“Fear Inoculum”, the latest studio album from TOOL, was officially certified gold on August 12 by the RIAA (Recording Industry Association of America) for sales in excess of half a million copies.
The RIAA developed its gold and platinum awards program in 1958 to honor artists and create a standard by which to measure the commercial success of a sound recording. The program trademarked the gold record and formalized the industry practice of presenting awards to artists for music sales achievements.
Presently, the RIAA awards a gold honor for 500,000 units sold, a platinum honor for 1 million units sold and a diamond award for more than 10 million units sold.
In the streaming age, each permanent digital album or physical album sale count as 1 unit for certification purposes, 10 permanent track downloads from the album count as 1 unit for certification purposes, and 1,500 on-demand audio and/or video streams from the album count as 1 unit. For songs, 150 on-demand audio and/or video streams count as 1 unit for certification purposes.
TOOL was set to embark on an extensive spring tour in support of “Fear Inoculum”, but postponed the entire outing due to the coronavirus pandemic.
This past April, TOOL drummer Danny Carey revealed that he hopes to get together soon with guitarist Adam Jones and bassist Justin Chancellor to begin working on music for a new EP.
It took 13 years for TOOL to complete and release “Fear Inoculum”, so a relatively quick turnaround on new music would be a pleasant surprise for the band’s devoted followers.
TOOL was honored with a Grammy in the “Best Metal Performance” category in the pre-telecast ceremony at the 62nd annual Grammy Awards in late January at Staples Center in Los Angeles. TOOL was nominated for “7empest”, another track from “Fear Inoculum”.
TOOL already had three previous Grammy Awards under its belt: “Best Metal Performance” in 1997 and 2001 for “Ænima” and “Schism”, respectively, and “Best Recording Package” in 2006 for “10,000 Days”.
TOOL‘s lineup continues to consist of Jones, Chancellor, Carey and singer Maynard James Keenan.
“Fear Inocolum” came out in August 2019.
