Go Back  The Tool Page: Opinion » Tool » Albums » Fear Inoculum
User Name
Password
Reply
TheGreatTurn
09-05-2019, 04:01 AM
Reply With Quote

Alex Grey was 20 years old when he took LSD for the first time.

“Sitting with my physical eyes closed, my inner eye moved through a beautiful spiral tunnel. The walls of the tunnel seemed like living mother-of-pearl; it felt like a spiritual rebirth canal. I was in the darkness, spiralling toward the light. The curling space going from black to grey to white suggested to me the resolution of all polarities.”

Grey depicted his experience in The Polar Unity Spiral, an artwork that would evolve, more than 40 years later, into The Great Turn, the artwork and video of Fear Inoculum.

For Grey, this first LSD experience was formative. “Soon after, I changed my name to Grey [from Velzy] as a way of bringing the opposites together.” Grey also met his wife, Allyson, that eventing. “She was the only other person who had taken LSD at that party.”

With The Great Turn, Grey is looking back to his earliest work, to his primal influences, translating these into more mature and accomplished expression.

Sound familiar?

For Tool fans, part of the fun of a new album is trying to de-code its inner coherence, understand where it fits in the band’s musical and philosophical legacy. This (over-) thinking and (over-) analysing can be quite silly (as anyone who remembers the ‘Holy Gift’ debacle will attest), but its also fun, so fuck it. Let’s indulge ourselves.

Where does Fear Inoculum fit within Tool’s philosophy and legacy? What inner coherence can we de-code and unravel? (And what’s all this shit about the number 7?)

Fear Inoculum seems to follow an unusual trajectory for a Tool album, moving from clarity and resolution (in Fear Inoculum and Pneuma) towards paranoia and anger (in Culling Voices and 7empest). While Undertow, Aenima and Lateralus were about breaking through, growing beyond, Fear Inoculum appears to offer a regression.

Or perhaps it’s not a regression, but a double-movement, both forwards and backwards. In The Great Turn we find a character – a twisty-double-figure, reminiscent of the Opiate priest (but with an extra pair or arms), pulled in opposite directions, one head inclined upwards towards the light, the other head inclined downwards and broken open. When we get to glimpse into this broken-open head in the video, we see a great swirling storm. We could name these two figures Pneuma-Tool and 7empest-Tool, one ascending (‘Eyes full of wonder’), the other descending (‘Petulant stench and demeanour’). A polar unity, held in a spiral.

Is this what we expected from Tool? A small (or perhaps large) part of every Tool fan has spent the last two decades longing for the band to write Lateralus Part II. Surely, this is where the band’s career should culminate – in the otherworldly transcendence, enlightenment and resolve promised by Lateralus? But instead we arrive at 7empest, not enlightenment but endarkenment. ‘Follow the evidence. Look it dead in the eye. You are darkness.’

Fear Inoculum pulls in two directions, like the character in The Great Turn. We all love ‘Eyes full of wonder’-Tool. But when the torrent comes and we meet 7empest-Tool, we give a knowing nod and a wink. ‘We know your nature’, we say. The ‘dubious state of serenity’ can only be maintained for so long. The cycle spins. The head bursts open.

What about the number 7? Well, in numerology, 7 is significant. There are 7 chakras, the 7th being the Crown chakra (located above the 6th, the ‘Third Eye’.) In Christian and Jewish mysticism, 7 is associated with God and spiritual perfection. This is the number of enlightenment. But 7 also suggest a turning, a cycle completed. 7 days in the week and we return to the beginning. Saturn returns after 4 cycles of 7, after 28 years, to lift you up or drag you down, etc…

With Fear Inoculum, Tool has completed a cycle of 7 records, and Fear Inoculum sees the cycle turn, both bursting through the Crown Chakra into the light, as one half of the character in The Great Turn video, ‘become Pneuma’. But also, regressing to the mud and grit of the beginning – a many-armed character who evokes Opiate, 7empest evoking the sounds of Undertow, particularly Flood. Yes, we are sun becoming. But the waters are still rising around our feet.

The music of Tool has always been about growth, and here we find a mature perspective on the growth process – not as a linear progression into the light, but a cyclical process, where the way forward is the way backwards, where the way up is also the way down, and where we must return to our earliest being, our most primal influences, to move forward. The spiral turns, and all we can hope for is to hold our polarities together, become Pneuma, become 7empest.

And herein lies the genius of Fear Inoculum – it completes the cycle, it encompasses the band’s entire career and holds the polarities in unity. It offers us a glimpse of the beyond, while reminding us that our feet are rooted in the mud. Holy fuck it’s good.

And most importantly – and I’ve taken far too long to arrive at the grand conclusion – it’s packed full of fucking badass tunes.

Spiral out homies.
Old 09-05-2019, 04:01 AM   #1
Level 2 - Poster
 
Join Date: Sep 2019
Location: London
Posts: 8
Bincount™: 0
The MEANING of Fear Inoculum & The Great Turn

Alex Grey was 20 years old when he took LSD for the first time.

“Sitting with my physical eyes closed, my inner eye moved through a beautiful spiral tunnel. The walls of the tunnel seemed like living mother-of-pearl; it felt like a spiritual rebirth canal. I was in the darkness, spiralling toward the light. The curling space going from black to grey to white suggested to me the resolution of all polarities.”

Grey depicted his experience in The Polar Unity Spiral, an artwork that would evolve, more than 40 years later, into The Great Turn, the artwork and video of Fear Inoculum.

For Grey, this first LSD experience was formative. “Soon after, I changed my name to Grey [from Velzy] as a way of bringing the opposites together.” Grey also met his wife, Allyson, that eventing. “She was the only other person who had taken LSD at that party.”

