there are several other tracks???

I haven't downloaded my digital content yet. So maybe I get it then. But you folks have those other tracks on your cd's?

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To breathe, to feel, to know I'm alive.

I have done that on every....single......Tool......album. I swear I won't but I do. I always go into the first listen thinking this is going to be a mind blowing new experience but it isn't, it is Tool. Once I realize it is just more of the same fantastic sound, I am able to just sit back and listen to it.
I can't get enough of this album. Can't wait for the concert

I listen through Spotify and there are 10 tracks. You're likely missing "Litanie contre la Peur," "Legion Inoculant," and "Mockingbeast."

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War is god

Nope, no filler tracks on the CD. They are just on the digital download which is a good thing since they would otherwise just be a distraction IMO.

I'm still pretty high on this album. Each listen I enjoy it more than the last (though I did take a few days off of it). The musicianship, again my opinion, of this album is far superb to the past ones. Having said that the polish/mix put on the recording is pretty impressive and I have no doubt that is a big part of what I am hearing.

One thing that I do miss compared to past albums is the very linear/clear buildup and crescendo (classic prog rock shit) but what I'm starting to really appreciate about this one is that there seem to be several buildups/crescendo's within most of the tracks where the last is not as huge but is still slightly bigger than the previous ones within the same song...not sure if that makes sense or not.

Also catching a lot of really interesting double (maybe triple?) tracking of Maynard's voice throughout. Really noticeable in 7empest in the "we" parts (I think that one has to be triple tracked). No doubt there are a lot more neat tricks on this album still yet to be discovered.

CD only has enough capacity for 79 minutes, so they only included the 7 actual songs (including CCT, which I'm guessing was originally intended as a filler but they were able to slot it into the CD format). So, they left the 3 other fillers/interludes off.

Streaming/digital has the 3 extra tracks so you'll get those when you download it (you're not missing much).

Yeah I follow, the multiple crescendo's is something I've also enjoyed about this album. I've picked up on some layers of lyrics too. I think headphones could be cool for listening. I still have an obnoxious pair of giant Princess Leia type oness, but I don't have anything to plug them into! My hooked up home CD player at the moment is actually the blue ray player.

OH, one more point. Several posts back someone mentioned they wish Maynard would let it out in one song, believe it was Culling Voices. And I wondered... Push It was re-done to be more quiet, introspective seeming. I wonder if when performed live, Culling might go the other way?

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To breathe, to feel, to know I'm alive.

For what it's worth I think there is something awesome about listening on a pair of Princess Leia headphones. My CD player is an Xbox 360 (thanks again WelshinPhilly) but I've been primarily listening in the car. Just waiting out the vinyl version so I can run it through my home system properly.

I think it was probably sphere who wanted Maynard to really bust it out (I think your right on it being Culling Voices) but I was hoping he would raise it up a anger level or two on 7empest..just seems like the most appropriate track for that IMO. With it being the last track (and most aggressive one) it would have been pretty badass..

I would not hold out much hope of Maynard busting out angry/aggressive Maynard voice again live though. That ship has probably sailed as he's mentioned in a bunch of articles that he's not that guy anymore plus he's likely done a decent amount of damage to his vocal chords over the years. Saw them live in 2017 (Gorge in WA) and he did not raise the octave much at all which was interesting considering they did tracks from Opiate. Pretty sure WelshinPhilly had the same experience at his show in 17). Still an amazing show though.

Fair point.

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To breathe, to feel, to know I'm alive.

Responding just because it’s the last comment

Saw them for the first time last night at Staples. I’ve seen a fair amount of bands but I think I can honestly say that was the best live performance I have ever seen. And amazingly tight for being just 5 or so shows in, especially with the complexity.

Been following the setlists each night (my tickets are for shows a few weeks out yet) and it's kind of surprising that they dropped "Descending" after teasing it so hard before FI was released. Looks like there's not a lot of variety in the setlists either, beyond switching up "Part of Me" and "Intolerance" each night.

Really looking forward to seeing them.. the shots/videos I've seen of the recent shows have looked awesome.

I've got tickets for the November show in AC. Following the set list evolution closely...

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The devil made me do it the first time, second time I done it on my own - W

As more of a recent, somewhat casual fan (I guess by recent that means 13 years ago with 10K Days LOL), I had to familiarize myself with a few of the older songs. I think the only one I really knew was Schism. Having done my homework, and glad that I did, it was a perfect setlist for me. I'v seen bitching on fan forums that they don't need Stinkfist again, but worked for me. Descending would have fit in nicely though, but I have to say the brilliance of Pneuma live was overshadowed only by Invincible... that jam in the last five minutes had the whole place moving.

