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familiarvulpes · 4 years

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Tool - Fear Inoculum Album Review

It feels good to review albums again. I reviewed albums last year for about six months but it just became too much trying to juggle everything with personal life and day job and writing songs for the channel and creating stuff for the second channel. But now instead of doing video reviews, I can do blog reviews. To be honest I don’t know why I did not think of this sooner. Album reviews will be about once a month. If I am feeling giddy then maybe two. Another good thing with doing reviews through this blog is I can spend more time on each album talk about it more and give more thought to each review. Like before with the reviews that were on the YouTube channel. Each album will get a score between one and ten. The higher the score, the more I enjoyed the album. It is just a number on how much I enjoyed it. It is just an opinion. One thing I am going to add is that in these reviews here on the blog, I will go track by track and talk about each one specifically.

The first album I am going to review or talk about is the brand new album from Tool “Fear Inoculum.” The first time I heard Tool is a toss up because I can't really remember. It was either on the video game Guitar Hero World Tour. It had three songs from them. “Vicarious” “Parabola” and “Schism.” The other time that it could have been the first time I heard Tool is when in high school I was in the car with my band mates and he played Tool. I believe it was Sober. Either one of those two were the first time but ever since then, I have been obsessed with them. They are the reason I make the music I do. I never knew you could make with dark spin and a hint of ambiance. Unfortunately, by the time I discovered them it was after “10,000 Days.” If you are a Tool fan then you know that is a horrible time to become a fan because it would be 13 years before any new music would come out. I am not going to talk about each time there was a rumor on the internet buring the span or the lawsuits had to deal with during that time. All I want to talk about is the new album.

The first time I listened to the album in full, I was in complete silence and in awe. You can say I was fangirling, I don't care. I love this album. The fillers I am not the biggest fan of but the songs themselves are amazing. You know you are doing something right when you right a ten minute song and it goes to number one on the billboard top 100. My personal favorite on the album is “Culling Voices.” It is the calmer one of the main songs and the lead vocals just make the song. Maynard James Keenan and his haunting voice makes this album very special. I love the album. The wait is worth it. I know people complain about it. I knew once it came out that people would have a problem with it. When you wait 13 years to release an album, there will always be people who expect way too much. I knew that when this would come out that people would feel underwhelmed. This album has become almost a deity with all its rumors and hearsay. Number one rule in life. Don’t try to make other people happy. You can’t make everyone happy. That doesn’t mean be rude to everyone but do things that benefit you. Now onto the songs.

Fear Inoculum

The First song on the album, and the single, opens up with your classic Tool ambiance. From faded in and out guitars that pan left to right , which is a good touch, to the drums and synths from the incredibly talented Danny Carey. After a while the bass comes in. What brought me to love Tool is the bass riffs. They play bass like a guitar which gives them part of their sound I believe. If you would ask me what is the heart of Tool music, I would say the bass. I know not a lot of people would agree with me but I can not think of another rock band has the bass guitar be so unique. Most of the time the bassist is just playing the root notes of what the guitarist is playing. But with Tool, the bass gives something more to the songs. Then Maynard James Keenan comes with the vocals. His vocals on not just this one but all of the songs sound amazing. The vocals are crisp and clear and just the overall tone of his voice is beautiful. The word inoculum I had to look up and it turns out Maynard talked about ‘inoculating’ in an interview about his wine making business. This interview was like three four years ago. The title was right in front of us for so long and yet we were looking for some weird spiritual things. No, its a wine making things, at least I think. I am not the greatest at grammer. Worst subject in school. At one point Mayrd does this whisper type of vocals and goes right into singing. The melody during the ‘chorus’, I was not expecting. Do not get me wrong, it was a pleasant surprise. Then after a whole the bridge hits and it is classic Tool. Almost dissonant guitars with punchy bass riffs. It calms down with the whole band with Maynard doing a very eerie vocal performance. The next vocal part is chant like. This song just goes into one thing after another. The transitions between are performed smoothly and precise which I expect no less from these guys. Then at the end of the songs everything picks up and gets heavier. At times it sounds like there are two drummers but in fact just one drums with 42 arms. I don’t know how the guy does it. You also have a guitar solo that sounds similar to something you would hear on 10,000 days. Then the very end is just guitars and crazy drums. I love this song. I think it is the perfect single for the album because it is the ‘catchiest’ on the whole thing.

