Tool frontman Maynard James Keenan not too long ago spoke with Allison Hagendorf and divulged one massive remorse that he has in regards to the band’s profession. That includes the band’s late arrival to streaming companies.

It was August of 2019 when the band’s music lastly arrived on digital streaming companies reminiscent of Spotify and Apple Music. Prior to that, followers have been principally relegated to discovering the group’s music by YouTube. But the transfer to lastly embrace streaming platforms got here within the lead as much as their Fear Inoculum album launch.

Shortly after the arrival of all of the band’s music on streaming companies, Billboard reported that the band held down the entire Top 10 spots on the Rock Digital Song Sales Chart. “Sober” held down the No. 1 place, whereas “Fear Inoculum,” “Schism,” “Forty Six & 2,” “Stinkfist,” “AEnema,” “The Pot,” “Vicarious,” “Lateralus” and “Prison Sex” rounded out the Top 10.

The arrival on streaming helped enhance the band’s albums as nicely, with Aenima surging again as much as No. 10 on the Billboard 200, whereas Lateralus returned at No. 16, 10,000 Days at No. 18 and Undertow at No. 19. Even their Opiate EP hopped again onto the chart at No. 59.

Why Maynard James Keenan Regrets Tool’s Late Arrival to Streaming

In talking with Hagendorf, Keenan shared his ideas on the band’s relationship with streaming platforms.

“I feel like we missed the boat,” admits the singer. “Like it started with downloads, you know, 24 years ago. And then by the time we actually came out, downloads are done. We missed 20 years of reaching two generations of people to understand what it is that we do, in a format that, you know… I don’t like listening to the mp3 version. I listen to CDs and vinyl. But that’s the gateway to get them into the vinyl and the CDs.”

“I feel like we made a mistake not being on those on those mediums for 20 years. Me every year, saying ‘we should do this,’” acknowledged Keenan, noting his help for the streaming transfer previous to it really occurring.

In reality, in January 2019, Keenan answered a fan bemoaning Tool’s lack of streaming presence telling the particular person on Twitter, “Squawking at the wrong Tool.”

Maynard’s Response Once Tool Blew Up on Streaming Services

As beforehand acknowledged, Tool’s arrival on streaming platforms catapulted their prior catalog on a number of charts. When Hagendorf likened it to a music occasion, Keenan responded, “Well fans that knew about it. There’s an entire two generations that didn’t. That’s why [there was] the big surprise when we ended up bumping Taylor Swift off the chart for her second week. They didn’t know who [we are]. I mean ‘Who is this?’ ‘I don’t know who the fuck this.’”

“That’s just the reality, that people didn’t know who we were because we weren’t around,” noted Keenan. On top of their streaming absence, Tool famously had a 13-year span between new albums that became meme-worthy.

At the time, drummer Danny Carey shared with Kerrang! that one of the primary reasons for their absence from streaming was a “complicated label history and record deal.”

He explained, “We signed a five-record deal that was based around CDs. It got to this point where to accomplish the finality of releasing this record, we had to negotiate the whole digital domain. And we had already missed out on a huge facet of that as far as the download thing. It was a culture shock for us, but it’s a necessary [thing] that has to be done if you want to reach people with your art,” remarked Carey on the time.

READ MORE: Every Tool Song, Ranked

Reflecting on that period, Keenan drove home the missed opportunity. He told Hagendorf, “My son simply went and completed legislation faculty, and his friends don’t know who we’re. They weren’t uncovered to it. It’s not in your cellphone.”

Maynard James Keenan Speaks With Allison Hagendorf