Given that the guys basically stand there and don't do much, it's also visually stunning but tightly choreographed visuals and lights to music, so not sure how much can be changed added or what work goes into that.

The only things I could have done without were Part of Me and Chocolate Chip Trip, which was odd for me, a a drummer I love the FI track and thin DC is the best rock drummer at the moment. Live it was different and didn't really show off any skills other than programming. His drumming otherwise was unbelievable

Me too, what night?

There's currently only one date for AC - Friday 11/22.

See you both there!

This wasn't you, right?

https://twitter.com/.../1186737250203127809

Haha I’ve seen this. no but I was sorta kinda just behind this.

One thing that was kinda cool was a strict no phone / recording policy announced before the show. Far as I could tell it was enforced by personnel shining a bright flashlight at the offender and wiggling it back and forth, which tbh was annoying. However it was cool to look around and see (almost) none of the sea of phones you usually see.

Maynard does announce you can record the last song Stinkfist

Yeah I got told by security to put my phone away in 2017, before the show had even started. House lights were still up and people were still filtering into the arena, I was just snapping a quick pic of the stage setup when we got to our seats. Saw them doing the flashlight thing to a lot of people throughout the show.

At APC's show a few months later they were taking no prisoners - ejected, no discussion. At that one, every other seat had a sheet of paper taped to the back with a blurb about cameras/phones on it and they had it on screens everywhere around the venue before the show started. Didn't stop a guy a couple of rows in front of us filming at various spots throughout the show though, but somehow he didn't get spotted.

I actually like the "no phones" thing now, and find myself keeping the phone in my pocket and just enjoying the show at other artists' concerts since Tool and APC.

Less than one week to go, I finally got the details for my VIP show in Philly.

1. Check in is at 2:30 pm. I knew sound check would be early but did not appreciate I'd have to take half a day off from work for this.
2. Requirement to sign a liability waiver. *interesting...*
3. They collect your phone on entry, give it back after sound check.
4. No food allowed, no ins-and-outs allowed. Clearly these people do not appreciate that I eat 9 times a day. Says they'll provide a snack but I am skeptical that it will be enough.

I also got another offer to buy VIP tickets with dates for future shows (CA, NV, AZ, TX, GA, TN, LA).

Would be swell if the t-shirt I ordered Sept 3rd had arrived, or the email inquiry I made about it last month had been responded to with more than the auto-generated note. Grrr...

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To breathe, to feel, to know I'm alive.

Yeah I can't wait for next week's shows.

Did you see they announced a new version of the CD today? No screen in this version, but a download of the video the screen would have contained, and an expanded book of art.

As much as I love the band and the music, it's starting to feel a little money-grubby now (especially when you consider that people still haven't received their CD's from the second round of orders back in September, T-shirts being priced at $50 at the shows etc)

Indeed, I did see he new CD announcement. Wonder if it's priced the same, since it doesn't have the multimedia component. It has been some time since I'd purchased a CD so I can't really say how over priced it was, but it sure felt unusual.

Speaking of money-grubby, posts on their website sure are distrust-inspiring. People indicating their VIP tickets were rescinded when it was realized the tickets were purchased using an email address different from the one used to sign up for the Tool Army membership.

Meanwhile, in the It's a Small World topic, I met a fellow Tool fan last week at the bar, as we were all killing time before Hamilton. I was discussing my unusually-busy November with my boyfriend when the Tool fan overheard me and said he was going to the AC show. We ended up having a really nice conversation with he and his wife. As an undergrad, I lost count of the number of people who seemed shocked I liked anything "normal" once they heard I liked heavy metal. And sure enough, I'm not the only one on the planet with varied tastes. (Never thought I was, but you get the gist.) Anyway, before that moment, I can't say I would have expected to use both the words Tool and Hamilton in one sentence (now two).

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To breathe, to feel, to know I'm alive.

They recently announced two early January shows here in San Diego, so I'm a happy camper. Tickets go on sale this Friday morning.

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War is god

Saw them on Monday in Toronto. I can't even describe how awesome it was. Although, I hadn't seen a concert in over 30 years but they were tight. And the list of songs the playlist was great.
I am looking to go to Vegas in January to see them again with the wife I hope.

Your wife wants to see them, or is just along for the experience?

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The devil made me do it the first time, second time I done it on my own - W

I'm trying to convince her. I may have to go see Celine as well

How have I never seen this?