Pheuma

The second song on the album is called “Pneuma.” This might be the most “Toolest” title ever because the word pneuma means the spirit or soul of a person. The song starts with a guitar riff that is kind of hard to explain. It is unique but hard to explain. Then the drums come and play some complicated groove that I am not going to even try to count because I am bad at math. Then it fades out to a bass riff that is in an odd time signature with a delay effect so the whole thing so far is in classic Tool fashion with being in an odd time signature. The guitar joins the bass in the same groove with a delay affect so it gives it a more spacey vibe to the riff. Then the Maynard comes in and the song officially starts. This song also has some chanting like parts from Maynard which is a theme in the album so far. I can only imagine what it is like live. After the chanting it goes into open chords and drums fills and just a huge sound. The quality on this record just surprises me every time how clear and crisp it is. The song continues a little while instrumentally and then goes back in the chanting like vocals with a little bit different guitar. This song is much more trippy and spacey than “Fear Inoculum.” It continues the pattern so far for quite a while. For some, I could see that being a turn off but I enjoy mainly because I love the sound to begin with but I can see why people would say that the record is too repetitive. I think it is meant to be repetitive because I have always seen Tool as a band that make music for meditation and it is hard to meditate to a three minute song. After several rounds of the same thing it breaks to just bass and what I think are bongos but I could be wrong. Then Synths come into the mix. That is another thing I believe they added more of than the previous releases is synths. I have noticed that synths are making a comeback, especially analog or modular. They’re just fun toys and super easy to make trippy music with. The song has a solo that sounds like a Tool solo. That is one thing about the solo’s is that once you hear you can instantly know who plays it. After the solo, it goes into a super heavy riff that is one of my favorites in the album. It is almost like a breakdown. The guitar tones rip through the mix in the best way possible and then song goes back into the chanting like vocals with the whole band just going crazy. The whole song explodes at the end. This song is becoming the fans favorite one I can see why because it has all the classic Tool characteristics but more. The song slowly fades out with instruments. My favorite thing of the song is the bass and delay effects. I am a huge nerd for delay effects and reverb so anytime I hear stuff like this I just love it.

Litanie contre la Peur

This is the first filler song for the digital album. Funny story about this song. First off you have to know what it sounds like. It is this super creepy synth that fades in slowly. The sound is very disheartening and creepy. One night at 4 in the morning, myc at apparently got on my computer keyboard and hit the play button and this song is the song that played. I was so freaked out. I thought the raptured happened or aliens invaded or a ghost with a broken flute was haunting me but it was just my silly cat. The song is ok. Like I said before, I am not the biggest fan of the fillers. I just am not sure why they put them in. If it was to make the album more than ten songs then ok maybe I understand. It is just ok this one. But lesson learned. Don’t have your cat walk on your computer keyboard.

Invincible

This is one is to me the best song lyrical on the album. It starts with a sweet guitar riff. It goes on for a bit but there are some changes in the riff so it is not the same thing over and over. Then the bongo whatever things come in and then Maynard starts singing. Like I said before, the lyrics on this one are amazing to me. From what I got from it is a person struggling to stay relevant, which is kind of the theme on the whole record but this song really hits the nail on the head on that theme. Then after a while a break happens with another Tool bass riff with a delay affect on it and goes back into Maynard singing. Just like before but without guitar and a more of a focus on the bass. After a little bit, the guitar comes back and whole the whole bands plays this trippy whatever you call it. One thing about this song is the chugging is real in this one and yet still has parts of ambiance in it. Like the ones before, the transitions are smooth and clean. For about the first half of the song they kind of repeat the riffs and parts but add little differences to them. Pretty much you are going to hear something different every time you listen to it. Around the six minute mark there is the first breakdown. Again the tones are monster. The breakdown does not last long but later in the song, they make sure to properly do a breakdown. It is kind of weird to talk about and the usage of breakdowns but they do great at them I think. Around the seven minute mark, it cuts to what is almost a different song or a different tempo. Super trippy and psychedelic. Then goes into a very tribal chugging part. It sounds like something you would hear from a tribe like thousands of years ago that is about to go to war or sacrifice some goat or fish or something. Maynard adds some vocals in this part with some effects on his vocals. I am not sure what the effect is though. The tribal chugging continues for a bit then breaks into super heavy chugging even though it's the same riff. It is just really heavy. Only complaint about this super heavy thing is that it does go for a long time. I would’ve liked to hear some ambient stuff or something different as the breakdown went along. Then all of the sudden when you think the song is over the whole band comes back in with a killer riff and picks up the tempo a little bit. The end of the song, the whole band just jams out and does what Tool does best. I love this song especially the lyrics on it.

