A Perfect Circle - Thirteenth Step - Nubblies.net Forums

Titan · 09-16-2003, 08:51 PM

A Perfect Circle - Thirteenth Step

Pre-script:What you’re about to embark on is not a “playing of song from an album”. This album is a miniature life of it’s own, a journey if you will. The album exceeds the hype. I don’t know what the hype is actually, but I could give fuck less because this album is a masterpiece of specificity. Are you interested in following the rabbit down the hole?

01-The Package 7:40
When I went to see A Perfect Circle in August of this year, they played a song that I remember fondly. It begun with Freese drumming on the rims of his drums, I thought it was a pretty good intro for a song. It’s an even better intro for the album. A slow bass line and light guitar sounds start to sputter before a vocal verse. Some tom work follows and the haunting continues; a slow taunt of falsehood is sung. Ever so slowly the tribalism of the drums intensifies. 4:06 - The proverbial shit hits the fan. A pounding rhythm bursts it’s way through the built up tension and everything comes crashing down. Give this to me... Maynard bludgeons. His anger makes an entrance with a vengeance. In the history of amazing rock outros, this one will stand up titanically amongst the rest. Spurts of muttered madness create an unbelievable aggrivation that has thus far given me chills every time I hear it. I wish feelings like that lasted forever. This is an amazing song to start the album off with, I’m proud to see the longest song at the forefront.

02-Weak and Powerless 3:15
The first single from A Perfect Circle’s secondary album is not a representation of the album as a whole or the all-around rock song that you would expect as a first single. It is a piece of the puzzle that helps to create a balanced coherency among the moods in the album. It does however provide an inside into the smooth nature of this work. Whereas Mer De Noms may chop left at point B, Thirteenth Step will groove under and through continuously. Heavily driven by quite apparent bass lines, this song is like a juggernaut with a soft spot for roses, romping through your village while taking time to stop and waft the air on his merry way; an excellent follow-up to “The Package”. The video for this single is very well done. It features a girl who (whether it upsets you or not) moves around the forest ground like the well known “Tool” characters. It gives a good feel to the mode of the song.

03-The Noose 4:53
You 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 curious how you’re planning to go about making your amends to the dead. This trance-enducing song graces our presence with a beautiful combination of echoing guitars and constant hollow piano pecks. If you have a set of good headphones lying around when you listen to this album, go ahead and put them on for this song. The soundscape consists of layers of barely audible sound effects and imperfections. It all comes together for another amazing outro. Add the sound of string instruments and some more piano will leave you feeling completely nurtured. This is a soothing orchestral piece. I like it. ...Your halo slipping down... your halo slipping down to choke you now.

04-Blue 4:13
This is just an all around beautiful song, but not beautiful in the same way that you’ll find the others to be (which is why this album kicks so much ass). This song mimicks what used to be a somewhat atypical grooving progression of A Perfect Circle like that of “Weak and Powerless”. It’s a bit faster and more constant though, and starts off immediately into the beat, somewhat like “Sleeping Beauty” from Mer De Noms. The beginning makes you feel like you’re getting ready to dance at a Goth party or something. Hence A Perfect Circle transcending many genres and moods in their music. It’s healthy medicine to hear A Perfect Circle with more constant beats in their music, it’s a very refreshing sound. Some short but good uses of post-recording sound effects rear their heads while excellent sliding guitar riffs only add to the intense all-encompassing serenity of this driving song. Speaking of driving, this song is absolutely the perfect singalong song for your next road trip. The vocals stun you with rememberance as to what the human vocal chords are capable of. It's a amazing. There’s not much else to say about this song, it’s a good solid song that you can rock your groove to.

05-Vanishing 4:51
Vanishing like a cyan sunday. We begin filtered and faded an then become louder as we are thrust into a pulsing chant. This chant we hear reminds us of an imperial chant we used to sing for the goddes of the air back before the world existed. The song is a ride through the clouds, watching everything dissipate. Sure enough, the feeling of the song and the subject matter agree nicely. Some nice vocal effects can really be heard when you don the headphones. Everything slows down and quiets, and it all disappears. A Perfect Circle creates mood within the album with a solitary song that acts as a road less travelled by during your constant journey.

