Biography
Much like the late Ian Curtis of Joy Division and Robert Smith of the Cure, Maynard James Keenan, who handles vocals for Tool, shows no hesitation in exposing the concealed sorrows woven into ordinary life. Raised in Ravenna, Ohio, he enlisted in the Army during 1982. From 1983 to 1984 he studied at the United States Military Academy before leaving to focus on art, which led him to enroll at Michigan’s Kendall College of Art and Design. Throughout the 1980s he performed with Children of the Anachronistic Dynasty—also called C.A.D.—and with TexAns; the former group issued the single cassette Fingernails. Tool’s first full-length album, Undertow, arrived in 1993 and thrust Keenan into alternative-rock prominence, where his stark lyrics and chilled, tension-filled delivery drew listeners from both goth-rock and heavy-metal circles. A longtime Kiss admirer, he contributed a version of “Calling Doctor Love” to the tribute collection Kiss My Ass. Tool’s follow-up, Aenima, appeared in 1996 and expanded the band’s dedicated audience still further. In 2000 Keenan issued Mer de Noms through his side project A Perfect Circle; the record earned both critical praise and strong sales, winning over some Tool skeptics via the gentler “3 Libras.” He continued that trajectory the next year by delivering Tool’s third album, Lateralus.
Albums
