Puscifer
V Is For Vagina
3.7/5

Who It’s For: Fans of any period of Keenan’s work will find something satisfying here
Sounds Like: All the voices in Maynard’s head having a big talk with him

Maynard James Keenan is such an enigma it sometimes distresses me. There’s Tool, his post-metal mega-band, who’ve grown more po-faced as time goes on. And A Perfect Circle, which started as perfect alt-rock, also descended into morbid self-absorption. So its no wonder that, when hearing “Queen B,” the starter for ten of V Is For Vagina, I just felt utterly and thoroughly fucked up.

And then “Dozo” with its Japanese fuck noise. The beautiful David Bowie piano of “Rev 22’20 (Dry Martini mix).” The preaching on “Sour Grapes.” Working out what’s going on with VIFV will have you spitting blood. For some it will be a deftly experimental mainstream album. Others will condemn it to be a very OK sort of leftfield effort.

What is for certain though is that you’ll know immediately which songs you like and which you don’t. The black humour, missing since earlier Tool albums, makes a welcome reappearance every so often. On the other hand, the more straightforward songs like “The Undertaker” or “The Vagina Mine” linger closer to Keenan’s recent work and so will keep others happy.

VIFV has caused controversy on Planet Rock, but not for challenging content, merely for daring to not be brilliant. Still, not anywhere near as bad as some are saying.

Track Listing:

1. Queen B
2. Dozo
3. The Vagina Mine
4. Momma Sed
5. Drunk With Power
6. The Undertaker
7. Trekka
8. Indigo Children
9. Sour Grapes
10. Rev 22’20 (Dry Martini mix)

- Kid Lupin