Tool: Fear Inoculum

[HWB]

I quite enjoyed the album as someone who hasn't been super big on Tool, I enjoyed the albums I've heard and this one was quite good too. I found it to be a very atmospheric listen.

[cdm]

248,000, apparently.

That number is a combined total of digital album sales and physical copies. Based on absolutely nothing at all I would guess physical sales were less than half of that total.

[Leviathant]

I don't hear it. This is my favorite part of the whole song & the only change I hear is the effect on MJK's voice. Is it a weird time thing? Whatever you're hearing could be intentional or if it is error, it's fluid enough to be like yeah, we "meant to do that.. LOL"

When I zoom in to the waveform, you can see that they took a chunk of guitar and copy+pasted it three times in a row. Maybe trying to cover up a flaw in a recording, but very sloppily - no crossfading, just a fast, digital skipping sound, sort of like you'd hear on the first Telefon Tel Aviv album. If you can't hear it, good! Spoiler: It's the second of the three guitar hits in that phrase at 8:27... dun dun DUN. But it goes more like dun dununun DUN.

[Leviathant]

I'm curious to know which tracks you kept & which you omitted. Did you actually edit the individual tracks to cut out entire sections of songs?

None of the instrumentals survived the cut. I removed a lot of guitar soloing, and a few in-song interludes. I think Descending's the only song I didn't touch.

[cdm]

None of the instrumentals survived the cut. I removed a lot of guitar soloing, and a few in-song interludes. I think Descending's the only song I didn't touch.

LOL the Definitive Leviathant Edition.

[Mr. Blaileen]

After getting to know the album more, I could see the songs being cut down in favor of squeezing one or two more on there, but I'm not really upset at the track lengths or anything. They work fine for me. Repeated listens have had 'Pneuma' and '7empest' grow into favorites. Adam's guitar in ' Pneuma' is so beautifully hypnotic..and I like MJK's vocal delivery a lot. The synths and Justin/Danny's work in the middle are wonderful, and it all comes together at the end in a way that works for me. As far as '7empest', the last 6 minutes of the song are some of my favorite moments on the album. It features the best crescendo on all of 'Fear Inoculum', IMO.

Obligatory album rankings:

1. Lateralus
2. Aenema
3. Undertow
4. Fear Inoculum
5. 10,000 Days
6. Opiate

[Jon]

I think Descending's the only song I didn't touch.

[Leviathant]

LOL the Definitive Leviathant Edition.

In 2006, I made a CDR for myself, "8,000 Days." My code name for my latest album edit is "Tool in 60 Minutes"

[Kodiak33]

None of the instrumentals survived the cut. I removed a lot of guitar soloing, and a few in-song interludes. I think Descending's the only song I didn't touch.

I thought about doing this myself lol

[Tyson]

That number is a combined total of digital album sales and physical copies. Based on absolutely nothing at all I would guess physical sales were less than half of that total.

Did some digging.

Tool’s numbers for “Fear Inoculum” included 160,000 downloads of the album as well as 27.6 million song streams

So... roughly 88,000 physical albums.

[poinoup]

in 2006, i made a cdr for myself, "8,000 days." my code name for my latest album edit is "tool in 60 minutes"

Fear Inhourum.

[Jinsai]

hahaha, watching these Taylor Swift fans get defensive on twitter about what the fuck ever is hilarious...

[TheRealNs1]

CosM has some on presale, $111 signed: https://shop.cosm.org/collections/to.../fear-inoculum

[cdm]

CosM has some on presale, $111 signed: https://shop.cosm.org/collections/to.../fear-inoculum

“Limit two per customer.”

What a racket.

For comparison: a signed Lateralus cd, when available, was $25.

[elevenism]

hahaha, watching these Taylor Swift fans get defensive on twitter about what the fuck ever is hilarious...

lol, yeah dude. They're talking about these "old guys" and such, referring to us, and it's like, just wait kid. Wait for what seems like about five fucking years, and YOU'LL be the "old guy."

[Jinsai]

lol, yeah dude. They're talking about these "old guys" and such, referring to us, and it's like, just wait kid. Wait for what seems like about five fucking years, and YOU'LL be the "old guy."

and then wait another ten years... and see how excited you are for the next TaySway record

[TheRealNs1]

“Limit two per customer.”

