There really isn’t anyone quite like Maynard James Keenan, a fact that becomes obvious from the first moment you hear him sing. And, despite helping to create two highly successful alternative-metal bands, it’s his eccentricities and art-rock pursuits that occupy most of his schedule. A true weirdo blessed with a golden voice, Keenan is one of the greatest rock singers of all time.
Beyond hits and vocal range, and with a special emphasis on emotion and creativity, these are, in my opinion, his 10 greatest vocal performances.
10. “Cuntry Boner”
At heart, Maynard James Keenan is simply a troll. The fact that the fans of his band, TOOL, are ravenously passionate about his work only offers him the prank victims he desires.
Puscifer is in equal parts a stand-up comedy routine and a marvellously talented group capable of tackling just about any genre.
However, you were unlikely to learn of the latter if you were just chuckling to “Cuntry Boner” in which Keenan through dirty humour expresses his bizarre fetish for C&W singers. Laughs aside, his clean baritone and mock-Johnny-Cash vocal are a testament to the versatility of his singing voice.
9. ”Swamp Song”
TOOL had an almost immediate commercial impact. This was, mind you, after years of Keenan being in bands like the comedy-metal unit Green Jellö.
And, surely, it was Keenan’s tender, controlled vocals, over TOOL’s alt-metal backing, that got most attention and helped set him apart.
Yet, it’s on the rare occasion that the band ventures into grunge-like territory, and Keenan uses his distorted yelp exclusively, on a song like “Swamp Song” that it is revealed just how much power his rocking tone has. Cut out the costumes, and he could’ve been the singer for Audioslave or Velvet Revolver.
8. ”Passenger”
Alternative rock, grunge and nu metal had a great collection of technically gifted singers. Still, nobody quite sounded like Maynard James Keenan. His voice is a strange combination of study, great instincts, and bizarre choices.
Leave it to him to steal the show on a guest vocal spot on Deftones’s most celebrated album. But, perhaps, that’s what Chino Moreno was looking for on this duet, on the song “Passenger.” Keenan’s vocals move from a whisper in the verse to a powerful scream in the chorus, one of his best, most often used tricks.
7. ”Passive”
Having Maynard James Keenan in your band is the equivalent of getting Kylian Mbappe to play for your team. Whatever happens, it is most likely that his presence will elevate everyone’s levels.
“Passive” was only meant to be a soundtrack piece for the rarely remembered comic book thriller “Constantine.” However, it’s the way that Billy Howerdel moves chords and air around this A Perfect Circle composition, along with Keenan’s absolutely striking singing, that turned this into a surprising alt-rock hit.
6. ”Forty Six &2”
I’ll be honest, I like Keenan’s singing more than I like TOOL. And, that’s partly because, from claiming to be inspired by so-called “Lachrymology” to integrating mystical geometry into their music, I’m not sure what’s a joke and what’s not.
What’s no laughing matter is Keenan’s singing on the prog-metal “Forty Six & 2.” He absolutely sells it, using an almost feminine vibrato in the verse and gradually shifting his emotional tone to make the comfortably distorted vocals in a crescendo really stand out. Masterful!
5. ”When the Levee Breaks”
Now that AI slop has infiltrated music, there’s good reason to assume that every music exec is plotting ways to cheaply replicate the sound of their most famous bands.
Good luck doing that with A Perfect Circle, or anything that contains Keenan’s vocals. When I first read the track listing and saw that APC was covering a Led Zeppelin song, I laughed. I assumed it was a joke. This was Maynard Keenan, troll extraordinaire, after all.
But it’s the way that his singing turns this into a kind of bluesy dream pop, with perfectly pitched, tender singing that really surprised me.
I’d also like to highlight another Zep composition he has tackled, “No Quarter.” If you’re keeping track, he hits a C5 on that one, with his range extending from a C#2 to, at least, a C#5. For anyone who hasn’t taken vocal lessons, that’s, well, very good.
4. ”Sober”
Again, the name of the game is getting people to remember you when they could also remember any of the other thousands of bands that operate in the same style.
“Sober” managed to do that for TOOL, and still stands out, mostly because of Keenan’s torture chamber vocals. This isn’t about technique, but rather brilliant acting. I’ve always found the way he switches from nearly choking on words in the verse to the shouts in the chorus particularly affecting.
3. “Bohemian Rhapsody”
Surely, he’s joking. But, obviously, unlike Kanye West, he can sing the damn thing.
Leave it to Maynard Keenan to take on the most famous song of, arguably, the greatest rock singer of all time, and do both an incredible and a hilarious job.
When it became apparent that Puscifer wasn’t going to sell as many albums or tickets as Keenan’s other, more famous two bands, the group was awarded near total freedom. What a blessing!
Puscifer’s version of “Bohemian Rhapsody” is the equivalent of putting strings underneath the viral video of a guy singing the Queen classic in the back of the cop car, and making the drunkard take vocal lessons. Here, Keenan jogs through the song, never quite overdoing it, and never quite taking it seriously. Had he lost his vocal abilities by 2013, this would’ve been even funnier.
2. ”Judith”
A supergroup is created somewhere in Los Angeles or London every day. The majority of them fail. The majority of them are just jam sessions of famous musicians. This could’ve been the case with A Perfect Circle. But, apart from benefiting from Billy Howerdel (former roadie for TOOL) and his convincing compositions, Keenan opted to casually bring in his most tortured lyrics and the performances suited for them.
“Judith” is a song that makes me uncomfortable. And, that’s the point. It’s a song about faith, suffering, and tragedy. And Keenan sounds like a man possessed, like someone who is finally given the chance to exert revenge.
He is a great singer, so much so that he occasionally, unlike say Scott Weiland or Layne Staley, hides this fact. But his ability is only part of his range, tone, or control. It’s the emotion he brings to performances like “Judith” and the conflicting nature of bringing this kind of emotion in front of a paying audience.
1. “Pushit”
In an interview on Mark Maron’s podcast, Keenan explained that he never focused on his singing technique. Instead, he focused on his emotions. He, especially, discovered that finding a real source of internal friction brought out the best in his performances.
That’s exactly what he does on “Pushit.” More than any other track, this defines Keenan’s artistic output. Notice the lyrics about tension and strain, together with the jokey title. Notice also how the verses are delivered almost with the gentle vibrato and melodies of a female Turkish singer, how he possesses a manly distortion in the vocals, or how the range keeps growing as the song progresses.
This is the alt-metal version of a Whitney Houston masterclass. Forget the eccentricities for a second. And, forget that he doesn’t care about such things. Maynard James Keenan is one of the greatest rock singers in the world. To my mind, “Pushit” is the greatest vocal performance by Maynard James Keenan.
