Tool May Finally Be Streamable In Anticipation Of New Album
Jeff Ewing Contributor
Tool logo, 2019
cr: Tool
You can find almost any modern band or artist on Spotify and Apple Music--almost. The streaming services are industry titans these days, but a small subset of major acts have been long-time holdouts, withholding part or all of their catalog from the services. For example, only a minute proportion of Garth Brooks' songs are available on Spotify, while most of Jay-Z's catalog is reserved for his service Tidal.
Another major act long absent from the service is the influential metal band Tool, headed by Maynard James Keenan. With a new album finally on the way, signs point to their stream-ability in the near future as official Tool profile pages launched for Spotify and Apple Music yesterday.
10,000 Days Off Spotify
While Keenan's other projects Puscifer and A Perfect Circle have long been available on Spotify, Keenan has been overtly resistant to releasing Tool's music on streaming platforms, reportedly due to a longstanding preference that Tool albums be listened to in their entirety. This looks like its about to change, with the band finally releasing profiles on the two biggest music streaming competitors.
Reportedly, Tool had been in talks to allow streaming of their catalog since 2017 in anticipation of the forthcoming release of their newest album, their first since 2006's 10,000 Days. While there had been rumors for years about the band releasing a new album, progress had been stalled for some time.
The band had revealed that one major reason for the inter-album delay was a multi-million dollar copyright lawsuit from their insurance company, a case that saw the band victorious... but after years of complicated legal maneuvering. The lawsuit behind them, Tool was freed to ramp up album and tour preparations.
And A New Album?
Updates from the band have confirmed that the new album is finally eminent, even changing their logo on April 3rd, 2019 to one containing the roman numerals for 2019. On May 1st, the band's official Twitter account posted this humorous update, signaling new material on their forthcoming tour:
Tool update
Currently there is no scheduled release date for the album, but reports indicate that it is expected before mid-summer (and at latest within 2019). It is all but sure to drop this year, and with the new profiles we may see a wider availability of their catalog soon as well.
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Jeff Ewing