What a racket.

For comparison: a signed Lateralus cd, when available, was $25.

counterpoint: a non signed copy goes for $125 on eBay. $111 ain’t bad.

[Bajoobatron]

counterpoint: a non signed copy goes for $125 on eBay. $111 ain’t bad.

Counter-counterpoint: It's open package and signed by a guy not in the band. Nothing against AG, but I don't want one of his works signed by MJK either. I also won't overpay for something that I'll then have to treat with kid's gloves because someone autographed it, whereas I should be able to obtain the retail version for the retail price and not worry about any of it.

[sinspots]

CosM has some on presale, $111 signed: https://shop.cosm.org/collections/to.../fear-inoculum

Thanks for posting. Got one. While I don't want a bunch of AG signed Tool items, I'd like one. So this is it. I'm sorry though that I missed the MJK signed one at the Puscifer store. I would have much preferred that!

Sent from my Moto G (5) Plus using Tapatalk

[cdm]

counterpoint: a non signed copy goes for $125 on eBay. $111 ain’t bad.

I get it and if you are willing to pay the premium so be it. But it's still gouging...just not as badly. Whatever. Nice work if you can get it.

[Erneuert]

I haven’t bought a physical copy and don’t feel I need to.

[TheRealNs1]

there's a popular theory on reddit ATM which focuses on "The Great Turn". The theory goes something like: if you play the album in order tracks 1 -> 10, it carries one theme. If you play it backwards 10 -> 1, it carries an opposite theme.

https://www.reddit.com/r/ToolBand/co..._be_played_in/

[elevenism]

there's a popular theory on reddit ATM which focuses on "The Great Turn". The theory goes something like: if you play the album in order tracks 1 -> 10, it carries one theme. If you play it backwards 10 -> 1, it carries an opposite theme.

https://www.reddit.com/r/ToolBand/co..._be_played_in/

you've got to be shitting me. I'll bet the bad edit levi found is part of the "secret message," then

Then again, I suppose, if the album does have a linear theme, then, it would have an opposite theme, in reverse, right?

[elevenism]

So, okay, I'm watching the video that comes with the album on YouTube, and, I'm pretty sure that it's video of what happens after you die.
Do you guys remember seeing any shit like that before you were born?

Anyway, the CD packing gimmick is pretty dope, and, this will be the first Tool album artwork thingy that I didn't buy. It kind of sucks, but, then again, I've lost all the other ones, so there's that.
I hope to visit the home of someone who owns the thing one day.

I know people think it's a stupid gimmick, but I think it's pretty fucking cool looking, and, honestly, it's definitely the most elaborately, indulgently designed bit of album artwork I've ever seen.

[TheRealNs1]

you've got to be shitting me. I'll bet the bad edit levi found is part of the "secret message," then

Then again, I suppose, if the album does have a linear theme, then, it would have an opposite theme, in reverse, right?