With The Great Turn, Grey is looking back to his earliest work, to his primal influences, translating these into more mature and accomplished expression.

Sound familiar?

For Tool fans, part of the fun of a new album is trying to de-code its inner coherence, understand where it fits in the band’s musical and philosophical legacy. This (over-) thinking and (over-) analysing can be quite silly (as anyone who remembers the ‘Holy Gift’ debacle will attest), but its also fun, so fuck it. Let’s indulge ourselves.

Where does Fear Inoculum fit within Tool’s philosophy and legacy? What inner coherence can we de-code and unravel? (And what’s all this shit about the number 7?)

Fear Inoculum seems to follow an unusual trajectory for a Tool album, moving from clarity and resolution (in Fear Inoculum and Pneuma) towards paranoia and anger (in Culling Voices and 7empest). While Undertow, Aenima and Lateralus were about breaking through, growing beyond, Fear Inoculum appears to offer a regression.

Or perhaps it’s not a regression, but a double-movement, both forwards and backwards. In The Great Turn we find a character – a twisty-double-figure, reminiscent of the Opiate priest (but with an extra pair or arms), pulled in opposite directions, one head inclined upwards towards the light, the other head inclined downwards and broken open. When we get to glimpse into this broken-open head in the video, we see a great swirling storm. We could name these two figures Pneuma-Tool and 7empest-Tool, one ascending (‘Eyes full of wonder’), the other descending (‘Petulant stench and demeanour’). A polar unity, held in a spiral.

Is this what we expected from Tool? A small (or perhaps large) part of every Tool fan has spent the last two decades longing for the band to write Lateralus Part II. Surely, this is where the band’s career should culminate – in the otherworldly transcendence, enlightenment and resolve promised by Lateralus? But instead we arrive at 7empest, not enlightenment but endarkenment. ‘Follow the evidence. Look it dead in the eye. You are darkness.’

Fear Inoculum pulls in two directions, like the character in The Great Turn. We all love ‘Eyes full of wonder’-Tool. But when the torrent comes and we meet 7empest-Tool, we give a knowing nod and a wink. ‘We know your nature’, we say. The ‘dubious state of serenity’ can only be maintained for so long. The cycle spins. The head bursts open.

What about the number 7? Well, in numerology, 7 is significant. There are 7 chakras, the 7th being the Crown chakra (located above the 6th, the ‘Third Eye’.) In Christian and Jewish mysticism, 7 is associated with God and spiritual perfection. This is the number of enlightenment. But 7 also suggest a turning, a cycle completed. 7 days in the week and we return to the beginning. Saturn returns after 4 cycles of 7, after 28 years, to lift you up or drag you down, etc…

With Fear Inoculum, Tool has completed a cycle of 7 records, and Fear Inoculum sees the cycle turn, both bursting through the Crown Chakra into the light, as one half of the character in The Great Turn video, ‘become Pneuma’. But also, regressing to the mud and grit of the beginning – a many-armed character who evokes Opiate, 7empest evoking the sounds of Undertow, particularly Flood. Yes, we are sun becoming. But the waters are still rising around our feet.

The music of Tool has always been about growth, and here we find a mature perspective on the growth process – not as a linear progression into the light, but a cyclical process, where the way forward is the way backwards, where the way up is also the way down, and where we must return to our earliest being, our most primal influences, to move forward. The spiral turns, and all we can hope for is to hold our polarities together, become Pneuma, become 7empest.

And herein lies the genius of Fear Inoculum – it completes the cycle, it encompasses the band’s entire career and holds the polarities in unity. It offers us a glimpse of the beyond, while reminding us that our feet are rooted in the mud. Holy fuck it’s good.

And most importantly – and I’ve taken far too long to arrive at the grand conclusion – it’s packed full of fucking badass tunes.

Spiral out homies.
OFFLINE |   Reply With Quote
iAMtheMA!'s Avatar iAMtheMA!
09-05-2019, 04:46 AM
Reply With Quote

backwards

interesting(?) side note. the polarity unity spiral is iconed on alex grey's mindfold eye mask. coupled with audiophile amped headphones, laying still in quiet darkness ...this is how i approach TOOL first listens, guided meditations (monroe institute is great), active listening in general. mindfold works beautifully, highly recommended.
__________________
i know, shit!

Last edited by iAMtheMA!; 09-05-2019 at 04:50 AM..
Old 09-05-2019, 04:46 AM   #2
Level 10 - Vehement
 
iAMtheMA!'s Avatar
 
Join Date: Jul 2006
Location: Dorset, VT
Posts: 2,062
Bincount™: 217
Re: The MEANING of Fear Inoculum & The Great Turn

backwards

interesting(?) side note. the polarity unity spiral is iconed on alex grey's mindfold eye mask. coupled with audiophile amped headphones, laying still in quiet darkness ...this is how i approach TOOL first listens, guided meditations (monroe institute is great), active listening in general. mindfold works beautifully, highly recommended.
__________________
i know, shit!

Last edited by iAMtheMA!; 09-05-2019 at 04:50 AM..
OFFLINE |   Reply With Quote
iAMtheMA!'s Avatar iAMtheMA!
09-05-2019, 05:27 AM
Reply With Quote

Quote:
Originally Posted by TheGreatTurn View Post
it completes the cycle
heptagram* -_- it's all connected
"....and you bought ONE!(ness)"

are TOOL fans aware of the "coincidentia oppositorum" as
one of the main central facets of their collective message?
bc i hear a lot of talk of polarities and counting syllables
but nothing for what any of it means beyond that much
(not referring to this post, thank you for a refreshing take!)

