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A Perfect Circle

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A Perfect Circle

A Perfect Circle (APC) is an alternative rock supergroup formed by guitarist Billy Howerdel and Tool frontman Maynard James Keenan. The original incarnation of the band also included Paz Lenchantin on bass, Troy Van Leeuwen on guitar, and Tim Alexander on drums; however, they have all since moved on to work on other projects. The latest line-up features then-former Marilyn Manson bassist Jeordie White, past guitarist for The Smashing Pumpkins, James Iha, and session drummer Josh Freese, who is most well known for his work with Nine Inch Nails. Despite having a varied cast over the years, the writing of the songs has remained consistent. Howerdel assumes the position of composer, and Keenan pens the lyrics.

A Perfect Circle has released three albums: Mer de Noms (French for "Sea of Names"), Emotive and Thirteenth Step. A CD-DVD set, aMotion, has also been released and contains a slew of music videos in addition to a number of song remixes created by Danny Lohner. While A Perfect Circle has not officially disbanded, the group has not recorded, toured or written any new material since its hiatus began in 2004. This break in activity has allowed band members to work on other projects; the most notable being Keenan's work on Tool's 2006 album 10,000 Days, and Howerdel's founding of the band Ashes Divide.

History

Mer de Noms (1999–2001)

A Perfect Circle is the brainchild of Billy Howerdel, a former guitar technician for Nine Inch Nails, The Smashing Pumpkins, Fishbone and Tool. He met singer Maynard James Keenan in 1992 when Fishbone was opening for Tool, and the two became friends shortly thereafter. Three years later, as Howerdel was looking for a room to rent, Keenan offered him a place to stay in his North Hollywood home. This gave Howerdel the opportunity to play demos of his music for Keenan. Pleased with what he heard, Keenan remarked, "I can hear myself singing [those songs]."[1] Although he originally desired a female vocalist, Howerdel agreed that Keenan would be a good fit, and A Perfect Circle was formed a short time later.[2] They were then joined by bassist and violinist Paz Lenchantin, former Failure guitarist Troy Van Leeuwen, and the previous drummer for Primus, Tim Alexander. The band played their first show at LA's Viper Club Reception on August 15, 1999. After playing shows in L.A., the band entered the studio to begin work on their first album.[3] Alexander was soon replaced with session drummer and member of The Vandals, Josh Freese, but Alexander's performance can still be heard on the album version of the song "The Hollow".

Soon after recording was finished for their debut album, Mer de Noms (French for "Sea of Names"), the band began touring. Initially, they served as the opening act for Nine Inch Nails on the 2000 Fragility v2.0 tour, but they then embarked on a number of headlining tours all over the world, including the Canadian festival, Summersault.[4] As Keenan was well known through his other band, he would often wear long wigs on his otherwise bald head when performing to distinguish himself from his Tool persona.[5] Mer de Noms was released while the band was on tour on October 31, 2000. The album is distinctive in that it is the highest ever debut for a new rock band. Over 188,000 copies were sold in its first week, and it appeared at number four on the Billboard 200.[6]

The album gave birth to three singles: "Judith", "3 Libras" and "The Hollow". As is the case with a great number of bands, A Perfect Circle added hidden touches to their songs. "Judith" is unique because it is named after, and about, Keenans's mother who suffered a stroke and was left paralyzed when he was 11.[7][8] The song "Renholdër" is a reference to guitarist and sound engineer Danny Lohner and reads Re:D.Lohner backwards. Ironically, Lohner did not know the song was about him despite his first name being sung—albeit in a distorted fashion—in the song.[9]

Thirteenth Step / Emotive (2002–2004)

