Informa: The History, Mission and Format Information of collectiveunconscious.org

History
I) The earliest inkling of Collective Unconscious.org was started by Galen, yours truly, in 1998 as a way to find more collectors of Tool who did not use The Goldmine (i.e.: The Goldmine was a trade ‘paper’ magazine for trading, collecting, looking for rare recordings, vinyl, CD, cassette, etc. - a precursor to the modern day message board/forum). The original CU.ORG was a free website hosted by geocities via Yahoo… I wish I remembered what the URL was something like https://geocities.com/364e5/dunno, something like that - not like I could take a picture on my phone due to the technology, back in the day. At the time, 1997/1998, I was 19/20 years old and in College chasing a lifetime of paying back loans for three degrees I do not use. The OG CU.ORG was a website that was designed to be a simple trading page for my hobby of collecting live recordings of the band, Tool. Hearing live recordings of Tool (as well as other bands like Oasis, Stone Roses, The Verve) piqued my interest in regards to audio taping which is a skill I have worked on since that time. The aim of the original page was to serve as a catalyst to ascertain more recordings and I had figured, correctly, that if I had a webpage it would give me some advantage over other people in regards to trading because why would I go through the time, hassle to create a website to then stiff someone on a trade? I figured it would be more efficient to basically create a trade page with my own thoughts about a recording instead of spending time repeating the same information again and again in emails with other tapers and collectors. In 2000, I started calling the website collectiveunconscious.org (CU.ORG) still as a free geocities site as I started to list the setlists and little blurbs about my impression of the recording and overall quality - this was to help other people I was trading with. In 2001, when Tool’s album Lateralus came out, I modified an image from a Rolling Stone cover for the main image/bannerand started to toy with the notion of making a website about the live recordings of Tool (which would double as a way to assist other collectors/traders). Roughly 2002-2003, I registered the domain name and ever since then this website has been a tool for countless collectors from over the years. That said, for a few years, roughly around 2017 access to CU.ORG has been limited based on browser settings - this is due to the fact that the original coding was via the use of Microsoft Front Page 2003 (which turned out to have multiple ‘Net security concerns).

II) Over the course of roughly 2+ years, I took the original files from CU.ORG and applied them to the new host. Originally, I thought this would be done in maybe a month or two but ran into logistical issues such as - life. The majority of this was done late at night after dinner, after work and after my wife/kids were sleeping as that was/is the only real time I had to work on this project. As it turned out, I had missed a massive amount of recordings over the years and had to go back through ‘everything’ starting at the very beginning of the band. I do hope you enjoy. 

Mission
The mission of CU.ORG is and has been simple: To provide ‘somewhat’ of a contextual thread to the evolution of Tool’s music, a listing of set lists for known performance backed up by factual recordings, notation on said performance and an amount of levity when discussing the nuances of microphones, recorders, tapers, crowds and the interactions between. Many early recordings, basically up until the mid 2000’s (roughly 2006), have the ability to listen to a sample; these were all sourced from the OG CU.ORG. There are no full recordings available on this website nor have there ever been any full recordings hosted by CU.ORG - If that is what you are looking for, I suggest you go somewhere else such as the excellent The Tool Drive Project; there, they have a lot of sources scoured from torrents, CU.ORG and YouTube. Keep in mind, Tool Drive Project just like CU.ORG is not built on any monetary platform; we are all massive fans of the band and manifest it in different ways. There, you can literally download a significant majority of recordings of Tool from 1991 to the current date; you should check them out. For me, perhaps I’ve been in this hobby too long. You can easily take the perspective that having live recordings sourced at one location it is the same as willingly torrenting a show, which is an absolutely fair argument. Here at CU.ORG, you will find some recordings and sources that simply are unavailable as a torrent or download. It is not the goal of this to provide recordings which are listed on this website: These recordings are for reference as they exist. Many of the exceptionally rare items were given to CU.ORG with the intent to not distribute but to be online for posterity. Many if not all cases, the items were sent to CU.ORG to be archived, transferred and then sent back to the respective owners. Many, if not all cases, the items were requested to simply not be released for whatever reason. I always keep my word in life and in this hobby. This has served me well in life as well as in this hobby, however, not every collector has historically agreed with keeping one’s word. Some collectors have been displeased with CU.ORG due to irritation that an item is not available for immediate gratification as that, my friend, is not the Mission of CU.ORG. If anything, hopefully this would inspire someone to try to make those connections with trading with real, live people. Develop relationships, become friends. Do not rely on people to post stuff on the Internet. Find those tapers of last week or yesteryear and take the time to connect with others on a human level, not just sitting behind your computer or phone screen just because it’s easier than interacting and connecting with others. 

Sources
I) Question: What does NR mean on the drop down? When I press the button, it says “No Recording” does it actually mean “No Recording” is that correct?
Answer: Correct, NR means “No Known or Released Recording”

II) Up until 2006 when the advent of downloading lossless recordings began, virtually every source CU.ORG ascertained was from a trade. A person to person trade with the formats being CDR, Cassette, DAT, Mini Disc and actual physical master recordings. That, right there, was/is the magic sauce to building an unique collection: human interaction and not expecting something from someone just because they may possess a source. The overwhelming majority of sources past/from that year are essentially torrent based. For the most part, CU.ORG does not list or promote RF sourced recordings other than those that are prevalent in the community. There are some selected items which also are not listed for various reasons. That said, if Tool were to cease being a band, there would be a rather large update, however, that would be an update no one would ever want. To be clear, what is not listed on CU.ORG? A few other items and a massive amount of known and unknown recordings sourced from a RF nature - no plans to opening that can of worms, yet.

Hoarder / Rare Stuff?
Question: Hey, what gives? Why can’t I download source X or Y anywhere but it’s listed on CU.ORG you must be hoarding it thus keeping it from me (and other people, of course)!?
Answer: Hey, if CU.ORG has a copy do you think other people have copies, somewhere? Go hunt for it and bring something to the table to the taper/collector you (maybe) find. CU.ORG is not in the business of distributing live recordings of Tool (with the exception of Master Recordings). Remember, X or Y from whatever you think is interesting is listed for reference and not for your personal gain, per se. Many items were given to CU.ORG for this exact purpose, to be listed/referenced. Further requests asking I provide personal information for any tapers or collectors is a solid no to any and everyone.  If you do not like this paradigm, please clutch your pearls somewhere else. 

Formatting
I) CU.ORG is best utilized on a laptop/desktop rather than a smartphone due to the drop down menu. 
II) CU.ORG switched to Squarespace as host for the website. Squarespace has a limit of 1,000 unique pages, I knew this going in thus I focused on the earlier years to have individual dates one could just click on from a drop-down menu as many of the previously dates were incorrect due to various information and it should provide more of an understanding about how much Tool toured especially in 1992-1994 before settling into a pace years later. Right around 2012, the performances are grouped either all on one page where you scroll to see all dates/sources or such as 2019, that is split between May-July and October-November.; for example.