by Timothy Brough "author and music buff" Springfield, PA United States Reviewed on November 21st, 2004
One the traditions of the earliest folk singers and singing messengers was that they took preexisting songs and used them to send messages or tell stories about the deeds of men before them. On "Emotive," released on election day 2004, Billy and Maynard of Perfect Circle do exactly that. Their message is that war is bad, peace is good, but, it may be too late. The songs are all transformed into dark and tormented calls to the listener, emphasizing that the singer's travels through the wasteland have been harrowing ones. How else could you explain the transformation of "Imagine"? What was once John Lennon's prayer for peace and understanding is, in the hands of Perfect Circle, an anguished howl of post election day pain.
So it follows on the rest of "Emotive." Classics such as "What's Going On" (performed almost as a whispered echo) and some lesser known songs like "Let's Have A War" and "Gimmee Gimmee Gimmee" are laid bare and performed with an intensity that most heavy metal bands couldn't muster on their best days. The core message of Devo's "Freedom Of Choice" ("freedom from choice is what you want") is given revised lyrics and makes the song a more incisive statement. This is not to say that these songs are all heavy rockers. "When The Levee Breaks" is taken back from Led Zepplin and revisited into its more sedate blues form, and Joni Mitchell's "The Fiddle and The Drum" is preformed a cappella to close the CD. It is also worth noting that "Emotive" opens and ends softly, with the toy piano and whisper of "Annihilation" and the voices only exit of "Fiddle," driving the message home for more convincingly than a screech and a slam.
On the other hand, the time spent with Trent Reznor informs "Passive" and the remodel of "Counting Bodies Like Sheep..." grind like the machinery of a scorched earth future. The vision of the bombed out city behind the flaming peace symbol in front of the faux support the war posters make the unstated obvious. Perfect Circle have made the best album of 2004 by placing themselves and their consciouses on the line with "Emotive," in a way that a mere handful of other acts this year did.
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