Tool

A Tool Fan recently purchased a bootleg version of Tool's "Lateralus" on LP from an unidnetified seller on Ebay. The fan sought to clarify the matter with the group:

You are probably aware that there is a vinyl version of "Lateralus" that is consistently sold on ebay. Obviously this was not a legitimate release by the band, but out of my desire to have this album in the format, I purchased a copy, only to find out that it is was mastered from an MP3 sourced, track-at-once format CD-R. Luckily, the seller was very nice and refunded my money, but I am sure others out there have gotten rooked on this terrible quality LP (some sellers even list it as promo only from the band, etc.). Is it in your power to put a warning out on the website that if someone chooses to buy this item, that they be forewarned that what they are getting is very poor quality and illegitimate? Just a concern I wanted to share and this seemed like the proper forum to do it. Also, pressings of Aenima constantly fetch extremely high prices. Is there a reason that Opiate and Undertow are still in print, but Aenima is not? And why Lateralus was never pressed officially? Thanks for your time."

Here's Tool's response:

Thanks for the email. I am confident that both Aenima and Lateralus will be available on vinyl at some point, although I really don't have a time-frame for either. Serious collectors who don't already have Aenima might want to go ahead and "pay the piper" as the price will no doubt continue to rise (and the re-release MIGHT be issued with different packaging) , but, personally, I would avoid the poor quality (and, yes, illegitimate) Lateralus LP and wait for the real deal.