This album is a perfect complimetn to 13th step. This has more power behind it and seems much mroe agressive while 13th step seems to be more thoughtful and deliberate. This has a more wild feel I suppose which is great. Orestes, 3 Libras and Magdalena are my top three I think but the whole album is perfectly constructed. I say this keeping in mind what was said about genre gappers because it takes the elements of prog such as strange instrumentation and modified time signatures but makes them listener friendly as Tool, The Mars Volta and Dream Theater have yet to be able to do (not saying I don't like those bands (well, DT isn't my cup of tea) but to most folks they are a challenge to enjoy). mer de noms = 5/5, 13th step = 5/5 13th step + mer de noms = 6/5

[B][U]GREAT[/U][/B] overall album, magdalena is also a very good song, my personal favorite, the chours absolulty blows me away, GREAT album 5/5

a great album, but in ways, i prefer listening to Thirteenth Step because it flows all the way through.

i believe that both alubms are 5/5 material, definately.

and i believe that this album is basically about religion. as someone has already stated.

You underscored 3 Libras by about 4 stars :D

Great review, I agree almost completely on it. The only thing I don't is that I don't like the score for "Over." It's extremely simple, yet a perfect ending for (ironically) A Perfect Circle ;) . APC is currently my favorite band, and this is probably my favorite cd (mostly for "Orestes" and "3 Libras") by them.

Supposedly, Maynard said he was finished with APC after this tour is over, and he's only going to be with Tool from then on. Can anyone confirm this? I love Tool, but love APC more (Billy Howerdel is an amazing songwriter, in my opinion), so I'm really hoping that my favorite singer and songwriter aren't "breaking up," so to speak.

[QUOTE=Sleepwalker]Great review, I agree almost completely on it. The only thing I don't is that I don't like the score for "Over." It's extremely simple, yet a perfect ending for (ironically) A Perfect Circle ;) . APC is currently my favorite band, and this is probably my favorite cd (mostly for "Orestes" and "3 Libras") by them.

Supposedly, Maynard said he was finished with APC after this tour is over, and he's only going to be with Tool from then on. Can anyone confirm this? I love Tool, but love APC more (Billy Howerdel is an amazing songwriter, in my opinion), so I'm really hoping that my favorite singer and songwriter aren't "breaking up," so to speak.[/QUOTE]

Hmm that would suck. APC IMO are far better than Tool, which on many occasions I find unlistanable.

That's a thing I always find...APC fans usually hate TOOL (occasionally people will just dislike them greatly, or like them a tiny bit) and vice versa.

But anyway, I like APC but I find TOOL to be far superior.

Great review for a great album. The album is well put together, I can listen too it for hours, maynards voice is hypnotizing, Mer de noms to me is romantic, focusing on the soul.

[QUOTE=YouDontSeeMe]Great review for a great album. The album is well put together, I can listen too it for hours, maynards voice is hypnotizing, Mer de noms to me is romantic, focusing on the soul.[/QUOTE]

i can relate to that. :)

it's an enchanting album, great songs all the way through. i've been through the process of showing my friends the album, and they are falling in love with it aswell. it's a brilliant piece of art.

Probably APC's best album so far...

they are very exceptional songwriters and im glad to see im not the only one who thinks so. i love the softer songs they create because its so enrapturing. which is weird because usually i hate it when a band tries to be soft. this is a different story though seeing as how maynard and friends really compliment eachothers playing well. i hope to see some new material from them real soon. i LOVE THEM! (strange seeing as how i listen to stuff like Lamb of God)

p.s.
anyone who is offended by judiths lyrics remeber one thing, everyone is entitled to their own opinion. im christian and i think the sonf ****ing ROCKS!

I just got this yesterday. It took me a few listens to like it but after that it was an amazing album. Its definately different from Thirteenth Step and id say that this cd leans more towards Tool's sound.

favorite tracks- Judith, The Hollow, 3 Libras

great review

[QUOTE=epifreak2002]I got this album as a result of this review, and thanks for it. I was thinking about the lyrics to Magdalena, and I thought it might be about drugs or some other form of addiction. "I'd sell my soul, my self esteem a dollar at a time for just one taste of you my Magdalena." Addiction does not do wonderful things to a person's self esteem "My self esteem". Also, I could see saying "I'd sell my soul for you" but saying "my self esteem" hardly fits into the picture of something you'd say in the situation of singing to a girl (unless this is about an addiction to sex maybe....) Also the line "A dollar at a time" seems to indicate addiction. It doesn't really fit the image of romantic love, but if you picture going to a dealer and getting your satisfaction "a dollar at a time." It makes more sense.[/QUOTE]
The song(Magdelina) sounds to me like it is about sexual desire, probably for a prostitute or stripper something along those lines("To witness such an earthly goddess that I've lost my self control beyond compelled to throw this dollar down before your holiest of altars"). It seems Maynard is using the old "Your body is a temple" metaphor to describe the woman's body, so throwing the dollar down before the altar is paying for her body. And of course, this would involve losing self respect for a lot of people.

[QUOTE=Heritage21]I just got this yesterday. It took me a few listens to like it but after that it was an amazing album. Its definately different from Thirteenth Step and id say that this cd leans more towards Tool's sound.

favorite tracks- Judith, The Hollow, 3 Libras

great review[/QUOTE]
it's too soon to tell, but I think that every cd by this band will have a very diffrent sound from the last.

