After a time of dormancy, A Perfect Circle sprung back to life a few years ago, determined to be an at least be an occasional live entity. At least that is what Billy Howerdel and Maynard James Keenan prefer for the fate of the band, lest they ruin the spirit they created together as composers and mutual muses. It has been good to see the band take up short tours, perform residences, or big international festivals the last few years. In addition to the release of the live box set Stone and Echo, the band also has a new greatest hits album out called Three-Sixty (A Perfect Circle Entertainment/WMG). Notable is the inclusion of the first new song from the band since 2004, ‘By And Down’.
Greatest Hits-type packages are an entire other can of worms unto themselves. In the past, when a band started to rise rapidly to fame, usually on the strength of a hit album or a a string of singles, labels would put out a “best of” collection to capture that interest and keep building the following. How many bands of the last generation actually have real hits? Songs that have merits artistically, yet actually become popular a rarity, which makes revisiting these APC tracks a real delight. Not only are they merit-worthy, most of them are memorable earworms, thanks to Mr. Howerdell, Mr. Keenan, and the other talented members that have come and gone. Especially the Mer De Noms and the Thirteenth Step material in particular. I always felt eMotive, save for a few songs, was lacking some of the sizzle of the original albums. I will say the deluxe edition has chill-inducing versions of ‘People Are People” (Depeche Mode) and ‘Fiddle And The Drum’ (Joni Mitchell) covers.
As for ‘By and Down’, it’s what you’d expect from a new APC track. It’s musically tight, and deeply moving. I’d say the deluxe edition of Three-Sixty is worth the purchase for long time fans for this new song and the live tracks, and the standard version is for you if you have somehow slept on them up until now.
8.5/10
Keith (Keefy) Chachkes