Customer Reviews

Emotive (Clean)

5 star:		(106)
4 star:		(94)
3 star:		(63)
2 star:		(64)
1 star:		(93)

 

 

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!

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.

"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'... "

I bought this CD today just on the strength of APC's first two albums. And while I can't say it was a total waste, the album has its share of problems. Let me explain.

Two things will mark this album as different in the APC canon: it is political and it consists of mostly covers. Neither of these characteristics is inherently problematic in a CD, but they do both set limitations that can narrow its appeal. APC has already done some excellent covers ("The Nurse Who Loved Me" and "Love Song"), so it's not necessarily a bad idea to try a few more. The band's opinions (heavily suggested by the selection of songs even if you missed the peace symbol on the front) are actually irrelevant; what matters here is the quality of the music in the first place. And even if the ideas within are probably in sync with most APC listeners, the songs are overall a disappointment.

Consider first the original material. "Passive" is of course the result of Maynard's project with Trent Reznor, so naturally the expectations should be high. But both artists have done much better than this. It's not unbearable, just rather bland. There is also "Counting Bodies Like Sheep..." which is essentially a reworking of "Pet" from Thirteenth Step. Not bad, but it sounded better the first time around. (Strangely, it bears a much greater resemblance to NIN than "Passive." Call it subconscious plagiarism.)

Four of the covers succeed in reinventing their respective originals. "When the Levee Breaks" is particularly beautiful, a mellow but thought-provoking rainy day of a song. Its closing piano riff brings to mind Massive Attack's "Heat Miser," which even if derivative is not necessarily a bad thing. "Annihilation" and "Peace Love and Understanding" both fare well as creepy anthems with a message. And finally, "Fiddle and the Drum" provides an opportunity for an eerie a capella rendition, and Maynard delivers. If there are any doubts regarding his abilities as a singer, they are put to rest here.

But the remaining covers are really quite miserable. For example, John Lennon's "Imagine" is a song of profound optimism, but here it has been robbed of its sunshine, as if Maynard knows communism is a dead end but doesn't really want to admit it to himself. Similarly unrecognizable and wretched is the rehash of Depeche Mode's "People Are People." The catchy tune from the original is gone, replaced by an ugly collection of sounds that may or may not pass for a song. And just skip "Let's Have a War," unless you're feeling masochistic.

Emotive is not one of those CDs that "grows on you." It lacks cohesion and ends up feeling like a very mixed bag of B-sides. Initiates to A Perfect Circle should start with either Mer de Noms or Thirteenth Step; leave this one to the die-hard fans (you know who you are). Let's look forward to the next album of genuine APC material, or, barring that, another complex and addictive Tool release.

I don't often write music reviews. I like what I like and I figure others are pretty much the same. Musical tastes are as varied as people, after all. I'm a child of the 80's in music, who underwent a distinct broadening of tastes as I grew older from New Wave to New Age, Progressive, Punk, metal rock, classic rock, light jazz, Folk Music, Latin, classical music, Celtic, Asian, African - a distinct smattering of World Beat. I'll give anything a try once -- even Rap (didn't stick, tho). But I grew up listening to my mother's music: the Beatles, Roberta Flack, Don McLean, Carly Simon, Jim Croche, James Taylor, Joan Baez and Cat Stevens. Music to think by. Yet my brother and I taught her about Album Rock - explained Pink Floyd's "The Wall" to her so she wasn't so outraged over the song "Another Brick in the Wall Part 1". I like to think I've been fairly muscially diverse over the years since, yet I'm still hanging on the fringes of popular rock - I still prefer what they brand as Alternative music these days.

But I simply have to rec this album to everyone.

Not because I'll listen to it over and over and bop to it while driving down the road on a daily basis... because I won't.

But because it made my throat go tight. It made my heart ache in my chest and my eyes prickle. And it even made me sing along to the songs I know so well -- and love so much -- despite the twisted form they've taken here.

Maybe you've heard APC and Maynard James Keenan's slow dirge-like cover of John Lennon's Imagine. Perhaps you were outraged, as I first was, when I heard it. A song of hope and peace and looking forward... turned into something dark and sinister and cynical. I love their version now too, even though it hurts so much to hear it each and every time...

Because isn't that what happened to Lennon's dream? Isn't that what's happened to the bright underlying promise of the 60's... the hope for peace and equality and understanding has become crushed by greed and fear and self-interest.

Maynard and Co. don't stop there, however. The whole album is a scathing repudiation of American apathy that unfortunately won't get the airplay of Green Day's bouncy, catchy "American Idiot". And it should. But only as a whole album. And only with the Crisis Hotlines fully manned. It's depressing as hell, poignant and heart-rending, this album. As a whole as well as individually -- but mostly as a whole. It really needs to be listened to that way. To hear Elvis Costello's "Peace Love and Understanding" turned into a lament, Marvin Gaye's "What's Going On" into a frightened wail and Devo's "Freedom of Choice" into a mocking ridicule - followed by the public domain but made famous by Led Zeppelin "When the Levee Breaks" - all of it chilling, lamentory and dark.

