A Perfect Circle albums ranked
All of this is in my opinion
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[b]4. eMOTIVe[/b][/center]
This album was a bad idea from the start. An album mostly consisting of political anti-war cover songs... I can understand the band's drive to do it with their dissatisfaction with the Bush presidency at the time and the political and social climate following 9/11, but they should have went by their creative ambitions rather than their desire for advocacy because [i]eMOTIVe[/i] is APC's worst album. Their only truly bad one, really. It's awful telling when the two best songs on it are the only two original compositions (albeit one being a remix of a song from the previous album). Just shows the wasted potential behind it. This was the first album to feature James Iha and last to feature Josh Freese and original member Paz Lenchantin and APC's last album until [i]Eat The Elephant[/i] in 2018.
Highlights: "Counting Bodies Like Sheep to the Rhythm of the War Drums", "Passive"
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[b]3. Thirteenth Step[/b][/center]
The highly-anticipated follow-up to the band's acclaimed debut and the first without original members Troy Van Leeuwen and Paz Lenchtantin, though the latter would return for [i]eMOTIVe[/i] and both do make appearances on this record. It was also the first to feature Danny Lohner, who would immediately be replaced by James Iha, though he doesn't appear on the album. Despite all the hype surrounding [i]Thirteenth Step,[/i] it didn't quite hold a candle to [i]Mer de Noms.[/i] It's certainly a more mature record, its lyrical themes dealing with various types and stages of addiction, but the seriousness of the record ends up working against it in contrast to the heartfelt themes and melodies of the band's debut. They had a great record and followed it up with one that's just okay. Still, it does have a few excellent tracks that save the album the album from mediocrity. A couple of which are my favorite from the band.
Highlights: "Blue", "Weak and Powerless", "Pet"
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[b]2. Eat The Elephant [/b][/center]
The band's first album after a fourteen year hiatus (though material was being written for it as early as 2008). [i]Eat The Elephant[/i] ended up being worth the weight, proving itself as a superb comeback! It may not be as good as [i]Mer de Noms,[/i] but it's still much better than the two albums in-between. It picks up from the political nature from [i]eMOTIVe[/i] but also critiques religion and society. It does mark a slight shift in the band's sound by being more progressive rock-oriented and atmospheric than previous album, somewhat mirroring Maynard James Keenan's main project Tool. As a result, it's far more mellow than previous APC records. Could be a reflection of the members getting on in age now. But this doesn't hold the album in any way. Considering how solid it is, it's a welcome change as far as I'm concerned! While Billy Howerdel has expressed both optimism and uncertainty regarding if there will be another APC album in the future, if [i]Eat The Elephant[/i] ends up being the last, then at least it won't have ended on a sub-par record.
Highlights: "Disillusioned", "TalkTalk", "So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish", "By and Down the River", "The Doomed", "The Contrarian"
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[b]1. Mer de Noms[/b][/center]
A Perfect Circle's debut album and the only one with the initial lineup of founder Maynard James Keenan and Billy Howerdel, with Paz Lenchantin, Troy Van Leeuwen and Josh Freese. [i]Mer de Noms[/i] was a start that promised so much from this project, yet would sadly only fully deliver this one time. But it is the band's best album for many reasons. It's their most stylistically diverse, featuring sensibilities toward progressive rock, hard rock, alternative metal and artistic experimentation. It's also their most laid back album as far as lyrical themes go. Most of the songs being named after and about important people in's Keenan's and/or Howerdel's lives (where the album gets its name from [[i]Mer de Noms[/i] being "Sea of Names" in French]). The record was a true passion project by a supergroup of talented musicians and easily has most of the band's best songs. It's a real shame they couldn't surpass or even recreate the quality of this album and it's almost hard to believe the two that followed only got worse since they were off to such a strong start. But [i]Mer de Noms[/i] sees APC living up their potential, perhaps as much as they ever could.
