People, get out there and see this show! Maynard James Keenan, otherwise known by his more prolific band TOOL, has other projects. Yes, believe it or not, beyond even A Perfect Circle, our man Maynard also has Puscifer. I love Tool, been lovin’ ‘em for some time (like 15 yrs) & even A Perfect Circle eventually grew on me like a dark fungus of some kind. But by far his most surprising offer, Puscifer, is something else entirely.

A different monster, a fitful passionate evil mistress of a project. Like a succubus of old it’s an album dripping in sexy wierdness. I don’t know another way to convey the reality of the bizarre erotic freak out that circles ’round me every time I listen to the album “V” is for Vagina (especially the song Rev 22:20: The Dry Martini Mix) .

Regarding the album art concept and title (lol): Part of me can’t help but feel like Maynard kinda shot himself in the foot with the title and I’m not particularly fond of the album artwork either. Don’t get me wrong, I do think it’s kinda cute but this guy set the bar a little high with the art concepts thrown at us with TOOL’s music in general (especially the truly amazing works of artistic mastermind Alex Grey). I read the album isn’t selling well and it’s a damn shame too, but i think of the title and the album artwork/concept (and the first video release could have been better) and i kinda see how some people might back away if they were to do that thing that stupid people do… like judge a book by its cover. Honestly, I meet TOOL fans/APC fans that aren’t even aware the guy they claim to worship even has this 3rd project.

Now the Puscifer project, as I like to call it, has been peaking out for a while now. Quietly making appearences. The first time i heard a song was on the soundtrack to Underworld: Evolution. Now in the movie it doesn’t really make an impression on you because it’s simply not allowed to play all the way through…Not to mention you may actually be trying to pay attention to the movie somewhat. But the song is called The Undertaker and it’s actually pretty damn cool. F@cking awesome to be honest. After having that song and only that song on my play list for what seemed like an eternity, the full length Puscifer album, ” V” is for Vagina, was released approx. 10/30/2007. I’m definitely of the opinion that most of the songs on the c.d. rock, though the version of The Undertaker on this album isn’t as punchy as the version on The Underworld/Evolution soundtrack. Still a good showing though. They’re the kind of songs that you’ll want to mix into some fun playlist featuring songs of the sexy / sleazy variety. Upon long term attempts to just listen to the whole album all the way through, I’ve discovered the songs are best served in between other songs of appropriate theme. Beyond all that yib-yab, there’re a lot of folks that have been wondering when the hell Maynard would decide to tour for his little sinful side project. So here we are. He finaly sits his other projects aside and there’s a tour scheduled to begin early 2009. Notable Notes: Tour will be cabaret style show featuring all kinds of shinanigans. I’m so there!!