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.), 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 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 project in 2021. His supergroup A Perfect Circle released their most recent album Eat The Elephant in 2018.
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