A Perfect Circle - "Emotive"
(Virgin Records)
A Perfect Circle - "Emotive"
(Virgin Records)
From Aural Innovations #30 (February 2005)
Now this band has a politically charged web site. This new CD is a collection of songs about war, love, peace and greed and is mostly cover songs, but some are performed in very different ways from the original, which is great! I have never heard the bands other material so this was fresh for me. I know the singer is the guy from TOOL, a very cool band. Several of the cover songs come from punk bands like Crucifix, Fear, and Black Flag. Covers by John Lennon, Joni Mitchell and Marvin Gaye show the softer side of the band. Imagine, the John Lennon song rather than the happy feeling of the original, has a very dark piano line instead. Passive, one of the original tunes has a great bass line and guitar and some potent lyrics. It could be a TOOL song but it is too commercial standard format rock in the end when it comes to the chorus. Why?? Freedom of Choice by Devo is a killer choice of a song and a great unique take on the original. While you would think they would go for the throat with Fear's Let's Have A War, it is a strange electro-percusssion strange track. Counting Bodies Like Sheep To The Rhythm Of The War Drums is the only other original track, and very original it is! This one will not be on the radio, that is for sure. More like Ministry in some ways. When The Levee Breaks by Led Zeppelin is like a new age track. Strange. The CD closes with the Joni Mitchell track, Fiddle And The Drum. This is a pretty bold effort for the band and makes a big political statement. It caught me by surprise!
For more information you can visit the A Perfect Circle web site at: http://www.aperfectcircle.com.
Reviewed by Scott Heller