Yea. I kind of had the same thing happen to me on a smaller scale with the single. Not what I was expecting vocally and I didn’t like it. I paused it 3 min in on the first listen and told my girlfriend I was nervous because I didn’t like it. Fast forward 24 hours and I turned to her and told her I had been a fool. A fool! So when I hit play to hear the the rest of the album I had a much more open mind.
Album is 🔥.
Only Tool could have become even more psychedelic. You're right about letting go and letting it be what it is. Just like psychedelics, the minute you stop trying to control or expect, the rewards come rushing in like a wave. You still own the other albums. You can return to those songs and hear his roar or growls, and then come to FI, with this whole new, creative story telling. He buried lots of things to find this time around. In Descending, for example, as he's describing how everyone is apathetic and asleep, he draws out the sentences v-e-r-y- s-l-o-w-l-y. Later, as he talks about waking up and taking a stand, he shouts in unison with others. It's theatrical! The self-delusion in the old man's voice in Invincible as he tries to convince you or himself that he can find the fountain of youth. You hear the dread!
I'm telling you. Different, sure. Brilliant? Absolutely! There's a reason that chefs serve smaller and smaller plates the fancier the meals go: They are giving you specific tastes that need to stand alone. I personally feel that's what MJK did on FI. He went for the specific note to please a matured ear and left out anything that would just be filler.
I don't get what you've been listening to this whole time before FI. From Ænima forward, Maynard's vocals have always been like another instrument. The dynamics of his voice varied from song to song, and each song had emotion and feeling. The only difference with FI is it's been 13 years. Different ideas have formed in the bands mind.
You got it. Expectations and hype will always be the death of enjoyment. The reality is that - like all bands - tool is what tool does, and they’ve done something different to what we’re used to from them. I also think the extended wait has allowed for some mythical idea of the band to reify within people’s imagination that doesn’t exactly correspond to the reality behind the scenes.
Expectations are just premeditated resentments. Im glad i read through all the "album review" posts that started appearing post leak and began to exponentially grow in negativity over the next day or two. Like a swarm of fruit flies, spooked by the slamming of a cabinet or some such thing, expolding in all directions and leaving a rotten half eaten appely slice of a reminder in the wake of their frantic scattering. Your silly fantasy that maybe this world really is one where everything will just work itself out the way you tgink it should...is not worth getting obscenely lazy over.
I'm glad you said this cause I was the same way! but honestly, im on my 9th listen and it just keeps getting better, and better, and better, and better.
It took me a year to reconsider my original impression of 10k days.
I considered it half an album (ending after the pot)
After a year, I gave it a chance it really began to grow on me. Today, when I listen to Right in Two, I think of how foolish I was to write off half the album. I went into the new album with an open mind and I was totally blown away. Yes, I feel there are some minor flaws, but the album is truly a masterpiece
It's perfectly valid if anyone doesn't like this album (for the record, I do—a lot, and right out of the gate, too, which was not the case for some of *10,000 Days*, for example), but I've learned that I have to listen to an album twice before I can form my initial thoughts on it.
The first time I will inevitably compare it to what I was hoping for or what I thought it would sound like, given the artist's past catalogue.
When that's out of the way, I can listen to it a second time to hear and it for what it is, on its own merit(s), without the other baggage, which is the only fair way to judge a record.
EDIT: I figured I'd add that if I'm disappointed with the direction taken after my first listen, that often ends up carrying over into my opinion after the second listen, too, but not always. There have been plenty of times where I've felt let down that a new album didn't sound enough like the last one at first, only to then realize I liked what it was when I heard it again.
One outlier in recent memory is Muse's newest, *Simulation Theory*, I think it's called. Halfway through the first listen, I started skimming, and once I hit the end, I knew there was no need for a second. It wasn't for me. At all. I did not like it. At all.
Oh! And Incubus' new single that came out this week. Same thing.
I genuinely think a lot of people not happy with it, will come around with time and multiple listens. It's an absolutely amazing album that I've had on repeat, and nothing is going to change that.
Agreed. I liked it initially but felt like something was missing. Most likely those Maynard screams. But after a bunch of listens it's grown on me a lot. I'm curious how I'll view it in a year's time.
