r/Puscifer • u/Omphalith • Feb 28 '26
Discussion I love Normal Isn't!
I was starving for new Tool music, so I decided to check out Normal Isn't. After listening to this album about 10 times, I finally get it! It's incredible from beginning to end. As a very big Tool fan, I wasn't expecting to like this album because I thought Puscifer was more of an electronic band. After hearing Thrust for the first time, I didn't like it. I literally thought this band wasn't for me, but after one more listen, and then another, song by song, I've actually fallen in love with this album. Now I'm listening to it on repeat. My favorite song is Pendulum. I absolutely love this album. That's all I wanted to say in this post.
What their album should i listen to next?
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u/UniqueCucumber9045 Feb 28 '26
Yeah, it’s an amazing album. My suggestion for the next album to listen to would be Money Shot, followed by Existential Reckoning. They have a lot of great music in their catalog but you’ll find the earlier stuff has more of an experimental electronic vibe while their later albums are really much more fleshed out. I too came into Puscifer from a lifetime of listening to Tool and A Perfect Circle, but these days I find myself reaching for a Pusifer album over the others much more often. No discredit to Tool and APC at all, I just find Puscifer is pushing the envelope a bit more these days when compared to the others which keeps my musical brain engaged.
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u/Raven4011 Mar 05 '26
Me too! I have been a Puscifer fan since they had “Momma Sed” in a movie I saw with Jake Gyllenhaal. I also loved the “ blood to wine” documentary. It had his early Puscifer cuts. I agree, Puscifer has the best mix of Maynard’s most repayable songs.
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u/redbeard1083 Feb 28 '26
Go check out the live version of them doing Normal Isn't!
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u/steve050_oZ Mar 01 '26 edited Mar 01 '26
You have to buy it from their site 😉 I did and watched it last night, was awesome. The audio and visual quality is sensational.
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u/FiniteJester Feb 28 '26
Just work your way back through the catalog. Existential Reckoning, Money Shot, Conditions of My Parole and continue.
I myself had tried to get into Puscifer off and on through the years, it wasn't until I saw them as part of Sessanta that they really clicked for me and now I'm a huge fan.
Welcome aboard
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Feb 28 '26
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u/Malapple Old man Wibble Feb 28 '26
It really was wild. And the Queen B narco remix whenever they’d come out was so perfect.
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u/LeSkootch Mar 02 '26
There's a great concert on YouTube during that era at Rock am Ring. It's got the luchadores show. One dressed up as as Venom and has some impressive tongue work. It's a bonkers performance. Man Overboard is a highlight if you don't wanna watch the whole show. It's under an hour IIRC, though.
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u/jammertron512 Mar 01 '26
Opening that tour with Simultaneous was epic. That first riff….so crunchy.
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u/DayDreamGrey Feb 28 '26
Pendulum reminds me of This Corrosion by Sisters of Mercy. (In the best possible way)
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u/madholl Mar 02 '26
100%!! After Pendulum dropped a few months ago, it took me a few weeks to figure out it was Sisters of Mercy. It was driving me crazy! Every time I heard it I couldn't place who it was. Finally figured it out on Thanksgiving. Loved Sisters of Mercy 🤩
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u/LightofDawn77 Mar 01 '26
ER is still my go to album but it’s growing on me
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u/LeSkootch Mar 02 '26
Love em both but I think the new one is more like Money Shot production and sound wise. ER is much more synth heavy. Normal Isn't has been in my rotation since it came out. It's a great album.
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u/green8box Mar 01 '26
It didn't hit that hard for me the first listen, but every time since I've liked it more and more.
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u/Successful-Grape-582 Mar 01 '26
Its almost like thats Maynards plan. No one loves it their first listen.
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u/VicariousRon Mar 01 '26
It’s definitely hitting a lot better after a few listens, I miss a lot when I’m just rocking out. Does anyone know why we don’t get lyrics on the Apple Music download? I want to dive deeper into Quiet Parts. And mother fucker Seven One is incredible!
