September 16, 2003 - Thirteenth Step

It's a double release day! On the same day as my last release and over three years since "Mer De Noms", A Perfect Circle released their second album "Thirteenth Step" on September 16, 2003. Billy Howerdel does just guitars on this album as Jeordie White (aka Twiggy Ramirez from Marilyn Manson!) joins the band as their full-time bassist. Troy van Leeuwen and Paz Lenchantin are still credited as members, though the former only plays on three songs and the latter on only the final track! This album was written as more of a band collaboration as opposed to their debut which was largely written by Howerdel and it's got a softer, more atmospheric sound than their more hard rock debut. Let's check out the latest from A Perfect Circle!

The album kicks off with the near eight-minute "The Package" and Billy Howerdel plays a light but pretty cool guitar riff to drive things and Josh Freese follows along with some solid drumming as well. Van Leeuwen adds some trippy extra guitar and White adds a pretty cool, low bass riff to complete this light but very interesting and captivating main riff. Maynard James Keenan enters to sing the verse and his light voice sounds super good and matches the mood perfectly. Things roll right into a similar chorus and after another long, light round the heat turns up as Howerdel switches to a heavy guitar riff that hits spectacularly hard! The bass and drums follow with some more heavy, slow stuff and I love this shift to a heavier version of the main riff, everyone sounds great in their heavy, evolved form! They rock out nicely for a long round, then things quiet back down as they slowly fade out a final verse. A pretty sweet way to open the album I thought! Up next is the lead single "Weak And Powerless" and Howerdel plays a faster but still light and slightly creepy main riff and White nicely backs him with some similarly light but cool bass. Maynard sings a lower, pretty solid verse overtop and he shifts to a higher voice for the chorus as he nicely holds some longer notes. After the louder chorus the next verse is louder as well with Howerdel and White both playing some solid stuff. I'm a little surprised this was a single; it is lighter, but it's not radio-friendly really. That doesn't mean it's bad though, it's a cool little song, just an odd choice for a single. Track 3 is "The Noose" and it starts very quietly as things fade in and things have a very light but slightly psychedelic vibe to them. Maynard sings a light but epic verse that fits the mood very nicely and things move smoothly into a similar chorus where a bit more starts to happen with some creepy guitar and a decent rhythm section. After this round things finally get loud as a heavier guitar riff takes over as Maynard continues to sing "your halo slippin' down" and they slowly close out the song with this solid new riff. Ambient, but also pretty metal and cool. The next track is another single titled "Blue" and Howerdel dives right into an echo-y guitar riff that sounds pretty space-y and solid and Maynard sounds pretty good when he comes in to sing the verse. The chorus sounds louder and more full, but it's pretty similar and this makes more sense as a single, it's pretty repetitive and straightforward, while also being creepily interesting. The song appears to end with about 25 seconds left but there's a creepy set-up for the next song as we move right into track 5, "Vanishing". It starts quietly with Freese playing some nice light drums while Maynard comes in and out with a nice epic voice. Once the bass and guitar join in things sound even more epic, then they settle into a really smooth main riff with some catchy drums, dreamy guitars, and some solid bass by White. Maynard's voice fits perfectly with the mood and they lazily, trippily float through this cool tune. Up next is "A Stranger" and Howerdel leads the way with a slow, light guitar riff that sounds decent and Maynard sings a light verse overtop that once again seems to match the mood perfectly. It's definitely not a headbanger, but it creepily washes in and out like waves and some orchestral instruments make things sound even more epic. Not a song you'll choose to put on very often, but it nails the vibe it's going for pretty perfectly. Track 7 is "The Outsider" and Howerdel drives things with a light but pretty cool guitar riff and White and Freese fall in behind with a perfect rhythm section to match. The guitars change to distorted and cool as Maynard comes in to sing a quieter but solid verse. The volume increases as they nicely build up to the chorus and Maynard sounds fantastic singing faster, and then holding some great long notes overtop the creepy chorus. The next verse has a nice chugging riff that is pretty heavy, and somehow it moves perfectly into the same build-up and chorus. This song really nicely blends the dark and creepy with some great heavier parts and it's no surprise this is one of my favourites off the album, really well done! The next track is "Crimes" and Freese plays a slow but loud and epic drumbeat to keep the pace as White and Howerdel play some psychedelic and cool stuff overtop. We hear Maynard creepily whispering in the background but this is a largely instrumental little interlude. The music ends and we hear the sound of people talking (at a table I think) in a very odd way to finish this interlude. Track 9 is called "The Nurse Who Loved Me" and it's actually a cover of a band called Failure. Maynard jumps right into a soft verse and the music is very light, fluffy and breezy with Freese even playing some xylophone (or something like it). It's certainly unlike any other APC song, and they do a great job with this lighter style, but it's definitely not the style I want these guys to play! There's strings and everything sounds pretty epic, it's probably the beat this style of music will ever sound 'cause it's a beautiful song, just not my thing really! Up next is "Pet" and it's the exact opposite end of the spectrum as they jump right into a wonderfully heavy chorus riff! White's chugging bass sounds awesome and Howerdel plays some trippy and really cool guitar. Things quiet right down for the verse as Howerdel leads the way with a cool guitar riff and Maynard sings an echo-y, super cool verse. They slam perfectly back into the heavy chorus as Maynard continues to sound creepily great overtop and everything about this song is everything I want from APC. The final minute and a half they even step things up with a great new verse followed by a pretty epic guitar solo! This is probably the best song on the album! Awesome stuff! Track 11 is "Lullaby" and Maynard slowly repeats "go back to sleep" until a super, super low bass by White comes in. We hear a woman sing wordless vocals in a high voice overtop this super creepy backdrop and this is an uneventful but very APC little interlude to the album's final track "Gravity". It's a really smooth and cool song with White playing some pretty great bass throughout and Howerdel playing lots of creepy light guitar that seems to just roll over and over so smoothly. Maynard's verse and chorus are both in the same light, echo-y vibe and although they largely stick to the main drag it's a pretty solid one and a nice way to wrap things up.

That is the end of "Thirteenth Step" and I thought it was a pretty good album, albeit definitely a lighter one by A Perfect Circle. Jeordie White seems like a great addition on bass and Billy Howerdel is still full of cool and interesting riffs and Maynard is of course Maynard. I liked their debut "Mer De Noms" more because it was generally heavier, but the heavy moments on this album were still great! I look forward to more from APC soon!