Track Listing

1. The Package
2. Weak And Powerless
3. The Noose
4. Blue
5. Vanishing
6. A Stranger
7. The Outsider
8. Crimes
9. The Nurse Who Loved Me
10. Pet
11. Lullaby
12. Gravity

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #16244 in Music
• Released on: 2003-09-15
• Number of discs: 1
• Dimensions: .22 pounds

CD Description
Second album from A Perfect Circle and the follow-up to 'Mer De Noms' which was released in 2000. 'Thirteenth Step' marks the band's first release with guitarist James Iha (The Smashing Pumpkins) and bass player Jeordie White (aka Twiggy Ramirez), who replace Troy Van Leeuwen and Paz Lenchantin respectively. Dark melodic art-rock with alt-metal and gothic influences, falling somewhere inbetween Tool, Nine Inch Nailsand The Smashing Pumpkins.

Customer Reviews

another step up...another perfect circle
A Perfect Circle are now undeniably a supergroup after recent changes to their line-up, bringing ex-Marilyn Manson bassist Jeordie and ex-Smashing Pumpkins guitarist James Iha into the fold. The musical core remains largely the same, however, with the songwriting led by founder Billy Howerdel, the distinctive vocals of Tools' Maynard James Keenan, and Vandals drummer Josh Freeze. So after a platinum selling debut Mer de Noms in 2000, where was this even more powerful ensemble possibly setting its sights three years later?

The first single "Weak and Powerless" sounds much like the band we remember, clearly more restrained and developed in sound, with a structural element that they previously shunned, and yet accessible in its clear genius. However, this is a misleading introduction to the album, which is a great distance away from the debut. Fans expecting a repeat of such beautifully crafted songs, light in tone but dark in subject, will be initally disappointed. However, with a little time and effort, they will discover and even greater sound within this new CD, as A Perfect Circle evolve in leaps and bounds.

A "conceptual exploration of the darker side of the human psyche" they said. The change is immediately clear from the opener "The Package" which lasts almost eight minutes in duration. This prog rock design is almost the antithesis of their previous chart hits, but is the perfect introduction to the new album. Instrumentally stripped down and essentially a vocal exercise, what follows is a series of highly understated songs carefully surrounded by a spine-tingling mixture of soft and heavy instrumentation.

Thirteenth Step can be accused of occassionally being a little grandiose in its complexity, but the painstaking care that went into the crafting of each tune is undeniably clear. The heaviness of the dark subject matter of Mer de Noms has now filtered through to the musical sound, while remaining low in volume. The result can be somewhat frustrating as the song appears to be slowly building up...but without any discernible climax. The result often works best on heavier tracks such as "Pet", "The Outsider" and the brilliantly dark, slow but incessent sound of "The Noose". The persistent vocals throughout the album evoke a trance-like state of strange beauty.

Howerdel has rightly suggested that the album is best listened to through headphones, due to the quiet sound levels used to allow certain sections to suddenly break through from nothing before dying away once again. Indeed, unlike Mer de Noms, one should really play the new album with the sole intention of exploring the music, for it is not easily accessible and requires the listener's focused attention, in a similar way to Nine Inch Nails' Downward Spiral.

It's utterly refreshing to find a band who have created such a unique sound that while Thirteenth Step at first appears to launch in an utterly different direction to their debut, it still retains a distinctly "A Perfect Circle" element. So with this blend of Maynard's angelic yet tragic vocals, Howerdel's understated yet complex songwriting, interwoven softer and heavier riffs, and a supergroup featuring some of the most talented musicians today, A Perfect Circle are looking to become a visionary and hugely influential band.

KEY TRACKS: The Noose, Weak and Powerless, The Outsider

Perfect Album
Undoubtedly one of the best album's ever created, A Perfect Circle pull out all musical stops here creating an almost flawless, haunting, melodic, masterful sound. Hard to believe they are a metal band at times.

Opening slowly, 'The Package' leads in with little instrumentation at first but builds slowly to a thrashing crescendo leaving Keenan screaming the last chorus.

Following on is the beautifully written 'Weak and Powerless', a stunning masterpiece.

The musicianship does not stop at just these two tracks though, singles 'Blue' and 'The Outsider' provide yet more stunning mild rock songs, the latter being a little heavier and one of the best tracks on the album.

Perhaps the best though is 'Pet', a politically charged, dark, heavy song. Sitting almost at the end of the album it leads out with a bang into the final effort - 'Gravity' - slowly and gently releasing the listener back out of the helpless trance you are placed in when listening.

A stunning album. If you don't buy it, I could almost be persuaded to buy it for you...

A brilliant second album
For some reason this album is out in Ireland before the 15th. I am not complaining. I bought it and have not stopped listening to it. I liked the first album but I love this album. A huge step up from the first. Not that the first was bad, but this album is a big progression. More haunting and beautiful and a little bit more experimental and slightly heavier. More complex guitar and vocal harmonies and the Bass and Drums have more presence. Haunting, beautiful ambient metal? If you are a fan of the first album, Tool, the God Machine you will love this.

With this album they are really tight and it is the sound of a band comfortable with who they are and what they do.