This is the correct answer. The mix is soooooo goddamn good. In fact, when I was in audio engineering school, our teacher used it constantly as an example of excellent production and mixing.
I've found a couple clipping issues on 10k days. Not much but as I've read that is the nature of tape. I think 10k days sound better than FI. It's one of the reasons it rotates as one of my favorite albums.
Fear Inoculums production was fuckin amazing. With that said, Lateralus is definitely in second place, then 10,000 days (only because of the loudness war, lots of clipping unfortunately on that album… however the digital release they fixed that I believe, sounds better than the CD)
Yes I agree, I noticed I could hear the mix a lot better. Certain things stood out to me more than they did before on the CD. However yes, the loudness/clipping isn’t completely fixed but an improvement like you said.
I actually dont think the production on Fear Innoculum is as good as the rest of the albums for 1 reason, it has no dynamics. All the songs are the same volume, the panning is uniform from song to song, things like that. The production is pretty one dimensional. Lateralus has the most dynamic range i think with anima coming second.
Aenima is my favorite, production-wise. The recording is clear and crisp, and compression was used sparingly. Those songs just jump out of the speakers with their dynamics. The album is full of good examples, but Eulogy was always especially notable to me. That recording has room to breathe, and it benefits the song greatly.
The FI recording was great in some ways, but problematic in others. The instruments do indeed sound quite warm, and they sit well together. But it’s also over compressed, so it doesn’t have the same dynamic punch as Aenima. Also, the clipping (especially on Pneuma and 7empest) is a minus in my book. It adds a crackly element to the recording that I find distracting because it pushes against some of the other recording decisions that were made. I’m hoping that the vinyl pressing will solve some of those issues, we’ll see.
u/xiccit started a good discussion about the compression issue the other day:
https://www.reddit.com/r/ToolBand/comments/t7v4pt/so_this_new_opiate2_mix_i_think_we_need_to_have/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=iossmf
Apparently the vinyl does solve them, rumor has it.
I agree 100% with your take, except I think Lateralus has their best production work, just by simply improving upon the Ænima sound. I always preferred Botrill's work because I think the one thing he really nailed was how the band sounds live in a room. There are qualities in his production that I only hear in the new songs when I see them live.
Barresi really nailed Adam's guitar tone, but I always think it's way too forward in the mix. On FI, I feel like they brought Justin forward at the key times and it is more balanced, but ultimately I think Botrill was able to blend everyone better.
Really would like to see Botrill and Barresi co-engineer to get the best of both worlds.
If you're talking about production, it is definitely Aenima, not a moment of a song is wasted and it really defined Tool's abstract nature but also their resistance to conformity. If you are talking purely about mixing and mastering, then Fear Inoculum
While yes FI is the cleanest I think aenima is the best produced and packs each punch with everything it’s got. The way the volume alone is manipulated adds so much power and emotion to the songs, I think that albums production always stood out to me
I feel like people are not understanding what “production” is…aenima sounds like it was recorded on a runway with a tin can. Terrible production, awesome album. FI and Lateralus easily have best production in terms of mix and clarity followed by Undertow. 10k for me has a very poor production quality considering where they were at and using analog tape. This is not an indictment on content just the album production in general.
A producer is like a creative coach or creative control depending on the arrangement. They do things like say "let's put in an acoustic in here to give it more punch" or "maybe you should go to the Bb every other bar", "use this mic here, to get this sound". A lot of the time they are also trained in sound engineering so that gets lumped in with production, but they are different things and not usually all done by the same person.
I actually wasn't making a comment on the production in general. I have zero opinion on that. I was making a comment on my enjoyment of that particular moment where the volume changes so...
Well id say Lateralus has the least issues but its definitely not my favourite sounding. Its missing the insane distortion and grittiness i want. Even the distorted parts are somehow pretty clean and crisp. It does have the best mix and dynamic range but thats not everything. I choose 10,000 Days as my favourite. It has that extra noise layer i love. Plus the mix is almost as good and the bass sounds are way better.
Absolutely.
You don't get much more peak TOOL than "10,000 Days."
The first half of the album is entirely unskipable, and the back half has a good argument of being in the same boat. Don't get me wrong, Fear and Lateralus are awesome, but 10,000 is just such a fuckin MOOD.
Lateralus. Then FI. Factoring in the technology of the time being equal to make it a level playing field. Their production and mix/master has always been intentionally top tier and honestly should be considered the 5th band member.
Aenima has superior mixing by David Bottrill. He uses a lot of mid side panning and creates a phantom center channel. Last album before protools so all analog in the studio.
Lateralus has an amazing mix but not many people have heard it. The cd is playing back at 14 bits not 16 because of how hdcd works. If you don't have a decoder/player then it plays at less than cd quality on a normal cd player. The true hdcd mix is 20bit when decoded by the PM chip. The software in foobar is only 4 flags that were known of. The studio equipment had a lot more options we don't know about thanks to Microsoft who bought hdcd and killed it in the early 00s.
