A Perfect Circle – Three Sixty


apc 360After 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

 

A Perfect Circle on Facebook

 

Keith (Keefy) Chachkes

 


A Perfect Circle – Stone and Echo


51fRLi24+GL._SL500_AA280_The premise of the super-group is a always an exciting thought, especially when the members come from some of the most innovative bands in rock music history. However, combined forces don’t always pay off, with some groups failing to deliver collaborative goodness. A Perfect Circle is one of the super-groups to emerge from said crowd that actually have some substance behind their well-known names and with a new album looking unlikely in the near future, the band have decided to keep their name relevant with a box-set release featuring live recordings of all three albums, plus their 2011 performance at Red Rocks.

 

Whether or not you’re A Perfect Circle fan, listening to the live renditions of Mer de Norms, Thirteenth Step and eMOTIVe does allow you to both appreciate the love the band has from its fans, as well as the quality of their live musical output. On excellent form not twice but thrice, Tool front man Maynard James Keenan is superb for each of the album recordings here, as are Billy Howerdel and co behind him, with their alternative rock noise sounding as relevant today as it did when first recorded. As for their show, their covers of ‘Imagine’, ‘Gimme, Gimme, Gimme’ and ‘What’s Goin’ On’ act as major highlights, as impressive new song ‘By and Down’ sees them recalling their more melodic days of recent times.

 

The question with this box set however still remains: is it a viable purchase? For fans, it’s a yes and for anyone who hasn’t seen the band perhaps it’s another yes but if you did’t enjoy A Perfect Circle before, there really isn’t much here that will sway your opinion or your credit card, regardless of the quality tunes at hand. An indulgence rather than a necessity, Perfect Circle Live: Featuring Stone and Echo features some fantastic music but it also sounds like the actions of a band that are trying to keep their fans, despite the fact that they haven’t offered anything (with the one song exception) new in nearly ten years. There’s a whiff of a distraction technique in the air with this box set and it’s a costly one too.

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A Perfect Circle on Facebook

8.0/10

Emma Quinlan