Tool: Fear Inoculum

[Leviathant]

d'you guys think?

Naw, it's just a collection of songs.

[Space Suicide]

Naw, it's just a collection of songs.

Have to agree. I read and heard this has dissection and so much detailing deep down in the roots of the lyrics and music and honestly...I don't see it. I guess I'm "just not smart enough" to "get it" or something.

[Krazy]

Some NIN fans are still having the same discussion about TF two decades later, aren’t they?

[BenAkenobi]

Some NIN fans are still having the same discussion about TF two decades later, aren’t they?

That's because we haven't combined left channel of Pilgrimage with right channel of Please... oh, nevermind.

[Jon]

Have to agree. I read and heard this has dissection and so much detailing deep down in the roots of the lyrics and music and honestly...I don't see it. I guess I'm "just not smart enough" to "get it" or something.

To be fair, you have to have a very high IQ to understand TOOL. The concepts are extremely nuanced, and without a solid grasp of sacred geometry most of the symbolism will go over a typical listener's head. There's also Maynard's nihilistic outlook, which is deftly woven into his lyricism- his personal philosophy draws heavily from dead comedian culture, for instance. The fans understand this stuff; they have the intellectual capacity to truly appreciate the depths of these ideas, to realize that they're not just technically proficient- they say something deep about LIFE. As a consequence people who dislike TOOL truly ARE idiots- of course they wouldn't appreciate, for instance, the brilliance in Maynard's existential catchphrase "Calm as cookies & cream," which itself is a cryptic reference to Danny Carey's obsession with Seasame Street. I'm smirking right now just imagining one of those addlepated simpletons scratching their heads in confusion as Adam Jones' genius riffing unfolds before their very ears. What fools.. how I pity them.

And yes, by the way, i DO have a Metatron's Cube tattoo. And no, you cannot see it. It's for the ladies' eyes only- and even then they have to demonstrate that they're within 5 IQ points of my own (preferably lower) beforehand. Nothin personnel kid

Spoiler: I hope it's obvious this is a repurposed, 2-year old meme

[denuir]

That’s some A-Grade trolling.

[Amaro]

Hey, so: IS there a progressive , like, story, or journey, on this album, d'you guys think?

I honestly can't seem to find one

While I was making a personalized copy of Fear Inoculum for a friend last night, writing down every song lyric, I got to wondering about a connection of "Culling Voices" and "7empest". The bit about evidence. *shrug* I don't think hard on lyrics at all, but that caught my attention.

In other news, I've come to appreciate "Litanie contre la Peur". The title track and "Pneuma" are pretty darn hefty, and since "Invincible" just doesn't know when to quit (lol), I like the break beforehand. I think the kinda weird nature of it also helps relate to the album's range of sound with "Chocolate Chip Trip" and "Mockingbeat" appearing later on. "Legion Inoculant" on the other hand, to me, is overkill for its place in the tracklisting (and for some reason I don't like Maynard's vocals suddenly appearing, rehashing a lyric from the title track). I think the intro ambience of "Descending" already does the part quite well of breaking from music in motion.

"Descending" is one of Tool's best songs. It's crushingly good.

Sidenote: Maybe it's because I'm quite familiar with the new album by now, but I think it works just as great for "background music".

[elevenism]

While I was making a personalized copy of Fear Inoculum for a friend last night, writing down every song lyric, I got to wondering about a connection of "Culling Voices" and "7empest". The bit about evidence. *shrug* I don't think hard on lyrics at all, but that caught my attention.

And Descending/Pneuma both have themes of awakening.
I guess there are some thematic similarities here and there.

But, yeah, if there's a full on "concept" here, I'm missing it.

Edit: regarding TF, @Krazy , I thought there was some sort of concept to that album when I was nineteen, and, said as much when reviewing it for the college newspaper.
Recently, when I had my wife listen to the whole thing, she asked me what the concept was supposed to be, and I didn't have any idea, and couldn't remember WhY I'd thought there was a concept in the first place. I THINk it's probably just because I associated it with The Wall.

But, I digress.

[Jon]

While I was making a personalized copy of Fear Inoculum for a friend last night, writing down every song lyric...

I add lyrics, BPM, and copyright information to all of my digital tracks. As such, I typed out all of the lyrics in WordPad so I could just copy/paste. There are 3 (4?) typos in "7empest" which I kept in; the lyrics are exactly as they appear in the booklet:

https://mega.nz/#!6i4hFSbL!Li-nCwAKQnAHKxzgveMAFI1tr7bwZKwU4CDLKdP-SjU

[ManBurning]

So, I went to a music chain store in a mall last night... Found one in the wild still....



Hahaha, $90!?