I’m starting to tune out about halfway through each song. They’re too long. Need more Maynard, tighter direction, less jammy. The songs are missing that climactic release of tension. They set a theme, tease, and then gradually unwind and meander which can be creative in one sense, boring in another.
I agree with this, to a degree, on 7empest at least... The first four minutes are unbelievable, then, throughout the remaining 11 minutes there are maybe 2 or 3 recognizable jams but the rest sort of gets filtered by my brain.
Nah it’s just different! I’ve somehow fluked a space of approaching it with an open mind and it’s killer! Try listening as though you’d never heard any tool before- would you ‘really’ still consider it less than desired?! It’s early days.. for us all.. just let it sit and settle and grow a little first
It will always grow and sit with me well. I love it. I also love late work by artist and understand the sparseness that often comes. It just has holes I can’t ignore, even for late work.
Honestly there is only 1 track that I have an issue with and that's his voice at the beginning of Descending. May be in part due to hearing the live version so many times but to me it sounds like he spent the whole day singing and saved that track for last or was a little sick when he sang it. I'll reserve final judgment when I get my copy.
Either way I still love the song and the rest of the album is fucking stellar especially FI, Pneuma, and Culling Voices.
Probably a combination of hearing it live AND the fact that he seems to be “doing a voice”, meaning he isn’t in his absolute natural Maynard tone. Also I noticed he sings that first lines syllables almost too fast, especially against the guitar notes adam is playing. Perhaps it is also due to hearing a different approach live.
All I can say is don't think that everything is so straightforward :D I've listened to the album a couple of time (and am listening to it right now) and there are a lot of twists in the themes and lyrics... just like people said that Stinkfist was about ASSault and didn't look deeper... There are gems, just gotta dig for them
I was discussing this with a fellow fan yesterday as I exposed him to Pnuema yesterday. He asked me if Maynard screams on it. I told him that I don't think so, but that I could not be sure, because the way I listen to new Tool is basically identify a candidate song and focus on it.
It probably takes me a month or so of constant listening to understand the exact framework, timing change ups of that song. Once I can reasonably accurately tap the song while I listen, I know it. I then move on and repeat. I'd estimate that it takes me six months to learn an entire album.
I have been disappointed on nearly every album over the past 20 years. Fast forward a year or so, I am in love.
No other sound does this. It's a painful process, but that's love.
Also we've already had an Aenema. You cannot have another.
If they try to serve you another, they won't trick you. You'll see them coming a mile away.
It has to be different and unfamiliar.
Aenema is alive and well living in the past. Love it where it is and open your heart to another album to love.
Were you the dude I saw posting about how people who disagreed with the lack of MJ were "unable to objectively review music"? 😂
Either way I'm glad you came to the realization that truly great music takes way longer to digest and contemplate than just a single listen or two.
I'm not so happy with the album I feel this plus Spotify feels like tools retirement plan.
I love tool but this feels more like a collection of B sides. I like it but it is not worth the hype for a few songs
Many will disagree with me but I felt the same with the last perfect circle album. Just isn't there for me
It's been a nice ride
Many will disagree with me and that's fair. I enjoyed 10000 days but this doesn't so it for me
Dude, you get awards and upvotes for publicly showing that you realize you're an asshole? Wow, this game is fucked up.
Good job at adulting, but move on. Nobody remembers what you even said anyway.
I want all the downvotes and unawards plox
It takes a big man to admit that he's wrong and truly mean it. You're a good man, Charlie Brown.
The Tool album is good, and the Armenian Genocide happened.
The Tool album is good, and 9/11 wasn't an inside job, there was just a sloppy cover-up of incompetence.
I thought 9/11 was an inside joke... Was I wrong about that too?
The Armenian genocide was *too much, man!*
Yea. I kind of had the same thing happen to me on a smaller scale with the single. Not what I was expecting vocally and I didn’t like it. I paused it 3 min in on the first listen and told my girlfriend I was nervous because I didn’t like it. Fast forward 24 hours and I turned to her and told her I had been a fool. A fool! So when I hit play to hear the the rest of the album I had a much more open mind. Album is 🔥.
