A Perfect Circle
aMotion
(Virgin)
Although their recent album of atrocious political covers was a complete flop, aMotion reaffirms A Perfect Circle as a creative powerhouse. The band places a heavy emphasis on the visual medium, with their videos and live show playing almost as important a role as the songs themselves, and their fusion of alt- metal, art and dark prog rock works well as narration for their eight videos to date. Including the Tool-esque “Weak And Powerless,” the haunting “Blue” and the warped-yet-comedic anti-Bush saga “Counting Bodies Like Sheep to the Rhythm of the War Drums,” aMotion also features commentaries by frontman Maynard James Keenan and guitarist Billy Howerdel, extra footage and a bonus CD with remixed versions of APC’s singles. The biggest twists, however, are several appearances by sexually charged farce troupe The Bikini Bandits, whose 2002 film featured Keenan in the role of Satan.
—Jon Bruhm
This article appears in Dec 6-12, 2007.