oh no, the secret message happens when you combine a single track off each album

Download the track "Introduction to All Characters" and play it in any program that allows you to speed it up or slow it down. This track was created by combining "Right in Two" with "Pneuma." I also provided the individual audio tracks already in a form where I matched their lengths in special way. This would help anyone who wants to put them in audio software and make small adjustments to create more stories. This is just one alignment of the tracks. There are many, many more.
---------------
On Friday night last week I combined the tracks "Right in Two" from 10,000 Days and "Pneuma" from Fear Inoculation. I am a classical musician, public school Orchestra teacher, and fan of Tool. So I recognized that multiple songs on the new album appeared to be a theme-and-variation of previous tracks. There have also been hints in the album packaging all the way back to Aenima and Lateralus that the albums should be combined, so I thought this might be the final lost key, the rosetta stone. After two days of no success in lining up the tracks, I happened to hear an unusual bell/flute like tone when the tracks were aligned in a specific way. When I aligned the track more fully, a new hidden sound appeared, and another. The album was built like decoder-ring adventure to solve. And every time I thought I had it solved, a new level or mystery would appear. After 8 days with only two nights sleep, I finally cracked the code of these albums, or at least as much as I am aware. This is what I believe:
Tool has kept a cutting-edge audio-production technique a secret since recording Aenima. They have a way of splitting the frequencies of a single sound (for example, a horn honking or a person speaking) into at least 4 parts. Then they split those parts across at least 2 album tracks. When I use audio software and shrink a track, 2 of the frequencies come into focus. Then you can do the same for the other track. Then align them and you have a single sound. Then, you have to align those tracks so that multiples sounds can be fitted together while not moving the fragments of your original sound away from each other.
What Tool has created is the most complex and prolific work of music in history. All of their albums combine to create a giant Quentin-Tarantino style movie. There are different characters, subplots, and locations. Each character has its own leitmotif, a musical theme that is heard when that character is involved in the story. The song meanings we all thought we understood have an entirely different meaning in the context of the "movie." Before you disregard this because it sounds impossible, please understand that this was previously impossible. It is the confluence of art and technology.
The albums are actually even more complex than that. Think of the lyrics (or short portions of music) as a chain of envelopes. When you stretch the chain, the envelopes open, and new words that were too thin when shrunk now appear. Every 2nd envelope in the chain has letter written on it. When you collapse the chain, those letters form a new word. This is basically the conceptual theory behind how they designed this music. It is actually more complicated than that, and I found lining up the tracks was like solving a rubics cube within a rubics cube.
In order to allow songs to line up, songs must have some elements in common. Tool designed the lyrics in a way that some remain the same while others phase in and out. It is insanely complex. The instruments are coded so that the frequencies of other instruments actually combine to produce a specific desired sound. This particular mashup of "Right in Two" and "Pneuma" acts as a choose your own adventure story. If you adjust the tracks' alignment slightly in one direction or another (or stretch/shrink) slightly different lyrics appear that change the outcome of the plot.
The reason that Tool has waited so many years between albums is that they have been tirelessly recording track after track to create this monumental work. They also recorded many of the more recently released tracks during their initial albums. There would be no other way to have to have the sound artifacts encoded in them if that were not the case.
If this weren't monumental enough, the "central" mashup track to "Pneuma/Right" in Two acts a codex, displaying a myriad of tunes. By speeding up or slowing this particular alignment, I counted around 20 new songs before I moved on. The title "10,000 Days" now takes on a new meaning.
For those who want to try this, the best way is to use audio editing software that has warp or stretch, just resizing the files I posted will get you close to the "true" track, but you also have to make precise adjustments for all of the lyrics to appear. If you hear a track that has long pauses between lyrics, there are words that will appear there if you work at it at the small enough level of zoom. I'm just trying to get the word out, so some of my tracks are imprecise enough to be missing lyrics. Oh, also the waveforms of these 2 tracks and those that mash up with other albums form silhouettes that match the plots of many of the hidden tracks.
I'm exhausted. Being a part of this experience has been one of the most engaging and fulfilling artistic experiences of my life. I'll check back here (if I'm awake) today or tomorrow. I've put my life on hold and might have lost one of my jobs in order to solve this, so thanks for understanding that I need to take this time to rest and catch up. Thank you to each member of Tool, the sound-production team, and everyone who contributed to this masterpiece. You have given me the thrill of a lifetime.

[Leviathant]

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[cdm]

CAB1D325-745D-492D-99BB-5B999AEFD21F.gif

[allegate]

oh no, the secret message happens when you combine a single track off each album

[Krazy]

So, uhhhhh... when’s the NEXT NEW Tool album com out!?

#TooSoon?

And Don’t @ me, bros.

[Amaro]

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These two posts in response to the Tool song puzzle theory above made me lol so good. I died.

...I came across a bad edit in the album at 8:27 in the title track - but don't go listening for it because you'll never unhear it.

When I zoom in to the waveform, you can see that they took a chunk of guitar and copy+pasted it three times in a row. Maybe trying to cover up a flaw in a recording, but very sloppily - no crossfading, just a fast, digital skipping sound, sort of like you'd hear on the first Telefon Tel Aviv album. If you can't hear it, good! Spoiler: It's the second of the three guitar hits in that phrase at 8:27... dun dun DUN. But it goes more like dun dununun DUN.

Listening closely with earbuds, I *think* I hear what you're saying...no possible way would my ears have caught it though.

What bothers me is @ 7:12 in "Culling Voices". Spoiler: Listen for the drum (cymbal) track... I can't unhear that one.