[QUOTE=robnathanson]it's too soon to tell, but I think that every cd by this band will have a very diffrent sound from the last.[/QUOTE]
We should find out soon. eMotive comes out November 2

^^^
Ugh, I heard the 1st single off the new album and I was sorely disapointed. They absolutely [U]butchered[/U] "Pet". It was atrocious. And the video was as subtle as an axe to the face. I like it when Maynard's songs are at least somewhat vague, a source for debate, not this obvious over the top crap. I just hope the rest of the covers(there are a lot on eMotive) survived the masacere.

*Sigh* So disapointed.

[QUOTE=MrBrick]^^^
Ugh, I heard the 1st single off the new album and I was sorely disapointed. They absolutely [U]butchered[/U] "Pet". It was atrocious. And the video was as subtle as an axe to the face. I like it when Maynard's songs are at least somewhat vague, a source for debate, not this obvious over the top crap. I just hope the rest of the covers(there are a lot on eMotive) survived the masacere.

*Sigh* So disapointed.[/QUOTE]
I'm very much looking forward to that cd...!!!

[QUOTE=MrBrick]The song(Magdelina) sounds to me like it is about sexual desire, probably for a prostitute or stripper something along those lines("To witness such an earthly goddess that I've lost my self control beyond compelled to throw this dollar down before your holiest of altars"). It seems Maynard is using the old "Your body is a temple" metaphor to describe the woman's body, so throwing the dollar down before the altar is paying for her body. And of course, this would involve losing self respect for a lot of people.[/QUOTE]

I think the dollar is a symbol of self, like he's selling off something of himself for the woman (my soul, my self esteem, a dollar at a time"), I don't think the "dollar" is literally supposed to mean money. Also, it could be that the woman is a symbol of something else other than a person.

[QUOTE=robnathanson]I'm very much looking forward to that cd...!!![/QUOTE]
Hey so am I. Im just saying that counting bodies, that one song, sucked and I haven't heard anyone disagree yet. It could be an isolated incident so to speak.

[QUOTE=MrBrick]Hey so am I. Im just saying that counting bodies, that one song, sucked and I haven't heard anyone disagree yet. It could be an isolated incident so to speak.[/QUOTE]
but the video was cool:p

i was pissed because i lost this album when we were moving about 1 year ago and i didnt get to listen to it. but i found it yesterday so ive been listening to it nonstop (of course)
and i think you did a great review :thumb:

First APC album i got, no regrets that album rocks so much. First tiem I'd ever heard Maynard. Love the song Judith

[QUOTE=MrBrick]Hey so am I. Im just saying that counting bodies, that one song, sucked and I haven't heard anyone disagree yet. It could be an isolated incident so to speak.[/QUOTE]

I disagree, counting bodies is amazing

Just to clarify, Orestes...is about Orestes. In Greek mythology Orestes is the son of Agamemnon and Clytemnestra. Agamemnon is king of the Greeks, and leader of the Greeks in the war against the Trojans. Well Clytemnestra has a lover named Aegisthus and they murder Agamemnon, so together with his sister Electra, Orestes murders both his mother; Clytemnestra and Aegisthus to avenge their father. So in the song when the lyrics say "One womb / One shape / One resolve" it's talking about how Orestes and Electra are from the same womb and both have the desire to kill their mother. When it says "Gotta cut away, clear away / Snip away and sever this / Umbilical residue that's / Keeping me from killing you" it's talking about how he has to break away from his mother, forget that she's his mother, and only think of what she did to his father, so he has the resolve it takes to murder ones own parent. The rest of the lyrics goes hand in hand with that myth.

Overall I love this album, but Orestes, Thinking of You, and Brena are my favorite songs.

He's spot on, you know. Orestes is also a famous play by Euripidies- [I]I think[/I]. May have to check that.

Edit - It's actually Euripides. My spelling sucks. :)

I scanned through the previous posts, so if i restate something someone else has already said I apologize.

Mer De Noms has got to be one of my favorite albums of all time. I have listened to this CD countless times and have yet to get the slightest bit sick of it. I think 13th step is just as good, but on a different level, since the difference in both sound and band members causes it to have a much different feel without losing its core APC-ness.

A side comment, if this belongs in a different thread I apologize once again: IN MY OPINION (there I said it), Lateralus isn't as good as Aenima. Don't get me wrong, Lateralus is a brilliant album, as is everything Tool has done. I like Aenima because it was the perfect mix between the two sides of Tool: The heavier Opiate-esque side and the meaning within a paradigm within an enigma (or somethin' like dat) side. This combination creates so amazing an album that I almost wet myself just thinking about it.

i may have to borrow this from my friend. i've got 13th step and its great, i have yet to hear much of this album

It's a great album. It hits a little harder than Thirteenth Step, and imo the songwriting is slightly better, though both albums are amazing. It's got a nice mix of MJK's amazing vocals and lyrics, Josh Freese's drumming (his playing might not be as technical as Carey's in Tool's, but he's a very solid drummer, definitely one of my top three). Billy Howerdel is a good guitarist, and plays some catchy, heavy riffs, but Mer de Noms has a soft side too, it's just not as soft as Thirteenth Step and doesn't show it as often :p. This album also has a nice amount Paz' violin work, which always sounds good.