For the legions of Tool fans anxiously awaiting a proper vinyl reissue of the band’s 1996 landmark album Ænima, the wait has been a masterclass in patience. Now, Jen Keenan—wife of frontman Maynard James Keenan and co-owner of the thriving Queen B Vinyl Café—has offered a rare glimpse behind the curtain, confirming that a test pressing exists but admitting that even she cannot speed up the process of the “complicated” band.
In a recent appearance on “The Vinyl Guide Podcast,” Jen discussed her growing business empire in Cottonwood, Arizona, which includes the vinyl-centric café she operates. However, the conversation inevitably turned to the elephant in the room: the status of Tool‘s back catalog on wax.
When asked if she possessed the “holy grail” of Tool collectibles—a test pressing of Ænima—Jen confirmed that the remaster is physically real, even if it hasn’t reached shelves.
“We have [an] original pressing that’s still sealed and half of one and then, it’s not the original test pressing, but we do have an Ænima test pressing from the remaster that still hasn’t been released,” she revealed (as transcribed by theprp). “And believe me it is just as frustrating for us as everyone else that wants that vinyl.”
The delay is particularly baffling given that drummer Danny Carey publicly stated in March 2024 that the album had been remastered. At the time, Carey told producer Rick Beato that he had heard the test pressings and that tracks like “Stinkfist” and “Eulogy” sounded “incredible.” Yet, over a year later, no release date has materialized.
When pressed on what exactly is holding up the release, Jen made it clear that the bottleneck does not lie with her husband.
“I will just say it’s not Maynard… And I mean I always… it falls on deaf ears, but every chance I get, I do mention like, ‘Hey, Tool should repress that stuff.’ But, you know, they’re a complicated band,” she explained.
This complexity has fostered a thriving bootleg market, something Jen encounters frequently as a record store owner. She admitted to seeing unauthorized copies of albums like 10,000 Days in other shops and feeling the urge to buy them simply to have stock for her own shelves. She argued that the band’s reluctance to release official pressings is essentially handing money to counterfeiters.
“It is [frustrating] because it’s like, guys, just get s**t your together and you could be making that money. But it’s even not even that. It’s just that people want this in their collection,” Jen said. “I don’t know if you think you’re keeping it safe and pristine by not putting it out there, but it’s really the opposite to me. Like, you’re losing the opportunity to actually share it.”
She noted that audiophiles concerned with “pristine quality” are currently being underserved, as the bootlegs circulating are “probably not the greatest copy [or] the greatest quality.”
The saga of the Ænima reissue has become a running joke in the Tool community, one the band has occasionally leaned into, previously selling shirts mocking the “Where’s the Vinyl?” inquiries. However, with the album’s 30th anniversary approaching on September 17, 2026, speculation is mounting that the band may finally unleash the remaster to coincide with the milestone.
Whether that happens remains to be seen. As bassist Justin Chancellor recently cautioned in a separate interview regarding new music, “art doesn’t really have a schedule“—a philosophy that apparently applies to reissues as well.
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