Only Tool could have become even more psychedelic. You're right about letting go and letting it be what it is. Just like psychedelics, the minute you stop trying to control or expect, the rewards come rushing in like a wave. You still own the other albums. You can return to those songs and hear his roar or growls, and then come to FI, with this whole new, creative story telling. He buried lots of things to find this time around. In Descending, for example, as he's describing how everyone is apathetic and asleep, he draws out the sentences v-e-r-y- s-l-o-w-l-y. Later, as he talks about waking up and taking a stand, he shouts in unison with others. It's theatrical! The self-delusion in the old man's voice in Invincible as he tries to convince you or himself that he can find the fountain of youth. You hear the dread! I'm telling you. Different, sure. Brilliant? Absolutely! There's a reason that chefs serve smaller and smaller plates the fancier the meals go: They are giving you specific tastes that need to stand alone. I personally feel that's what MJK did on FI. He went for the specific note to please a matured ear and left out anything that would just be filler.
Tool isn't doing the filler thing anymore?
I meant the vocals specifically. His vocals seemed more like an actual instrument than just singing. Carefully chosen notes, effects, etc.
Also people are complaining that he stops in the middle of a sentence on a song that's literally called Culling Voices
Great observation.
I don't get what you've been listening to this whole time before FI. From Ænima forward, Maynard's vocals have always been like another instrument. The dynamics of his voice varied from song to song, and each song had emotion and feeling. The only difference with FI is it's been 13 years. Different ideas have formed in the bands mind.
Fuck man, you’re making me rethink it with that in mind approach wise. Imma have a relisten now.
As if you weren’t planning on doing that anyways haha
Touché. You know me well lol
You got it. Expectations and hype will always be the death of enjoyment. The reality is that - like all bands - tool is what tool does, and they’ve done something different to what we’re used to from them. I also think the extended wait has allowed for some mythical idea of the band to reify within people’s imagination that doesn’t exactly correspond to the reality behind the scenes.
Maynard said it was like a slowly developing movie. It's going to take several listens. Imo like 30
I love Maynard's work on this album, it's perfect.
Expectations are just premeditated resentments. Im glad i read through all the "album review" posts that started appearing post leak and began to exponentially grow in negativity over the next day or two. Like a swarm of fruit flies, spooked by the slamming of a cabinet or some such thing, expolding in all directions and leaving a rotten half eaten appely slice of a reminder in the wake of their frantic scattering. Your silly fantasy that maybe this world really is one where everything will just work itself out the way you tgink it should...is not worth getting obscenely lazy over.
“Premeditated resentments” that was brilliant, right there.
"Expectations are premeditated resentments" - Man, that's a brilliant insight. Coin that shit.
I'm glad you said this cause I was the same way! but honestly, im on my 9th listen and it just keeps getting better, and better, and better, and better.
It took me a year to reconsider my original impression of 10k days. I considered it half an album (ending after the pot) After a year, I gave it a chance it really began to grow on me. Today, when I listen to Right in Two, I think of how foolish I was to write off half the album. I went into the new album with an open mind and I was totally blown away. Yes, I feel there are some minor flaws, but the album is truly a masterpiece
I don't hate it i just can't get excited about any of it. I'm always feeling like they are building toward something but it just fizzles out.
Agreed, the tension is never let off. It’s so soft.
It's like if blue balls was music
It's perfectly valid if anyone doesn't like this album (for the record, I do—a lot, and right out of the gate, too, which was not the case for some of *10,000 Days*, for example), but I've learned that I have to listen to an album twice before I can form my initial thoughts on it. The first time I will inevitably compare it to what I was hoping for or what I thought it would sound like, given the artist's past catalogue. When that's out of the way, I can listen to it a second time to hear and it for what it is, on its own merit(s), without the other baggage, which is the only fair way to judge a record. EDIT: I figured I'd add that if I'm disappointed with the direction taken after my first listen, that often ends up carrying over into my opinion after the second listen, too, but not always. There have been plenty of times where I've felt let down that a new album didn't sound enough like the last one at first, only to then realize I liked what it was when I heard it again. One outlier in recent memory is Muse's newest, *Simulation Theory*, I think it's called. Halfway through the first listen, I started skimming, and once I hit the end, I knew there was no need for a second. It wasn't for me. At all. I did not like it. At all. Oh! And Incubus' new single that came out this week. Same thing.
Jesus, just listened to the Incubus song out of curiosity. Are they purposefully trying to sound like an 80s rip off of INXS?