06-A Stranger 3:12
On this road, you happen to meet a stranger. Don’t be afraid. This stranger will captivate you. And I listen for the whisper of your sweet insanity while I formulate denials of your affect on me. There is also a line I like (I tried looking it up, my source didn’t know what it was) but I’m pretty sure he’s saying Fuck the tornado. Then again, that could just be what I want him to be saying. The acoustic guitar is warm and just absolutely seduces you. Drums and strange sound effects persist at haunting you. This chilling song whispers to you secretly, convincing you to stay while you’re lost and trapped in the dark woods. Just when you’ve become comfortable with your surroundings and you’re nestled all snug in your bed of leaves and twigs, you wake up and your guide has gone. You’re left in the darkness with nowhere to go and you don’t even know how you got there. God that gives me chills.

07-The Outsider 4:06
The journey continues. In comes a fast-pace guitar riff, breaking beats and a numbing bass line. The orchestra work in this album is so well done. Some really interesting string melodies enter the pre-chorus with you and then you’re just riding along with it all. Maynard shows you a path through his head again as he uses his common phrasology: “narcissistic”, “medicated”, “decadance”, “precious” and “faultline”. No one’s going to accuse him of writing about something he knows nothing about any time soon. He then creates tension with his singing (as he does) and it all rises as we explore the faults of a narcissistic drama queen. More howling guitars from Howerdel accompany us as we find our way. Go ahead and rock out to this song, no one will object. Amazing drum work and guitar work are an appropriate “FUCK YOU” to anyone who could ever doubt the talents that A Perfect Circle posses to make you want to kill someone. Disconnect and self destruct one woman at a time. What’s your hurry? Everyone will have his day to die.

08-Crimes 2:35
Penetration. Someone is trying to get into your head from the back door. Let them in? Or perhaps it’s you knocking on the door. You’re in prison, doing your time for your 10 crimes. This song has a captivating beat with a plethora of sounds in the background over stretching guitar strings. Throw in some random studio noise in the background and you’ve got a nice “who gives the fuck about making every song presentable and appropriate”. Not surprisingly, this album does not fit the convention of what most people think albums should sound like (i.e. single-worthy songs, all coherent and whole). Fuck that. These conceptual pieces give you a back door to the writing going on.

09-The Nurse Who Loved Me 4:04
This is somehow at the same time one of the funniest and most beautiful songs I’ve heard on an album. What was an odd melody in the live performance is now refined and many string instruments and floating female vocals are added so that you truly beleive you’re part of the procession of faeries in the middle of the forest. Wow, yeah, the cover art fits this album perfectly. That’s so weird. A good variety of strings being swooned and plucked. The melodies in this song are absolutely, to use a word I just did, swooning. It gives me the feeling that I’m lying in a hammock or being carried by faeries through the trees. And then comes the line, Say hello to all the apples on the ground. They were once in your eyes but you sneezed them out while sleeping. All the lyrics really are great, I wish I could put them all on here. Say hello to the rug’s topography. It holds quite a lot of interest with your face down on it. A Perfect Circle’s former rhythm guitarist, Troy Van Leeuwen, had an old band called Failure, they are the creators of this song. I’ve not heard the original, but I’ve never heard such a successful cover. A Perfect Circle started playing it live, and evidently it was morphovulated into this beautiful beast. I was apprehensive because I’m not a fan of other people’s songs on your album, but there is nothing wrong with this song at all.

10-Pet 4:34
This was a great choice to go into right after “The Nurse”. A creative approach to rock music that only Billy Howerdel would induce. Grungy guitars? Yeah, you’ll find them. They’ll stick their heads out every once in a while, or maybe you’ll be able to hear them over the insanely creepy and crunchy echoe of the guitar which was distorted in an eerie galactic haunted house. Close attention was paid to the effects on the vocals as well; fierce vocals poke out too. Written from the perspective of an over-protected father figure or leader talking to his son or people (it can be interpreted so many ways), this song is a masterpiece of anguish and fear that flicks at your fight or flight response so heavily that you decide to just sit there and become part of the conflict yourself. You’ll feel like your head is shaking back and forth trying to rid itself of the inherent evil it can’t dispense. A great outro will rock you as well; great leads on this song too. This, again, is a song that audially represents what is going on lyrically; it’s very well done in that respect. Keep your head down, go to sleep, to the rhythm of the war drums. I'll be the one to protect you from your enemies and your choices son. They're one in the same. Unfortunately I really think this song will be released as a single. Now, I say “unfortunately”: not because I like this song and you don’t deserve to, but because, inherently, the song will gain a reputation as “the most rockin’ song on the album” and that’s what it will be genericized to. The greatness accomplished by this song would then be overlooked. It's a well done song, much like "The Package" and "The Outsider" and "Every Other Song On the Album".

