A Perfect Circle-Thirteenth Step discussion thread
 

Well now that the cd is finally out what are your thoughts? I think it's an amazing album and it grows on me more and more with every listen like good albums should. I think the main theme of the album is addiction, but some of the songs deal with the struggle of everyday life as well. I love the whole mood and feel of the album as well it is very dark and mellow, but it has a dream like quality to it. I love how the album starts off sort of heavy with "The Package", and then slowly brings you down to a mellow sort of state after "Weak and Powerless". "The Noose", "Blue", and "Vanishing" all flow really well together and are great songs as well. I love maynards lyrics in this album as well and the way he sings is very different from anything he's ever done before. He sings kind of in a quiet way throughout the album, but with a lot of emotion at the same time. Other tracks that stand out are "Pet", "The Outsider", and "Gravity". Great album. :up:

I'm gonna go buy it in about 50 minutes. I have only heard one song from it, Weak and Powerless. And only about 3 times. So the album will be brand new for me. Can't wait. Mer de Noms was awesome, hopefully this one is too.

Well, I've now heard the album a solid 12 times. Been listening to it all day, and some yesterday at work.

Simply amazing, gets better with every listen. It's quite different then Mer de Noms, has a softer more moody dark feeling to it.

I can't even pick a favorite song yet, but if forced at gunpoint I think that I would choose "Pet" Other songs that rock (all of 'em) are "The Package," "The Outsider," and "Blue."

This album has a 'Lateralus' vibe going on. Can't really change the order of the tracks cuz they all fit together nicely. Some songs even hang, only to pickup on the next track. More like one piece vs a collection of them imo of course :)

Anyway, enough reading for you BUY IT AND LISTEN ALL DAY!

Great liner notes as well!

pardon my ignorance, but what genre of music is APC?

hmm, hard to classify...

smart alternative rock?

best advice is to listen to it and judge for yourself.

you can here the single "weak and powerless" on their website

http://www.aperfectcircle.com

enjoy!

Well I have been listening to this album since Thursday and I cant believe how awesome it is. I wouldnt doubt it if this album turns out to be my all time favorite album...period. This album has a major addiction theme...to me anyway. The album starts out with "The Package", which to me symbalizes the persons addiction being delivered to him, sort of like a drug dealer delivering a package. The vocals in this song are chilling. Just listen to Maynards voice during this song. It has a very vulnerable quality to it that I havent heard before. And by the end of the song his voice reminds me of that Golum character from Lord of the Rings dying for his "precious" or fix.

The rest of the songs deal with this persons strugle with this addiction and by the end of the album they finally "choose to live", which happens to be the final words of the album.

Anyway thats the theme I get from the album :D
The music itself is so amazing. I wasnt sure what to think of it after a first listen but it has gotten sooo sweet after many, many more listens & its only gonna continue to grow on me more. My standout favorites so far: "The Package", "Blue", "Vanishing", "Outsider", "Pet" & "Gravity"

I didn't have very high expectaions before getting this album. Recently, some of my favoite bands have come out with horrible follow up albums(pete yorn, filter, third eye blind, etc.) so I didn't want to get my hopes up. Especially after how Mer de Noms blew me away, I was unsure APC would be able to live up to the first album.

But I think I have to agree with MJKTool here, out of the 250 cds I own, this may be the best one out of all of them, and that's after only listening to this cd once.

There's definately a different feel than to Mer de Noms, but this turns out to be a very good thing. And while I felt Mer de Noms kind of let up after Sleeping Beauty, The 13th Step is excellent the entire way through.

"The Package" is amazing, and I was pleasantly surprised by the cover of Failure's "The Nurse Who Loved Me" of which the original I think is also great. This album is definately worth checking out.

Now granted I'm only listening to it for the first time right now but I like my music to be fast and aggressive and this album is neither. This is going to take some time for me to like it, the album is a little slow for my taste.

The first time I heard "Judith" I was blown away I thought I was getting a Tool album without all the slower filler songs they put in, but alas I was wrong.

I am still waiting for the perfect Tool/PC album to come out. I want aggression, passion and kick ass music one song after another... bam, bam, bam, bam... and so far I have not heard it yet.

I want a album that I can compare to Rage Against the Machine, Angel Dust and Psalm 69; three albums that just totally blow me away.

Now if you excuse me, I have some PC to listen too.

