Tool Fear Inoculum impressions

You asked, so here is my opinion: it's the least good album they've produced, and by a wide margin. I didn't much care for Lateralus or 10,000 Days upon initial listen but felt they had enough potential to draw me back for subsequent listens and they grew on me. I can't say the same for FI, unfortunately. Nothing about it is grabbing me, and the sound quality suffers from some periodic distortion that makes it that much harder to enjoy.

Interesting take on it Helomech.
However your opinion is welcome and just as valid as anybody elses and thanks indeed.

Upon hearing Fear I did think that it would not sit well with a lot of hard core Tool fans.

However after 13 years there is no way it was ever going to sound like early Tool, more a progression and maturity of their sound.

To my ears it is a great album and more accessible to many I feel but I can see that die hard Tool fans of yore will not take to it easily.

I wore a Tool T-shirt the other day. I trust that doesn’t mean I’m mature. 🕺🏻

Let me know when they release it on vinyl.

Hey to each his own.

I agree with uberwaltz. Many Tool fans have a hard time accepting anything after Aenima, which I fully understand. It's really interesting to hear the progression that the band has made over the years. With each album you can see how they get more melodic and experiment with polyrhythms, time signature changes, etc. For many, that may not be as exciting as their earlier, straight up rock sound.

Personally, I think the album is beautiful and showcases just how talented and outside of the box thinking the band is as a whole.

Just a quick and funny footnote:

I find it hilarious and sad at the same time that throughout the hundreds of thousands of years of human existence, within 7 days of each other, Tool release the brilliant album that is Fear Inoculum and we also got to witness the train wreck that was the VMA awards.