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Volume CXXXIII, Number 4 |
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A Perfect Circle still gloomy
TED REINERT
ORIENT STAFF
A Perfect Circle? More like alternative musical chairs.
Maynard James Keenan of Tool teams up with Nine Inch Nails guitar tech Billy Howerdel and others for a new band whose debut album, 2000's Mer de Noms, is a hit. Then Billy Corgan, after breaking up the Smashing Pumpkins, steals APC's Paz Lenchantin for his new "supergroup," the already-dissolved Zwan. Another guitarist leaves. Lenchantin is replaced by Jeordie Orsborne White, formerly "Twiggy Ramirez" of Marilyn Manson, and at the last minute-too late for the new album but in time for the tour-APC recruits Corgan's old Pumpkins buddy James Iha. Meanwhile, Keenan still sings for Tool and has been busy making and touring behind their 2001 disc Lateralus.
So the current incarnation of A Perfect Circle is a little different than the original one, and the band finds itself in a musically different place with its sophomore album Thirteenth Step. From the beginning, the best thing about APC was that Howerdel's soft, melodic tunes gave Keenan, a phenomenal vocal talent, a chance to show off a different side of his instrument from what Tool fans were familiar with. Mer de Noms had a stellar triad of tracks in "Judith," "Orestes," and "3 Libras," but the rest of the album wasn't nearly as addictive as those tracks, and "Sleeping Beauty" just sucked.
APC's debut single, "Judith," was a great song, but was basically radio-friendly Tool. On Thirteenth Step, the band has turned away from the direction of its biggest hit and focuses more on softer material in the vein of "3 Libras." This is a good thing, as "3 Libras" is in my opinion one of the top three songs of the new millennium.
Unfortunately, Thirteenth Step offers no tunes that come close to earning the designation of a masterpiece. However, it flows smoothly as a complete album and can suck the listener in if given time to work.
The album starts off with "The Package," a slow-burning seven-minute epic (shades of Tool). The first single, "Weak and Powerless," follows. The song could be a lullaby without its relentless bass line and percussion. It's pretty catchy.
The meditative "The Noose," with its memorable lyric "Your halo's slipping down to choke you now," is another standout, while "Blue" is a wonderfully catchy song about watching someone turn blue from a drug overdose. Addiction seems to be a dominant lyrical topic in this album.
Jon Brion helps out with instrumentation on the Failure cover "The Nurse Who Loved Me" and brings the quirkiness of his excellent Punch Drunk Love soundtrack to this sweet little chemically-motivated love song ("She's got everything I need / Pharmacy keys"). The cute cover is the most surprising thing A Perfect Circle has done to date and maybe the album's biggest highlight.
Mer de Noms was good enough to justify Keenan's time away from Tool, and Thirteenth Step proves that A Perfect Circle is a continuing project and not just a one-off. It is a solid work and will keep fans anxious to hear what the band's next step will bring. More personnel changes? Likely. More dark and complex songs? Definitely. James Iha singing? Hmm.
3 polar bears of 4
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