Emotive (Clean) [Clean]

A Perfect Circle | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (November 2, 2004)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Clean
• Label: Virgin Records Us
• ASIN: B00064VQDK
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 3.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (420 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #428,552 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. Annihilation

2. Imagine

3. Peace Love and Understanding

4. What's Going On

5. Passive

6. Gimmie Gimmie Gimmie

7. People are People

8. Freedom of Choice

9. Let's Have A War

10. Counting Bodies Like Sheep to the Rhythm of the War Drum

11. When the Levee Breaks

12. Fiddle and the Drum

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Maynard James Keenan is known for venting his personal angst through the abstract metal of his former band Tool and the poisoned art rock of his current outfit A Perfect Circle. On the group's third full-length release, however, the songwriter drops the high drama and gets blunt: War is bad. Politicians are evil. The world is doomed. To support his case he delivers a handful of politically charged originals and unusual Eastern-influenced covers of crusty anti-war anthems like John Lennon's "Imagine" and Marvin Gaye's "What's Going On." You could never accuse Keenan of being predictable. --Aidin Vaziri

Product Description

A Perfect Circle Photos

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Give it a chance people, November 3, 2004

By 

Bonghitter420 - See all my reviews

This review is from: Emotive (Audio CD)

As I looked at the other reviews (poor reviews mostly) I decided to go back and look at reviews from the last two albums. The lesser reviews on this album criticize that the last two albums were way better than this once and that people would soon be reaching for thirteenth step after going through this release. The reviews lesser reviews about thirteenth step noted that Mer de Noms was the better cd and thirteenth step was a waste of money. Going all the way back to Mer de Noms reviews, everyone compared the cd to tool and called it too mainstream. What I'm saying is that people that want to hear a specific sound or song over and over again get pissed when albums don't all sound the same. However, when they do sound the same people complain about the music being repatitious. As far as judging cover songs, some people don't want to hear the same song played the same way by different people and others do. This band chose to incorporate there own style into each cover and I think that is cool and creative. When you listen to this album don't think about Thirteenth Step, Mer de Noms, or Tool. Think about the creative and artistic touch this band put into some classic favorites. You may like it or you may not, but the band has held true to their style and beliefs here and I think the album is increadible. THINK FOR YOURSELF!

43 of 53 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good--depressing, but good, February 19, 2006

By 

A. Stutheit "Teyad" (Denver, CO USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Emotive (Audio CD)

Nowadays, if you're a celebrity, there are really two ways you can protest a war or government. You can either do what one Fred Durst did, and make a holy fool of yourself by grabbing the mic at an awards show and saying to the crowd "I hope we're all in agreeance that this war should go away"; or plan b) you can make a protest album. Maynard James Keenan and his side project, A Perfect Circle, have a little intelligence on their side, so they chose the latter option. "Emotive," APC's third release, is a protest/covers album; it covers everything from John Lennon ("Imagine") to Depeche Mode ("People Are People") to Black Flag ("Gimmie Gimmie Gimmie"). Plus, there are two original songs (tracks which aren't covers). Track five, "Passive," is actually a remake of a song written by Keenan and Nine Inch Nails' Trent Reznor, and "Counting Bodies Like Sheep to the Rhythm of the War Drums" (catchy title, huh?) is, contrary to popular belief, not a remix of the song "Pet" (which appeared on A Perfect Circle's last album, "13th Step"). Rather, this song is a continuation/second part of "Pet."

Some fans think that "Emotive" isn't an anti-war album, because of comments made by Maynard before the album's release. But, with lyrics like "war is not the answer" (in "What's Going On," a song originally done by Marvin Gaye), it's hard to believe there isn't an underlying political or anti-war message, here.

Almost every song on here is moving and touching. "Emotive," as a whole, is very depressing, but it's also very pretty. Plus, some of the songs (like "Imagine" and "Passive") are even kind of catchy.

The album begins with "Annihilation," which has very creepy, almost bonechilling whispers about power. The next song, "Imagine," is the single. It has some funeral-like piano playing, occasional string plucking, and a rhythmic drum beat; but it's mainly catchy because of Maynard's vocal style. Tracks three and eleven, ("What's So Funny `Bout) Peace Love and Understanding" and "When The Levee Breaks," find Maynard singing in a clear, limpid, feminine, almost falsetto tone. Plus, the former track is very atmospheric, with reverberating piano keys, a violin, and a resonating drum beat.

Elsewhere, "What's Going On" has very spacey singing with humming, almost static-y synthesizers; "Passive" is rather up-tempo and fast; and the album closer, "Fiddle and the Drum," is almost breathtaking (with nasal, a capella singing).

"Emotive" doesn't raise the bar for Maynard or A Perfect Circle, so it's understandable that some fans would be quite disappointed by this album. Plus, if you think a protest album should uplift the listener's spirits and give you a feeling of empowerment, you'll definitely not have any luck with this C.D.. But if you're an anti-war Maynard aficionado who's looking for some peace love and understanding, or if you just want a C.D. that's very calming and soothing, look no further.

15 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars GET OVER YOURSELF AND APPRECIATE BRILLIANCE, June 30, 2006

By 

E. Zedzian "ela_bird" (IL, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Emotive (Audio CD)

"oh my friend, how did you come to trade the fiddle for the drum?"

i'm listening to eMOTIVE by aPerfectCircle and after reading some of the terrible reviews it received, i am quite in disagreement with those reviews.

most people do not like the fact that a lot of these songs are covers done in new ways but i want to say to those people that this is a huge band. they have put out amazing music and are constantly coming out with new material - if they want to do covers on an album about anti-war they damn well can! they can sing about whatever they bloodly well want to as well as it's done well! and yes, it IS done well.

furthermore, people are surprised with the anti-war/anti-violence message here and claim that maynard james keenan has "sold out" and suddenly become a peace freak because all of his other albums (tool included) are pro violence. and i simply have to do a double take here. WHAT? while keenan and his musicians express many of the primitive emotions known to humans, they have never come out to sing that violence is the way to go. in fact, as long as i've been listening to them, their message about finding peace within and coming to terms with the dark side of the human psyche has been clear as a bell! in fact, i have often been absolutely impressed with this metal/rock band's ability to preach the succulent message of inner sanctity while maintaining a provocatively dark image.

tool/APC has always been about primal feelings, about those deep dark emotions we keep so well hidden. about the repressed, and finding release for it. not in easy ways, and not generally in happy ways, but neither in destructive ways necessarily. yes, it's a lot of anger and pain, but they do not condone violence. when they sing of violence it is to lament the horrors it inflicts upon people. ***keenan explores the darker side of human existence, and comes back pissed off that so many people get it wrong.*** so many people use their pain to hurt others. or they don't examine themselves and they use their stupidity to hurt others. that's essentially what tool's music is about, mankind's incessant drive to kill itself.

and YES, there is a CLEAR difference between the first PC album and this one.. but i think that the expectation of a band staying the same through every album and sticking to one genre of music is really unrealistic. there is too much to work with, too many interests to explore, too many messages to express. look at Tori Amos. every single album of hers is different than the one before it and while people get pissy about it and whine and moan and hope she goes "back" to playing the music she used to, she still has an immense following that actually understands her need to explore with different kinds of music instead of doing the same old tired thing over and over and over again. what the truly disappointing aspect if one wants to take a deeper look into this, is that growing and changing is only human but popular opinion more often than not wants more of the same, as if being stuck in the same spinning vortex of energy makes the million other vortexes not as interesting or important.


"mother, mother there's too many of you cryin', brother, brother far too many of you dyin'... "