During the recording, release and tour for Tool's previous album Lateralus, from 2000 to 2002 the band experienced a considerable amount of downtime. This made the band extremely dynamic in terms of its members. During the recording of Thirteenth Step, APC lost two of its members, Paz Lenchantin & Troy Van Leeuwen. Lenchantin left to join Billy Corgan's new band Zwan in April of 2002,[10] while Van Leeuwen left to handle touring duties as the new guitarist for Queens of the Stone Age. Ex-Marilyn Manson bassist Jeordie White, formerly known as Twiggy Ramirez, replaced Lenchantin on bass in January of 2003, with Danny Lohner taking the reins at guitar.[11] However, Lohner did not quite fit as a second guitarist as the band was looking for more of a high-speed metal sound. Both Swedish guitarist Yngwie Malmsteen and former Smashing Pumpkins guitarist James Iha were considered for the job, but the spot eventually went to Iha.[12]

The band released their second album, Thirteenth Step, on September 16, 2003.With the new album came a new sound. While Mer de Noms had been about a heavier, deeper sound, Thirteenth Step was more melodic and straightforward.[13] John Lappen from The Hollywood Reporter had this to say after the release of the new album, "They were never a band who beat the listener over the head with metal brutality, but now they're even more song-oriented than before — a move that illustrates that the band has a knack for writing instrumental hooks that show off a melodic talent that was not as apparent on the first album."[14] This different sound can be heard in the three singles that came off the album: "Weak and Powerless", "The Outsider" and "Blue". Following the release of the album, the band toured throughout the United States until the year's end.[15] Then in January 2004, the group left the country to play shows in Europe, Australia, New Zealand and Japan. The band then headed home to the United States in mid March and finished touring in mid June.[16]

A third album, Emotive, was released on November 2, 2004, and contains covers of anti-war songs by artists such as John Lennon ("Imagine") and Joni Mitchell ("Fiddle and the Drum"). Emotive was recorded with current and former members of the band, but mostly by Keenan and Howerdel. The single "Passive" was adapted from the defunct band Tapeworm, a project composed mainly of Keenan, Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails, and Danny Lohner. "Passive" first appeared under the title "Vacant" at a show played by A Perfect Circle in Portland on January 31, 2001, notably, without the blessing of Reznor to play the song.[17] The song remained unreleased by any artist until it appeared on Emotive as the song "Passive".[18]

On November 16, 2004, the CD-DVD set entitled aMotion was released. The DVD contains music videos that had already been released for "Judith", "3 Libras" and "Weak and Powerless" in addition to previously unreleased videos for "Blue", "Thinking of You" and others. The CD is composed entirely of remixes of the singles from Mer de Noms and Thirteenth Step. The songs were retooled by Danny Lohner, Joshua Eustis, Massive Attack, and James Iha among others.[19][20]

Hiatus (2004–present)

The future of A Perfect Circle remains uncertain and has wobbled between "done for now"[21] and "alive and well".[22] The band became inactive after they played their last show in Denver, Colorado on June 13, 2004. Keenan left to work on Tool's upcoming album 10,000 Days, and Howerdel began work on a side-project with Josh Freese that flourished into Ashes Divide.[23] In addition to Keenan's work with Tool, his band Puscifer released its first album, V Is for Vagina, on October 30, 2007. The rest of the band also went their separate ways. Freese once again took up the reins as drummer for Nine Inch Nails.[24] White moved on to rejoin Marilyn Manson at guitar under his pseudonym Twiggy Ramirez.[25] And while there was talk of Iha joining Billy Corgan for the Smashing Pumpkins reunion tour in 2007, this idea was rebuffed and he is instead working on a solo record.[26]

Both Howerdel and Keenan have discussed the future of the band in various mediums. During a February 2006 interview with Rock Hard, Keenan remarked, "I think [APC] is over. ... We pushed this project as far as it could go, and I see ourselves playing again together only in a few years to make one or two songs, nothing more."[27] Howerdel's thoughts on the reunion of the band were similar to those of Keenan. In a May 2006 interview with MTV he stated, "[Maynard and I have] talked about it lightly. A few months ago, it was like, 'If we did A Perfect Circle again, I'd want to do this or that.' It was a benign conversation. I think we both entertain the fact that it could happen again, but for right now we don't have any plans to do it again. We're focusing on what we're doing now. A Perfect Circle is done for now."[21]