11-Lullaby 2:01
Continuing from the last line of “Pet”, lullaby starts off with Maynard repeating “Go back to sleep” with a generous amount of vocal tampering. Then comes the beat... it’s the war drum child, go back to sleep. Some naturalistic female vocals lend a hand, singing the same riff that you just heard in "Pet". Male chant-like vocals follow. Turn on your subwoofer if you’d like to wake the neighbors. As in many of these songs, there is a good amount of work done in the actual after effects of recording. It’s not just a bunch of songs that were recorded live that sound like the song being played live. Things like this help to give more of a variety of sound to the album.

12-Gravity 5:08
Is it about time for the echoey guitars to make a comeback? You bet. This piece starts off, and you’ll think it’s just another delightfully moody track. The mood, though created by a band you’d normally surround by darkness in your mind, is satisfyingly euphoric. It’s healing, much like that of “Breña” from Mer De Noms. I for one am ecstatic at this song being at the end of the album, it’s a wonderful closer. The whole song is orchestrated very well and you can tell that it (like other songs on the album) is very purposeful in it’s craft. I cannot explain the chills that I get when I listen to this song. That’s one thing that is so amazing about this album. Maybe it’s just me, but it affects me emotionally more than any album has in a hell of a long time. That, among a shitload of other reasons, is why it is a beautiful thing that A Perfect Circle exists in our world. Take advantage of it. I am surrendiering to the gravity and the unknown. Catch me, heal me, lift me back up to the sun. I choose to live.

Titan’s Ranking:
1. Pet
2. The Package
3. Blue
4. The Outsider
5. Gravity
6. The Noose
7. Weak and Powerless
8. A Stranger
9. The Nurse Who Loved Me
10. Vanishing
11. Lullaby
12. Crimes

Let it be noted that this is another case where ranking doesn't show the fact that I absolutely love everything. Even "Vanishing", ranked #10, I would give a grade of 85%, and that's fucking good.

Post-script / Titan’s Rating: 98.3%
This is an amazing album. It’s not conventional, it’s not any more coherent than Mer De Noms, it’s not ridden with “single-worthy” material. This is one of the most artful albums to come along in a while, you need to experience it as a whole. It is various, but not as if every song is completely different, instead the variety comes to you in chunks. What with common tactics like the echoing guitars, apparent usage of computer-driven after-effects, certain distortions found on heavier parts (“Pet” and “The Package”), techniques from soft delicate places and hard anti-rhythmic cycles to constant jungular beats and chanting or haunting vocals. The guitars are unique (expect nothing less of Howerdel). The new bass style from Jeordie really makes some of the songs. Drums by Josh Freese, as usual, excel in the area of “fills” that actually are very important in many parts, but on many songs the drums take a more “constant” direction. The vocals are very well done and varied, and the lyrics are deeply inflicted and insightful and varied (expect nothing less of Keenan). Again, this is an amazing album. I personally love any album that has an amazing presence and uniqueness of altered mood and emotion. This has that. I've gotten chills so many times when listening to this. It is also a pretty solid album altogether with a generally clean and smooth, but ruptured and varied sound, and is an amazing journey throughout. This album provides you with a primary 12 steps. The next is for you to make.

A Perfect Circle - Thirteenth Step

[ September 17, 2003, 10:12 PM: Message edited by: Titan ]

Ugly Bastard · 09-17-2003, 02:18 AM

Titan-

Thank you very much for this review. The album should be finished downloading in a few hours, this will be my listening guide.

Thanks again for all the work you put into this site.

-Ugly Bastard

Titan · 09-17-2003, 03:26 AM

Yeah... it's no problem at all. It's a service I can actually provide decently enough. People tell me they read these... but they don't post anything. Anyway, tell me what you think when you're done downloading the beast.

Ugly Bastard · 09-17-2003, 03:31 PM

MOTHER!!!!

I had just typed out a huge review of this album on a notepad file, I was about a half a song away from posting the thing, my computer decides to restart, and I lose the donut with two holes.

I'm really not in the mood to type all of that out again, so I'll just give you a highly abbreviated version:

(In Order Of How Much I Like Each Song):

The Noose-one of the better songs I've heard in a while, the lyrics are something a genius could only come up with.

