Generally Interesting Cover Songs From A Perfect Circle, Emotive Holds Up Well.

The Good: Good vocals, Decent intense metal rock sound, Good replayability
The Bad: Short, Mostly cover songs.
The Basics: A surprisingly good, melodic album, A Perfect Circle’s Emotive rocks lightly but with compelling political purpose.


As April rocked toward an end in my household, my wife was thrilled when I got in Emotive, the last album from A Perfect Circle. The album was part of my Maynard James Keenan Artist Of The Month exploration as Keenan was one of the central members of A Perfect Circle. And I generally enjoyed Emotive, despite the fact that it is not the most original album I have heard in recent memory. Instead, the album gets a lot of credit from me for simply still interesting my ear after two dozen spinnings of the album. While A Perfect Circle is good with its own, original works, it seems that cover songs work well for the band as well.

Emotive is shorter than I generally like a c.d. to be and is thoroughly mellow, making for a listening experience which is distinct and brief. The album also sounds more musically diverse than many of Keenan’s other works, which plays well after so many days of listening to his other stuff. A Perfect Circle on Emotive sounds much more moody and alternative than their other works, at times becoming a male version of Nightwish from the instrumental accompaniment and others becoming an alternate future version of what John Lennon’s works might have sounded like had he not been killed.

With only twelve songs occupying 48:13, Emotive is short for a c.d. and is hardly the defining work of A Perfect Circle. Indeed, the band only wrote two of the songs. The remaining ten are obvious cover songs, like “Imagine” by John Lennon and “Freedom Of Choice” from Devo. All of the songs have been remade with a more ominous, metal and synth sound to them. Instrumentally, the album is the work of the band as they play all of their own instruments and Maynard James Keenan does provide all of the lead vocals. This was clearly the musical vision of the band at the time as Billy Howerdel, the band’s guitar, bass and piano player, produced and engineered the album.

What one can expect then are murky – bass and deep synth-driven – interpretations of songs like “Annihilation,” “Peace, Love And Understanding,” and “What’s Going On.” The songs delve into metal usually only after they have lured the listener in with softer, more dense musical sounds and then the song explodes with sound, as the band does with “People Are People.” Still, this is a quieter album than most of Keenan’s works with “Imagine” being almost acoustic for most of the song, giving it an appropriately eerie sound. Even when the song becomes accompanied with guitars and drums, it still has a more orchestral than rock feel to it.

Vocally, Keenan is clear, crisp and direct with his vocals on Emotive. In fact, more than illustrating any great range with his voice on the album, he successfully illustrates he can emote. Virtually every line is clear and well-defined and this helps the political nature of many of the lyrics to be heard and realized by the listeners. As well, Keenan occasionally plays with production elements so his voice gets mechanized or reverberated for emphasis and this, too becomes auditorily interesting.

As for the lyrics, amid the cover songs, Keenan and Howerdel have something to say. The two original songs actually stand up remarkably well with the well-established antiwar anthems and this album, despite the instrumental accompaniment which sounds dank or occasionally frightening, is quite progressive. When Keenan sings “Counting bodies like sheep / To the rhythm of the war drums / I’ll be the one to protect you from your enemies and all your demons / I'll be the one to protect you from a will to survive and a voice of reason / I'll be the one to protect you from your enemies and your choices son / They're one in the same, I must isolate you” (“Counting Bodies Like Sheep To The Rhythm Of The War Drums”) there is a great nihilistic sensibility presented. The song resonates and the repetition seems to drive home the futility of war remarkably well.

Similarly, the band becomes articulate and poetic with interpersonal relationships. On “Passive,” Keenan and company make the horrors of being left by a partner as real as the horrors of war. With lines like “Dead as dead can be / My doctor tells me / But I just can't believe him / Ever the optimistic one / I'm sure of your ability / To become my perfect enemy / Wake up and face me / Don't play dead 'cause maybe / Someday I will walk away and say / You disappoint me / Maybe you're better off this way” (“Passive”) A Perfect Circle illustrates an understanding of how terrible it feels to be left alone and to have relationships dissolve.

Ultimately, I found Emotive to be better than its component parts. While none of cover songs truly make the songs into A Perfect Circle’s, the album holds together remarkably well and it becomes a strong, political album for a generation frequently too apathetic to care.

The best song is “Passive,” but there are actually no weak tracks.

For other works by Maynard James Keenan, please check out my reviews of:
Undertow - Tool
Aenima - Tool
10,000 Days – Tool
Mer De Noms - A Perfect Circle
Thirteenth Step – A Perfect Circle
V Is For Vagina - Puscifer

8/10

For other music reviews, please check out my index page for an organized listing!

© 2010 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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Even If I Heard Mer De Noms First, A Perfect Circle Wouldn't Impress Me.

The Good: Generally comprehensive lyrics, Moments of instrumental accompaniment
The Bad: Short, Instrumental accompaniment is not incredible, Vocals are not impressive.
The Basics: A stiflingly average work, Mer De Noms by A Perfect Circle is a near miss for a recommend and is likely to disappoint fans of Maynard James Keenan.