The band's official website has offered no insight as to whether or not the group will ever see the light of day again. It was last updated on March 30, 2006 and has only detailed Maynard's involvement with Tool and Puscifer in addition to Howerdel's concentration on his then-unannounced side project, Ashes Divide.[28]

Possible return

Despite comments made by Howerdel and Keenan in the past, there have been hints that A Perfect Circle may return in some form in the future. A November 2007 issue of Spin featuring Keenan read, "he teamed with guitarist Billy Howerdel on A Perfect Circle, a diversion that let Keenan romp on a less dark rock landscape and yielded its own financial riches — low-hanging fruit he's been happy to let wither. Will there ever be another APC album? 'Um, no,' is his reply. 'Maybe, someday, a song on a soundtrack. But an album? No.'"[29]

In December 2007, Keenan took part in an interview with Revolver. He discussed the other members of A Perfect Circle's recent activities and also hinted at the possibility of a reunion. During the interview, Keenan stated:

The real problem with running Tool and A Perfect Circle at the same time was they both operate the same way. They're both live touring bands with a label, still working under the old contract mentality. So I thought it was time to let A Perfect Circle go for now and let Billy explore himself. It's tough for a guy who went from being a guitar tech [for Tool] to being in a band with a pretentious, famous singer and having to live in that shadow. It was important for Billy to go and do his own thing and really explore his own sound and let people hear what he has to say and how he would do it on his own, and then we'll get back and do some A Perfect Circle stuff.

— Maynard James Keenan, Revolver, December 2007[30]

News continues to arrive through Keenan about the existence of the band. In Puscifer's May 2008 newsletter, Keenan remarked on the status of A Perfect Circle: "As many of you may have heard, Billy and I are engaged in our own little projects for the moment. His is called ASHES DIVIDE and mine is called PUSCIFER...Please be advised that A PERFECT CIRCLE and TOOL are still alive and well. This is simply MORE."[22]

Band members

Current members

Former members

All members contributed to aMotion, and are listed in its liner notes in the above order.

Discography

Main article: A Perfect Circle discography
Album Year Billboard 200 peak[31] RIAA certification[32]
Mer de Noms 2000 4 Platinum
Thirteenth Step 2003 2 Platinum
Emotive 2004 2 Gold
Amotion 2004 57 Platinum

Compilation appearances

Track Soundtrack Year
"Judith (Renholdër Mix)" Underworld soundtrack 2003
"Weak and Powerless" (Tilling My Grave Mix)
"The Outsider (Renholdër Apocalypse Mix)" Resident Evil: Apocalypse soundtrack 2004
"Weak and Powerless" MTV2 Headbanger's Ball: Volume 2 2004
"Passive" Constantine soundtrack (film appearance only) 2005

Music videos

Year Title Album Director(s)
2000 "Judith" Mer de Noms David Fincher
2001 "3 Libras" Paul Hunter
2002 "Thinking of You" Steven Grasse
2003 "Weak and Powerless" Thirteenth Step Brothers Strause
"The Outsider" Steven Grasse
2004 "Blue" (Contest Winner) Joseph Perez
"Counting Bodies Like Sheep
To The Rhythm Of The War Drums"		 Emotive Nick Paparone, Paul Thiel
and Steven Grasse
"Imagine" Gerald Casale
2005 "Passive" Brothers Strause