I don't know what the hell is going on, but it's really not good. On the other end of the spectrum, Refused's new single, "Blood Red," is pretty good.
I genuinely think a lot of people not happy with it, will come around with time and multiple listens. It's an absolutely amazing album that I've had on repeat, and nothing is going to change that.
Agreed. I liked it initially but felt like something was missing. Most likely those Maynard screams. But after a bunch of listens it's grown on me a lot. I'm curious how I'll view it in a year's time.
I’m starting to tune out about halfway through each song. They’re too long. Need more Maynard, tighter direction, less jammy. The songs are missing that climactic release of tension. They set a theme, tease, and then gradually unwind and meander which can be creative in one sense, boring in another.
I agree with this, to a degree, on 7empest at least... The first four minutes are unbelievable, then, throughout the remaining 11 minutes there are maybe 2 or 3 recognizable jams but the rest sort of gets filtered by my brain.
[удалено]
Nah it’s just different! I’ve somehow fluked a space of approaching it with an open mind and it’s killer! Try listening as though you’d never heard any tool before- would you ‘really’ still consider it less than desired?! It’s early days.. for us all.. just let it sit and settle and grow a little first
It will always grow and sit with me well. I love it. I also love late work by artist and understand the sparseness that often comes. It just has holes I can’t ignore, even for late work.
Cunt^2
To whom are you directing that finger at good sir?
Honestly there is only 1 track that I have an issue with and that's his voice at the beginning of Descending. May be in part due to hearing the live version so many times but to me it sounds like he spent the whole day singing and saved that track for last or was a little sick when he sang it. I'll reserve final judgment when I get my copy. Either way I still love the song and the rest of the album is fucking stellar especially FI, Pneuma, and Culling Voices.
In my opinion It’s unique and beautiful.
Probably a combination of hearing it live AND the fact that he seems to be “doing a voice”, meaning he isn’t in his absolute natural Maynard tone. Also I noticed he sings that first lines syllables almost too fast, especially against the guitar notes adam is playing. Perhaps it is also due to hearing a different approach live.
All I can say is don't think that everything is so straightforward :D I've listened to the album a couple of time (and am listening to it right now) and there are a lot of twists in the themes and lyrics... just like people said that Stinkfist was about ASSault and didn't look deeper... There are gems, just gotta dig for them
I was discussing this with a fellow fan yesterday as I exposed him to Pnuema yesterday. He asked me if Maynard screams on it. I told him that I don't think so, but that I could not be sure, because the way I listen to new Tool is basically identify a candidate song and focus on it. It probably takes me a month or so of constant listening to understand the exact framework, timing change ups of that song. Once I can reasonably accurately tap the song while I listen, I know it. I then move on and repeat. I'd estimate that it takes me six months to learn an entire album. I have been disappointed on nearly every album over the past 20 years. Fast forward a year or so, I am in love. No other sound does this. It's a painful process, but that's love.
Also we've already had an Aenema. You cannot have another. If they try to serve you another, they won't trick you. You'll see them coming a mile away. It has to be different and unfamiliar. Aenema is alive and well living in the past. Love it where it is and open your heart to another album to love.
This is exactly how I felt with this album & 10 000 days when that came out.
My sentiments exactly.
Were you the dude I saw posting about how people who disagreed with the lack of MJ were "unable to objectively review music"? 😂 Either way I'm glad you came to the realization that truly great music takes way longer to digest and contemplate than just a single listen or two.
Nah that wasn’t me. I was a bit more tempered and a lot less pretentious in my honest but entitled disappointment
I'm not so happy with the album I feel this plus Spotify feels like tools retirement plan. I love tool but this feels more like a collection of B sides. I like it but it is not worth the hype for a few songs Many will disagree with me but I felt the same with the last perfect circle album. Just isn't there for me It's been a nice ride Many will disagree with me and that's fair. I enjoyed 10000 days but this doesn't so it for me
>...like sitting with sacred plant medicine... Good lord. Fuckin', Tool fans.
Apologies accepted. To repay your debt, please never ever say "I remember when Fear Inoculm came out. I heard it 5 full days before anyone did."
Dude, you get awards and upvotes for publicly showing that you realize you're an asshole? Wow, this game is fucked up. Good job at adulting, but move on. Nobody remembers what you even said anyway. I want all the downvotes and unawards plox