Carnival of Soul

After a 13-year-long hiatus, it’s no surprise that hard rock outfit Tool is back in the spotlight now that they’ve finally returned with a new album. Fear Inoculum, the group’s fifth full-length, debuts at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 this week, becoming the band’s second to summit the list. 

Their latest success makes waves not just as another leader on the tally, but as one of the most impressive showings in recent memory. Here are four statistics that underline how popular Fear Inoculum was in its first full frame of availability.

Fifth-Largest Opening Week Of 2019

With 270,000 equivalent units shifted upon its arrival, Fear Inoculum easily snagged the top spot on the Billboard 200, taking over for Taylor Swift, who scored the largest frame of the year last time around with her new project Lover (which likely would have held at No. 1 had it not been for Tool). That total is enough to grant Tool’s latest the fifth-largest debut among all albums in 2019.

Fear Inoculum comes in behind Swift’s Lover (867,000), the Jonas Brothers’ Happiness Begins (414,000), Ariana Grande’s Thank U, Next (360,000) and Billie Eilish’s When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go? (313,000). 

Fifth Album To Move This Many Copies In One Week This Year

Fear Inoculum doesn’t just enjoy the fifth-largest debut of 2019, it moves enough copies to become only the fifth title of the year to shift at least a quarter of a million units in one seven-day period. The sixth-largest one-week sum belongs to the Backstreet Boys’ DNA, which opened at No. 1 earlier this year with 234,000 copies, falling just shy of the milestone.

Third-Largest Sales Week Of 2019

When streaming and track equivalent units are removed from the mix and all that’s considered are pure sales, Tool’s fifth full-length moves up on the list of the most successful titles of the year. In the set’s first seven days, it managed to sell 248,000 copies, and that’s enough to grant it the third-largest sales week of 2019.

The only two albums that sold more copies in a single week so far this year are Taylor Swift’s Lover (679,000) and the Jonas Brothers’ Happiness Begins (357,000). 

Largest Week For A Rock Album In Over A Year

According to Billboard, the last album that fits under the “rock” label that moved more units in a single frame was Dave Matthews Band’s Come Tomorrow, which shifted 292,000 equivalent copies when it arrived last June. The set also sold better than Tool’s Fear Inoculum, as fans of the easygoing jam band purchased 285,000 copies of that title when it dropped.