References

  1. ^ Summers, Jodi (2004). Making and Marketing Music. Allworth Communications, Inc. p. p. 16. ISBN 1581153872. {{cite book}}: |page= has extra text (help)
  2. ^ "ASHES dIVIDE official website I". Island Records. Retrieved 2008-08-23.
  3. ^ McIver, Joel (2002). Nu-metal: The Next Generation of Rock & Punk. Omnibus Press. p. p. 27. {{cite book}}: |page= has extra text (help)
  4. ^ Zahlaway, Jon (2000-12-08). "A Perfect Circle lines up winter headlining tour". LiveDaily. Retrieved 2008-03-29. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  5. ^ Moriates, Chris (2001-02-08). "A Perfect Circle captivates audience at UCI Bren Center". Daily Bruin. Retrieved 2008-08-23.
  6. ^ "A Perfect Circle Storms Onto Chart with Highest Debuting First Album Ever From a Rock Band". NY Rock. 2000-06-02. Retrieved 2008-09-03.
  7. ^ McAlley, John (2007-11-03). "I, Puscifer". Spin. Retrieved 2008-01-16.
  8. ^ Cook, Dave (2004-12-24). "Amotion; DVD Reviews". The Age. p. 9.
  9. ^ "Renholder: the Danny Lohner interview". Movement Magazine. Retrieved 2008-08-24.
  10. ^ Kaufman, Gil (2003-01-22). "Billy Corgan In Search Of Personal 'Jesus' On Zwan Debut". MTV.com. Retrieved 2008-08-26.
  11. ^ MTV News staff report (2003-02-19). "For The Record: Quick News On Mariah Carey And Busta Rhymes, DMX, A Perfect Circle, Limp Bizkit, P.O.D. & More". MTV.com. Retrieved 2008-08-26.
  12. ^ Kaufman, Gil (2003-08-03). "Iha Steps into Perfect Circle: A Perfect Circle". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 2008-09-02.
  13. ^ Allen, Ryan. "A Perfect Circle Biography". Musician Guide. Retrieved 2008-08-28.
  14. ^ Lappen, John (2004-06-08). "A Perfect Circle". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 2008-08-28.
  15. ^ Zahlaway, Jon (2003-10-16). "A Perfect Circle rounds up more tour dates for fall outing". Live Daily. Retrieved 2008-08-26.
  16. ^ "Tour info". aperfectcircle.com. Retrieved 2008-09-09.
  17. ^ Wiederhorn, Jon (2002-08-06). "Nine Inch Nails, Tool Frontmen Recording Together". MTV.com. Retrieved 2008-08-26.
  18. ^ "A Perfect Circle – eMOTIVe". Sputnik Music. 2005-07-26. Retrieved 2008-08-26.
  19. ^ Theakston, Rob. "AMotion > Overview". allmusic.com. Retrieved 2008-08-26.
  20. ^ Conte, Patti (2004-09-23). "A Perfect Circle Cast Their Ballot With 'eMOTIVe'". Virgin Records.
  21. ^ a b Harris, Chris (2006-05-16). "A Perfect Circle Is Done For Now,' Says Billy Howerdel". MTV.com. Retrieved 2008-01-27.
  22. ^ a b Keenan, Maynard James (2008-05-13). "Maynard James Keenan Says A Perfect Circle Is Still Alive". Blabbermouth.net. Retrieved 2008-09-02.
  23. ^ Wiederhorn, Jon (2006-03-24). "A Perfect Circle Prepare For Hibernation". MTV.com. Retrieved 2008-08-31. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
  24. ^ Zwickel, Jonathan (2008-07-28). "Nine Inch Nails Bring Darkness and Light to Seattle for Tour Opener". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 2008-08-31.
  25. ^ Kreps, Daniel (2008-01-11). "Marilyn Manson Says Led Zeppelin Is Responsible For Reunion With Twiggy". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 2008-08-31.
  26. ^ Goodman, Elizabeth. "Exclusive: James Iha Speaks Out Regarding His Involvement in Pumpkins Reunion". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 2008-08-31.
  27. ^ Rivalin, Morgan (February 2006). "TOOL: Jours de tonnerre". Rock Hard. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  28. ^ Keenan, Maynard James (2006-09-30). "A Perfect Circle News". Retrieved 2008-09-02.
  29. ^ McKibbin, Adam (2007-10-29). "Interview: Puscifer's Maynard James Keenan". Artistdirect. Retrieved 2008-01-21.
  30. ^ Wiederhorn, Jon (December 2007). "Gynormous". Revolver.
  31. ^ Artist Chart History — A Perfect Circle. Billboard.com. Retrieved on 2008-08-27.
  32. ^ Gold & Platinum Certifications. Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved on 2008-08-27.
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