Pet-Wow. Again, the lyrics...my.

The Package-Great song to start the track with.

Blue

Weak And Powerless-I like it a lot right now, but I can tell that I'll probably be pretty sick of it after hearing it on the radio over the next few months and what-not.

The Nurse Who Loved Me-I really like it, even if they didn't write it.

Gravity

The Outsider

A Stranger

Vanishing-I really didn't care for this song, just didn't do it for me.

Lullaby-Eh. Bad followup to quite possibly the best song on the album.

Crimes-What the hell was that?

In closing: Great album, right up there with Mer de Noms, if not better.

-Ugly Bastard

Pliedes · 09-17-2003, 03:34 PM

Since no one is really going to read my "First Spin" thread on this album, I'm just going to post my review from the first few listens in here... damn you Titan and you good reviews

A Perfect Circle - Thirteenth Step

This is my 'first few spins' review. I wanted to go ahead and make this post before I listened to it too much. This is all about my first impressions from the album, because I'm sure they'll change as I go along. But thats why this is a 'first spins review. Enough of the bullshit, almost.
Disclaimer: Remember, these are just my opinions. I use terms which makes sense to me, so if they don't work for you, I'm sorry.

The Package - This song is extremely dynamic. A great way to start off the album. A long song, it provides some nice 'sit back and listen' parts, and some extremely hard/powerful/rock-out-with-your-cock-out sections.
Weak and Powerless - The first single. Easy to listen to. Very mellow but powerful.
The Noose - This is probably my favorite track off the album. It's just so beautiful. The lyrics also are a high point for me.
Blue - A very solid rock song, top to bottom. Great guitar tones and effects on this song.
Vanishing - Is extremely ambient, flowing, and powerful all at the same time. Solid, just like Blue, but in a more ambient way.
A Stranger - Acousticism starts this song off. Lots of strings are also used. One of the album's softer tracks.
The Outsider - A very driving song. Vocals are song faster than other songs and really contributes to the feel.
Crimes - A cool transition song.
The Nurse Who Loved Me - A cover of the song written by Failure. This song really has a different feel than the rest of the album. It reminds me of Belle&Sebastian (or someone like that) for some reason. Lots of strings and simplistic singing. A really, really good track.
Pet - This is the song they opened with live, and let me say, it fucking rocked. The album version gives me the same feel. It's really incredible. I know I've used the word 'powerful' a lot in this review (and for good reason) but I think this song might be the most powerful.
Lulluby - Another transition type song. Wispering followed by a female vocal thing. It's quite neat.
Gravity - Great rhythms and vocals really make this song. A perfect way to close the album, as it's fairly smooth, but has a great feeling about, and is emotional (though they all really are).

My top 5 at the moment:

1 - The Noose
2 - Pet
3 - The Nurse Who Loved Me
4 - The Package
5 - Weak and Powerless

If you only listen to one song off the album:
-Weak and Powerless, is good all-around
-Pet, if you're into harder stuff
-The Noose, if you're into no so hard stuff

Some music you will listen to and stay "wow, that's some cool guitar work" or "that singer is really good". Well, A Perfect Circle is one of those bands where everything is awesome. The drums and bass really help give APC it's powerful feel and help every song reach it's maximum potential. Of course, the vocals are simply incredible and the lyrics are deep and beautiful. The guitar work is extremely innovative, making the best of diverse rhythms and meaningful effects.

This is another great album from a already amazing band. I hope they keep making music for a long time.

[ September 17, 2003, 01:34 PM: Message edited by: Pliedes ]

Titan · 09-17-2003, 04:37 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Pliedes:
damn you Titan and you good reviews

Well I'm sorry that I took the time to write my thorough thoughts... no, really, I'm sorry I took the time.

It's insane how much "The Noose" has hit the market that is the people's hearts. I'm pretty sure (as I've noted from others) that it's the "3 Libras" of the album... which would make sense. It's good, just not "long-lasting" good.

If I were to have a child, it would be "Blue". I'm a fan of that song. "The Package" is just the kind of moodswinging grippled rock song that I need to hear, so I listen to it. "Pet" makes my body quiver with everlasting hate. Rounding off the top 5, "Gravity" is just a beautiful song, and gives me chills when I listen to it. Yup. That's how that goes.

[ September 17, 2003, 02:42 PM: Message edited by: Titan ]

Osiris · 09-19-2003, 02:12 PM

I bought this album as soon as it came out. Billy Howerdel is a genius and Maynard is so beautiful.

