Tool ‘Fear Inoculum’ debuts at No 1 on Billboard Top 200

The group’s first album in more than a decade sold 270k copies in first week

Tool celebrates their third consecutive No. 1 debut on Billboard’s Top 200, with Fear Inoculum (RCA Records) reigning over the US sales charts, selling 270,000 units.

The news of Fear Inoculum’s impressive debut comes amidst news stories of the album release being met by lengthy lines at retailers as music lovers clamored to get a copy of the limited edition, physical version of the CD. The spectacular, groundbreaking packaging boasts a 4” HD rechargeable screen with exclusive video footage, charging cable, two watt speaker, a 36 page booklet and a digital download card.

The Coalition of Independent Music Stores (CIMS) released a rare statement, describing the event-like album release: “Several stores had well-attended midnight sales on Thursday (it was my store’s first midnight sale in ten years). When we returned to work on Friday morning, there were lines at the door… the Tool release was the biggest thing to hit retail in years.”

The success wasn’t isolated to the US, with the album debuting at No. 1 in Australia, Norway, New Zealand, and Belgium, as well as Top 5 debuts in the UK, Germany, The Netherlands, Ireland, Italy and Finland.

News of the Fear Inoculum’s impressive debut follows the announcement of Tool’s first North American tour in support of the album. Tool Army information and VIP package details are available now.

As August arrived, Tool released their back catalog via digital service providers, seeing Opiate, Undertow, Ænima, Lateralus and 10,000 Days rack up in excess of 20 million streams in the subsequent 48 hours and occupy the top five spots on iTunes’ Top 10 Album Charts. Twenty-three years after its initial release, Ænima re-entered Billboard’s Top 200, arriving at No. 10, with Lateralus (No. 16), 10,000 Days (No. 18) and Undertow (No. 19) landing in the Top 20. Tool’s debut release, 1992’s Opiate EP, made its Billboard chart premiere, arrived at No. 59. The band also broke records that week: taking four of the top five spots on Billboard’s Hard Rock Albums chart (the first act to achieve that feat upon digital release) and claiming 15 (of 25) spots on Billboard’s Rock Digital Song Sales chart. As of this morning, the band’s catalog videos have also been released.

Buddy Iahn
Buddy Iahn

Buddy Iahn founded The Music Universe when he decided to juxtapose his love of web design and music. As a lifelong drummer, he decided to take a hiatus from playing music to report it. The website began as a fun project in 2013 to one of the top independent news sites. Email: info@themusicuniverse.com