MAYNARD JAMES KEENAN Names His Favorite TOOL, PUSCIFER & A PERFECT CIRCLE Records

If you’re somehow unaware, Maynard James Keenan currently fronts three extremely successful bands – Tool, A Perfect Circle, and Puscifer. All three bands have some very influential albums under their belts, of which interviewer Rick Beato recently made Keenan choose his favorites.

Keenan‘s answer about his favorite A Perfect Circle record is especially interesting, as he points out that only the first half of the band’s most recent record Eat The Elephant “was there.” I guess the rest just wasn’t up to snuff?

“With Tool? I think it would be, I think Lateralus, there’s just a balance to it,” said Keenan. “There’s some sonics attached to Ænima — that’s a very popular one of our albums. But I feel like Lateralus, there was some things happening with that that were unexpected.

“A Perfect Circle, I think part of the new album, the first half of the new album [Eat The Elephant] I feel like was there. But overall, I would think that Thirteenth Step is probably the one.

“Puscifer, I feel like Existential Reckoning is the one, because we kind of had found our way to this. It’s an eccentric album. It’s definitely a sonic landscape. It’s a soundtrack more than it is an album. And I feel like, for what Puscifer is, that kind of is a good intro into the eccentric nature of Puscifer.

“I think a lot of people respond to Conditions Of My Parole because it has more song-songs on it. But I think Existential Reckoning has like the more landscape, cinematic approach that I think is more the core of what Puscifer is.”

Speaking of Puscifer, Keenan also revealed that the band is working on their first new record since Existential Reckoning in 2020! Keenan noted once again that he hates talking about upcoming new music until it’s almost finished, which of course means that new Puscifer is damn near done.

“We don’t really like to talk about anything until we feel like we’re 90% there,” said Keenan. “So I can now say out loud there’s a Puscifer record coming in 2025. We’re 90% written, now we have to go back and start tracking stuff. We gotta track down Gunnar Olsen and Sarah Jones and get some drums down.

“And Mat‘s [Mitchell] gonna get in there and play I believe… Carina [Round], you don’t even hear any of Carina‘s parts yet, she’s working on stuff. Greg Edwards, of course, again we talked about individual pieces that kind of stand alone as a part and a thing, rather than just a support piece. You know, Greg Edwards doesn’t play support pieces. He plays interesting parts that stand alone. Same with Sarah, same with Mat, same with Carina.”

Puscifer, Primus (the one band outside Keenan‘s orbital) and A Perfect Circle recently announced their Sessanta v2.0 North American tour. The tour kicks off on April 24 at the Acrisure Arena in Palm Springs, CA and wraps up on June 7 at the White River Amphitheatre in Auburn, WA. Tickets are available here.

4/24 Palm Springs, CA Acrisure Arena
4/25 Las Vegas, NV PH Live at Planet Hollywood
4/27 Albuquerque, NM Isleta Amphitheater
4/29 San Antonio, TX Freeman Coliseum
5/1 Tulsa, OK BOK Center
5/2 Rogers, AR Walmart AMP
5/4 Huntsville, AL The Orion Amphitheater
5/6 Hollywood, FL Hard Rock Live at Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Hollywood
5/8 Tampa, FL MIDFLORIDA Credit Union Amphitheatre
5/10 Charlotte, NC PNC Music Pavilion
5/11 Virginia Beach, VA Veterans United Home Loans Amphitheater at Virginia Beach
5/14 Manchester, NH SNHU Arena
5/15 Philadelphia, PA TD Pavilion at The Mann Center
5/17 Holmdel, NJ PNC Bank Arts Center
5/18 Fairfax, VA EagleBank Arena
5/20 Pittsburgh, PA Petersen Events Center
5/22 Toronto, ON Budweiser Stage
5/24 Indianapolis, IN Ruoff Music Center
5/25 Cleveland, OH Blossom Music Center
5/28 Grand Rapids, MI Van Andel Arena
5/29 St. Louis, MO Hollywood Casino Amphitheatre
5/31 Milwaukee, WI American Family Insurance Amphitheater
6/1 St. Paul, MN Xcel Energy Center
6/3 Omaha, NE Baxter Arena
6/6 Portland, OR RV Inn Style Resorts Amphitheater
6/7 Auburn (Seattle), WA White River Amphitheatre