My favorite tracks are definately Gravity and the Noose.

09-16-2003, 08:51 PM	#1 (permalink)
Titan Senior Member Join Date: Nov 2002 Posts: 3,698 Internets: 10	A Perfect Circle - Thirteenth Step Pre-script:What you’re about to embark on is not a “playing of song from an album”. This album is a miniature life of it’s own, a journey if you will. The album exceeds the hype. I don’t know what the hype is actually, but I could give fuck less because this album is a masterpiece of specificity. Are you interested in following the rabbit down the hole? 01-The Package 7:40 When I went to see A Perfect Circle in August of this year, they played a song that I remember fondly. It begun with Freese drumming on the rims of his drums, I thought it was a pretty good intro for a song. It’s an even better intro for the album. A slow bass line and light guitar sounds start to sputter before a vocal verse. Some tom work follows and the haunting continues; a slow taunt of falsehood is sung. Ever so slowly the tribalism of the drums intensifies. 4:06 - The proverbial shit hits the fan. A pounding rhythm bursts it’s way through the built up tension and everything comes crashing down. Give this to me... Maynard bludgeons. His anger makes an entrance with a vengeance. In the history of amazing rock outros, this one will stand up titanically amongst the rest. Spurts of muttered madness create an unbelievable aggrivation that has thus far given me chills every time I hear it. I wish feelings like that lasted forever. This is an amazing song to start the album off with, I’m proud to see the longest song at the forefront. 02-Weak and Powerless 3:15 The first single from A Perfect Circle’s secondary album is not a representation of the album as a whole or the all-around rock song that you would expect as a first single. It is a piece of the puzzle that helps to create a balanced coherency among the moods in the album. It does however provide an inside into the smooth nature of this work. Whereas Mer De Noms may chop left at point B, Thirteenth Step will groove under and through continuously. Heavily driven by quite apparent bass lines, this song is like a juggernaut with a soft spot for roses, romping through your village while taking time to stop and waft the air on his merry way; an excellent follow-up to “The Package”. The video for this single is very well done. It features a girl who (whether it upsets you or not) moves around the forest ground like the well known “Tool” characters. It gives a good feel to the mode of the song. 03-The Noose 4:53 You 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 curious how you’re planning to go about making your amends to the dead. This trance-enducing song graces our presence with a beautiful combination of echoing guitars and constant hollow piano pecks. If you have a set of good headphones lying around when you listen to this album, go ahead and put them on for this song. The soundscape consists of layers of barely audible sound effects and imperfections. It all comes together for another amazing outro. Add the sound of string instruments and some more piano will leave you feeling completely nurtured. This is a soothing orchestral piece. I like it. ...Your halo slipping down... your halo slipping down to choke you now. 04-Blue 4:13 This is just an all around beautiful song, but not beautiful in the same way that you’ll find the others to be (which is why this album kicks so much ass). This song mimicks what used to be a somewhat atypical grooving progression of A Perfect Circle like that of “Weak and Powerless”. It’s a bit faster and more constant though, and starts off immediately into the beat, somewhat like “Sleeping Beauty” from Mer De Noms. The beginning makes you feel like you’re getting ready to dance at a Goth party or something. Hence A Perfect Circle transcending many genres and moods in their music. It’s healthy medicine to hear A Perfect Circle with more constant beats in their music, it’s a very refreshing sound. Some short but good uses of post-recording sound effects rear their heads while excellent sliding guitar riffs only add to the intense all-encompassing serenity of this driving song. Speaking of driving, this song is absolutely the perfect singalong song for your next road trip. The vocals stun you with rememberance as to what the human vocal chords are capable of. It's a amazing. There’s not much else to say about this song, it’s a good solid song that you can rock your groove to. 05-Vanishing 4:51 Vanishing like a cyan sunday. We begin filtered and faded an then become louder as we are thrust into a pulsing chant. This chant we hear reminds us of an imperial chant we used to sing for the goddes of the air back before the world existed. The song is a ride through the clouds, watching everything dissipate. Sure enough, the feeling of the song and the subject matter agree nicely. Some nice vocal effects can really be heard when you don the headphones. Everything slows down and quiets, and it all disappears. A Perfect Circle creates mood within the album with a solitary song that acts as a road less travelled by during your constant journey. 