Highlights: "3 Libras", "Judith", "The Hollow", "Magdalena", "Sleeping Beauty", "Orestes"
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[b]4. eMOTIVe[/b][/center]This album was a bad idea from the start. An album mostly consisting of political anti-war cover songs... I can understand the band's drive to do it with their dissatisfaction with the Bush presidency at the time and the political and social climate following 9/11, but they should have went by their creative ambitions rather than their desire for advocacy because [i]eMOTIVe[/i] is APC's worst album. Their only truly bad one, really. It's awful telling when the two best songs on it are the only two original compositions (albeit one being a remix of a song from the previous album). Just shows the wasted potential behind it. This was the first album to feature James Iha and last to feature Josh Freese and original member Paz Lenchantin and APC's last album until [i]Eat The Elephant[/i] in 2018.
Highlights: "Counting Bodies Like Sheep to the Rhythm of the War Drums", "Passive"
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[b]3. Thirteenth Step[/b][/center]The highly-anticipated follow-up to the band's acclaimed debut and the first without original members Troy Van Leeuwen and Paz Lenchtantin, though the latter would return for [i]eMOTIVe[/i] and both do make appearances on this record. It was also the first to feature Danny Lohner, who would immediately be replaced by James Iha, though he doesn't appear on the album. Despite all the hype surrounding [i]Thirteenth Step,[/i] it didn't quite hold a candle to [i]Mer de Noms.[/i] It's certainly a more mature record, its lyrical themes dealing with various types and stages of addiction, but the seriousness of the record ends up working against it in contrast to the heartfelt themes and melodies of the band's debut. They had a great record and followed it up with one that's just okay. Still, it does have a few excellent tracks that save the album the album from mediocrity. A couple of which are my favorite from the band.
Highlights: "Blue", "Weak and Powerless", "Pet"
[center]
[b]2. Eat The Elephant [/b][/center]The band's first album after a fourteen year hiatus (though material was being written for it as early as 2008). [i]Eat The Elephant[/i] ended up being worth the weight, proving itself as a superb comeback! It may not be as good as [i]Mer de Noms,[/i] but it's still much better than the two albums in-between. It picks up from the political nature from [i]eMOTIVe[/i] but also critiques religion and society. It does mark a slight shift in the band's sound by being more progressive rock-oriented and atmospheric than previous album, somewhat mirroring Maynard James Keenan's main project Tool. As a result, it's far more mellow than previous APC records. Could be a reflection of the members getting on in age now. But this doesn't hold the album in any way. Considering how solid it is, it's a welcome change as far as I'm concerned! While Billy Howerdel has expressed both optimism and uncertainty regarding if there will be another APC album in the future, if [i]Eat The Elephant[/i] ends up being the last, then at least it won't have ended on a sub-par record.
Highlights: "Disillusioned", "TalkTalk", "So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish", "By and Down the River", "The Doomed", "The Contrarian"
[center]
[b]1. Mer de Noms[/b][/center]A Perfect Circle's debut album and the only one with the initial lineup of founder Maynard James Keenan and Billy Howerdel, with Paz Lenchantin, Troy Van Leeuwen and Josh Freese. [i]Mer de Noms[/i] was a start that promised so much from this project, yet would sadly only fully deliver this one time. But it is the band's best album for many reasons. It's their most stylistically diverse, featuring sensibilities toward progressive rock, hard rock, alternative metal and artistic experimentation. It's also their most laid back album as far as lyrical themes go. Most of the songs being named after and about important people in's Keenan's and/or Howerdel's lives (where the album gets its name from [[i]Mer de Noms[/i] being "Sea of Names" in French]). The record was a true passion project by a supergroup of talented musicians and easily has most of the band's best songs. It's a real shame they couldn't surpass or even recreate the quality of this album and it's almost hard to believe the two that followed only got worse since they were off to such a strong start. But [i]Mer de Noms[/i] sees APC living up their potential, perhaps as much as they ever could.
Highlights: "3 Libras", "Judith", "The Hollow", "Magdalena", "Sleeping Beauty", "Orestes"
31-35, F