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A Perfect Circle

Thirteenth Step  Hear it Now

RS: 3of 5 Stars Average User Rating: 4.5of 5 Stars

2003

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A Perfect Circle are that rare supergroup: A collective of veteran musicians that actually adds up to more, not less, than the sum of its parts -- in this case, Tool vocalist Maynard James Keenan, former Nine Inch Nails roadie Billy Howerdel, session drumming ace Josh Freese and former Marilyn Manson bassist Jeordie White, a.k.a. Twiggy Ramirez. The band's second album, Thirteenth Step, sounds more like the dusky thrum of Disintegration-era Cure than it does any of the members' previous bands. A vague concept album about recovering from recovery or something, Thirteenth Step doesn't bludgeon listeners into submission -- it lulls them with droning guitars, dub-deep bass and simmering vocals. The anticipated shit hammer of thundering guitars doesn't drop until the end of the slow-burning opener, "The Package." Standard chugging metal rhythms appear late in the album, and only for two tracks. The disc's centerpiece is the arch "The Nurse Who Loved Me," a baroque pop number that would make a great comeback single for someone like Nancy Sinatra -- if she were huffing ether. "Clever got me this far," intones Keenan on "The Package." By the end of Thirteenth Step, it's gotten him even further.

ROBERT CHERRY
(RS 932, October 2, 2003)



(Posted: Sep 9, 2003)

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Review 1 of 2

slashgnfnr206 writes:

5of 5 Stars


how in fucking hell can this review get 3 stars and mer de noms 2.5?! but madonnas new album get 4. rolling stone sucks. sucks really fucking badly. its a popularity contest and im beginning to think that these reviewers have absolutely no credit at all to be commenting on music. especially music that has far more meaning, intelligence, and musicianship than a new record by some dumb slut that everyone worships because she became popular from "shock value" by humping everything she saw on stage and creating pitifully shallow songs like "material girl" to boost her career and becoming one of the worst idols possible for teenage girls growing up. pathetic

Apr 20, 2008 22:43:03

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Review 2 of 2

betweenthesounds writes:

5of 5 Stars


Again, I'm finding RS's review to be kind of.....off. Thirteenth step is pivotal. In fact, I got into this album before I had ever been exposed to Tool. The album flows and weaves like Lateralus' counterpart, with each song seamlessly ebbing into one another. It's greatest power lies in its moody texture, the kind of album you can lay down and close your eyes and get rocked to sleep to. "The Noose" is as haunting and serenely beautiful as anything MJK has done with Tool. "Vanishing" is an almost all intrumental song that literally takes you up into the clouds with its air-like tones. "The Outsider" brings back the driving intensity found on Mer de Noms and closing out the album is the cathartic "Gravity" which is one of the most soothing and gratifying songs in the band's catalogue. This album is an experience from start to finish, an etheral journey into the center of addiction and recovery. Next to Lateralus, this album may well stand the test of time as one of the more epic concept albums to take an honest approach at investigating the darker side of the human being.

May 21, 2007 11:34:39

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