Fear Inoculum

The most ostracized album of TOOL's discography, Fear Inoculum is an interesting one. I find it to be very overhated, and I think it really stands toe to toe with everything else they've made. Despite the fact you can tell that they are much older now, Maynard sounds better than ever and the instrumentals are just as good as they were before. A lot of this is also a slight change in their sound, opting for something a bit heavier than usual, with a lot more polyrhythm work and a bigger focus on instrumentals. Despite being their longest album, it really doesn't feel like it due to the quality of their work done on here. Culling Voices has one of my favorite payoffs in their whole discography, and Chocolate Chip Trip is a contender for their best interlude. The heavier sound throughout also contributes to it's shorter feeling, as it has a lot more moments that are in your face, which was my biggest issue with their previous album. This is an album that I really think deserves a second chance, and one that needs much more appreciation.