[halo eighteen]

The comparative lack of reviews is likely the reason, but what strange times we live in to have a Korn album scoring higher than Tool on Metacritic.

https://www.metacritic.com/music/the-nothing/korn

https://www.metacritic.com/music/fear-inoculum/tool

[tony.parente]

Imagine paying $90 for a CD lmaoooo

[Microwave Jellyfish]

It's near the equivalent of an even $100 over here. HMV doesn't even dare to display actual copies, but the Taylor Swift trolling is pretty alright in my book as far as IRL memes go.

[think i'm a fire engine]

Hey, so: IS there a progressive , like, story, or journey, on this album, d'you guys think?

I honestly can't seem to find one

I don't think any of their albums have one, to be honest.

[pulse]

Invincible is so damn good....

[Erneuert]

Invincible is so damn good....

It gives me that tribal/real sort of ancient humanistic vibe that Isis accomplished with songs like “So Did We” and “The Pliable Foe”.

Similarly, it reminds me of the music video for “How Long?” HTDA.

[BrokenSpiral]

Invincible has really good parts. But it’s ruined a bit by the aimless palm muted chugging. That song was inflated to a long length for no real reason.

[Kodiak33]

Invincible has really good parts. But it’s ruined a bit by the aimless palm muted chugging. That song was inflated to a long length for no real reason.

Totally agree. It really hurts the flow of the song.

[rampface]

I thought the same thing the first couple of times I heard the live version but now that I can recognize the entire structure it flows smoothly in my opinion. Still my favorite of the new stuff. Invincible and Descending give me Lateralus vibes and that's all I was looking for with the new record. I don't mind that they kind of touch on riffs and ideas from past albums because it feels intentional as if this is a final statement from the band. I do hope we get more but I would be fine with this being the final record.

[Toadflax]

Invincible has really good parts. But it’s ruined a bit by the aimless palm muted chugging. That song was inflated to a long length for no real reason.

Ooh, disagree. One of my favorite moments on the entire album is just after 9:30, when the quiet restrained chugging stops and the more open aggressive chugging kicks in. Maybe it doesn't need to go on for another minute plus past that point, but it gives Danny a bit of time to play, and that's never a bad thing.

[BrokenSpiral]

Yeah, Danny did what he could to try to make that section interesting. I can picture them jamming this and he looks around the room like, “Wtf is Adam doing? Does he know he’s been doing that for a minute and a half?” **Double kick blast**..... “fuck, he’s still going..”

[elevenism]

Yeah, Danny did what he could to try to make that section interesting. I can picture them jamming this and he looks around the room like, “Wtf is Adam doing? Does he know he’s been doing that for a minute and a half?” **Double kick blast**..... “fuck, he’s still going..”

I actually like it. It becomes sort of entrancing for me.

And like what @Erneuert said, the song has a tribal/ancient humanistic vibe, and I think the repetition adds to it.

[cahernandez]

Invincible has really good parts. But it’s ruined a bit by the aimless palm muted chugging. That song was inflated to a long length for no real reason.

Also disagree here, I like the repetition specifically in Invincible, I think it's great, but I also like bands that do repetitive parts that make you feel like you are in a trance (i.e. Meshuggah - Nothing and Catch 33, and Sleep - Dopesmoker)

[Jon]

Also disagree here, I like the repetition specifically in Invincible, I think it's great, but I also like bands that do repetitive parts that make you feel like you are in a trance (i.e. Meshuggah - Nothing and Catch 33, and Sleep - Dopesmoker)

Honorable mention to the last 3 and a half minutes of "Deliverance" by Opeth.

[Frozen Beach]

Yeah, I like the chugging too. Best part on the album for me.

[pulse]

Honorable mention to the last 3 and a half minutes of "Deliverance" by Opeth.

"Harlequin Forest", likewise.

[PhoenixML]

Invincible chugging sequence:
7:39 starts (20sec)
7:58 solo / no drums (10sec)
8:07 synth starts (20sec)
8:27 vocals (40sec)
9:07 vocals end, synth fades out, drum is back (30 sec)
9:34 headbanging time! (40 sec)
10:13 drum goes wild (30 sec)
10:42 the end (10 sec)
10:52 fuck yeah! (all that waiting makes this part worth it even more)

[Krazy]

Drinking game: chug a beer during Adams chugging, take a shot when Maynard references Ponce de Leon. Keep the song on repeat.

[TheRealNs1]

hmm...

In case anyone wants to hear an example of **5. “Litanie contre la peur” is a musical palindrome.** If played in reverse, it sounds identical. I uploaded a version of it reversed on YouTube.



source: Reddit

[BenAkenobi]

Picked up a low-budget edition, so to say. Wouldn't mind trading if there's interest