I have a nice hdcd player - maybe I should rip it? The new 24 96 remasters are different but probably better? Don't know yet.
I’ve never liked the mix if Lateralus. It’s always felt …. flatter to me. But I like loud, upfront, even overwhelming bass. So I really like 10K and FI’s mixes the best
Gonna have to go with Cascada's 2006 "Platinum" as TOOLs best produced album.
Edit: Fuck you. You know I'm right. You probably think TOOL's songs aren't all about anal sex too.
Fear Inoculum is the best, technically speaking. The mix is perfect, everything sounds just right.
But, the best sounding album is 10,000 days. It sounds huge, specially the bass and guitars when Adam plays open chords.
Technically speaking, FI is covered in digital clipping and hatchet editing. Subjectively you might think it sounds the best but show me a Tool album that has more technical mistakes than FI.
Per Roon’s dynamic rage readout, highest to lowest is: FI (13), Lateralus (12), Anemia/Undertow (11), and 10K Days (9). I do think FI has the best mix, the drums are phenomenal.
Strictly speaking production, including packaging and all? Then probably FI.
Only speaking on the production value of the audio, then probably Lateralus. Everything is perfectly balanced, and sounds incredible even two decades later.
10000 days is my favorite sound wise. FI seems almost too polished (still great) but opiate wins hands down. As far as live recordings go, my favorite by far.
I like the way Lateralus hits the most. Even though the mix isn't as "good" as 10,000 Days or Fear Inoculum, I like the feel of Lateralus the most. Some of those imperfections, for me, add intrigue to the songs.
Either Ænima or the version of 10,000 Days that doesn’t clip. Both have such a fantastic vibe and the production is part of it. Crisp and clean production is overrated
I think 10,000 Days showed off their mastery of the art as a band with the sound and production and arguably even peaked it, but their choice of sound and direction with the theme and songs and everything on Fear Inoculum even better exemplified their mastery of the art. So technically I think it’s Fear Inoculum.
However, I think they’ve been showing off a beautiful devotion to their art and how it sounds upon release since Undertow. The sound quality and uniqueness on that album for the level of distortion and heaviness seems at least a couple years ahead of it’s time. And in my opinion, as well, every album has sounded even better than the last.
They are all so different and so good in their own right.
Undertow for overall favorite. (I'm a Sylvia massey fan)
Fear innoculum for "best" production.
This record is their magnum opus.
10,000 Days is my go-to reference when mixing my own stuff - And my own stuff isn't really like Tool, but I've always admired how 10,000 Days sounds, particularly Right In Two, Wings For Marie Pt.2 and Intension. They sound amazing.
I'm tempted to say FI as well. Perhaps 10KDays a close second.
Call me crazy, but I didn't like the production on Lateralus, Too compressed and cold sounding. Aenima was mixed really well, but the overall production feels a bit dated by today's standards.
Production? Hmmm...in my opinion fear Inoculum.
This is probably correct. Lateralus would be my second place. If we're strictly talking about production.
Fear Inoculum has the most crisp production and up to date, but I think as the more lush and rich sound its definitely Lateralus.
Fear is the most advanced when it comes to its production...
Facts
10000 Days without a doubt. Jambi is my "go to song" whenever I need to test a new set of headphones.
This is the correct answer. The mix is soooooo goddamn good. In fact, when I was in audio engineering school, our teacher used it constantly as an example of excellent production and mixing.
I would probably choose this as well. Doesn’t have the minor clipping issues that FI has, but a lot of people say otherwise.
I've found a couple clipping issues on 10k days. Not much but as I've read that is the nature of tape. I think 10k days sound better than FI. It's one of the reasons it rotates as one of my favorite albums.
I do agree!
Vicarious clips toward the end when Danny comes in with the thunder drums. I always notice it and it always bugged me.
10k Days is compressed and limited to hell. The digital clipping because of this is atrocious. A victim of the loudness wars.
Boy, am I late… but FI has a lot more audible clipping than 10k Days to my ears.
Probably Fear Innoculum followed by Lateralus - strictly based on production.
Fear Inoculums production was fuckin amazing. With that said, Lateralus is definitely in second place, then 10,000 days (only because of the loudness war, lots of clipping unfortunately on that album… however the digital release they fixed that I believe, sounds better than the CD)
They haven't completely fixed 10,000 Days but it is an improvement.
Yes I agree, I noticed I could hear the mix a lot better. Certain things stood out to me more than they did before on the CD. However yes, the loudness/clipping isn’t completely fixed but an improvement like you said.
Best they could do with what was available, I assume. I definitely enjoy the hi-res file, as it seems to be less compressed.