"coincidentia oppositorum" listen or read. for instance:
A Perfect Circle's yin to TOOL's yang? (Puscifer betwixt)

parabola. gap. 'til one & one are one. you are broken but
"take care not to let 'me' (46&2/unity consciousness) enter
'cause if i do we 'both' (44&2/disharmonic consciouss)
may disappear." mjk's "a perfect union of contrary things"
... i could go on and on and on ... i stylize it: 1-ZERO+1
and now you know why they venerate the fool's (gold)

"apparently NOTHING at all"
"you believed in moments NONE -could- see"
"locked up inside you like the calm beneath castles
is a cavern of treasures that NO ONE -has- been to"

if you don't see similarities
between wings for marie by tool
and maria by rage against the machine...
"i am NOTHING, no one, nobody, no more!"

7 btw represents the virgin.
do with that what thou wilt.
__________________
i know, shit!

Last edited by iAMtheMA!; 09-05-2019 at 05:30 AM..
Old 09-05-2019, 05:27 AM   #3
Level 10 - Vehement
 
iAMtheMA!'s Avatar
 
Join Date: Jul 2006
Location: Dorset, VT
Posts: 2,062
Bincount™: 217
Re: The MEANING of Fear Inoculum & The Great Turn

Quote:
Originally Posted by TheGreatTurn View Post
it completes the cycle
heptagram* -_- it's all connected
"....and you bought ONE!(ness)"

are TOOL fans aware of the "coincidentia oppositorum" as
one of the main central facets of their collective message?
bc i hear a lot of talk of polarities and counting syllables
but nothing for what any of it means beyond that much
(not referring to this post, thank you for a refreshing take!)

"coincidentia oppositorum" listen or read. for instance:
A Perfect Circle's yin to TOOL's yang? (Puscifer betwixt)

parabola. gap. 'til one & one are one. you are broken but
"take care not to let 'me' (46&2/unity consciousness) enter
'cause if i do we 'both' (44&2/disharmonic consciouss)
may disappear." mjk's "a perfect union of contrary things"
... i could go on and on and on ... i stylize it: 1-ZERO+1
and now you know why they venerate the fool's (gold)

"apparently NOTHING at all"
"you believed in moments NONE -could- see"
"locked up inside you like the calm beneath castles
is a cavern of treasures that NO ONE -has- been to"

if you don't see similarities
between wings for marie by tool
and maria by rage against the machine...
"i am NOTHING, no one, nobody, no more!"

7 btw represents the virgin.
do with that what thou wilt.
__________________
i know, shit!

Last edited by iAMtheMA!; 09-05-2019 at 05:30 AM..
OFFLINE |   Reply With Quote
TheGreatTurn
09-05-2019, 05:53 AM
Reply With Quote

Quote:
Originally Posted by McRoggles View Post
And with the new tool logo which is foldable into a syringe the album could be folded as well?
Yeah I think so - there is a sense of splitting - the word 'mitosis' is sung at the very mid-point (to the second) of Fear Inoculum. When they were touring with the 2-min preview of Descending, it was called Ascending/Descending. And Descending is really the crux track - do we 'rise' and fulfil our potential, or are we going to be swallowed by the waves?

(Spoiler: it's not looking good, the waves are winning...)
Old 09-05-2019, 05:53 AM   #4
Level 2 - Poster
 
Join Date: Sep 2019
Location: London
Posts: 8
Bincount™: 0
Re: The MEANING of Fear Inoculum & The Great Turn

Quote:
Originally Posted by McRoggles View Post
And with the new tool logo which is foldable into a syringe the album could be folded as well?
Yeah I think so - there is a sense of splitting - the word 'mitosis' is sung at the very mid-point (to the second) of Fear Inoculum. When they were touring with the 2-min preview of Descending, it was called Ascending/Descending. And Descending is really the crux track - do we 'rise' and fulfil our potential, or are we going to be swallowed by the waves?

(Spoiler: it's not looking good, the waves are winning...)
OFFLINE |   Reply With Quote
TheGreatTurn
09-05-2019, 05:54 AM
Reply With Quote

Quote:
Originally Posted by iAMtheMA! View Post
interesting(?) side note. the polarity unity spiral is iconed on alex grey's mindfold eye mask. coupled with audiophile amped headphones, laying still in quiet darkness ...this is how i approach TOOL first listens, guided meditations (monroe institute is great), active listening in general. mindfold works beautifully, highly recommended.
Amen to that.
Old 09-05-2019, 05:54 AM   #5
Level 2 - Poster
 
Join Date: Sep 2019
Location: London
Posts: 8
Bincount™: 0
Re: The MEANING of Fear Inoculum & The Great Turn

Quote:
Originally Posted by iAMtheMA! View Post
interesting(?) side note. the polarity unity spiral is iconed on alex grey's mindfold eye mask. coupled with audiophile amped headphones, laying still in quiet darkness ...this is how i approach TOOL first listens, guided meditations (monroe institute is great), active listening in general. mindfold works beautifully, highly recommended.
Amen to that.
OFFLINE |   Reply With Quote
lotus.'s Avatar lotus.
09-05-2019, 06:01 AM
Reply With Quote

The middle of the booklet is also a splitting image
__________________
I don't know where the sunbeams end
And the starlights begin
It's all a mystery
Old 09-05-2019, 06:01 AM   #6
Up From The Skies
Suicide Booth ID: 13
 
lotus.'s Avatar
 
Join Date: Jul 2006
Location: Stardust
Posts: 13,112
Bincount™: 26323
Re: The MEANING of Fear Inoculum & The Great Turn

The middle of the booklet is also a splitting image
__________________
I don't know where the sunbeams end
And the starlights begin
It's all a mystery
OFFLINE |   Reply With Quote
Whowatchesthewampas's Avatar Whowatchesthewampas
09-05-2019, 06:16 AM
Reply With Quote

