Let’s check on the sales of Tool’s Fear Inoculum one more time.

It’s been one month since Tool’s Fear Inoculum was released. It’s since become one of the best-selling physical releases of the year, which is remarkable because we still don’t have a standard edition of the album in stores.

The only physical version of Fear Inoculum you can find–if you can find one at all–is the one with the super-deluxe packaging costing at least $50. There’s been at least one reorder for this edition and those copies should be in the marketplace, albeit in limited numbers.

Unlike every other current album on the charts, there is no bare-bones version retailing for the usual $15-20 and no vinyl edition. (I just checked Amazon.ca and could only find resellers offering up the current CD edition starting at $172.99.) Your only other options are to stream the record or purchase a digital download.

Even with this shortage, Fear Inoculum continues to sell. In Canada, the record moved 957 copies last week, good for #10 on the SoundScan charts. In the US, 6,844 copies were sold, good for a #11 finish.

Switching to the iTunes Canada chart, Tool is sitting at #6 while in America, it’s at #10. Australia also has it at #10.

Clearly there’s still a demand for the physical version for the album. So why the delay with a standard CD and the vinyl? Is Tool trying to drive people to streaming and iTunes? If so, why? The margins on CDs are much, much higher.

There must be a method to this. I wonder what it is.