This might sound silly, but I think a lot of you that are complaining about clipping might just be having an issue with your cd players. I noticed a lot of clips and pops when I made an exact copy of the cd and also when I imported the tracks into iTunes, which drove me kinda crazy. When I ripped the raw wave files using a different drive and a different program all those artifacts were gone. I'm just trying to point out that Tool and Joe Barresi are both extremely detail oriented. With the amount of time and effort they put into this album I just don't believe there's any way they'd make pretty basic mistakes like poor edits and track clipping.

Tool are one of the few bands that understand that the best dynamics are not achieved by printing the master tracks as hot as possible. I always have to turn Tool albums up a notch or two higher than other albums to get the same volume level relative to other cd's. And I know from reading interviews with Bob Ludwig that he stresses this approach to mastering. So I don't really agree with everyone that says this album doesn't amplify or scale well. I think it does.

I think this is the best that the bass has sounded on any Tool record. The bass is the biggest standout for me. It's so punchy and gritty. Tons of texture, very warm and defined.

Though the drums sound a little pulled back in the mix, I'm impressed with how tight and deep they sound. Particularly the toms. Rosetta Stoned stands out for me drum-wise. There are some absolutely huge downbeats towards the end of that track. There's some other great toms fills like on The Pot where the toms encircle you, and a nice rich floor tom on Intension.

Overall I think the production on this album is fantastic. It's a very intimate and immediate production, and based on what they've been saying about this album being their most emotional, I think that's what they were trying to achieve with the production. Joe Barresi excels at transparent production - giving instruments clarity, presence, and punch without them sounding processed. It's the first Tool album that sounds like you're actually inside the album. Kinda like the stereoscopic lenses let you almost step into the album artwork, the production lets you step into the songs. By contrast, Lateralus was a very distant and cold record. This one's warm and inviting.