Some early Maynard James Keenan recordings have surfaced on a Tool fan page, which were recorded prior to the artist’s tenure with Children of the Anachronistic Dynasty (also known as C.A.D.), a late 1980s band he had formed before his role as Tool’s frontman. These recordings were released by a former bandmate of his, Mike Meengs, who was a member of the band TexA.N.S. (aka Tex And The Anti Nazi Squad) alongside Keenan.

The first track released entitled “Who Leads You,” shows a very stripped down production with only drums and synths, taking cue from the new wave and post-punk movements that were popular at the time of its recording. Keenan performed the vocals on this track and wrote the lyrics.

The next track “Tweeked & In God We Trust,” takes more of the post-punk influence with clear hardcore punk lyrics, layered on top of synthesizers and a fiery guitar solo. These tracks show how Keenan performing the bass.

“I’m a keyboardist from Michigan. Maynard lived down the street from me for a while, and we did a few small projects together in the late 80’s. We started the TexANS together(with him on bass), did a couple coffee house gigs together, and recorded the first song that he wrote lyrics and sang on (I still have the tape!) on my old 4-track!” Meengs stated upon releasing the tracks. “I ended up selling him the 4-track and a cheap drum machine which he then used for his CAD recordings. He’s one of my only friends that went on to super-stardom and I’m super proud of his achievements!…”

Tool released its most recent album earlier this year Fear Inoculum, which ended a 13 year long hiatus since their last album release 10,000 Days. The album was a commercial success landing at number one on the Billboard 200. Keenans other project, Puscifer has also released some updates, indicating that the band may release a project in 2021. His supergroup A Perfect Circle released their most recent album Eat The Elephant in 2018.