It took a while 13 years (!) to see release, but Tool’s new album Fear Inoculum is a certified smash. Not only has the band’s fifth full-length been met with critical acclaim, it’s also a commercial success.
Fear Inoculum debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 album chart, dethroning Taylor Swift’s Lover in the process. It marks the third No. 1 album of Tool’s career, and is the biggest week for any rock album in over one year.
In its first week of release, Fear Inoculum moved 270,000 equivalent album units, 248,000 of which were pure album sales. As Billboard notes, those numbers are particularly astonishing as Tool achieved them “without the assistance of a concert ticket/album sale redemption offer, any sort of album pre-order/pre-sale access code promotion, or a single merchandise/album bundle — all of which have become the norm for most major albums in recent years as artists struggle to sell albums through more old-fashioned or traditional methods.”
Beginning in October, Tool will embark on an extensive North American tour in support of Fear Inoculum. You can get tickets here.
After debuting at No. 1 last week, Swift’s Lover fell to No. 2 on the Billboard charts with 178,000 album units moved. Lana Del Rey’s Norman Fucking Rockwell! debuted at No. 3 with 104,000 equivalent album units.
