Tool’s ‘Fear Inoculum’ Was the Highest-Selling Rock Album of 2019
Tool just about dominated the music industry when they released Fear Inoculum in August, and the album is still breaking records and topping charts months later. As per BuzzAngle Music's year-end report of U.S. music industry consumption, it was the highest-selling rock album of 2019.
The report breaks down several areas of music consumption, and separates top albums by total consumption, actual album sales, top vinyl sales, top soundtrack albums by sales and topped streamed albums. Fear Inoculum had the eighth-highest album sales of 2019 — with 344,285 total — but was the top sold rock album. Contemporary Top 40 artists Taylor Swift, Billie Eilish, Jonas Brothers, Harry Styles, Lady Gaga, BTS and Post Malone took the leading seven spots.
In all fairness, Tool sold out of their limited edition sets, so that number could have been even higher.
Additionally, Tool claimed the No. 6 spot in the report's top artists category based on album sales, as they sold 603,716 albums total. This is hardly surprising, considering all of their previous albums crashed into the Top 20 of the Billboard 200 at the beginning of August when they uploaded their discography onto digital platforms.
Tool share that same top artists category in the report with Metallica, Queen, The Beatles, Pink Floyd, Elvis Presley, Elton John, Fleetwood Mac and Bruce Springsteen, so it's safe to say rock fans are devout album buyers.
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