During their 1997 tour to support the album, Tool appeared at Lollapalooza again, this time as a headliner, gaining critical praise from the NY Times:

"Tool was returning in triumph to Lollapalooza after appearing among the obscure bands on the festival's smaller stage in 1993. Now Tool is the prime attraction for a festival that's struggling to maintain its purpose. [..] Tool uses taboo-breaking imagery for hellfire moralizing in songs that swerve from bitter reproach to nihilistic condemnation. Its music has refined all the troubled majesty of grunge." [10]
The same year, Volcano Records alleged contract violations against Tool and filed suit. Tool looked at offers from other record labels, an action not allowed, according to Volcano. After Tool filed a counter suit stating Volcano failed using a renewal option in their contract, they settled out of court. They agreed to a new contract, a three-record deal. This legal battle produced a great strain on the band and delayed work on their next album.[11] During this time, Keenan founded a new band, A Perfect Circle, with long-time Tool guitar tech Billy Howerdel.

Word of Tool's breaking up began to spread until the band decided to release the VHS/DVD/CD box set Salival in 2000 (see 2000 in music), spelling an end to these rumors. The box set featured one new original recording "Merkaba", as well as recordings of unique live versions and B-sides, including a cover of Led Zeppelin's "No Quarter" and a new version of "Pushit" that became extremely popular among fans. Also included in the box set were four of the band's videos, "Stinkfist", "Ænema", "Prison Sex" and "Sober". The DVD also contained a bonus video of the track "Hush", from the Opiate EP. Although this release did not technically produce any singles, the hidden track "Maynard's Dick" (a track which dates back to the Opiate era [14]) briefly found its way to FM radio when several DJs chose to sneak it onto air without permission.