MAYNARD JAMES KEENAN Posts His Listening Map For The Sessions Of PUSCIFER’s New Album

Anyone trying to guess the musical DNA behind Puscifer‘s next record, Normal Isn’t (due February 6), now has a clearer window into the band’s creative headspace. The group has been rolling out the playlists they leaned on during the writing and recording of their fifth studio album.

On December 2, the spotlight shifted to Maynard James Keenan, who shared his personal listening stack from the sessions. The contrast between his picks and those of his bandmates is pretty striking. While Carina Round and Mat Mitchell apparently kept their selections tighter and more minimal, Keenan opted for a much larger sweep: an 80-song spread.

The choices move across several familiar corners of alternative music history. You can spot the late-’90s industrial pull of Nine Inch Nails, the more pop edge of Tears For Fears, and the darkwave landscapes of Dead Can Dance. But the strongest thread running through the set appears to be an enduring love for ’80s post-punk, which dominates much of the lineup.

Below is the full rundown of what Keenan reportedly had on repeat during the Normal Isn’t creative stretch:

1. Tones On Tail – “Means Of Escape”
2. Lords Of The New Church – “Russian Roulette”
3. Depeche Mode – “In Your Room”
4. Tones On Tail – “You, The Night And The Music”
5. Bauhaus – “She’s In Parties”
6. Art Of Noise – “Close (To The Edit)”
7. Tears For Fears – “Suffer The Children”
8. Bauhaus – “Slice Of Life”
9. The Smiths – “What Difference Does It Make?” (John Peel Session, 5/18/83)
10. The Cure – “Lovesong”
11. Siouxsie & The Banshees – “Israel” (7″ single version)
12. The Church – “Under The Milky Way”
13. Nine Inch Nails – “Into The Void”
14. The Smiths – “The Headmaster Ritual”
15. Tones On Tail – “Now We Lustre”
16. The Cure – “Fascination Street”
17. Christian Death – “Spiritual Cramp” (Mission UK Mix)
18. Bauhaus – “King Volcano”
19. Killing Joke – “Eighties
20. The Damned – “Grimly Fiendish”
21. Siouxsie & The Banshees – “Christine”
22. Einstürzende Neubauten – “Die Interimsliebenden”
23. Killing Joke – “Kings And Queens”
24. The Smiths – “How Soon Is Now?”
25. Nine Inch Nails – “The Day The World Went Away”
26. Cocteau Twins – “Wax And Wane”
27. Joy Division – “Love Will Tear Us Apart”
28. Dead Can Dance – “Chant Of The Paladin”
29. The Cure – “Pictures Of You”
30. Cocteau Twins – “Pandora”
31. Swans – “Coward”
32. Siouxsie & The Banshees – “Spellbound”
33. The Sisters Of Mercy – “The Corrosion”
34. Depeche Mode – “I Feel You”
35. Tones On Tail – “Go!”
36. Siouxsie & The Banshees – “Arabian Knights”
37. Tones On Tail – “Shakes”
38. Cocteau Twins – “Lorelei”
39. Tones On Tail – “Rain”
40. Dead Can Dance – “The Spider’s Stratagem”
41. New Order – “Blue Monday”
42. Killing Joke – “Tension”
43. Christian Death – “Sleepwalk”
44. The Sisters Of Mercy – “Lucretia My Reflection”
45. Joy Division – “Transmission”
46. Lords Of The New Church – “Open Your Eyes”
47. The Smiths – “Bigmouth Strikes Again”
48. Tones On Tail – “Christian Says”
49. Tones On Tail – “O.K. This Is The Pops”
50. Bauhaus – “Rosegarden Funeral Of Sores”
51. Depeche Mode – “Never Let Me Down Again”
52. Siouxsie & The Banshees – “Kiss Them For Me”
53. New Order – “Shellshock” (7″ Edit)
54. Tones On Tail – “Burning Skies”
55. Sisters Of Mercy – “Flood II”
56. Slint – “Breadcrumb Trail”
57. Nine Inch Nails – “The Wretched”
58. Cocteau Twins – “Cicely”
59. Dead Can Dance – “Mother Tongue”
60. Einstürzende Neubauten – “Nagorny Karabach”
61. Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds – “From Her To Eternity”
62. Siouxsie & The Banshees – “Dizzy”
63. Swans – “Money Is Flesh”
64. Bauhaus – “Bela Lugosi’s Dead”
65. Tears For Fears – “Ideas As Opiates”
66. Slint – “Don, Aman”
67. Slot – “An Evening In Eastpointe” (Playground Version)
68. Spahn Ranch – “Breath And Taxes”
69. Tears For Fears – “Change”
70. Tones On Tails – “Copper”
71. Spahn Ranch – “Antibody”
72. Einstürzende Neubauten – “Yu-Gung” (Adrian Sherwood Mix)
73. Tones On Tails – “Real Life”
74. The Sisters Of Mercy – “Never Land” (Full Length)
75. Nine Inch Nails – “I’m Looking Forward To Joining You, Finally”
76. Swans – “Greed”
77. The Cure – “Lullaby”
78. The Verve – “Gravity Grave”
79. The Young Gods – “Skinflowers”
80. Depeche Mode – “World In My Eyes” (7″ Version)