Quote:
Originally Posted by TheGreatTurn View Post
What about the number 7? Well, in numerology, 7 is significant. There are 7 chakras, the 7th being the Crown chakra (located above the 6th, the ‘Third Eye’.) In Christian and Jewish mysticism, 7 is associated with God and spiritual perfection. This is the number of enlightenment. But 7 also suggest a turning, a cycle completed. 7 days in the week and we return to the beginning. Saturn returns after 4 cycles of 7, after 28 years, to lift you up or drag you down, etc…

I really like this, I wasn't aware of all the symbolism. Very interesting opinion and research
__________________
Falling isn't flying
Floating isn't infinite
Old 09-05-2019, 06:16 AM   #7
Level 8 - Vociferous
 
Whowatchesthewampas's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2019
Location: under Hoth's icy surface
Posts: 502
Bincount™: 0
Re: The MEANING of Fear Inoculum & The Great Turn

Quote:
Originally Posted by TheGreatTurn View Post
What about the number 7? Well, in numerology, 7 is significant. There are 7 chakras, the 7th being the Crown chakra (located above the 6th, the ‘Third Eye’.) In Christian and Jewish mysticism, 7 is associated with God and spiritual perfection. This is the number of enlightenment. But 7 also suggest a turning, a cycle completed. 7 days in the week and we return to the beginning. Saturn returns after 4 cycles of 7, after 28 years, to lift you up or drag you down, etc…

I really like this, I wasn't aware of all the symbolism. Very interesting opinion and research
__________________
Falling isn't flying
Floating isn't infinite
OFFLINE |   Reply With Quote
iAMtheMA!'s Avatar iAMtheMA!
09-05-2019, 06:32 AM
Reply With Quote

Quote:
Originally Posted by TheGreatTurn View Post
(Spoiler: it's not looking good, the waves are winning...)
i wanna see it all come down
suck it down flush it downnn
__________________
i know, shit!
Old 09-05-2019, 06:32 AM   #8
Level 10 - Vehement
 
iAMtheMA!'s Avatar
 
Join Date: Jul 2006
Location: Dorset, VT
Posts: 2,062
Bincount™: 217
Re: The MEANING of Fear Inoculum & The Great Turn

Quote:
Originally Posted by TheGreatTurn View Post
(Spoiler: it's not looking good, the waves are winning...)
i wanna see it all come down
suck it down flush it downnn
__________________
i know, shit!
OFFLINE |   Reply With Quote
TheGreatTurn
09-05-2019, 07:24 AM
Reply With Quote

Quote:
Originally Posted by lotus. View Post
The middle of the booklet is also a splitting image
Right. That's the dude I'm talking about, the "twisty-double-figure" - ascending, descending, pneuma and petulance, spirit and tempest, rising while being swallowed - all held within the Polar Unity Spiral.
Old 09-05-2019, 07:24 AM   #9
Level 2 - Poster
 
Join Date: Sep 2019
Location: London
Posts: 8
Bincount™: 0
Re: The MEANING of Fear Inoculum & The Great Turn

Quote:
Originally Posted by lotus. View Post
The middle of the booklet is also a splitting image
Right. That's the dude I'm talking about, the "twisty-double-figure" - ascending, descending, pneuma and petulance, spirit and tempest, rising while being swallowed - all held within the Polar Unity Spiral.
OFFLINE |   Reply With Quote
lotus.'s Avatar lotus.
09-05-2019, 07:30 AM
Reply With Quote

Quote:
Originally Posted by TheGreatTurn View Post
Right. That's the dude I'm talking about, the "twisty-double-figure" - ascending, descending, pneuma and petulance, spirit and tempest, rising while being swallowed - all held within the Polar Unity Spiral.
http://mindbreathmeditation.blogspot...rahma.html?m=1


Check that out
__________________
I don't know where the sunbeams end
And the starlights begin
It's all a mystery
Old 09-05-2019, 07:30 AM   #10
Up From The Skies
Suicide Booth ID: 13
 
lotus.'s Avatar
 
Join Date: Jul 2006
Location: Stardust
Posts: 13,112
Bincount™: 26323
Re: The MEANING of Fear Inoculum & The Great Turn

Quote:
Originally Posted by TheGreatTurn View Post
Right. That's the dude I'm talking about, the "twisty-double-figure" - ascending, descending, pneuma and petulance, spirit and tempest, rising while being swallowed - all held within the Polar Unity Spiral.
http://mindbreathmeditation.blogspot...rahma.html?m=1


Check that out
__________________
I don't know where the sunbeams end
And the starlights begin
It's all a mystery
OFFLINE |   Reply With Quote
TheGreatTurn
09-05-2019, 07:53 AM
Reply With Quote

Quote:
Originally Posted by lotus. View Post
Yeah man, that resonates, especially Brahma breathing the world in and out of creation in a cycle. Isn't Fear Inoculum preoccupied with breath - exhale, expel, inhale the clarity, pneuma/breath/spirit - "we are born of one breath."

The pieces fit! Lol.
Old 09-05-2019, 07:53 AM   #11
Level 2 - Poster
 
Join Date: Sep 2019
Location: London
Posts: 8
Bincount™: 0
Re: The MEANING of Fear Inoculum & The Great Turn

Quote:
Originally Posted by lotus. View Post
Yeah man, that resonates, especially Brahma breathing the world in and out of creation in a cycle. Isn't Fear Inoculum preoccupied with breath - exhale, expel, inhale the clarity, pneuma/breath/spirit - "we are born of one breath."