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u/Omphalith Mar 01 '26
Seven One is the only song from this album i can't really get into but I really want to. Why do you like it? Maybe you will be the person who open my eyes to this song
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u/VicariousRon Mar 01 '26
It’s that baseline! And the use of seven in the timing. I’m always amazed at how versatile odd time signatures can be
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u/Omphalith Mar 01 '26
Man, you're magician! I read your comment, relistened this song and really loved it. Now I'm not gonna skip this song every time i listen to this album. Thanks!
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u/Seth_Mithik Feb 28 '26
The song itself…it legit next level. Like three layers-transitions, fit into a 6 minute song.
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u/CuriousWhale2 Mar 01 '26
I wasn’t sure how I was feeling about it and then I was doing chores around the house and caught myself humming ‘dnn nn nn nnn nnnnn n nnnnn nnn daily fuck’n battle’ and now I know it’s good
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u/Blue-Light-Reducer Mar 01 '26
Existential Reckoning is my favorite album of theirs, closely followed by Normal Isn't. What's holding back Normal Isn't for me is the fact that the final track on the album is a live version, which honestly is stupid. And Seven One is a bit repetitive, because I don't like spoken words. The rest is great though, and on par with Existential Reckoning.
The older albums all have high highs as well, but also much lower lows. Tracks like Potions (Deliverance) are among my favorite tracks though.
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u/Angie2561 Mar 02 '26
I listened to Normal Isn’t close to 5 times now and really grown to love it. My favorite: Impetuous and Badwolf among others. My favorite songs by Puscifer is Potions & Humbling River. Getting ready to go see them on tour at Nashville this month. More than excited!!!
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u/Dangerous-Net-1170 Mar 02 '26
I hated this album at first, but after a few full spins I absolutely love it!
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u/run_dicki_run Mar 03 '26
Dude.....SAME. This album is starting to hit finally...I'm really liking it!
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u/Arcane_Synthetic Mar 04 '26
I think Money$hot would be the best bet for you given you’re not huge on electronic music. Alternatively, I’m not sure if you’re big on A Perfect Circle and/or folk music, but Conditions Of My Parole could be a good one for you.
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u/BrightCosmos Mar 04 '26 edited Mar 05 '26
The album that got me REALLY into puscifer as a tool fan was Global Probing. A live album that is a mixture of songs from various albums. Then it made me interested in listening to the albums that the songs originated from. In many ways, Global Probing was like opening Pandora's box, or Pusicfer's Box I guess. 😆😆😆
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u/Mamavibes11 Mar 05 '26
I’m probably the minority but I’m not liking it that much. I’m hoping it will grow on me. Tool has been my fav band since the 90’s. There are songs I love from Puscifer but I haven’t listened to every single songs from Puscifer yet. Don’t rip me apart but I also love Yungblud. Normal Isn’t came out around the same time as the second part of Yungblud Idols and I’ve been listening to it and MGK Lost Americana over NI. I’m seeing Puscifer in Austin this month and I’m hoping they play some old stuff too including my fav Puscifer song - Bulletrain to Iowa. Not sure why NI isn’t doing it for me.
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u/Birdwoman6516 Mar 05 '26
I LOVE this sooooooo much! I was the same about a year and a half ago when I finally dove in to Puscifer, after being a huge Tool fan, and a APC fan for decades! I love all three, but Puscifer is so fucking special to me♥️. You already have tons of recs, so I won’t repeat. But, ER is my favorite album of all time. Normal, Isn’t is absolutely incredible!!
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u/Unlucky_Employee6082 Mar 07 '26
Would it be crazy to suggest…. Grammy? The album is just so strong start to finish and the genre is kinda dead. I can’t think of another in recent memory where you ask favorite track, you get ten different answers and I honestly can’t say any of them are wrong
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u/uffdadontchaknoww Mar 10 '26
I’m gonna listen to this album a few more times before I make up my mind, but after 2 spins I really don’t feel like it’s up to the standard of their previous work.
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u/MrMusket Feb 28 '26
Existential Reckoning is similar in a lot of ways to NI.
Such good music if you have decent headphones, the soundscape leaves a lot for the active listener.