MJK is straight boss. 4:00 and 12:00 for the impatient...

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The devil made me do it the first time, second time I done it on my own - W

These are kind of related, looks like:

"Throughout the universe"? Damn. There goes my clean internet record on Mars. <shrug?>

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To breathe, to feel, to know I'm alive.

C.A.D. (Children of Something Something) - Maynards first band.

Going to leave this here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tAJn5OyqIas

I honestly kinda like some of this but scrolling through the comments is the real payoff.

Enjoy!

EDIT to add: Right around the 16 minute mark you get the first version of "Sober". Also the last 2 minutes is the public access reporter interviewing MJK.

Oh man, that was delicious.

I wonder if Maynard ever wore that getup again with Tool, to see if anyone caught on. I'd be so disappointed if not.

And the comments...

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The devil made me do it the first time, second time I done it on my own - W

That was EPIC! - Thank you for sharing!.... kinda makes me wonder how they didn't appear on Wayne's World back then.....

#Tool

Not only did we (Philly) just get Descending, but Swamp Song too!

I got tickets to the Friday, January 10 show here in San Diego, and they just announced a third show here the following Monday. I can't justify going to all three shows (Friday, Sunday, Monday) but there's a nagging part of me that says I should go to maybe two of them.

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War is god

I'm seeing them again on Friday.

Tonight was somewhat restrained as it's a work night but Friday will be a little more fun..

ETA: That was the first time they played Swamp Song since 2007. Last time I saw them they played Eulogy for the first time since 2001.

Great show. Sounded fantastic and my seats were A-mazing. Loved that MJK looked good and weird and was more visible than he was in the last 3 tours I'd seen. It was a long wait of standing around (!!!) but in the end I'm content with the VIP experience. And folks were right about avoiding the vocal excursions - he didn't sing the $ delivery for Vicarious, but invited the crowd to.

His hair? A wig? Does he do his own makeup? I want that outfit!

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To breathe, to feel, to know I'm alive.

Really! That is pretty badass. I think I'm going to line up one of their San Diego dates that they recently announced. Glad to hear that the shows are apparently pretty amazing.

You got a great setlist for your birthday!

How was VIP?

If only ST had an easy way to post pictures from my phone; Tool was here in Cincinnati a couple of weeks ago i was out for a rare evening run ( FU Blep) and took some pictures of their many tour RVs and trucks. The RVs had 5, count em, 5, roof AC units plus roof satellite dishes. The band members must not like each other based on the number of RVs.

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I miss YaHey

VIP experience. Arrived at gate C, showed ID for my included parking. Lined up at 1:45, guessing we were about 60th in line. Age range spanned 11 - 70+, wheel chair & walker included. The experience hosts came out shortly before 2:30 to explain entry. Signed waiver outside.

Entered through metal detectors. My eye glasses case set it off. Waited inside to reach the 1st tables where I gave my name (ID not rechecked though they said it would be), they looked up my special merch sizes, gave me my wrist band, tickets and the bubble wrap cell phone case (I take claim check, put turned-off phone in, hand it to them). My included merch: dark grey hooded zip up and backpack, both embroidered with band logo, backpack includes month and location and is better quality than any IM bag I've gotten; both it and the hoodie are my instant new favorites. Also got set of 4 pins with band member photos on them.

Line moves forward and after a long wait we get our chance at the merchandise that's for sale. None is as nice as the hoodie or the t-shirt I'm awaiting from my September order, so I pass. (T-shirts were $43 or so, the set of pins sold for $25.) While waiting in line after that (took about an hour to get everyne in past the 1st tables, and longer still to get everyone through merch-for-sale) we could hear but not see sound check. Around 4 pm MJK sang Swamp Song.

After MJK left the stage (4:15 or so?) we were led down to the first few rows of seating (I inserted my earplugs), and the concussion from the speakers was intense. I could feel the vibration of the legs of my jeans behind my knees and it was almost hard to breathe, reminding me of the first moments of a swim start in a wetsuit. We saw Fear Inoculum played and it was bleeping awesome.

We tightened up our grouping and Adam, Justin, and Danny came down to stand in front of us while a couple of photos were snapped of the entire group from up on the stage. I’m unsure if they send that out by email, or if I’ll ever see it. We were then escorted to “the party area” under the stands, where we got food. Cheesestakes, pasta salad, pretzel, cheese, hummus, vegetable tray, small pork appetizer, cookies, brownies. I think that covers it. There was a free liquid that I didn’t explore, instead paying for 2 IPA’s. We got our cell phones back.

