Fear Inoculum

I really love the marks all over the back of it. It really adds to the heavily used and abused look and feel I was going for in my collection.

TOOL IS THE BRST ROCK BAND IN THE WORLD!!! I am but one simple man, & this entire review is truly just my opinion, you or others most likely will have to form your own... But I have to start out by acknowledging that these guys are true masters of their craft! Using complex yet seemless tempo changes, insane guitar riffs, the sickest drumming you will ever hear, and top it all off with the worlds best rock vocalist, Maynard James Keegan, this band equals perfection. I may be bias due to my love for the band, but it is what it is, & I feel that these guys are to my generation, what Pink Floyd was to the 70's. They emerse you in beautiful sounds from various instruments trying to capture they imagination with differing layers... The songs have texture, using precise timing with the tempo changes, it is as if the songs are alive just expressing their own emotion. The band is often rocking out for minutes at a time witbout a single vocal lyric sung, but it doesn't matter because the music is so powerful. Then when Maynard does come in, he too can blow you away with his stylistic range as well as his vocal range. His powerful voice draws you in deeper with every track, leaving you just wanting more. I've honestly never been more impressed with one man's sheer talent as a vocalist. When listening to TOOL albums I often loose touch with my own worries or life stresses & just unwind in my own vocal sessions while driving alone. Nothing makes me feel more of an emotional release as much as singing along with Maynard at the top of my lungs simply rocking the f*** out. Quite simply, this music is like therapy to an involved lister (AT LEAST FOR ME). I will always love this band & truely hope to see them perform live. Preferably at Red Rocks ampatheater because everyone knows that venue is freakin perfect!

I bought the limited edition 5 disc set from Amazon for $61.70. It was worth every penny. Honestly, it was a steal at that price.The set comes as a single bound volume, around the size of a coffee table book or art book. The volume includes artwork on really glossy pages and portraits of each band member. The LP sleeves are made of heavy duty cardstock and are bound into the book alongside the pages.The etchings on the records are beautiful and they match the style of the images in the book very well. Unfortunately they are very faint--You have to catch them in just the right light to see the detail. Etched images are a difficult thing to get right on any vinyl release, so I don't feel too bent out of shape about it.Plenty of reviews rave about the mix on this set and I agree--it's' phenomenal. Even on crappy speakers this is a mix that really lets each performer shine.I also appreciated the way Amazon shipped this. It came in a sturdy cardboard mailer with foam padding from the manufacturer, which was packed inside an outer box from amazon. Everything arrived in great shape.I definitely recommend this for yourself or the Tool fan in your life. It's a solid pickup, especially at the price I paid.

13 years in the making, 5 solid years of blood and sweat in the music studio, threads of musical exploration abandoned and restarted, every note, every complex rhythm meticulously crafted, and finally the wait is over - Tool thrust an epic masterpiece of heavy musical art into our collective consciousness. These guys are now into their 50's, at the very peak of their artistic genius, and this album reflects their growth and perfected precision. Yes every tool album prior to this has been great, with some terrific songs but with a few flaws - some meandering filler pieces or a few songs that didn't quite gel. But this one is different, sure, unmistakably Tool with their strange time signatures and embedding complexity within complexity in an almost fractal way, but now with a maturity and focus and consistent musical brilliance that permeates every one of their multiple 10-12+ minute long songs on this album. It's as though they, like us, suffered through a decade of music industry tripe, bubble gum pop and mindless rap promoted to the lowest common denominator, and then said "step aside kids, this is how to make music that stands the test of time - music that hits you like a sledgehammer but also music as art in the purest truest sense." Mesmerizing, haunting, at times blissfully beautiful and at other times (e.g. 7empest) brutally aggressive and soaring. This folks is their Magnum Opus, their Moby Dick, their Guernica, their Sistine Chapel of musical brilliance. The only adjective that comes close to capturing this masterpiece is Transcendent. This isn't just an album we have waited for for 13 years, this the the Tool masterpiece we have always been waiting for. Epic, brilliant. I will get nothing done for the next two weeks because I will be listening to this over and over and over...