The pieces fit! Lol.
OFFLINE |   Reply With Quote
gonzo's Avatar gonzo
09-05-2019, 03:09 PM
Reply With Quote

good post

A1
__________________
Time is still the infinite jest.
Old 09-05-2019, 03:09 PM   #12
Level 12 - Scurrilous
 
gonzo's Avatar
 
Join Date: Sep 2008
Location: the Bunker
Posts: 4,018
Bincount™: 1841
Re: The MEANING of Fear Inoculum & The Great Turn

good post

A1
__________________
Time is still the infinite jest.
OFFLINE |   Reply With Quote
Inner_Eulogy's Avatar Inner_Eulogy
09-05-2019, 03:55 PM
Reply With Quote

Quote:
Originally Posted by TheGreatTurn View Post
Spiral out homies.
Damn good writing my man, lots of good solid theories here. I noticed that Descending is the divide of the studio version album. 3 songs on either end, like a fulcrum. As you mentioned the later half being more angry, it seems he descends into anger at the halfway point from the inoculation of fear that he previously had, metaphorically speaking. I wonder, has anybody tried playing Descending backwords? I just wonder if that would be "Ascending" back to the top.
__________________
"WITHOUT A LITTLE EVIL, GOOD WOULD NEVER EXIST"
Old 09-05-2019, 03:55 PM   #13
Level 12 - Scurrilous
 
Inner_Eulogy's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2003
Location: Chicago
Posts: 6,480
Bincount™: 135
Re: The MEANING of Fear Inoculum & The Great Turn

Quote:
Originally Posted by TheGreatTurn View Post
Spiral out homies.
Damn good writing my man, lots of good solid theories here. I noticed that Descending is the divide of the studio version album. 3 songs on either end, like a fulcrum. As you mentioned the later half being more angry, it seems he descends into anger at the halfway point from the inoculation of fear that he previously had, metaphorically speaking. I wonder, has anybody tried playing Descending backwords? I just wonder if that would be "Ascending" back to the top.
__________________
"WITHOUT A LITTLE EVIL, GOOD WOULD NEVER EXIST"
OFFLINE |   Reply With Quote
Inner_Eulogy's Avatar Inner_Eulogy
09-05-2019, 03:56 PM
Reply With Quote

Quote:
Originally Posted by McRoggles View Post
Actually…
...friggin good post...

And with the new tool logo which is foldable into a syringe the album could be folded as well?

If your analysis is true then Descending is the middle track, the track wich is the center of both ends.

That also means it is just fine to listen the album in opposite direction.
Holy shit, I didn't even think about that, the logo folding together into a needle, the inoculation. Fuckin clever =-)
__________________
"WITHOUT A LITTLE EVIL, GOOD WOULD NEVER EXIST"
Old 09-05-2019, 03:56 PM   #14
Level 12 - Scurrilous
 
Inner_Eulogy's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2003
Location: Chicago
Posts: 6,480
Bincount™: 135
Re: The MEANING of Fear Inoculum & The Great Turn

Quote:
Originally Posted by McRoggles View Post
Actually…
...friggin good post...

And with the new tool logo which is foldable into a syringe the album could be folded as well?

If your analysis is true then Descending is the middle track, the track wich is the center of both ends.

That also means it is just fine to listen the album in opposite direction.
Holy shit, I didn't even think about that, the logo folding together into a needle, the inoculation. Fuckin clever =-)
__________________
"WITHOUT A LITTLE EVIL, GOOD WOULD NEVER EXIST"
OFFLINE |   Reply With Quote
Pyrrho
09-07-2019, 04:09 AM
Reply With Quote

This post has made me appreciate Culling Voices and 7emptest much more, thank you.
Old 09-07-2019, 04:09 AM   #15
Level 4 - Thinker
 
Join Date: Aug 2019
Location: United Kingdom
Posts: 29
Bincount™: 0
Re: The MEANING of Fear Inoculum & The Great Turn

This post has made me appreciate Culling Voices and 7emptest much more, thank you.
OFFLINE |   Reply With Quote
Culling_Voices
09-08-2019, 02:10 AM
Reply With Quote

Quote:
Originally Posted by TheGreatTurn View Post
Alex Grey was 20 years old when he took LSD for the first time.

“Sitting with my physical eyes closed, my inner eye moved through a beautiful spiral tunnel. The walls of the tunnel seemed like living mother-of-pearl; it felt like a spiritual rebirth canal. I was in the darkness, spiralling toward the light. The curling space going from black to grey to white suggested to me the resolution of all polarities.”

Grey depicted his experience in The Polar Unity Spiral, an artwork that would evolve, more than 40 years later, into The Great Turn, the artwork and video of Fear Inoculum.

For Grey, this first LSD experience was formative. “Soon after, I changed my name to Grey [from Velzy] as a way of bringing the opposites together.” Grey also met his wife, Allyson, that eventing. “She was the only other person who had taken LSD at that party.”

With The Great Turn, Grey is looking back to his earliest work, to his primal influences, translating these into more mature and accomplished expression.

Sound familiar?

For Tool fans, part of the fun of a new album is trying to de-code its inner coherence, understand where it fits in the band’s musical and philosophical legacy. This (over-) thinking and (over-) analysing can be quite silly (as anyone who remembers the ‘Holy Gift’ debacle will attest), but its also fun, so fuck it. Let’s indulge ourselves.

Where does Fear Inoculum fit within Tool’s philosophy and legacy? What inner coherence can we de-code and unravel? (And what’s all this shit about the number 7?)

Fear Inoculum seems to follow an unusual trajectory for a Tool album, moving from clarity and resolution (in Fear Inoculum and Pneuma) towards paranoia and anger (in Culling Voices and 7empest). While Undertow, Aenima and Lateralus were about breaking through, growing beyond, Fear Inoculum appears to offer a regression.