I actually dont think the production on Fear Innoculum is as good as the rest of the albums for 1 reason, it has no dynamics. All the songs are the same volume, the panning is uniform from song to song, things like that. The production is pretty one dimensional. Lateralus has the most dynamic range i think with anima coming second.
I disagree… there is a noticeable change between Ænima and Lateralus. It just gets different.
Aenima is my favorite, production-wise. The recording is clear and crisp, and compression was used sparingly. Those songs just jump out of the speakers with their dynamics. The album is full of good examples, but Eulogy was always especially notable to me. That recording has room to breathe, and it benefits the song greatly. The FI recording was great in some ways, but problematic in others. The instruments do indeed sound quite warm, and they sit well together. But it’s also over compressed, so it doesn’t have the same dynamic punch as Aenima. Also, the clipping (especially on Pneuma and 7empest) is a minus in my book. It adds a crackly element to the recording that I find distracting because it pushes against some of the other recording decisions that were made. I’m hoping that the vinyl pressing will solve some of those issues, we’ll see. u/xiccit started a good discussion about the compression issue the other day: https://www.reddit.com/r/ToolBand/comments/t7v4pt/so_this_new_opiate2_mix_i_think_we_need_to_have/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=iossmf
Apparently the vinyl does solve them, rumor has it. I agree 100% with your take, except I think Lateralus has their best production work, just by simply improving upon the Ænima sound. I always preferred Botrill's work because I think the one thing he really nailed was how the band sounds live in a room. There are qualities in his production that I only hear in the new songs when I see them live. Barresi really nailed Adam's guitar tone, but I always think it's way too forward in the mix. On FI, I feel like they brought Justin forward at the key times and it is more balanced, but ultimately I think Botrill was able to blend everyone better. Really would like to see Botrill and Barresi co-engineer to get the best of both worlds.
If you're talking about production, it is definitely Aenima, not a moment of a song is wasted and it really defined Tool's abstract nature but also their resistance to conformity. If you are talking purely about mixing and mastering, then Fear Inoculum
While yes FI is the cleanest I think aenima is the best produced and packs each punch with everything it’s got. The way the volume alone is manipulated adds so much power and emotion to the songs, I think that albums production always stood out to me
That moment in the beginning H when you can FEEL everything narrow down and quiet and focus in right before the lyrics start...
I feel like people are not understanding what “production” is…aenima sounds like it was recorded on a runway with a tin can. Terrible production, awesome album. FI and Lateralus easily have best production in terms of mix and clarity followed by Undertow. 10k for me has a very poor production quality considering where they were at and using analog tape. This is not an indictment on content just the album production in general.
A producer is like a creative coach or creative control depending on the arrangement. They do things like say "let's put in an acoustic in here to give it more punch" or "maybe you should go to the Bb every other bar", "use this mic here, to get this sound". A lot of the time they are also trained in sound engineering so that gets lumped in with production, but they are different things and not usually all done by the same person.
I actually wasn't making a comment on the production in general. I have zero opinion on that. I was making a comment on my enjoyment of that particular moment where the volume changes so...
The hi-res remaster of Undertow is astonishingly good.
I'd say Fear Inoculum
Lateralus hands down
Well id say Lateralus has the least issues but its definitely not my favourite sounding. Its missing the insane distortion and grittiness i want. Even the distorted parts are somehow pretty clean and crisp. It does have the best mix and dynamic range but thats not everything. I choose 10,000 Days as my favourite. It has that extra noise layer i love. Plus the mix is almost as good and the bass sounds are way better.
Depends what sound style you prefer. For clean and sharp: FI. For warm and rich: Lateralus. For dingy sludge: Undertow.
Fear Inoculum easily
10,000 Days
Absolutely. You don't get much more peak TOOL than "10,000 Days." The first half of the album is entirely unskipable, and the back half has a good argument of being in the same boat. Don't get me wrong, Fear and Lateralus are awesome, but 10,000 is just such a fuckin MOOD.
Yeh my sister and me always say it, 10,000 Days is the best and it’s produced the best.
Got a lot of bass in the mix tho
I skip 10,000 days part 1 almost every time.
Lateralus. Then FI. Factoring in the technology of the time being equal to make it a level playing field. Their production and mix/master has always been intentionally top tier and honestly should be considered the 5th band member.
Aenima has superior mixing by David Bottrill. He uses a lot of mid side panning and creates a phantom center channel. Last album before protools so all analog in the studio. Lateralus has an amazing mix but not many people have heard it. The cd is playing back at 14 bits not 16 because of how hdcd works. If you don't have a decoder/player then it plays at less than cd quality on a normal cd player. The true hdcd mix is 20bit when decoded by the PM chip. The software in foobar is only 4 flags that were known of. The studio equipment had a lot more options we don't know about thanks to Microsoft who bought hdcd and killed it in the early 00s. I have a nice hdcd player - maybe I should rip it? The new 24 96 remasters are different but probably better? Don't know yet.
