#1 - Top of 2018

A Perfect Circle - Eat the Elephant (BMG)

2018 was a shitty year all-around for humanity. Hell, the whole decade of the 2010s was probably one of the low points of  the post-WWII era in terms of the fall in the quality of life of people, the rise of xenophobia, religious extremism, regressive values, and consumerism frenzy. Maynard and Howerdel in this album distil the turd that is the world of today and bottle it in one truly great album that's not pulling any punches. Going in depth into the songs, "Eat the Elephant" was written as a tribute to Chester from Linking Park, with lyrics emphasising a "you can be the change" message, and soft alternative rock music undertones. "Disillusioned" discusses technology addiction and alienation through  incredibly haunting vocal lines from Maynard in a quiet and solemn warmth that increases in tone as the song progresses. Musically, the song is probably the one closest to older APC albums. Next up, "The Contrarian" examines politicians and their duplicity using a subversively menacing tone, while musically dipping in a territory more closely linked to Keenan's other band [Puscifer]. "The Doomed" has an almost doom/prog feel to it with quite heavy riffing for the band's standards, while at the same time discussing how there has been a subversion of values exalting greed and violence while decent people are essentially fucked. "So long and Thanks for All the Fish" references the famous expression from "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" told by the dolphins as they flew away from earth ,shortly before its destruction.The song itself alludes to the end of the world and how in our current apathetic state not even that would make us move. It is a beautiful song with beautiful orchestral arrangements and a very catchy main melodic line that follows through as the world burns and people just stare at their TV to learn how the world ended. "TalkTalk" is about faith/thoughts & prayers over action accompanied with an alt metal vibe and a very APC riff smack in the middle. "By and Down the River" has been around since 2011 (!) and was added here, despite not being so consistent thematically with the rest of the album as it is mostly about friendship/adoration and the flip-side of those concepts. "Delicious" draws from Mer de Noms (which does makes sense as it was first conceived around then) with fresh lyrics added to it, again alluding to current politic climate. "DLB"here, serves as an instrumental bridge to the latter part of the record composed of 3 songs that act in unison. The first, "Hourglass" is a very dynamic track using a lot of electronic sounds and revealing a very different side to APC, with Maynard announcing that time is running out and the system is breaking down. "Feathers" is not only about refugees but also about self-imposed differences between individuals and the difficulty of connecting, but through tragedy. Finally, "Get the Lead out" plays out like a hypnosis exercise with a beat hypnotically repeating while a pop melodic line is faintly heard ushering into action. Again the electronic elements are prominent, but that time in a soft faded out way. APC have truly returned with one of the best records of this decade, a contemporary work of art that truly stands above genres and music labelling.

99/100

Below are the music videos for "The Doomed",  "Disillusioned" and "So Long and Thanks for All the Fish".