06-A Stranger 3:12 On this road, you happen to meet a stranger. Don’t be afraid. This stranger will captivate you. And I listen for the whisper of your sweet insanity while I formulate denials of your affect on me. There is also a line I like (I tried looking it up, my source didn’t know what it was) but I’m pretty sure he’s saying Fuck the tornado. Then again, that could just be what I want him to be saying. The acoustic guitar is warm and just absolutely seduces you. Drums and strange sound effects persist at haunting you. This chilling song whispers to you secretly, convincing you to stay while you’re lost and trapped in the dark woods. Just when you’ve become comfortable with your surroundings and you’re nestled all snug in your bed of leaves and twigs, you wake up and your guide has gone. You’re left in the darkness with nowhere to go and you don’t even know how you got there. God that gives me chills. 07-The Outsider 4:06 The journey continues. In comes a fast-pace guitar riff, breaking beats and a numbing bass line. The orchestra work in this album is so well done. Some really interesting string melodies enter the pre-chorus with you and then you’re just riding along with it all. Maynard shows you a path through his head again as he uses his common phrasology: “narcissistic”, “medicated”, “decadance”, “precious” and “faultline”. No one’s going to accuse him of writing about something he knows nothing about any time soon. He then creates tension with his singing (as he does) and it all rises as we explore the faults of a narcissistic drama queen. More howling guitars from Howerdel accompany us as we find our way. Go ahead and rock out to this song, no one will object. Amazing drum work and guitar work are an appropriate “FUCK YOU” to anyone who could ever doubt the talents that A Perfect Circle posses to make you want to kill someone. Disconnect and self destruct one woman at a time. What’s your hurry? Everyone will have his day to die. 08-Crimes 2:35 Penetration. Someone is trying to get into your head from the back door. Let them in? Or perhaps it’s you knocking on the door. You’re in prison, doing your time for your 10 crimes. This song has a captivating beat with a plethora of sounds in the background over stretching guitar strings. Throw in some random studio noise in the background and you’ve got a nice “who gives the fuck about making every song presentable and appropriate”. Not surprisingly, this album does not fit the convention of what most people think albums should sound like (i.e. single-worthy songs, all coherent and whole). Fuck that. These conceptual pieces give you a back door to the writing going on. 09-The Nurse Who Loved Me 4:04 This is somehow at the same time one of the funniest and most beautiful songs I’ve heard on an album. What was an odd melody in the live performance is now refined and many string instruments and floating female vocals are added so that you truly beleive you’re part of the procession of faeries in the middle of the forest. Wow, yeah, the cover art fits this album perfectly. That’s so weird. A good variety of strings being swooned and plucked. The melodies in this song are absolutely, to use a word I just did, swooning. It gives me the feeling that I’m lying in a hammock or being carried by faeries through the trees. And then comes the line, Say hello to all the apples on the ground. They were once in your eyes but you sneezed them out while sleeping. All the lyrics really are great, I wish I could put them all on here. Say hello to the rug’s topography. It holds quite a lot of interest with your face down on it. A Perfect Circle’s former rhythm guitarist, Troy Van Leeuwen, had an old band called Failure, they are the creators of this song. I’ve not heard the original, but I’ve never heard such a successful cover. A Perfect Circle started playing it live, and evidently it was morphovulated into this beautiful beast. I was apprehensive because I’m not a fan of other people’s songs on your album, but there is nothing wrong with this song at all. 10-Pet 4:34 This was a great choice to go into right after “The Nurse”. A creative approach to rock music that only Billy Howerdel would induce. Grungy guitars? Yeah, you’ll find them. They’ll stick their heads out every once in a while, or maybe you’ll be able to hear them over the insanely creepy and crunchy echoe of the guitar which was distorted in an eerie galactic haunted house. Close attention was paid to the effects on the vocals as well; fierce vocals poke out too. Written from the perspective of an over-protected father figure or leader talking to his son or people (it can be interpreted so many ways), this song is a masterpiece of anguish and fear that flicks at your fight or flight response so heavily that you decide to just sit there and become part of the conflict yourself. You’ll feel like your head is shaking back and forth trying to rid itself of the inherent evil it can’t dispense. A great outro will rock you as well; great leads on this song too. This, again, is a song that audially represents what is going on lyrically; it’s very well done in that respect. Keep your head down, go to sleep, to the rhythm of the war drums. I'll be the one to protect you from your enemies and your choices son. They're one in the same. Unfortunately I really think this song will be released as a single. Now, I say “unfortunately”: not because I like this song and you don’t deserve to, but because, inherently, the song will gain a reputation as “the most rockin’ song on the album” and that’s what it will be genericized to. The greatness accomplished by this song would then be overlooked. It's a well done song, much like "The Package" and "The Outsider" and "Every Other Song On the Album". 11-Lullaby 2:01 Continuing from the last line of “Pet”, lullaby starts off with Maynard repeating “Go back to sleep” with a generous amount of vocal tampering. Then comes the beat... it’s the war drum child, go back to sleep. Some naturalistic female vocals lend a hand, singing the same riff that you just heard in "Pet". Male chant-like vocals follow. Turn on your subwoofer if you’d like to wake the neighbors. As in many of these songs, there is a good amount of work done in the actual after effects of recording. It’s not just a bunch of songs that were recorded live that sound like the song being played live. Things like this help to give more of a variety of sound to the album. 12-Gravity 5:08 Is it about time for the echoey guitars to make a comeback? You bet. This piece starts off, and you’ll think it’s just another delightfully moody track. The mood, though created by a band you’d normally surround by darkness in your mind, is satisfyingly euphoric. It’s healing, much like that of “Breña” from Mer De Noms. I for one am ecstatic at this song being at the end of the album, it’s a wonderful closer. The whole song is orchestrated very well and you can tell that it (like other songs on the album) is very purposeful in it’s craft. I cannot explain the chills that I get when I listen to this song. That’s one thing that is so amazing about this album. Maybe it’s just me, but it affects me emotionally more than any album has in a hell of a long time. That, among a shitload of other reasons, is why it is a beautiful thing that A Perfect Circle exists in our world. Take advantage of it. I am surrendiering to the gravity and the unknown. Catch me, heal me, lift me back up to the sun. I choose to live. Titan’s Ranking: 1. Pet 2. The Package 3. Blue 4. The Outsider 5. Gravity 6. The Noose 7. Weak and Powerless 8. A Stranger 9. The Nurse Who Loved Me 10. Vanishing 11. Lullaby 12. Crimes Let it be noted that this is another case where ranking doesn't show the fact that I absolutely love everything. Even "Vanishing", ranked #10, I would give a grade of 85%, and that's fucking good. Post-script / Titan’s Rating: 98.3% This is an amazing album. It’s not conventional, it’s not any more coherent than Mer De Noms, it’s not ridden with “single-worthy” material. This is one of the most artful albums to come along in a while, you need to experience it as a whole. It is various, but not as if every song is completely different, instead the variety comes to you in chunks. What with common tactics like the echoing guitars, apparent usage of computer-driven after-effects, certain distortions found on heavier parts (“Pet” and “The Package”), techniques from soft delicate places and hard anti-rhythmic cycles to constant jungular beats and chanting or haunting vocals. The guitars are unique (expect nothing less of Howerdel). The new bass style from Jeordie really makes some of the songs. Drums by Josh Freese, as usual, excel in the area of “fills” that actually are very important in many parts, but on many songs the drums take a more “constant” direction. The vocals are very well done and varied, and the lyrics are deeply inflicted and insightful and varied (expect nothing less of Keenan). Again, this is an amazing album. I personally love any album that has an amazing presence and uniqueness of altered mood and emotion. This has that. I've gotten chills so many times when listening to this. It is also a pretty solid album altogether with a generally clean and smooth, but ruptured and varied sound, and is an amazing journey throughout. This album provides you with a primary 12 steps. The next is for you to make. A Perfect Circle - Thirteenth Step [ September 17, 2003, 10:12 PM: Message edited by: Titan ]
	I do what the fuck I want.

