Artist: A Perfect CircleAlbum: eMOTIVeGenre: Rock
“eMOTIVe,” the third release from supergroup A Perfect Circle, is a wild array of emotion revolving around themes of politics and war.
From the chilling introduction of the cryptic verses of Matthew Borruso’s “Annihilation,” through the calm and hopeful words of John Lennon’s “Imagine,” the album stays on the soft side for a couple of tracks. Three songs later, the only brand new original track, “Passive,” introduces the rock back into A.P.C.
It then continues to bounce into some strange places with two classic ’80s political anthems: “People are People,” by Depeche Mode, and “Freedom of Choice,” by Devo, a song I recently heard being performed by a local ’80s cover band at a Rock the Vote concert in Half Moon Bay.
The album then dives deep into a dark place, starting with the jungle beat of Fear’s “Let’s Have a War,” followed by a provocative remix of a track of their own called “Counting Bodies Like Sheep to the Rhythm of the War Drums.”
Taking another turn, the album has a smooth, jazzy rendition of “When the Levee Breaks.” Finally, the conclusion to this musical essay comes in the form of a cover of Joni Mitchell’s a cappella “Fiddle and the Drum.”
This album is full of growth and surprises. One surprise that is sure to please many veteran A.P.C. fans is the return of original bassist, Paz Lenchantin, though, on “eMOTIVe,” she plays piano instead. Many fans may also notice collaboration from Nine Inch Nails members Trent Reznor and Danny Lohner on the original track.
The album is great as a whole, and the message is noble. But why wait until Election Day to release it? It seems as if A Perfect Circle wanted to affect people’s opinions on the issues we are facing in the most recent election. If they wanted to change things, shouldn’t they have released it a month ago? Beats me.
Nonetheless, this disc is well worth spending a few dollars, and I hope you do (there are warnings all over the cd about copying music being equal to stealing). So, go listen and get a lesson in historical protest songs that are surprisingly relevant today.