Legion Inoculant

This is the second filler. More ambient-synth stuff. It is border-line noise music. You hear some vocals from Maynard from songs on this album. This is my favorite filler on the album because I do love noise/drone music.

Descending

This one the band has been playing bits and pieces of for a couples before the release of the album. It starts off with ambient noise and then comes in a bass riff with what sounds like a phaser or chorus effect. This riff is the riff they played at shows before the release of the album. Not long after the riff starts Maynard starts to sing. The songs start off very calm and hypnotic like but you can already tell it is in an odd time signatures. This song is more ambient than the others and somewhat chiller than the others. I am not saying that is a bad thing at all. Sometimes you gotta chill and relax and not listen to constant tribal chugging. Around the five minute mark, things pick up and up, not much and then the guitar and bass ring out to start with chugging on the guitar and the bass riff that was in the beginning of the song. This song so far is just one big build up. The part in the song where Maynard sings loudly “Stay Alive” is just so haunting. Around right before the seven minute mark the band goes into a massive jam session with Danny Carey just destroying the toms and the bass and guitar sounding massive. Adam Jones goes into a solo that just Tool. One thing I did not expect was the harmonizing on the guitar during the solo which I thought was a very nice touch. Then the ambiance comes back with the guitars fading in and out and the same bass riff that was in the beginning of the song. The jamming comes back in the while the band and you almost forget you’re listening to a song because it puts you into a trance, at least it did to me. Then another solo comes in and Danny Carey is just destroying the drums. This song just has so much in it. I think over half the song is instrumental and if you know me, I love that. The song just ends with the band going crazy. There is not much more to say about it that that.

Culling Voices

This song is hands down my favorite. It starts off with some sweet ambient noise and goes into a beautiful guitar riff. Maynard comes shortly after. What I like about this song is the vocals and melodies. That are so haunting and hit so hard. The song itself so almost creepy it is so haunting and I love it. This is actually, when it comes to songs, is the shortest at ten minutes and five seconds. Says a lot about the album when the shortest actually song is over ten minutes. My favorite part of the song is when Maynard sings “Don’t you dare point that at me.” I don’t know why I love it but I do. Maybe it is the style of singing he is doing or maybe it hits with me personally. I don’t know. I just love it. The guitars for most of the beginning of the song remind of a post rock band. It could easily be mistaken for a post rock band like God is an Astronaut or Russian Circles if you added more reverb to it. After a while the bass comes in with its own riff and of course sounds amazing. Around the six minute mark, you can tell the song is slowly starting to pick up. As Maynard sings “Don’t You Dare Point That At Me,” The song grows and explodes with full band just going crazy. Even Maynard after a while pretty much screams it in like a whisper cream. The song has a little break near the end but of course picks back up with another jam. This album is full of jams. Every now and then on the internet you will see a person ask for an instrumental album from Tool. There are plenty of instrumental parts on this album that will suffice their fancy. This song is great, I love it. It is my favorite it and I don’t feel like it is talked about enough.

Chocolate Chip Trip

This is my least favorite thing on the album. The synths I do not care but this is just a drum solo. I Know Danny carey is a monster of a drummer but the synths on this just ruin it for me.

