F O U R T H E Y E

Just heard it fit the first time. I liked Grand Canyon and Money Shot better within the flow of the album. The first six tracks together sound pretty damn good. That spoken track is weird but I like it.

I like that he/they are trying new things, May Jay's voice sounds great, which if I'm being honest is all that really matters to me (for Tool purposes) when it comes to Puscifer. I don't feel disappointed when they suck and it's great when they're great.

The bad: the last 4 songs kind of dragged for me. I wouldn't say they sucked but they were just kinda, meh. Also, there was not nearly enough Carina on this, I was expecting more of her.

At first listen and because of those 4 tracks, I'd say it's better than V but not as good as COMP.

I really liked it on the first listen which was kind of surprising because all other Puscifer it takes me a couple of listens to really start to like it. I agree that there is not enough Carina. I was doing house work while listening so maybe I didn't hear Carina because I wasn't giving all my attention. The Remedy is one of my favorites, haha, the lyrics are pretty cool and funny. Overall I think this will have a lot of listens from me and it seems to be layered enough that I will be able to hear new things on each listen.

Yea I liked the remedy too. It's actually the last 3 tracks that were meh for me not 4.

The lack of Carina stood out to me as well. Majority of where I heard her, her voice was distorted or kept low. MJKs voice is sounding great though.

And his intro does sound off, low & distorted, like it could even be someone else.

I'm pretty sure it's May Jay, just distorted (obviously).

It's pretty much the same voice that appears at times on V is for...

trilobite wrote:The lack of Carina stood out to me as well. Majority of where I heard her, her voice was distorted or kept low. MJKs voice is sounding great though.

And his intro does sound off, low & distorted, like it could even be someone else.

I hear tons of Carina on the album. She even gets the lead on several verses. The first chorus in The Remedy, the choruses in The Grand Canyon, the closing chorus in Galileo and a few others.

I think her vocals in a lot of places are panned to hard to the left or right with an overdub and a lot of reverb. Sounds very ethereal. A lot of short delay applied to vocals on this album.

Speaking purely from a producer's (albeit a student and apprentice) point of view this album is incredibly well mixed and produced.

The Remedy has to be one of Puscifer's finest work. Damn this song is good.

I really like Agostina, it's like By and Down, but good.

That's the one^ I was referring to as well, reminding me of By & Down, not the Arsonist. Interesting bit I didn't know before, MJKs baby daughter's named Lei Li Agostina Maria.


The end of Simultaneous still has me hooked. The bass/guitar line repeated with the lyrics grooves in a way that gets me deep down. Album as a whole, particularly the music, has nice intricacies. It's a grower for sure.

Sup all? Cheers to Hboy for helping getting us back on the boards.

Dug the shit out of this album from the get go which is kinda strange for me with Puscifer. Start to finish im really enjoying it. Didnt really rate grand canyon or moneyshot as singles, but in the context of the album they flow seemlessly.

Those that arent totally sold it on yet, id lay down a sneaky $20 she'll grow on ya with time.

Yo Busty, my low end brethren. Welcome home.

Well, I will say that upon first listen this album is more or less exactly as I expected. It's not going to win any awards or make my top 10, and has a few good moments but for me is largely a bit forgettable. The Arsonist was my favorite on that single run through. I'll give it a few more listens over the coming week.

It really stuck with me. It's weird.

Kittaan wrote:Yo Busty, my low end brethren. Welcome home.

Cheers brotha! Hope alls been well mate

On my first listen, "Smoke and Mirrors" stood out to me. May Jay's bitter side stirs me up.

[tab=30]You confessed one day to have been a snake and deceiver
[tab=30]But when your moment came, to shed that skin
[tab=30]You just slithered away
[tab=30]...
[tab=30]There are those who have seen, and those soon to beware
[tab=30]What your smoke is concealing
[tab=30]Just a trail of bones, atop a lemming’s hill
[tab=30]All fallen prey

The guitar part near the end of Agostina sounds very Adam Jones like.

I have a feeling i'll start to like Agostina once they've played it live. Maynard sounds so dry on the studio version.

Ettan wrote:I have a feeling i'll start to like Agostina once they've played it live. Maynard sounds so dry on the studio version.

agree with this.

I also find it interesting that maynard didnt even try to conceal that the song was about his daughter. I mean in the past on his songs that are about someone in his life, the meaning is buried a little bit and you have that moment where you wonder "well yeah maybe its about this person but maybe not i could see it meaning something else blah blah" but with agostina its just bam right in your face, this song is about his daughter being born. Just an interesting new side to his lyrics i guess.

idiscrablis wrote:On my first listen, "Smoke and Mirrors" stood out to me. May Jay's bitter side stirs me up...

I wonder who this song is directed towards?? clearly he has a bit of animosity towards someone on this record. My initial thought was this song was written with the whole Tool lawsuit in mind, whether it be aimed at that leon artist or whatever, maybe the insurance company?

Apart from the two singles, i've only heard The Remedy and i abolutely love that song..very cool tone in that song.

Cant wait to hear the whole album.

xZ1mM3r wrote: I also find it interesting that maynard didnt even try to conceal that the song was about his daughter. I mean in the past on his songs that are about someone in his life, the meaning is buried a little bit and you have that moment where you wonder "well yeah maybe its about this person but maybe not i could see it meaning something else blah blah" but with agostina its just bam right in your face, this song is about his daughter being born. Just an interesting new side to his lyrics i guess.

Well he was being pretty blatant about his mother on 10k days... And i think i remember him saying that he regreted that, in some interview. .So, yeah.

Money Shot is a very strong album. Really all 3 full length LPs are strong compared to a lot of what's out there. The diversity of sounds and tones, moods and textures is great. I don't want to sell any of these 3 records short but I feel like at some point he could seriously nail it and release a real masterpiece of a record from start to finish under Puscifer. Seems like he has a great working relationship with Mat Mitchell too and there's no boxes around what Puscifer should sound like so the sky is the limit.

Ravenpig wrote:The guitar part near the end of Agostina sounds very Adam Jones like.

That whole guitar outro is badass!

Smoke and Mirrors is the most skippable track for me. I like it, but it's almost more of a monologue than Simultaneous.

BTW, there's a really good article from the Phoenix New Times about Maynard's pursuits and his feelings on Tool. Trigger warning, Maynard is critical of Tool fans:

http://www.phoenixnewtimes.com/music/ma ... it-7775457

great_gerbil wrote:Smoke and Mirrors is the most skippable track for me. I like it, but it's almost more of a monologue than Simultaneous.

Agreed. 'Smoke and Mirrors' reminds me of 'A Stranger' from Thirteenth Step. Oddly sparse, almost like an interlude. Maybe 'Flippant' will flesh the album out even more? Seems as if it runs 6:24 and follows 'Smoke and Mirrors' in the sequencing.

First impression was that I thought COMP was a better, overall, album.

I'll give it some more listens in the upcoming weeks though.

Higher quality than pandora and souncloud http://metalhammer.teamrock.com/feature ... um-in-full

It's a good album. I reckon if you combined the best bits from COMP with the best bits from Money Shot you'd have a great album. I still think V is for Vagina is their best, and I'd rate Money Shot just slightly below COMP, though for all intents and purposes I'd probably give them both a 7/10 (V would get an 8/10).

Favorite tracks: Agostina, Simultaneous, Money Shot, The Arsonist, The Remedy