By Jim Shea
If history has taught us anything, it is that music can be a very strong tool for sending out a message. Some of the most famous songs are politically motivated, but still remain to be both great and powerful. Now, A Perfect Circle-a band fronted by Tool singer Maynard James Keenan, bassist Jeordie White and guitarist James Iha-have never been political with their music yet, but stand out to be one incredible rock group. eMOTIVE changes all that, as this album is full of cover songs that are political.
Despite the fact this A Perfect Circle album is politically charged and that it will be released on Election Day, the music itself stands out to be one of best performed albums of the year. You don’t necessarily have to agree with the album’s messages if you’re pro-war or whatever political stance you may have, but it is definitely worth a listen to since the music helps get those messages across.
The band has beautifully used its instrumentals to make eMOTIVE a redeemable purchase as Keenan develops a light, yet strong singing voice while doing the covers of famous anti-war songs from artists like Marvin Gaye, John Lennon and Black Flag. Once again, the instrumentals are great with guitarists Billy Howerdel and Iha providing some outstanding work along with White’s bass and Josh Freese’s drums.
It’s not hard to see people will develop a love-hate relationship with eMOTIVE if they’re politically motivated, but if one were to just ignore the lyrics for one minute, then this would be one of A Perfect Circle’s better crafted albums musically. True, people who support Bush will be offended by this album, but on the other hand people who are anti-Bush will love this one to death. Thankfully there are people out there who don’t follow one particular political group and consider themselves politically independent. The band can hope these “independents” will take eMOTIVE in a positive way.
Even though eMOTIVE is a politically motivated album filled with anti-war songs, one should ask if A Perfect Circle focused more on their political messages or displaying their talent. While many people will claim this was just for politics, they shouldn’t ignore that this is A Perfect Circle becoming a multi-talented band as seen in their renditions of “When the Levee Breaks” and “Imagine.” Mer De Noms may of sounded a bit like Tool, but A Perfect Circle have finally developed a sound of their own thanks to Thirteenth Step and eMOTIVE.