7empest

The Longest song on the album. Clocking in at almost sixteen minutes. It starts with a guitar intro that similar to ones throughout the album but then goes into a riff that sounds like it could be on a Tool album in the 90’s. Reminds me of chevelle almost. They said in interviews I believe that they had this riff for years and now are able to put it into a song. The song sounds like it could be on undertow. Even the vocals and melodies sound like undertow. Out of all the albums, Undertow is my least favorite but has one of my favorite songs on it. That album to me feels like they were beginning to find their sound. Around the two minutes and forty second mark, they do a quick chugg thing then go right back into the song. Maynard’s vocals are angriest on this one when compared to the whole album. Of course it is in an odd time signature. I am not going to try to figure it out. The more you listen to the song, the more you hear other albums on it. It is ike every album into one song. The band even goes hard on this song. They let everything loose and just go insane. There are guitar solos, sweet bass riffs and insane drums throughout the whole song. The guitar solo goes for quite a while. And more impressive is that it is in an odd time signature as well which of course makes sense. At times I wish there was more singing but I am totally OK with these exteneded instrumental parts. It is hard to digest the whole song in go since it is over fifteen minutes long. Around the half way point of the song, they do this really fast guitar chugging which at first listen took me by surprise because it is just so cool. They have done riffs like that before when it is chugging pull offs but not the fast before. This song is really something else. It is a behemoth of a song because there is so much in it. I could only imagine the writing process for it. No wonder it took so many years to write the album. Around the ten minute and forty second mark they do a nasty breakdown that you can’t but help bob your head to and right after that, goes right back into a solo. Once the solo ends, you hear the guitar riff you heard at the very start of the song. It picks back up and the band goes crazy again. This song is a rollercoaster. At the end you heard that nasty breakdown with vocals for a short period and everything fades out at the end.

Mockingbeat

This is the last song on the digital version and probably the weirdest filler thing on the album. I am not sure what it is. I don’t really understand. But they put it on the album for a reason and there is probably some hidden meaning behind it but we will probably never know. Or maybe we are looking to much into it. Oh well.

Final Thoughts

The albums is a 9/10 For me. At times, I wish there was more singing and yes at times it does repeat a lot but that does not take away from the masterpiece that is this album. And now time to wait 54 years for the next Tool album.

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trainthief · 5 years

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Hey I was wondering if you'd ever consider doing like a top 20 fav classical music albums or composers list or something. Obviously if that just sounds stressful disregard this but I know you are like, into classical music & I grew up with my parents playing it & recently got, like, into the classical station but aside from like 3 artists I like I don't know where to start & I like your blog and would be interested in hearing about like, your taste

Sorry for responding to this so late, I’ve had a real week and I wanted to make sure I had time to put some thought into answering this ask. I’d definitely love to help, I always like recc’ing classical stuff to people! The idea of 20 absolute all time favorites is a difficult one for me because I love so much stuff and it’s really difficult to compare like… Caroline Shaw’s modern experimental chorale stuff to Bach’s Brandenburg Concertos. Anyway, instead I will give you some full length pieces in different styles that I think are great for new listeners, and explain a little about what each one is doing and what I love about it, and some more pieces I recommend if you enjoy what you’re hearing. Hopefully that will help!

In no particular order:

Appalachian Spring by Copland: Let’s just get this one out of the way up front. If you’ve been following me for any amount of time at all, you know I’m deeply in love with Copland. He essentially invented the American compositional style by adding jazz elements to the established practices, which caused an absolute uproar at the beginning of his career as people then considered it an unholy mix of high and low culture. He doubled down on this concept when he wrote “Fanfare For The Common Man” which essentially stands as a celebration of the working class and those who couldn’t afford to see the symphony anyway. He was, I should also note, both gay and Jewish. A real icon. Anyhow, although I love so much of his work and could go on forever, I consider listening to Appalachian Spring in its entirety a spiritual experience, no exaggeration. Take it on a hike, listen to it while you look at the trees and think about whatever crosses your mind, and by the time the Coda hits you… well I personally can’t tell you what experience to have, but I feel for a second like I can see and be seen. Anyway, aside from that, just good music, very pretty. If you’d like similar music that incorporated jazz effectively into classical work, I’d of course recommend another favorite of mine: Rhapsody in Blue by Gershwin.

Russian Easter Festival by Rimsky-Korsakov: As a general rule of thumb, Russian composers are ALWAYS good for some drama. This piece in particular is great because it’s not only fanfare and excitement, there’s a touch of pastoral calmness that I really love (more on that as a concept later) at the beginning, but we still get plenty of wildness. There’s a frantic octave part the violins play around minute 5 that always makes me want to scream. If you like this, I’d also recommend checking out Rimsky-Korsakov’s Capriccio Espagnol. The man knows how to write sexy.