Fans have already stitched these 80 tracks into a single playlist, which you can check out below.

Written and recorded across Arizona, Los Angeles, and on the road during last year’s Sessanta tour, Normal Isn’t blends the dark electronics and sharp humor Puscifer is known for with a more spontaneous creative process: “From the outset, we had discussed an element of rawness and edge, which guitar brings,” said Puscifer‘s Mat Mitchell. “We got rid of the guard rails and made the music more aggressive.”

Puscifer vocalist Maynard James Keenan added: “Normal Isn’t reflects this time we are living in. As storytellers and artists, our job is to observe, interpret, and report. We take in our environment and share what we see, and what we see around us does not appear normal. Not by a long shot.”

Contributors to Normal Isn’t include Greg Edwards (bass), Gunnar Olsen (drums), and Sarah Jones (drums) with guests Tony Levin (bass on “Normal Isn’t” and “Seven One”), Danny Carey (drums on “Seven One”) and Mr. Ian Ross (father of Atticus Ross, who narrates “Seven One”).

Pre-orders are available here. Puscifer also announced a North American tour in support of the album, kicking off on March 20 in Las Vegas and closing at The Greek Theatre in Los Angeles, with stops at New York’s Terminal 5 and Red Rocks Amphitheatre in Colorado. Get your tickets here.

3/20 Las Vegas, NV The Chelsea at The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas
3/21 Phoenix, AZ Arizona Financial Theatre
3/24 Austin, TX Bass Concert Hall
3/25 Dallas, TX Music Hall at Fair Park
3/27 Nashville, TN The Pinnacle
3/28 Atlanta, GA Coca-Cola Roxy
3/31 Asheville, NC Thomas Wolfe Auditorium
4/1 Durham, NC DPAC – Durham Performing Arts Center
4/3 Bethlehem, PA Wind Creek Event Center
4/4 Boston, MA Boch Center – Wang Theatre
4/7 New York, NY Terminal 5
4/8 Hershey, PA Hershey Theatre
4/10 Mashantucket, CT Premier Theater at Foxwoods Resort Casino
4/11 Atlantic City, NJ Ovation Hall at Ocean Casino Resort
4/15 Niagara Falls, ON OLG Stage at Fallsview Casino
4/16 Akron, OH Akron Civic Theatre
4/18 Detroit, MI Fox Theatre
4/19 Cincinnati, OH Taft Theatre
4/21 Louisville, KY The Louisville Palace
4/23 Indianapolis, IN Murat Theatre
4/25 Chicago, IL The Chicago Theatre
4/26 Milwaukee, WI Landmark Credit Union Live
4/28 Madison, WI The Sylvee
4/30 St. Louis, MO The Factory
5/1 Kansas City, MO The Midland Theatre
5/3 Morrison, CO Red Rocks Amphitheatre
5/5 Salt Lake City, UT Maverik Center
5/8 Portland, OR Theater of the Clouds
5/9 Seattle, WA WAMU Theater
5/11 San Francisco, CA Golden Gate Theatre
5/13 San Diego, CA San Diego Civic Theatre
5/14 Los Angeles, CA The Greek Theatre