Or perhaps it’s not a regression, but a double-movement, both forwards and backwards. In The Great Turn we find a character – a twisty-double-figure, reminiscent of the Opiate priest (but with an extra pair or arms), pulled in opposite directions, one head inclined upwards towards the light, the other head inclined downwards and broken open. When we get to glimpse into this broken-open head in the video, we see a great swirling storm. We could name these two figures Pneuma-Tool and 7empest-Tool, one ascending (‘Eyes full of wonder’), the other descending (‘Petulant stench and demeanour’). A polar unity, held in a spiral.

Is this what we expected from Tool? A small (or perhaps large) part of every Tool fan has spent the last two decades longing for the band to write Lateralus Part II. Surely, this is where the band’s career should culminate – in the otherworldly transcendence, enlightenment and resolve promised by Lateralus? But instead we arrive at 7empest, not enlightenment but endarkenment. ‘Follow the evidence. Look it dead in the eye. You are darkness.’

Fear Inoculum pulls in two directions, like the character in The Great Turn. We all love ‘Eyes full of wonder’-Tool. But when the torrent comes and we meet 7empest-Tool, we give a knowing nod and a wink. ‘We know your nature’, we say. The ‘dubious state of serenity’ can only be maintained for so long. The cycle spins. The head bursts open.

What about the number 7? Well, in numerology, 7 is significant. There are 7 chakras, the 7th being the Crown chakra (located above the 6th, the ‘Third Eye’.) In Christian and Jewish mysticism, 7 is associated with God and spiritual perfection. This is the number of enlightenment. But 7 also suggest a turning, a cycle completed. 7 days in the week and we return to the beginning. Saturn returns after 4 cycles of 7, after 28 years, to lift you up or drag you down, etc…

With Fear Inoculum, Tool has completed a cycle of 7 records, and Fear Inoculum sees the cycle turn, both bursting through the Crown Chakra into the light, as one half of the character in The Great Turn video, ‘become Pneuma’. But also, regressing to the mud and grit of the beginning – a many-armed character who evokes Opiate, 7empest evoking the sounds of Undertow, particularly Flood. Yes, we are sun becoming. But the waters are still rising around our feet.

The music of Tool has always been about growth, and here we find a mature perspective on the growth process – not as a linear progression into the light, but a cyclical process, where the way forward is the way backwards, where the way up is also the way down, and where we must return to our earliest being, our most primal influences, to move forward. The spiral turns, and all we can hope for is to hold our polarities together, become Pneuma, become 7empest.

And herein lies the genius of Fear Inoculum – it completes the cycle, it encompasses the band’s entire career and holds the polarities in unity. It offers us a glimpse of the beyond, while reminding us that our feet are rooted in the mud. Holy fuck it’s good.

And most importantly – and I’ve taken far too long to arrive at the grand conclusion – it’s packed full of fucking badass tunes.

Spiral out homies.
God Damn, man. I really wanted to read that but it was too freakin long! I agree that LSD has a lot to do with Tool's sound, but beyond that, I don't even know what's going on. My wife and kid are asleep and I snuck off to see if I can discuss this album, but this is a bit extreme, yeah?
Old 09-08-2019, 02:10 AM   #16
Level 2 - Poster
 
Join Date: Sep 2019
Location: In the eye of the storm
Posts: 8
Bincount™: 0
Re: The MEANING of Fear Inoculum & The Great Turn

Quote:
Originally Posted by TheGreatTurn View Post
Alex Grey was 20 years old when he took LSD for the first time.

“Sitting with my physical eyes closed, my inner eye moved through a beautiful spiral tunnel. The walls of the tunnel seemed like living mother-of-pearl; it felt like a spiritual rebirth canal. I was in the darkness, spiralling toward the light. The curling space going from black to grey to white suggested to me the resolution of all polarities.”

Grey depicted his experience in The Polar Unity Spiral, an artwork that would evolve, more than 40 years later, into The Great Turn, the artwork and video of Fear Inoculum.

For Grey, this first LSD experience was formative. “Soon after, I changed my name to Grey [from Velzy] as a way of bringing the opposites together.” Grey also met his wife, Allyson, that eventing. “She was the only other person who had taken LSD at that party.”

With The Great Turn, Grey is looking back to his earliest work, to his primal influences, translating these into more mature and accomplished expression.

Sound familiar?

For Tool fans, part of the fun of a new album is trying to de-code its inner coherence, understand where it fits in the band’s musical and philosophical legacy. This (over-) thinking and (over-) analysing can be quite silly (as anyone who remembers the ‘Holy Gift’ debacle will attest), but its also fun, so fuck it. Let’s indulge ourselves.

Where does Fear Inoculum fit within Tool’s philosophy and legacy? What inner coherence can we de-code and unravel? (And what’s all this shit about the number 7?)

Fear Inoculum seems to follow an unusual trajectory for a Tool album, moving from clarity and resolution (in Fear Inoculum and Pneuma) towards paranoia and anger (in Culling Voices and 7empest). While Undertow, Aenima and Lateralus were about breaking through, growing beyond, Fear Inoculum appears to offer a regression.

Or perhaps it’s not a regression, but a double-movement, both forwards and backwards. In The Great Turn we find a character – a twisty-double-figure, reminiscent of the Opiate priest (but with an extra pair or arms), pulled in opposite directions, one head inclined upwards towards the light, the other head inclined downwards and broken open. When we get to glimpse into this broken-open head in the video, we see a great swirling storm. We could name these two figures Pneuma-Tool and 7empest-Tool, one ascending (‘Eyes full of wonder’), the other descending (‘Petulant stench and demeanour’). A polar unity, held in a spiral.

Is this what we expected from Tool? A small (or perhaps large) part of every Tool fan has spent the last two decades longing for the band to write Lateralus Part II. Surely, this is where the band’s career should culminate – in the otherworldly transcendence, enlightenment and resolve promised by Lateralus? But instead we arrive at 7empest, not enlightenment but endarkenment. ‘Follow the evidence. Look it dead in the eye. You are darkness.’