There was something of a scavenger hunt, where people lined up to rush out to find what was described as autographed posters. Two guys head back to the merch table and each scored signed drum heads ($500 a pop and once again leaving me wondering what all these people did for a living). I didn’t partake in this, but did walk a couple of laps around the interior of the venue to stretch our legs before using the VIP area bathrooms and taking our seats: Section 2, Row 3, Seats 1 & 2. Floor seats absolutely rock.

That’s about it. Nothing else special to mention other than a fantastic show spent being physically pummeled by sound.

(grr, picture won't load).

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To breathe, to feel, to know I'm alive.

It’s been exactly 4,553 days since my last show and I can’t fucking wait! Pregaming in the casino now, listening to this tour’s playlist. First was in ‘95, the single most intense experience of my life then and still.

Anyone else in AC for the fun tonight?

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The devil made me do it the first time, second time I done it on my own - W

Aaaaaah. I wish. I hung out with a VIP'er on Monday who was also attending tonight's show. WelshinPhilly should be somewhere... Have fun !!!!!!!!!

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To breathe, to feel, to know I'm alive.

Dish - how was AC compared to Philly?

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To breathe, to feel, to know I'm alive.

From a personal perspective, seats we had were better in AC than Philly (opposite side, closer to the stage, lower). Place was way louder than the Wells Fargo, presumably because it was built something like 100+ years ago and doesn't have acoustics suited to modern rock sound setups. Definitely felt the bass more in AC. Glad I had ear protection with me, whereas in Philly I took them out for a couple of songs and could probably have foregone them for the whole show. Visuals seemed a lot more intense from where we were for AC, although that may have been other factors at play too ;)

Show was pretty much the same setlist, except we didn't get a "bonus" song like Swamp Song in Philly - so a total of 13 songs vs the 14 they've been doing all tour. Maynard explained at the end that the show almost didn't happen because Justin had had food poisoning for the past couple of days and Maynard had pulled a calf muscle (couldn't tell whether he did it before the show or right at the beginning).

Gosh. That's interesting. I know I'm not my best when I feel icky so I can imagine that could carry over to performers too.

My friend is interested in catching them again and I'd be game after some time. For want of a really poetic way of putting it, I enjoy their music so much that I'm a little nervous that at some point I'm going to be disappointed. And after the seats I had for Phiily's show, the bar is very high to match that experience.

I'd love to see a really different set list. They've played Stinkfist and Aenima at every of the 6 shows I've seen (1996, 1998, 2002, 2006, 2017, 2019). And I'd be forever grateful to never hear CCT again. Given how much drums are a part of most of their songs, a drum solo just doesn't seem needed.

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To breathe, to feel, to know I'm alive.

Tsunami wrote:

My friend is interested in catching them again and I'd be game after some time. For want of a really poetic way of putting it, I enjoy their music so much that I'm a little nervous that at some point I'm going to be disappointed. And after the seats I had for Phiily's show, the bar is very high to match that experience.

Honestly, seeing them two nights that close together and with essentially the same playlist kind of took the edge off the AC show a little. Seeing them in Philly after last seeing them ~2.5 years ago just seemed... better? Fresher? Maybe just the anticipation of seeing them after that long.



I said the same thing to my friend on the way down to AC. He and his girlfriend left at the intermission in Philly because she wasn't really into the music, and I think I described it to him as kind of fun to see DC obviously enjoying himself but it came off as kind of self-indulgent. The gong solo thing especially seemed way over the top; at least it's the first song after intermission and doesn't interrupt the flow of the show as much as if it was part of the main set. After seeing it played in AC, he and the other guy who came with us said they agreed totally.

BTW, there's a guy who seems to hit EVERY show in the Philly area who posts concert videos on YouTube. No idea how he gets away with it at shows with strict camera policies but he has a bunch of songs from Philly. There's another Youtuber with a different name (Tito Santana?) but the same avatar who has some videos posted too.

ETA: Forgot to mention, I'm assuming because of the smaller venue they didn't have the side screens on Friday night, just the main one.



"This show almost didn't happen" :

Invincible from Atlantic City. Thank God for youtube.

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The devil made me do it the first time, second time I done it on my own - W

One dude playing Stinkfist, pretty fucking Solid!

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The devil made me do it the first time, second time I done it on my own - W

Wow.. that was impressive.

Very solid!

I just got the guitar down for Iggy Pops “The Passenger” yesterday which is a whole 4 notes...then I see this

HO LEE SH!T!!!
Love seeing these.

