I don't know how big of Tool fans any of you are. This topic brought rather heated discussions a year or two ago on the message board, and I think from those discussions we can all glean that Biznotch fucking loves Tool. In fact it's his favorite band. But I don't want to spend all my time talking about Biznotch's love for Tool, he can bore us with that at a later date.

Vicarious is due to hit the radio this coming Monday (April 17), and Tool has done such a good job at hiding their music from the public that no one has heard Vicarious except people who have been expressedly sent the song by Maynard (or Danny, or Adam, or Justin). While this could be looked at as a great achievement for the band (wow they managed to keep their music from leaking at a time when most albums leak months in advance!), I think it should be viewed in a more negative light.

Yesterday Chris on toolshed.down.net had this to say on the subject:

With "Vicarious" just days from airing on the radio, some folks would have expected it to leak by now. Why hasn't it? It turns out that most radio stations will be downloading a digital file from a secure webserver (no, we're not telling you which one) and may receive a physical CD at a later date. Other info indicates that, instead of mailing out promo copies of the album, Tool is flying journalists to LA to review it under their supervision.

Reading the forums on toolshed, I noticed that there is definitely a lack of fans responding negatively to this news. Most of the immature, douche bag fans that visit those forums are writing things like "OMG! Vicarious on the radio Monday! I WON'T BE ABLE TO SLEEP AT NIGHT OMGOMGOMGOMG!" Only a few are writing that they are upset about the way they are being treated as longtime devoted fans.

Fans should be upset. Tool has been going way out of their way to hide their music from the their fans. While Tool has never been a band that embraced the media or their fans, they have now (in their old age) gone so extreme in their tactics used to prevent piracy that they look like a bunch of paranoid old codgers still living the life of a rock and roll star.

Why does this band refuse to upload the single to their website and provide a free public download? Why do they insist on keeping a strict release date of April 17th on the radio? Why in the hell would they want to subject their fans to having to sit and listen to top 40 radio for hours on end just to get to hear a Tool's new song (only to be rewarded by a shortened, poor quality version designed to fit in a 4 minute time slot)? Do they really want us to have to sift through Godsmack, Nickelback, Creed, etc. to hear their song?

And what does it really matter anyway? It is inevitable that this track will leak on the internet at some point, so what does it really matter if it leaks today or 3 weeks from now? Will that have any impact on the sales of the album as a whole? It can only hurt them, because less people will be exposed to the song on the radio than they would be if it were being offered up as a download on an mp3 blog. I can promise you that I will not be listening to the radio just to hear this single.

This leads me to the point I've been trying to make from the beginning. This band doesn't give a shit anymore what they do to their fans. They have us hooked, so they are going to treat us like big floppy penises and expect that we will maintain our loyalty. What is the incentive anymore to like this band? Yes the music is good (usually), but what more than that? It seems like all they do is just release things to drum up more money from their fanatic fan pool. For instance, the Schism and Parabola DVDs for $10 each. Wow, one music video and a few crappy repetitive remix songs. And for a bonus, they include some boring ass commentary. When is the last time Tool has released any music to benefit a charity or to benefit anyone other than themselves?

I really would hope you guys would consider not buying 10,000 Days when it finally comes out. Biznotch, I know that will be hard for you, but I hope you could download it for free instead. This band deserves that much. If they don't want to have anything to do with their conniving, thieving fans, then the fans shouldn't want to have to do anything with them. And if you, the fan, can't control yourself, then at least download it for free and don't give them or their worthless label any hard earned money out of your pocket. I really doubt Maynard has had a hard days work in the last 10 years. He seems to have forgotten where he came from. It wasn't long ago that he was a poor struggling artist, and he was dependent on fans to show up to his shows and provide him with money so he could get a meal at the end of the day. Now that he's loaded with money and Mr. Powerful he is repaying those fans by treating them like dicks. Karma Police anyone?

Tool would not have the fan base it has now if it wasn't for the internet. I would not be a Tool fan myself it I didn't downloaded Undertow 6 or 7 years ago. I started by listening to a couple of songs every now and then, and gradually I began to like them, and finally I downloaded the entire Undertow album and I loved them. I then proceeded to buy every album they have ever released (aside from those two shitty DVDs they just released). If it wasn't for the internet, I wouldn't give two shits about the band. They are fighting the very thing that gave them such a wide fanbase, and it is simply in the name of greed. The band has never denied this statement, but it should be vexing to fans to realize they are audacious enough to admit they work solely for money when rock and roll is supposed to be the antithesis of corporate greed.