Fear Inoculum pulls in two directions, like the character in The Great Turn. We all love ‘Eyes full of wonder’-Tool. But when the torrent comes and we meet 7empest-Tool, we give a knowing nod and a wink. ‘We know your nature’, we say. The ‘dubious state of serenity’ can only be maintained for so long. The cycle spins. The head bursts open.

What about the number 7? Well, in numerology, 7 is significant. There are 7 chakras, the 7th being the Crown chakra (located above the 6th, the ‘Third Eye’.) In Christian and Jewish mysticism, 7 is associated with God and spiritual perfection. This is the number of enlightenment. But 7 also suggest a turning, a cycle completed. 7 days in the week and we return to the beginning. Saturn returns after 4 cycles of 7, after 28 years, to lift you up or drag you down, etc…

With Fear Inoculum, Tool has completed a cycle of 7 records, and Fear Inoculum sees the cycle turn, both bursting through the Crown Chakra into the light, as one half of the character in The Great Turn video, ‘become Pneuma’. But also, regressing to the mud and grit of the beginning – a many-armed character who evokes Opiate, 7empest evoking the sounds of Undertow, particularly Flood. Yes, we are sun becoming. But the waters are still rising around our feet.

The music of Tool has always been about growth, and here we find a mature perspective on the growth process – not as a linear progression into the light, but a cyclical process, where the way forward is the way backwards, where the way up is also the way down, and where we must return to our earliest being, our most primal influences, to move forward. The spiral turns, and all we can hope for is to hold our polarities together, become Pneuma, become 7empest.

And herein lies the genius of Fear Inoculum – it completes the cycle, it encompasses the band’s entire career and holds the polarities in unity. It offers us a glimpse of the beyond, while reminding us that our feet are rooted in the mud. Holy fuck it’s good.

And most importantly – and I’ve taken far too long to arrive at the grand conclusion – it’s packed full of fucking badass tunes.

Spiral out homies.
God Damn, man. I really wanted to read that but it was too freakin long! I agree that LSD has a lot to do with Tool's sound, but beyond that, I don't even know what's going on. My wife and kid are asleep and I snuck off to see if I can discuss this album, but this is a bit extreme, yeah?
OFFLINE |   Reply With Quote
TheGreatTurn
09-08-2019, 02:17 AM
Reply With Quote

Quote:
Originally Posted by Culling_Voices View Post
God Damn, man. I really wanted to read that but it was too freakin long! I agree that LSD has a lot to do with Tool's sound, but beyond that, I don't even know what's going on. My wife and kid are asleep and I snuck off to see if I can discuss this album, but this is a bit extreme, yeah?
Lol. It'll take you all of about 2 minutes to read it man. Sure, you don't have to, but just saying...
Old 09-08-2019, 02:17 AM   #17
Level 2 - Poster
 
Join Date: Sep 2019
Location: London
Posts: 8
Bincount™: 0
Re: The MEANING of Fear Inoculum & The Great Turn

Quote:
Originally Posted by Culling_Voices View Post
God Damn, man. I really wanted to read that but it was too freakin long! I agree that LSD has a lot to do with Tool's sound, but beyond that, I don't even know what's going on. My wife and kid are asleep and I snuck off to see if I can discuss this album, but this is a bit extreme, yeah?
Lol. It'll take you all of about 2 minutes to read it man. Sure, you don't have to, but just saying...
OFFLINE |   Reply With Quote
TheGreatTurn
09-08-2019, 05:08 AM
Reply With Quote

Quote:
Originally Posted by Culling_Voices View Post
God Damn, man. I really wanted to read that but it was too freakin long! I agree that LSD has a lot to do with Tool's sound, but beyond that, I don't even know what's going on. My wife and kid are asleep and I snuck off to see if I can discuss this album, but this is a bit extreme, yeah?
And BTW here's an even longer version: https://medium.com/@fearinoculumtheg...m-1156ee358344

Enjoy :)

Last edited by TheGreatTurn; 09-08-2019 at 05:10 AM..
Old 09-08-2019, 05:08 AM   #18
Level 2 - Poster
 
Join Date: Sep 2019
Location: London
Posts: 8
Bincount™: 0
Re: The MEANING of Fear Inoculum & The Great Turn

Quote:
Originally Posted by Culling_Voices View Post
God Damn, man. I really wanted to read that but it was too freakin long! I agree that LSD has a lot to do with Tool's sound, but beyond that, I don't even know what's going on. My wife and kid are asleep and I snuck off to see if I can discuss this album, but this is a bit extreme, yeah?
And BTW here's an even longer version: https://medium.com/@fearinoculumtheg...m-1156ee358344

Enjoy :)

Last edited by TheGreatTurn; 09-08-2019 at 05:10 AM..
OFFLINE |   Reply With Quote
Oculus
09-08-2019, 07:22 PM
Reply With Quote

Well done, TGT. Great stuff there.
Old 09-08-2019, 07:22 PM   #19
Level 4 - Thinker
 
Join Date: Jul 2013
Location: salt lake city
Posts: 40
Bincount™: 0
Re: The MEANING of Fear Inoculum & The Great Turn

Well done, TGT. Great stuff there.
OFFLINE |   Reply With Quote
Pyrrho
09-09-2019, 09:18 AM
Reply With Quote

This post has really made me appreciate the album in a much deeper way. I love the idea of growth as a cyclical process rather than a linear one. Anyone who has been in recovery or suffered a mental illness will be able to confirm that this seems to be the way things are. You're never cured, you've never recovered and you're never enlightened, at least not permanently.

