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I imagine this one goes out to a small percentage of our followers, but I’ve just got to get it out. I realize Mer de Noms (2000) broke a few records in terms of sales for a debut rock album, and Thirteenth Step (2003) did even better. However, I still come across people I’m certain would like them, but they haven’t because they’ve just assumed A Perfect Circle is some sort of extension of Tool. This is a false presumption.

I’ll be honest, I don’t even like the analogy of saying that A Perfect Circle is a radio friendly Tool. The two bands are two completely different beasts to be tamed in two completely different manners. A Perfect Circles has developed over the years across a couple line-up changes bringing out a very distinct difference between their debut and follow-up release. BIlly Howerdel is the brainchild of A Perfect Circle. He spent his earlier years as a guitar tech for several well to do bands including Tool, The Smashing Pumpkins, Guns N’ Roses, Nine Inch Nails, and others. I mention those particular bands because the majority of the members of A Perfect Circle came from one of these bands in one way or another. Josh Freese is particularly noteworthy as he has a rather impressive discography.

Mer de Noms was a phenomenal debut. There wasn’t a track I didn’t love and the recording quality is among some of the better recordings I’ve heard. In fact, I often use Thomas to show off my stereo to virgin ears. The bass in that song really hits you hard… I recall getting a strongly worded memo from my RA saying that my complex coordinator could hear someone’s stereo in the dorms while in the book store. That was a good day. I liked Mer de Noms so much that I wasn’t sure how I’d like Thirteenth Step since they had changed their bassist and backup guitarist, but that album turned out to be even better in my opinion as it had a little more variety and dynamics to it. Not that I didn’t like Paz Lenchantin as a bassist, because I really did, but the writing style differences really allowed for a more prominent role to the bassist.

You won’t find me referencing eMotive (2004) often because I honestly didn’t like it. I understand it was somewhat of a political move to encourage voting, and I heard a rumor that it was primarily released to get out of a record contract… but that hasn’t been confirmed. I really loved their cover of John Lennon’s Imagine, but I can’t say I really got into anything else. Not that it was necessarily bad; I just didn’t like it. Since eMotive, everyone has seemed to focus on other projects, but the band is reportedly just on a hiatus; though there are conflicting reports about that. Coincidentally, Billy Howerdel’s most recent project released its debut within a week of the launch of Obnoxious Listeners. Ashes Divide hasn’t struck me in quite the same way as A Perfect Circle had, but it’s still definitely worth a listen. I certainly have to give credit to Billy Howerdel for recording and writing a large majority of the album himself. He performed nearly everything except the drums (Josh Freese) and a couple guest musicians on certain tracks, e.g. Devo Keenan (Maynard’s son).

I don’t listen to A Perfect Circle nearly as much as I should. This is mostly due to my never ending quest for more new music… also, I’d say A Perfect Circle is a timeless classic, so it doesn’t really matter when I listen to it. If for some crazy reason you haven’t purchased any of their albums, you definitely need the first two. If you’re looking for just a couple tracks to rope you in, my two favorite tracks are Pet and Gravity… I think… it’s so hard to choose. Gravity is definitely a contender though.