Romance in D by Berkey: I recommend this partially because it’s a lesser known and very beautiful piece, and also because it’s a good lead-in to a whole subset of classical called Furniture Music. Essentially called that - originally by the composer Satie - because it’s nice to put on in the background. Don’t get me wrong, it’s still fun to listen to, and from a compositional and performance standpoint it can still be very impressive. But it’s just good and calming and you could certainly sip tea to it in the restaurant area of a ritzy 1920’s hotel while you read a novel and ignore your rich husband asking if you’d like any marmalade. A good example of the same effect is the soundtrack to Phantom Thread. It’s also good for studying. If you like that conceptually, I’ve got a whole playlist here.

Pictures at an Exhibition by Mussorgsky: A really excellent intro to classical and one of my favorite works, AND like the last one, also a lead-in to an informal format. Pictures was written with the idea that each song was a separate painting that the listener could imagine they were looking at in a museum. For that reason, each one has a different style and personality, and feels very descriptive and exciting. A collection of small related pieces is called a suite, but I haven’t yet been able to find a technical name for that specific kind of storytelling structure within a suite. It’s not uncommon though, and in that same vein I’d also recommend The Planets by Holst (about the planets, as you might assume), and Carnival of the Animals by Saint Saens (about… yeah you get it).

Spem in Alium by Tallis: We’re taking a wild left turn now and veering into the Christian choral tradition dating back to the 1500s. Like anyone else who isn’t even a Christian, there’s a few things about Catholicism that I’m obsessed with. Namely the hymns and the stained glass. Focusing only on the hymns, Tallis is one of the best examples of polyphonic hymnal work. Polyphonic, essentially, means that the different voices in the piece are moving around each other and will frequently change their notes in a way that will compliment - but is not necessarily in line with - the direction of the piece as a whole. It makes more sense if you just listen. The style, however, was developed in an attempt to capture the idea of the stars and planets circling each other in their own independent orbits, because at the time people had just started to turn their gaze to the sky for answers about their own lives. Aside from that very cool background, I just find the really human side of the choir format in particular paired with the elevation of music being this untouchable but powerful thing paired with the holiness of the concept paired with how awesome the acoustics of a chapel can be…. It’s just a lot. If you like this I’d also recommend Miserere Mei by Allegri, Ave Maris Stella by Dufay, and O Magnum Mysterium by Lauridsen

Peter Grimes by Britten: Classical music is so rooted in every musical tradition, and visa versa, that it’s almost impossible to separate it conceptually from a lot of genres. Technically, “classical” refers to a period of time more than it does a genre anyway, but let’s not get pretentious about it. While we’re pushing the boundaries of what can and can’t be included in this list, let’s talk Opera, and specifically Peter Grimes. When asked to describe it, Britten said it was “a subject very close to my heart—the struggle of the individual against the masses. The more vicious the society, the more vicious the individual.” More specifically the struggle was an allegory for gay oppression, and ironically Britten wrote the lead role with his lifelong partner Peter Pears - an opera singer - in mind. To give a taste without giving too much away, the Prologue establishes that Grimes, a fisherman, is being questioned over the death of his apprentice. The townspeople are all convinced before the questioning even begins that he must have done it, but the coroner decides the death was accidental. Grimes is let free and advised not to get another apprentice, but he of course ignores this…. If the vocal side of opera doesn’t do it for you, there are 4 Sea Interludes from this work that are really great independently. If you want even more opera with even more drama, I’d recommend looking at Tosca or Turandot both by Pucccini. If you think classic opera is too high brow and you want something a little sillier, try Mozart’s Magic Flute. If you want something more new age and weird, try listening to Two Boys by Muhly or selections from Einstein on the Beach by Glass (but probably not all 5 hours, Knee Play 5 and Spaceship would be my top 2).