Thank you very much for this post dude
Old 09-09-2019, 09:18 AM   #20
Level 4 - Thinker
 
Join Date: Aug 2019
Location: United Kingdom
Posts: 29
Bincount™: 0
Re: The MEANING of Fear Inoculum & The Great Turn

This post has really made me appreciate the album in a much deeper way. I love the idea of growth as a cyclical process rather than a linear one. Anyone who has been in recovery or suffered a mental illness will be able to confirm that this seems to be the way things are. You're never cured, you've never recovered and you're never enlightened, at least not permanently.

Thank you very much for this post dude
OFFLINE |   Reply With Quote
TheGreatTurn
09-10-2019, 07:11 AM
Reply With Quote

Quote:
Originally Posted by Pyrrho View Post
This post has really made me appreciate the album in a much deeper way. I love the idea of growth as a cyclical process rather than a linear one. Anyone who has been in recovery or suffered a mental illness will be able to confirm that this seems to be the way things are. You're never cured, you've never recovered and you're never enlightened, at least not permanently.

Thank you very much for this post dude
Ah I'm glad man! :)
Old 09-10-2019, 07:11 AM   #21
Level 2 - Poster
 
Join Date: Sep 2019
Location: London
Posts: 8
Bincount™: 0
Re: The MEANING of Fear Inoculum & The Great Turn

Quote:
Originally Posted by Pyrrho View Post
This post has really made me appreciate the album in a much deeper way. I love the idea of growth as a cyclical process rather than a linear one. Anyone who has been in recovery or suffered a mental illness will be able to confirm that this seems to be the way things are. You're never cured, you've never recovered and you're never enlightened, at least not permanently.

Thank you very much for this post dude
Ah I'm glad man! :)
OFFLINE |   Reply With Quote
Auntiestephanie1979
11-11-2019, 07:21 PM
Reply With Quote

Great post. I love everything you said.
Old 11-11-2019, 07:21 PM   #22
Level 1 - Lurker
 
Join Date: Nov 2019
Location: Michigan
Posts: 1
Bincount™: 0
Re: The MEANING of Fear Inoculum & The Great Turn

Great post. I love everything you said.
OFFLINE |   Reply With Quote
Fit4Demolition's Avatar Fit4Demolition
01-22-2020, 09:45 AM
Reply With Quote

Quote:
Originally Posted by McRoggles View Post
Actually…
...friggin good post...

And with the new tool logo which is foldable into a syringe the album could be folded as well?

If your analysis is true then Descending is the middle track, the track wich is the center of both ends.

That also means it is just fine to listen the album in opposite direction.
Descending is the battle. The battle where the Pneuma or Tempest wins. Play the album in the track order and it is the subject being infected by hate and negativity. Play the album in the reverse track order and you are ascending out of that. Our choice to listen to it in either order.

I've also heard a rumor somewhere that Tempest was written way back in the day, during Opiate and Undertow, and they just broke it out and found that it fit with this album. Seems plausible as the bass line is different from Justin Chancellor's typical groove and is more grungy. Even the lyrics are angry which is something that over the course of the other albums it seemed like Maynard was growing out of his anger. It would be fitting to take a song or concept for a song from back when he was angry and use it on an album now. I think we can all take to heart that despite any kind of ascension there is always at least a temporary relapse or regression. Part of nature.

I also think the album is to be listened to twice in succession, first in the normal track order then in reverse. How does one become inoculated? By being infected and overcoming the infection. The exception is the track Fear Inoculum. I think that song is like an intro of sorts, kind of like the merchant at the beginning of Aladdin. He sings a tale that summarizes and tells you the story and you then get into the subject matter at hand; a synopsis. It has a different tone than the rest of the album so I feel like it is apart and I tried to interpret the lyrics to match them to the tracks themselves.
Old 01-22-2020, 09:45 AM   #23
Level 12 - Scurrilous
 
Fit4Demolition's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2006
Location: Burlington, NJ
Posts: 4,015
Bincount™: 751
Re: The MEANING of Fear Inoculum & The Great Turn

Quote:
Originally Posted by McRoggles View Post
Actually…
...friggin good post...

And with the new tool logo which is foldable into a syringe the album could be folded as well?

If your analysis is true then Descending is the middle track, the track wich is the center of both ends.

That also means it is just fine to listen the album in opposite direction.
Descending is the battle. The battle where the Pneuma or Tempest wins. Play the album in the track order and it is the subject being infected by hate and negativity. Play the album in the reverse track order and you are ascending out of that. Our choice to listen to it in either order.

I've also heard a rumor somewhere that Tempest was written way back in the day, during Opiate and Undertow, and they just broke it out and found that it fit with this album. Seems plausible as the bass line is different from Justin Chancellor's typical groove and is more grungy. Even the lyrics are angry which is something that over the course of the other albums it seemed like Maynard was growing out of his anger. It would be fitting to take a song or concept for a song from back when he was angry and use it on an album now. I think we can all take to heart that despite any kind of ascension there is always at least a temporary relapse or regression. Part of nature.

I also think the album is to be listened to twice in succession, first in the normal track order then in reverse. How does one become inoculated? By being infected and overcoming the infection. The exception is the track Fear Inoculum. I think that song is like an intro of sorts, kind of like the merchant at the beginning of Aladdin. He sings a tale that summarizes and tells you the story and you then get into the subject matter at hand; a synopsis. It has a different tone than the rest of the album so I feel like it is apart and I tried to interpret the lyrics to match them to the tracks themselves.
OFFLINE |   Reply With Quote


Reply

Rate This Thread
You have already rated this thread
« Previous Thread | Next Thread »

Quick Reply

Forum Jump

all posts © their respective authors. the tool page is not responsible for any of their thoughts, brilliant or otherwise.