Do you ever find yourself listening to something that others hail as a great or groundbreaking work and have a "meh" reaction to it? The more music I listen to, the more the supposed classics leave me unimpressed. One of the "classics" (I find it hard to use that term about an album that is not quite a decade old even) of metal rock, or at least one of the supposed groundbreaking albums of the genre is A Perfect Circle's debut album Mer De Noms. Mer De Noms means "Sea Of Names" and the album almost seems like a concept album by the way it has songs featuring biblical and literary characters like "Magdalena," "Judith," and "Sleeping Beauty."

But I found myself left unimpressed by Mer De Noms. The album, in addition to being short, sounds a lot like other works that Maynard James Keenan has been involved with. Unlike some of the Tool albums which sound genuinely original, though, A Perfect Circle's Mer De Noms sounds more generically like metal rock and it lacks a spark that makes some of Keenan's other works distinctive. So, while there is very little that is bad on Mer De Noms, there is also little that is extraordinary enough to enthusiastically recommend the album.

With a dozen songs occupying only 44:25, Mer De Noms is very much the musical vision of the band A Perfect Circle, at least as it was at its inception. All of the songs were written and composed by Maynard James Keenan and Billy Howerdel. Keenan provides all of the lead vocals and plays a gourd on at least one track. Howerdel plays guitars and was the album's producer. Josh Freese, Tim Alexander, and Paz Lenchantin rounded out the band for the debut on percussion, drums, and violins. The quintet creates a metal rock album that is rich in sound, but like many of Keenan's works, the vocals are not emphasized as much as the instrumental accompaniment.

As for that, the instrumental accompaniment is only slightly richer than that of the typical metal rock band. There is a lot of percussion and this is an album that is best listened to loud (or, I’m told, a band which is best listened to live). Mer De Noms, though has a repetitive guitar/bass accompaniment that lacks a zest or distinction to it that even some of the other A Perfect Circle works I’ve heard possess. Indeed, after twelve listens to this album, none of the tunes actually stand out for me.

More often than not, the instrumental accompaniment is overwhelmed by the presentation of the lyrics by Maynard James Keenan. On Mer De Noms, Keenan goes into the tenor range and stays there, using a sense of vocal strain to evoke more powerful emotional insinuations from the lines he is singing. And some of the lines stand out marvelously as a result. Unfortunately, though, the album has something of a “one trick pony” feel to it as Keenan presents all of the songs with a similar sense of emotional angst to them.

What made this otherwise indistinct, though darkly moody, album score so high with me were the lyrics. When I could make the lyrics out over the thrashing guitars and banging drums, the band has some pretty poignant things to say. Take, for example, “Magdalena,” which is a twisted love song with lines like “I’d sell my soul, / My self-esteem a dollar at a time / For one chance, one kiss, / One taste of you my Magdalena / I bear witness to this place, / This prayer, so long forgotten / So pure, so rare / To witness such an earthly goddess.” Keenan has a strong sense of the poetic and the biblical references enhance the idea that love and angst have a timeless connection.

That sense of angst is present on almost every track and it makes for some truly wonderful songs. The one that stood out the most for me was "3 Libras.” On that song, Keenan repeats the same phrase a lot and the repetition of “You don't see me” which climaxes in “You don't, you don't / You don't see me at all” ("3 Libras”) is surprisingly good. A Perfect Circle does have a way of taking some complex emotions and expressing them with beautifully simple angst.

But not all of the simple lines are the group’s best. “Brena” seems remarkably simplistic when Keenan sings “Show me lonely and / Show me openings to / Bring me closer to you / My dear Brena.” It’s almost like the song was either trying to be too specific (singing to one person) or so general that the sense of the universal is lost.

Either way, there was not quite enough for me to recommend Mer De Noms, even to those who like metal rock. It lacks the spark of Keenan’s other works and while some lines can be understood easily, the work isn’t as robust as others.

The best song is "3 Libras,” the low point is “Brena.”

For other works by Maynard James Keenan, please check out my reviews of:
Undertow - Tool
Aenima - Tool
10,000 Days – Tool
Thirteenth Step – A Perfect Circle
V Is For Vagina - Puscifer

4.5/10

For other album or singles reviews, please visit my index page by clicking here!

© 2010 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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Indistinct, But Audible, Thirteenth Step Is Average Music From A Perfect Circle.

The Good: Lyrics may be easily understood on most songs, Music is interesting.
The Bad: Short, Nothing audacious as far as sound and content goes.
The Basics: A very average musical experience, A Perfect Circle’s Thirteenth Step is creepy and gothic metal music without much distinction.


Back in April when Maynard James Keenan was my Artist Of The Month, I had my first series of experiences with Keenan’s second band, A Perfect Circle, with the album Thirteenth Step. This came on the heels of my hearing the Tool album 10,000 Days (click here for that review!) and the Puscifer album V Is For Vagina (click here for that review!). Thirteenth Step sounds a lot like a Tool album, save that Keenan’s vocals are most commonly presented in a higher pitch – tenor and falsetto – and the lyrics are comprehensible. Unlike every Tool and Puscifer album I have heard so far, Keenan’s lyrics – and those of his bandmates – may be easily understood.

