A Perfect Circle Emotive [Explicit Content] (2 Lp's)

For EMOTIVE, their third full-length album, A Perfect Circle offers up a covers-heavy collection that includes a number of protest songs. What's most striking about this set is the way in which the group reworks pop classics. In the hands of frontman Maynard James Keenan and company, John Lennon's "Imagine" becomes a foreboding lament, and Marvin Gaye's "What's Going On" is transformed into an oddly soothing, nearly ambient song. Other standout tracks include a lullaby-like, electronics-laced take on Depeche Mode's "People Are People" and a gently melodic version of "When the Levee Breaks" (almost totally unrecognizable from Led Zeppelin's revered rendition). EMOTIVE also presents two APC originals--the frustration-venting "Passive" and the scathing "Counting Bodies like Sheep to the Rhythm of the War Drums." Although a few tracks feature amped-up arrangements, it's remarkable how many of these tunes are subdued and understated, further backing up A Perfect Circle's status as a dynamic, unpredictable band.

• Genre: Pop
• Released: 01/11/2005
• Format: Vinyl