The school of Rock YouTube channel has some decent covers as well. I am always impressed when younger kids are able to play Tool with feeling.

I just listened with earbuds in for the first time. This kid apparently does all the mixing and production himself, which is no less impressive than his playing and singing. There are parts of the song that are indistinguishable from the original recording. Badass.

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The devil made me do it the first time, second time I done it on my own - W

Interesting guitar lesson/education on "Schism". Start at 14:32

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

47 fucking time signature changes in that song..I can't even wrap my mind around that and the fact that it just sounds so good..

That made my head hurt. And makes me terrified to learn guitar.

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The devil made me do it the first time, second time I done it on my own - W

(replying to last, and only tangentially related)

Tool introduced me to Alex Grey oh so many years ago, and the recent release of a canvas print of Net of Being shoved me over the line.

I had it hand-carried from the US to me in NZ so I wouldn't have to pay customs, and it's down at the frame shop right now. I'm putting it behind glass because our UV here is extra evil.



I'm giddy to see it on my wall!

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Eliot
blog thing - strava thing

It really is amazing. I'm still very much a beginner and this stuff is still way above my skill level but I dive deeper into the Tool rabbit hole even if I don't completely understand what the hell is going on.

You should absolutely pick up learning guitar. I've found it to be incredibly rewarding and once it starts clicking it takes off pretty quickly. Like most things the biggest hurdle is just getting started.

Awesome piece of art! I was introduced to Alex Grey the same way coincidentally. His book (I think I'm close on the title..it's been a while) "The Mission of Art" is really great to pick up if you have not already.

Did you get the canvas print from his official website?

Yep.

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Eliot
blog thing - strava thing

Grabbed the last post out of convenience.

Has anyone here heard the radio edit of FI on the radio? I hear it on a digital sub-channel, and the rendition makes me sad because the tempo changes stink versus flowing nicely in the original. But then again, it's nice it's getting play I guess. I'm pretty sure they played the whole undoctored song initially / after release.

Is anyone hearing it on a mass media / FM channel?

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To breathe, to feel, to know I'm alive.

I bought myself the CD for Christmas. Probably the first CD I've bought since...10,000 Days? As usual, the artwork is excellent and the audio quality is superb, as compared to the compressed, low-volume output version that's available on streaming music services.

This album is holding up very well to my ears. I'm really hoping to catch them again somewhere in 2020, to enjoy the show in a somewhat different frame of mind.

Still the greatest rock band of our lifetime, IMO.

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The devil made me do it the first time, second time I done it on my own - W

Bought my cd pre release for the exact reasons you mentioned (compressed vs 14khz on a cd). No news on the vinyl release though and that’s the format I am most excited about even though their track record on vinyl is spotty at best. Who knows though...vinyl is outselling CDs now so it would certainly be worth their time to put some effort into the mastering/pressing.

My son bought me the album for Christmas. Really enjoy it.
I wonder if the more experimental songs are a result of their collaboration with Death Grips

In the interest of completeness, my Net of Being canvas just came home from framing and I hung it yesterday:



If you ever find me staring it at for 5 or 6 hours straight and/or licking the glass, please bring snacks or something.

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Eliot
blog thing - strava thing

LOL...I want to hang out with you.

Bonnaroo 2020 confirmed. Nothing says "Tool warmup act" like Miley Cyrus (assuming they're going to be on the same stage).

It's my turn tonight, when I'll see the first of their three shows here in San Diego.

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War is god

Enjoy - spiral out!

My buddy who was at the Philly and AC shows with me just started a new job, which sends him to Vegas next week for their user conference.. and Tool are in town on the Friday night. Needless to say, he had to grab a ticket and move his flight home to the following day.

Well that was awesome. I even enjoyed the “shroud” around the stage. Danny did a nice tribute to Neil Peart. It looked like the other three expected him to wrap it up after Chocolate Chip Trip so they came out onto stage but he picked it back up again and went off and a photo of him and Peart together went up on the screen behind the stage. The other three just became part of the audience watching him do his thing.

Equally impressive was the tour’s fleet of trucks. (Walking from a parking structure to the venue took me across a high pedestrian bridge with a view down into the venue’s service lot.) 15 gleaming, apparently spotless and nearly identical candy apple red Freightliners with plain white trailers. Four beautiful tour buses (one for each guy, I imagine).

Edit: Photo posting is failing me at the moment.

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War is god

Yeah I saw on setlist.fm that they did part of a Rush song as a tribute.