It clubs you over the head with each song choice, each startling arrangement and with Maynard's delicious voice twisted in ever so many disturbing ways. That fear is wrong, that letting others tell you how to live is cowardice, that war is evil and that hope... hope is hard to find these days. It's a warning that you truly have to think for yourself and keep an open mind.

Wake up, America. Listen. This entire album is a dirge for freedom, hope and peace.

And no, it's not easy to listen to. But it shouldn't be. This is a challenge - a rub-it-in-your-face kind of one - to thinking people to wake up and look around them again.

Unfortunately, the ones who need to hear this the most -- aren't going to listen. They'll only hear the surface; and looking for escapism, they'll miss the whole point.

Maynard used to be my absolute idol. Now he's just pissing me off. This album was so obviously thrown together as a last minute attempt to shove their political adgenda down everyone's throats in time for elections. I'm sorry if that's harsh, but the cd is just awful. But what can you expect? They put out 13th step, go on tour (which i went to see, frigging rocked) and somewhere in there had time to crap this out. Sorry to everyone who liked it, you are entitled to your opinions, but you all know mine. and what the hell is up with "counting bodies like sheep to the rhythm of a war drum"? can you say recycled crap? Pet was a great song, but there's no need to turn a Da Vinci into a finger painting. I'm sorry.

Their third full length release is a follow up to their platinum-certified "MER DE NOMS," and 2003's platinum-selling "THIRTEENTH STEP." Those used to A Perfect Circle's deep, emotional songs should find this album no different. Described by APC leader Maynard James Keenan as "a collection of songs about war, peace, love and greed," it combines an interesting selection of cover songs as well as two originals.

Included on this album are reinterpreted, or "emotive" if you will, versions of classic tunes such as John Lennon's "Imagine," Marvin Gaye's "What's Going On," "When The Levee Breaks" (made famous by Led Zeppelin, originally by Memphis Minnie), Depeche Mode's "People Are People," Devo's "Freedom Of Choice," Black Flag's "Gimmie Gimmie Gimmie (not ABBA, sorry)," Fear's "Let's Have A War," Joni Mitchell's "Fiddle And The Drum," and the Nick Lowe semi protest song done by Elvis Costello, "(What's So Funny 'Bout) Peace, Love And Understanding." The album comes right out with my personal favorite track, a powerful rendition of "Annihilation," originally recorded by, Crucifix.

The two original songs "Counting Bodies Like Sheep To The Rhythm Of the War Drums" and "Passive." The later has an interesting video that is posted on their website which "coincidentally" parallels the release date of the album...NOV 2nd (ELECTION DAY...hmmmm).

Nonetheless this is a very politically motivated album from a band that has been no strangers to controversy. For the casual APC listener, I may have to say this is a skipper. But for the true APC fan, this is a must have. I only rated it a 3 star because most "cover" albums do not do justice to the originals. Also, as an APC album, I feel MDNs and 13th are better choices. In my opinion, only a devoted fan of APC can truly appreciate the deeper take Maynard has on these classics by making them his own.

I usually read reviews from various sites before buying said cd because I don't want to get ripped off. Most reviews for Emotive were disappointing - had APC lost it's electrical charge and intensity? So I went out and bought it.

Yes, the songs are all themed. So what? Maynard's vocals are absolutely mesmerising and beautiful and intense. The instrumentals are amazing. The feeling put into this album is just as charged and electrifying as their previous albums. Make no mistake, APC has not lost its touch. Their cover on John Lennon's "Imagine" is phenomenal and strikes a cord in anyone who listens closely.

This is an album to listen to with headphones on by yourself if you want to get the full effect. I absolutely love it and find it to be a must have for any true APC fan. Peace out.

Yes, I know this is a cover CD and they did a good job making it their own but I think Maynard is stuck in a political rut. It is affecting his music output. It is extremely limiting and discriminate to be so one sided in one's political views. Why listen to all the money driven talking heads and believe so much in flimsy politicians. This is Tool and APC, two of the most original, influential bands of our time and that's because there was no external bulls**t distractions. It was a pure outlet of talent; Music for music's sake to surge forward. Maynard please get out of this rut and make some good original music. The politricks are pulling you down.

The first time I listened to this album I was disappointed because I was expecting heavy covers of songs about peace love and war. But by the third listen I was in love with it, all of the songs are beautiful, eerie, and moving. From the start of "Annihilation" to the last seconds of "Fiddle And The Drum". "Imagine" is amazing, Maynard's voice is mellow and depressing, he said he tried to sound like Lennon would sound if he sang it today, even more sad. "Peace Love And Understanding, and What's Going On" are covers of some pretty "un metal" songs and are incredibly well done by the circle. "Passive" and "Counting Bodies..." are the only new songs on the album and are two of their best, Passive is brutal and unmerciful, and Counting Bodies is VERY easy to get stuck in your head. These are some of my favorite songs on this masterpiece, other greats are "Let's Have A War", and "Gimmie Gimmie Gimmie". Don't listen to the closed minded "metalheads" and buy, burn, or steal this album NOW!!!