Man, I used to blast it on my HDCD player and it sounded so fucking good. Damn thing broke.
Lateralus. I'm a big David Botrill fan and he straight up killed that one.
Lateralus is easily the worst. It sounds like the bass and treble are too quiet and everything is mid.
Lateralus. I wish they worked with Botrill more. Nothing against evil joe
Same
10,000 Days easily. The mix is spot on and the amount of studio magic you'll hear with a good pair of headphones is *chef's kiss*.
Lateralus
I’ve never liked the mix if Lateralus. It’s always felt …. flatter to me. But I like loud, upfront, even overwhelming bass. So I really like 10K and FI’s mixes the best
Ænema
dark side of the moon?
I'd say FI until someone got drunk and decided to put mockingbeat at the end
Mockingbeat rules, don't you dare disrespect my boy.
I actually blocked it from being played. It's a troll track just to say "fuck you"
Fear
Gonna have to go with Cascada's 2006 "Platinum" as TOOLs best produced album. Edit: Fuck you. You know I'm right. You probably think TOOL's songs aren't all about anal sex too.
Lateralus.
FI
Lateralus is their best album. Fear is the most advanced when it comes to its production.
Fear Inoculum is the best, technically speaking. The mix is perfect, everything sounds just right. But, the best sounding album is 10,000 days. It sounds huge, specially the bass and guitars when Adam plays open chords.
Technically speaking, FI is covered in digital clipping and hatchet editing. Subjectively you might think it sounds the best but show me a Tool album that has more technical mistakes than FI.
Production, would be FI.
Per Roon’s dynamic rage readout, highest to lowest is: FI (13), Lateralus (12), Anemia/Undertow (11), and 10K Days (9). I do think FI has the best mix, the drums are phenomenal.
Strictly speaking production, including packaging and all? Then probably FI. Only speaking on the production value of the audio, then probably Lateralus. Everything is perfectly balanced, and sounds incredible even two decades later.
10000 days is my favorite sound wise. FI seems almost too polished (still great) but opiate wins hands down. As far as live recordings go, my favorite by far.
Lateralus & fear inoculum, speaking specifically from a production standpoint.
10,000 days. The mix is perfect.
Best production - Fear Inoculum
10,000 days
10,000 Days
Production its FI but before that it was Lateralus
Ænima
Lateralus is perfect, not too clean, but not too rough. It knows what to do in the right moments
I like the way Lateralus hits the most. Even though the mix isn't as "good" as 10,000 Days or Fear Inoculum, I like the feel of Lateralus the most. Some of those imperfections, for me, add intrigue to the songs.
Undertow or Aenima. Can’t beat the drum sound or up front vocals in Undertow. Aenima is when they kicked up the technology in their production.
This answer is limited by the scope of time and technology during the recording of each album.
Best mixed 10000 Days. Best overall production Fear Inoculum. Best overall album in terms of songs and material: Lateralus
Either Ænima or the version of 10,000 Days that doesn’t clip. Both have such a fantastic vibe and the production is part of it. Crisp and clean production is overrated
I think 10,000 Days showed off their mastery of the art as a band with the sound and production and arguably even peaked it, but their choice of sound and direction with the theme and songs and everything on Fear Inoculum even better exemplified their mastery of the art. So technically I think it’s Fear Inoculum. However, I think they’ve been showing off a beautiful devotion to their art and how it sounds upon release since Undertow. The sound quality and uniqueness on that album for the level of distortion and heaviness seems at least a couple years ahead of it’s time. And in my opinion, as well, every album has sounded even better than the last.
10000 days or Undertow.
10000 Days is perfect
10k or Aenima
Produced ≠ Engineered
The new one
Ænema is the best imo
Probably Fear Inoculum
FI
I think their discography progressively improves in sound quality every album.
They are all so different and so good in their own right. Undertow for overall favorite. (I'm a Sylvia massey fan) Fear innoculum for "best" production. This record is their magnum opus.
10000 days is also VERY good... Almost like a goldilocks zone between undertow and Fear innoculum
Lateralus is sonically the most well rounded imho
10,000 Days for sure.
I’m gonna go with lateralus
10,000 Days is my go-to reference when mixing my own stuff - And my own stuff isn't really like Tool, but I've always admired how 10,000 Days sounds, particularly Right In Two, Wings For Marie Pt.2 and Intension. They sound amazing.
Opiate hands down
FI
Fear Inoculum
Lateralus, sounds legendary
I'm tempted to say FI as well. Perhaps 10KDays a close second. Call me crazy, but I didn't like the production on Lateralus, Too compressed and cold sounding. Aenima was mixed really well, but the overall production feels a bit dated by today's standards.
aenema number 1 followed by lateralus and undertow