09-17-2003, 03:26 AM	#3 (permalink)
Titan Senior Member Join Date: Nov 2002 Posts: 3,698 Internets: 10	Yeah... it's no problem at all. It's a service I can actually provide decently enough. People tell me they read these... but they don't post anything. Anyway, tell me what you think when you're done downloading the beast.
	I do what the fuck I want.

09-17-2003, 02:18 AM	#2 (permalink)
Ugly Bastard Senior Member Join Date: Feb 2002 Location: U.S.A. Posts: 13,643 Internets: 247330	Titan- Thank you very much for this review. The album should be finished downloading in a few hours, this will be my listening guide. Thanks again for all the work you put into this site. -Ugly Bastard

09-17-2003, 03:31 PM	#4 (permalink)
Ugly Bastard Senior Member Join Date: Feb 2002 Location: U.S.A. Posts: 13,643 Internets: 247330	MOTHER!!!! I had just typed out a huge review of this album on a notepad file, I was about a half a song away from posting the thing, my computer decides to restart, and I lose the donut with two holes. I'm really not in the mood to type all of that out again, so I'll just give you a highly abbreviated version: (In Order Of How Much I Like Each Song): The Noose-one of the better songs I've heard in a while, the lyrics are something a genius could only come up with. Pet-Wow. Again, the lyrics...my. The Package-Great song to start the track with. Blue Weak And Powerless-I like it a lot right now, but I can tell that I'll probably be pretty sick of it after hearing it on the radio over the next few months and what-not. The Nurse Who Loved Me-I really like it, even if they didn't write it. Gravity The Outsider A Stranger Vanishing-I really didn't care for this song, just didn't do it for me. Lullaby-Eh. Bad followup to quite possibly the best song on the album. Crimes-What the hell was that? In closing: Great album, right up there with Mer de Noms, if not better. -Ugly Bastard

09-17-2003, 03:34 PM	#5 (permalink)
Pliedes Senior Member Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Puget Sound Posts: 4,594 Internets: 1608	Since no one is really going to read my "First Spin" thread on this album, I'm just going to post my review from the first few listens in here... damn you Titan and you good reviews A Perfect Circle - Thirteenth Step This is my 'first few spins' review. I wanted to go ahead and make this post before I listened to it too much. This is all about my first impressions from the album, because I'm sure they'll change as I go along. But thats why this is a 'first spins review. Enough of the bullshit, almost. Disclaimer: Remember, these are just my opinions. I use terms which makes sense to me, so if they don't work for you, I'm sorry. The Package - This song is extremely dynamic. A great way to start off the album. A long song, it provides some nice 'sit back and listen' parts, and some extremely hard/powerful/rock-out-with-your-cock-out sections. Weak and Powerless - The first single. Easy to listen to. Very mellow but powerful. The Noose - This is probably my favorite track off the album. It's just so beautiful. The lyrics also are a high point for me. Blue - A very solid rock song, top to bottom. Great guitar tones and effects on this song. Vanishing - Is extremely ambient, flowing, and powerful all at the same time. Solid, just like Blue, but in a more ambient way. A Stranger - Acousticism starts this song off. Lots of strings are also used. One of the album's softer tracks. The Outsider - A very driving song. Vocals are song faster than other songs and really contributes to the feel. Crimes - A cool transition song. The Nurse Who Loved Me - A cover of the song written by Failure. This song really has a different feel than the rest of the album. It reminds me of Belle&Sebastian (or someone like that) for some reason. Lots of strings and simplistic singing. A really, really good track. Pet - This is the song they opened with live, and let me say, it fucking rocked. The album version gives me the same feel. It's really incredible. I know I've used the word 'powerful' a lot in this review (and for good reason) but I think this song might be the most powerful. Lulluby - Another transition type song. Wispering followed by a female vocal thing. It's quite neat. Gravity - Great rhythms and vocals really make this song. A perfect way to close the album, as it's fairly smooth, but has a great feeling about, and is emotional (though they all really are). My top 5 at the moment: 1 - The Noose 2 - Pet 3 - The Nurse Who Loved Me 4 - The Package 5 - Weak and Powerless If you only listen to one song off the album: -Weak and Powerless, is good all-around -Pet, if you're into harder stuff -The Noose, if you're into no so hard stuff Some music you will listen to and stay "wow, that's some cool guitar work" or "that singer is really good". Well, A Perfect Circle is one of those bands where everything is awesome. The drums and bass really help give APC it's powerful feel and help every song reach it's maximum potential. Of course, the vocals are simply incredible and the lyrics are deep and beautiful. The guitar work is extremely innovative, making the best of diverse rhythms and meaningful effects. This is another great album from a already amazing band. I hope they keep making music for a long time. [ September 17, 2003, 01:34 PM: Message edited by: Pliedes ]

09-19-2003, 02:12 PM	#7 (permalink)
Osiris Senior Member Join Date: Sep 2003 Posts: 205 Internets: 10	I bought this album as soon as it came out. Billy Howerdel is a genius and Maynard is so beautiful. My favorite tracks are definately Gravity and the Noose.