Noticed the fleet of trucks/buses outside the Wells Fargo Center in Philly but was rushing to grab an Uber and didn't stick around to get a good look.

So they announced an extended tour yesterday and one of the stops (March 9) is Spokane, WA.

I could not get travel lined up with any of the original dates so I am pumped. Mrs Skipjack also wants to see them so I’ve got that going for me as well.

Tickets for the extended dates go on sale tomorrow (Friday).

https://www.blabbermouth.net/...2020-u-s-tour-dates/

Interesting read on the stage lighting and visuals setup:
https://plsn.com/...-fear-inoculum-tour/

Very cool - thanks.

Mrs Skipjack and I are waiting patiently for our March 7th concert.

On that note I’m not much of a merch person but do grab the tour poster and tshirt from bands we love. Anyone have any images of either from this tour (full disclaimer I have not googled shit yet).

Any other interesting items for purchase that anyone noticed?

The tour posters have become somewhat of a cottage industry - limited to something like 600 per show, unique to each show (even back-to-back nights at the same venue have different posters) and sell at the merch tables for $60unsigned/$300signed. Demand is so high for them that you can at least triple those prices selling them on Ebay when you get home from the show. Lots of chatter on fan forums about the ethics of poster flipping etc. Limit is supposedly 2 per person but people have been seen with armfuls, presumably from enlisting friends to help them. Also lots of complaints about the merch lines turning into shitshows with people cutting in, staff not knowing/honoring limits, etc.

Some of the posters on the last leg came with a second clear layer with geometric patterns on then that look pretty damn cool when framed with a gap between the pieces.

I bought copies of the Philly and AC posters on Ebay a week or so after the shows for about $25 each, and ended up getting a refund from the seller because the quality was so shit. The AC one had a white blob on it that made it very obvious the seller had grabbed a picture of someone's poster - including glare from a light or flash - from the internet and blown it up to poster size.

Summary of all this tour's posters here:
https://public.tableau.com/...75815750/ToolPosters

Thanks.

I'm hoping that Adi Gronov is doing the artwork for Spokane..his stuff is pretty amazing (though to be fair all of the samples on the website you shared are pretty impressive..much better than the unique Puscifer tour posters I have).

I'll definitely be lining up in the merch line early to get in front of all the flippers out there.

Pretty balsy of the guy you dealt with to try to sell off a blown up photo of the actual tour poster...the asshole is probably still pulling in a tidy profit even if 80% get returned to him.

More dates added! To steal a line from 7empest.. fuck, here we go again!

April 16 Miami, FL American Airlines Arena
April 17 Orlando, FL Amway Center
April 19 Tampa, FL Amalie Arena
April 21 Charlotte, NC Spectrum Center
April 22 Charlottesville, VA John Paul Jones Arena
April 24 Baltimore, MD Royal Farms Arena
April 25 Uniondale, NY Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum
April 28 Montreal, QC Bell Centre
April 29 Quebec City, QC Videotron Centre
May 1 Wilkes Barre, PA Mohegan Sun Arena
May 2 Buffalo, NY KeyBank Centre
May 4 Toledo, OH Huntington Center
May 5 Grand Rapids, MI Van Andel Arena
May 29 Tacoma, WA Tacoma Dome
May 31 Vancouver, BC Rogers Arena
June 2 Edmonton, AB Rogers Place
June 4 Winnipeg, MB Bell MTS Place
June 6 Minneapolis, MN Target Center
June 7 Sioux Falls, SD Denny Sanford Premier Center
June 9 Madison, WI Kohl Center
June 10 Moline, IL TaxSlayer Center
June 12 Manchester, TN Bonnaroo Festival
June 13 St. Louis, MO Enterprise Center
June 16 Wichita, KS INTRUST Bank Arena
June 17 Oklahoma City, OK Chesapeake Energy Center
June 19 Colorado Springs, CO Broadmoor World Arena
June 22 Sacramento, CA Golden 1 Center
June 23 San Francisco, CA Chase Center

https://toolband.com/events

Will likely be hitting the Wilkes-Barre and Baltimore shows (both Friday nights!)

Re: the posters (sorry, missed your reply above) - the seller was in Vietnam and the auctions got pulled down pretty quickly, I assume from people reporting him. It was kind of amusing that they instructed me to wreck the posters by folding them multiple times in order to process the refund, vs mailing them back. Adi Granov is also probably my favourite artist that they use.. IMO the Alex Grey stuff is kind of played out at this point.