It is the fact that the album is entirely comprehensible that earns Thirteenth Step a soft “recommend” from me. The reason I am not glowing about it the way my wife is (she’s quite happy Keenan was my Artist Of The Month) is because the album is boring. Thirteenth Step does not have a distinctive sound and not a single song on the album stands out after ten spinnings of the disc. I’ve listened to the album ten (going on eleven) times and so far, all that truly resonates are lyrics on songs like “The Nurse Who Loved Me.” It is albums like this one from A Perfect Circle that convince me that alternative rock does not necessarily have to be alternative in a way that means “different,” it just has to fail to be commercially successful, eliminating it from the designation “pop.” Thirteenth Step is troublingly average and those who love Tool or other metal bands are likely to find this album underwhelming in its sound and scope.

With a dozen tracks occupying just over fifty minutes of music, Thirteenth Step is very much the work of A Perfect Circle, at least as the band was in 2003. At that time, the band consisted of Maynard James Keenan, Billy Howerdel, Josh Freese, and Jeordi White (James Iha performed with the band live, but is not on this album) and most all of the songs were written by Keenan and Howerdel. In fact, only “The Nurse Who Loved Me” is a cover written by none of the band members. Keenan performs all of the lead vocals and the other three provide most of the instrumental accompaniment. The album was executive produced by Keenan, so this does appear to be the intended sound and style of A Perfect Circle.

My biggest problem with A Perfect Circle on Thirteenth Step is that they sound like pretty much anyone else producing metal-rock and there was nothing that made me think they were much more than a less distinct version of Tool or The Bloodhound Gang. Track to track, the songs are very typical guitar/bass/drums songs and not one of them left me with the tune in my head, thinking about it after it was done being played. And most of them sound like one another, so as one plays the album on high repeat, the experience becomes an auditory sludge of thrashing guitars, pounding drums and Keenan’s wailing vocals. It’s not bad, but none of the songs truly stand out.

Vocally, Thirteenth Step succeeds in a way none of Keenan’s other albums have resonated for me in that the vocals are easily understood. Keenan sings many of the songs in a higher register and he produced the album so the vocals may actually be heard. As a result, Keenan’s tenor and falsetto presentations offset the deep bass of the instrumental accompaniment and the result is that most of the lyrics may be understood and appreciated.

That said, Thirteenth Step is a fairly angsty album, even when it tries to be more emotionally accessible. For example, on “Pet” Keenan sings “Don't fret precious I'm here, / Step away from the window / And go back to sleep / Lay your head down child / I won't let the boogeyman come” moments before the lines turn darker like “Countin' bodies like sheep / To the rhythm of the war drums . . . Pay no mind what other voices say / They don't care about you, like I do, / Safe from pain, and truth, and choice, and other poison devils . . . Just stay with me, / safe and ignorant. . .” The world, as seen through the lines of A Perfect Circle is dark and filled with obstacles that referencing even while protecting from becomes disturbing.

Indeed, even the songs not written by the band are creepy. Take the cover “The Nurse Who Loved Me.” That song is a musical storysong, a common song type for Folk, but as near as I can tell, largely unheard of in Metal. It’s appropriately dark as it seems to be the story of a woman murdered by a patient with lines like “Say hello to the rug's topography / It holds quite a lot of interest with your face down on it . . . I'm taking her home with me all dressed in white / She's got everything I need pharmacy keys / She's falling hard for me I can see it in her eyes / She acts just like a nurse with all the other guys” (“The Nurse Who Loved Me”). Scoring drugs and killing women, that certainly makes for an atypical song and A Perfect Circle nails it in the creepiest way possible with songs like this one.

There are also songs like “Crimes” where the lyrics aren’t as important and the song is truly about the music that accompanies the few words and vocal noises in it. But just as the instrumental accompaniment is almost homogeneously dark, so too are the lyrics. This is not a peppy album and those looking for enlightenment or excitement will want to look elsewhere. Indeed, it’s hard to see – outside the emo crowd – who “You've cast your demons out / And not to pull your halo down / Around your neck and tug you off your cloud / But I'm more than just a little curious / How you're plannin' to go about makin' your amends / To the dead” (“The Noose”) is appealing to.

Perhaps this is lullabies for emo children, but it’s more indistinct than actually bad and I enjoyed not having to strain to try to hear (and fail at hearing) the lyrics being sung. Those looking for audible, if not terribly original, Maynard James Keenan will find it with A Perfect Circle’s Thirteenth Step.

The best track is “The Nurse Who Loved Me,” the low point was “Crimes.”

For other music reviews, please check out my takes on:
Bookends - Simon And Garfunkel
Minutes To Midnight - Linkin Park
Dusk And Summer - Dashboard Confessional

6/10

For other c.d. and single reviews, please visit my index page by clicking here!

© 2010 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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