With his work in not only Tool but also A Perfect Circle and Puscifer, Maynard James Keenan has been considered a musical genius and one of the most talented leads by both fans and other rockers. As to what makes him a great musician, there are a few factors leading him to be considered so.
To some, what differentiates Keenan from other musicians is his vocal style and ability to contrast heavy instrumentals and soft vocals. To some others, it’s the lyrical quality.
The frontman refers to himself as a reactive artist rather than a creative one since his part in composing a song starts after the band has created the core of the song. So, his genius also might have been affected by both his bandmates and the people he has worked with throughout the years.
The rocker tends to work with more stubborn people, and although he did that accidentally at the beginning, he eventually got a grasp of it. The rocker explained in an interview:
“Generally speaking, because I accidentally only work with very strong personalities, stubborn people- I almost have to let them take the first step first and then react. And then allow them to see the reaction so they can build on the reaction. And that’s the same across all those projects. I never come in, I don’t normally come in and go ‘here’s a semi-finished or you know, partially finished piece or bit or riff.'”
His work with stubborn people hasn’t always been the same. He said of his earlier days:
“Early days, yes, but once you start to see the strengths of other people you’re working with, just you know, step back. Don’t get in the way. Stay in your lane. So you let those people chase your tails on some stuff and they present you something that might be partially finished, they might be barely finished, might be very well developed.
Both Tool’s music and Keenan’s vocals have been considered unique by many. As to how Keenan gets inspired to create his work, he explained with the following:
“And then I create vocal rhythms to those syllables, and a lot of it is just time. It’s just driving around in the car with that one riff on loop or in the winery or wherever, just letting it. You have to absorb it in order to react to it to where it becomes second nature. You hear the upbeats. You hear the downbeats. You hear the breaks.”
Discussing topics such as death, spirituality, and self-identity in their songs, the band’s songs have also been referred to as unique and complex. In fact, Keenan wrote Tool’s 2001 track ‘Lateralus’ according to the Fibonacci sequence, which gathered interest from fans and music critics for its time signatures.
Additionally, Tool’s name stands for how the band wanted their music to be perceived: As a tool to aid in understanding lachrymology, which translates to ‘the study of crying.’
Now, the rocker has various options for artistic expression with the three bands he is in. Still, he is best known for his work with Tool and is still one of the names to be called a genius both with his earlier and current works.
