Tool are just setting the standard for all rock bands to follow. Last week, their new album dethroned Taylor Swift for the #1 spot on Billboard (and other countries). Beyond that, all 10 tracks, including the weird interludes, made it to the top 25 of the Billboard Top Rock songs.
On top of that, the band now have the third best selling album of the year in first week sales. Emphasis is on selling because most artists in the same sphere as Tool are mostly dealing in streaming. But not Tool fans.
Fear Inoculum ended up selling 270,000 copies in its first week, unseating Taylor from the top of the charts. It was the third best week for pure album sales, with Taylor Swift coming in first, with 867,000 sales and Jonas Brothers in second with 357,000.
However, the difference is Taylor tied in a sale of her album with the purchase of each ticket for her tour, and had limited packages at Target that came with four copies of the album, whereas Tool did not pull such a stunt.
Tool did however have ultra-limited physical copies, that sold out so fast they had to run a second pressing. Copies of the album are being sold for hundreds of dollars on eBay.
It's fun to look at all the business talk, but what ultimately matters is the album rules. But it will be interesting to see if Tool can manage to go gold or platinum, with sales alone and no streaming. They're certainly on their way.