Oh Yeah... I WANT PAZ BACK!!!!!

I've listened to it thrice today. Great album from beginning to end. I find it more even that Mer de Noms, which had a weak second half. Best album of all time? Not even close. But it's one of my favorites of the year, I like it better than Deftones's offering which I thought was great. Favorite songs: "The Noose", "Pet", and "Gravity".

Mer de Noms will never be topped in my opinion.

This is an interesting record though.
Can't wait for a tour that I can see.

All I can say is :drool::drool::drool::drool:

My biggest complaint is that it seems short. There are 12 songs, 2 are just 1 minute filler interludes.

It resembles Radiohead's Hail to the Thief, it has a similar vibe.

It seems that Maynard seems troubled by recent events as well, how the government and mass media are scaring people into ignorant compliance, my favorite line from Pet:

"Head down, go to sleep to the rhythm of the war drums "

also, some good lines from The Noose:

"And not to pull your halo down
Around your neck and tug you to the ground
But I'm more than just curious
How you're planning to go about
Making your amends to the dead
To the dead "

Wow, this album is sweet!... different vibe but still some REAL GOOD music... It's my 2nd fav. album of this year... after METALLICA's "St. Anger' [of course].

... anyway It's Bands like METALLICA, TOOL, and A PERFECT CIRCLE that I have alot of RESPECT for still Releasing GREAT FK'N MUSIC, PERIOD!

I remember when the 'A Perect Circle' released 'Mer De Noms' I loved the album, but my opinion on it was that it came across as a less focused Tool effort. Still, the album got a lot of play in my cd player at home and in the car. It had some great songs. Now after waiting all this time , their newest album out. Wow, what do I have to say? This album is amazing. It is a lot more focused and the band has obviously matured. It's slower, but it's also more progressive than the previous effort.

A lot of these songs blend together perfectly, but a few stand out , namely 'The Package', 'The Outsider' and 'Noose'. Oddly enough, out of those songs the only one I see being a possible single is 'The Outsider' and that's a far-fetch. You can tell the album was meant to be listened to completely, and not as a bunch of possible radio singles.

Brave and progressive album.
Love it!

Glad you guys like it too, I think it's the best album so far this year and I hope it does well for them.

I must have had my head in a hole and didn't realize this was coming out until yesterday. So after work I went straight to Best Buy and picked it up. My first listen, I thought it was great. As good as Mer de Noms but definitely a different vibe. So far I have loved anything Maynard has been a part of. Everything from Tool, and in some ways I almost like APC better.

Oh, and...
:whofart: To each his own I guess. I'm a huge Metallica fan....just not today's Metallica.

The only other album I've been impressed with this year was Deftones. Cold's Year of the Spider and Radiohead's Hail to the Thief were pretty good too.

... Aw S _ _ T here we go, AGAIN!:)

Best album ever? No. Damn good follow up album? Yes. Damn good album in general? Hell yes.

Now it's just a matter of waiting for a new Tool album...Argh, I can't stand the wait.

rotfl

"The Noose" is the greatest APC song ever!

my 3 favorite [at this moment] are:

The Package
Blue
Pet

My favs right now are:

The Package
Pet
A Stranger
The Outsider

So far my least favorite is The Nurse who loved me. It's got kinda the same vibe to me as The Patient (which I love), but it took me some getting used to. I think I'll like the Nurse just fine after a few more listens (I think I'm on 20 or so now hehe.)

Blue took a while to catch on too.


I'd have to say that I'm not surprised they put out such an excellent record, but I wasn't expecting it to be THIS good. Definitely the best cd I've purchased this year. The Mars Volta and Radiohead would be the other front runners.

I really like Vanishing as well, it's growing on me more and more with every listen.

The Nurse Who Loved Me is different, but probably because it's a cover song and not an original APC song. It's a song off Failure's Fantastic Planet album. If you haven't heard this album definitely check it out, great stuff. Failure was a great band...too bad they aren't still around.

I love the whole album. The weakest part of the album is Nurse, but even that's a good song. A bit strange, yes, but I think APC does a great cover. So far my fav track is The Noose--not sure why, but something about the religious aspect really affected me.

When compared to the Mer de Noms it is a completely different animal, but one that I love. I love both of their albums very much-very lyrical, and the songs are ABOUT something. This is one of my favorite albums of the year already.