Draft:72826

72826, also known as Toolshed or Tool, is a demo tape by American rock band Tool. It was released in 1991 in very limited quantities of 1,500. Originally passed out at gigs and for sale through the mail for a fee of $5, Tool were rumoured to have pressed these themselves. However, they were actually made in New Jersey by a company called Richman Brothers.

There has been speculation about the naming of the tape, with some noting that '72826' spells 'Satan' on a telephone keypad. In fact, when this demo cassette was made, Tool did not have '72826' in mind. Only when they hired Richman Brothers were they told they needed a label number for warehousing purposes.

Background
72826 was recorded between August 28 and September 5, 1991, in Tool's rehearsal room by band friend and former Minor Threat bassist Steve Hansgen on his Fostex 280 4-track and the band's DAT recorder. Further recording and mixing was done at Steve's home studio in North Hollywood, CA.

72826 features early versions of songs that reappeared in their later releases: from Opiate "Cold and Ugly", "Hush", "Part of Me" and "Jerk-Off", and from Undertow "Crawl Away" and "Sober". Also recorded at this session was an early version of the song "Maynard's Dick" which is the only song recorded in standard tuning, and was later re-recorded and included on the band's archival release Salival.

Track listing
72826 features six tracks. Two of them, "Cold and Ugly" and "Jerk-Off", were never released as studio recordings outside this demo. Instead, they were re-recorded live at the Jellö Loft on New Year's Eve 1991. The live recordings were featured on the band's next EP, Opiate.

Availability
72826 has never been officially released on CD or vinyl but bootlegs do exist.

A month before the release of Fear Inoculum, it was released on streaming services as part of the first-ever digital release of Tool's back catalog but has since been removed.

Personnel

 * Maynard James Keenan – vocals
 * Adam Jones – guitar
 * Paul D'Amour – bass guitar
 * Danny Carey – drums