Symphony No. 6 “Pastoral” by Beethoven: I mentioned earlier when describing the Russian Easter Festival that I love a piece with pastoral calmness. Getting back to that point, I haven’t ever seen one word that’s commonly used to describe this particular sense in a piece, but I personally call it a Pastoral after Beethoven’s 6th. In general, the symphony is one of my favorites as a composer and listener, especially given that it’s really just about taking a walk in nature which is one of only 3 themes music should have anyway in my opinion. A good amount of my music is written with this feeling in mind. Aside from all that context, the first movement in particular is very nice, passionate but not sensational, and is just about being excited to be outside. Nothing wrong with that. This subset of music is probably the most informal of all the ones I’ve listed so far, but if you’d like more “Pastorals,” or pieces that have a nice calm passion to them, I’d also highly recommend Enigma Variations: Nimrod by Elgar, Fantasia on a Theme of Tallis by Vaughan Williams, Once Upon A Time In America by Morricone, Musica Celestis by Kernis, and of course again Appalachian Spring by Copland. (I would also be legally sent to jail if I didn’t mention that while we’re on the subject of Beethoven, his 9th Symphony is generally considered one of the greatest achievements in classical music).

Rite of Spring by Stravinsky: A lot of these pieces have been good jumping off points into different musical concepts, but with this one I’m sticking my description to the initial piece itself. I got the chance to email with a composer I admire and he at one point described composition not in the sense of writing something “smart”, but in writing something “detailed”. The Rite of Spring is a really great example of detailed composition. It’s extremely experimental with its time changes - essentially the way that you should be counting your notes as a musician constantly changes and always into a pattern that’s difficult to keep track of - and also with its chord structure. The music itself can be jarring and odd to listen to but the composition wasn’t random and when studied shows an obsessive elbows-deep involvement in the work that I really admire. It might not surprise you to hear, however, that at the initial performance the audience was so furious that the lighting technician had to continually flash the lights to confuse them, out of fear of a riot. If you’d like something a bit more fun to listen to by the same composer, however, Firebird is a good one. And if you’d like another great piece that was completely booed off the stage at its premier, I’d recommend Grand Pianola by Adams.

Romeo and Juliet by Prokofiev: While we’re in the general vicinity of ballet, I should get into that deeper. Ballets can have some of the most fun music to listen to because the timing is required to be so much more specific. Romeo and Juliet is a lot of fun, particularly the “Montagues and Capulets” and “Masks” sections. Another great ballet is, of course, The Nutcracker by Tchaikovsky. I’d also recommend Don Quixote by Minkus, and Rodeo by Copland…. I know I know

Violin Concerto in D by Tchaikovsky: I said Russians bring the drama, and it’s doubly so when it’s a gay Russian. This piece is a classic example of the solo concerto format, which is a staple of classical as a whole. The setup is a single player on whatever instrument the piece is written for accompanied by an orchestra, and is usually a showcase of technical skill by the soloist. This one in particular is basically THE turning point in a violinist’s studies and just about every violinist learns it as soon as they’re capable of taking it on. Personally I still vividly remember when my teacher finally gave it to me, it’s a very specific sense of accomplishment. Similar examples of the solo concerto format on different instruments would be Piano Concerto in F by Rachmaninoff, and Oboe Concerto in C by Mozart, both of which I absolutely love.

The Revd Mustard His Installation Prelude by Muhly: I’ve gone on forever so I’m trying to be quick. Nico Muhly is one of my favorite modern composers and Revd Mustard combines his classic ecstatic and constantly moving style with an organ, which I’m a sucker for. Contemporary classical in his style can be difficult to listen to because it’s gotten very experimental and as a result, very complicated. But if you don’t go into it with the expectation that you’re going to hear a structured and logical Mozart-like piece and you instead surrender your opinion until the whole thing has come together for you, it can be really interesting at the very least. As a side note, Nico has collaborated with Sufjan, Bjork, Jonsi, Teitur…. lots of people. You’ve certainly heard him before even if you didn’t know it. For more classical from the last few decades I’d recommend Partita for 8 Singers by Shaw, Tissue No. 7 by Glass, Different Trains by Reich, the Red Violin Concerto by Corigliano (especially because I just saw it live a few days ago and am still reeling), Perpetuum Mobile by Penguin Cafe Orchestra, and Cantus in Memoriam Benjamin Britten by Part. Each of which is vastly different, stylistically speaking, but all of which I really love. And for more organ listen to one of my favorite pieces of all time, Symphony 3 by Saint Saens.

Ok, you know what? I’m cutting myself off because I’ve gone on forever. If you haven’t been put off of asking me questions entirely by now, please feel free if you want even more recommendations in a specific style, or want to know more about something you enjoy. Clearly I love talking about this. Hope that helped!

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