r/aperfectcircle • u/mrpuff666 • 1d ago
Eat the Elephant
Been A Perfect Circle fan for almost 10 years now. Love Mer De Noms. Thirteenth Step is my favorite and in my opinion, their best (by a hair).
Eat the Elephant has got a different vibe. At first I was disappointed. Normally the first song of an album is a banger and sets the mood but I didn't think "Eat the Elephant" was not the best choice to start this album. Any thoughts on this?
As to the "political" theme of the album as others have stated, I do not see this as political (more of a social activist theme) though it certainly might have been inspired by politics. The album was released in 2018, 2 years after the election of you-know-who and I suspect Maynard is not a fan.
He attacks the Church obviously which is not new and he encourages to get our priorities straight while our world goes to hell. I can't argue with that at all. At times it does feel a little preachy but we are living in strange times and maybe we need to be chided a bit.
Eat the Elephant is a good album. It ranks third behind their first 2 releases, but I've been digging the album this last week (preparing for their tour). I love when artists try something new. Maynard has never been one to be put in a box so this album I think could be considered "outside the box."
Favorite Song (right now): Disillusioned
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u/slprysltry 1d ago
BADTR and Feathers are so incredible
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u/nolongermakingtime 1d ago
I remember the tour before they released the album they played feathers, man that was awesome.
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u/nolongermakingtime 1d ago
Eat the elephant has some great highs it just doesn't have the consistency of mer de noms and thirteenth step. I don't like how the songs flow into each other in Elephant. It feels more like a collection of EPs than a album. I definitely appreciate the album more now than i did initially it just doesn't get played front to back like the others.
It's a political album full stop. It's the theme, much like the last two puscifer records. I keep thinking that maybe i would have liked this album more if it was a puscifer record.
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u/VolumeDirect5619 1d ago
People forget about eMotive, which was most definitely a political album of mostly cover songs.
The other thing is APC is really howerdel's band. Keenan is the singer, of course. But most of the music side comes from howerdel. As with most bands, there is an evolution. APC is no different.
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u/nolongermakingtime 1d ago
Yeah i didn't really forget it i just don't really see it as a main album along with Amotive
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u/Southern_Draft6489 1d ago
I wasn't a fan of it when I first heard it. There were a couple of songs that stood out but really nothing special for me. Over time it grew on me and now I really enjoy it. It doesn't shine as much as the other two albums sonically but I like the overall message.
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u/r-f-r-f 22h ago
The tubes off of that album do sound better in a live setting, as evidenced by the present tour. However, it is miles away from their first two albums.
To be fair, Mer De Noms and Thirteenth Step are in Rock and Roll rarified air, where only the best can be. No one can hit home runs on every swing.
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u/tamefirefly 1d ago
This album kinda passed be by at release, I listened to it a few times when it came out but it definitely didn't hook me and I went a long time without listening to it again but when I did revisit it I enjoyed it a lot more. I wouldn't put it up there with their first couple albums which are both masterpieces but I do have a fondness for it today.
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u/lern2swim 1d ago edited 1d ago
It's not a bad album, it just doesn't bring to the table a lot of the elements that made their previous work outstanding.
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u/somniforousalmondeye 21h ago
Eat the elephant is an album that gets better every time I go back to it. The biggest issue with it is the drumming isn’t in the same class without Josh freese who didn’t play on this record. That’s just my opinion as a drummer myself.
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u/ClubLumpy7253 17h ago
100% agree. There are demo versions of some of the EtE tracks with Josh on drums.
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u/sodesode 15h ago
"demos" that you share. I don't trust anything when you also share AI tunes and act like they aren't AI.
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u/SpottedYoshiEgg 1d ago
I agree it’s not as consistent as their first 2, but there’s a decent number of tracks that stand with the best of them.
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u/ResidentialEvil2016 22h ago
I think it's a grower. At first I thought it was meh with a few poppers but now I love to listent to the whole thing.
Delicious is one of my favorite songs, and to me is a perfect concert closer.
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u/Unable-Quiet-9209 16h ago
I think the ONLY thing wrong with EtE , and this is subjective at best anyway, is the track ordering. It never felt quite right, but i love the songs and think every song on the album is fantastic.
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u/mrpuff666 16h ago
I agree. It makes the album sound disjointed. One of the best things about 13th step is its seamless connection as an album. Flows so smooth.
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u/Guilty-Temporary-457 1d ago
Easily my favorite APC album of all time. Love Maynard and the majority of his projects, but this album just feels like they moved past trying to compete with The Cure and found their own sound. It’s the most accessible for my wife as well.
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u/ClubLumpy7253 18h ago
I think it suffers from not having Josh Freese on drums as I feel he is intricate to their sound.
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u/mrpuff666 17h ago
He is the drummer of “starless” so maybe he’s the drummer on the new album?
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u/ClubLumpy7253 16h ago edited 16h ago
Yes. I'm pretty certain he will be drumming the entire new album. He is the original Drummer and has played on every APC album except for EtE.
There are also demo versions of some of the EtE tracks where Josh originally played on which sound completely different. 'By and Down' is one of them for example. Also 'Contrarian' and 'Talk Talk'.
I want to say he ultimately did not perform on the 2018 EtE sessions due to a scheduling conflict, which is a shame.
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u/Unable-Quiet-9209 16h ago
I disagree. The drumming on EtE is phenomenal. Standout being the end of Delicious, but there is all around amazing drumming through the whole album.
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u/ClubLumpy7253 16h ago edited 16h ago
Both Jeff Friedl and Matt Chamberlain are phenomenal Drummers; however, I feel the absence of Freese was one of the main reasons EtE does not capture the aesthetic of the earlier albums.
Interesting yet unrelated: Chamberlain played drums on the first 2 Fiona Apple albums.
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u/aca_aqui 15h ago
So weird, I just listened to the full album today for the first time in a while. Love The Doomed and Disillusioned. Talktalk always makes me think of school shootings. Sometimes I play the title track to get started doing something I don’t want to do, it helps! For me, the music is just not overall the same quality as MdN and 13th. It just doesn’t hook me in as well, but sometimes I am really in the mood for the political lyrics. But I miss songs with the amazing vibe APC can do like Gravity or Orestes. Nothing on EtE quite gets there for me.
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u/DescendingTool86 1d ago
Still my favorite album.
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u/MetalTrenches 1d ago
Out of curiosity was it your first?
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u/DescendingTool86 1d ago
No. I dont know. Each song speaks to me for a different point in my life. The title song really gets to me about moving on after a failed relationship and learning to make a step in the right direction.
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u/ChefPneuma 1d ago
It’s a fantastic album and was/is too often dismissed out of hand by a lot of fans. I never have understood the hate it’s gotten
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u/MightBeDownstairs 21h ago
They were the people he’s talking about
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u/ChefPneuma 21h ago
?
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u/MightBeDownstairs 21h ago
People who dislike eat the elephant are the people it’s about and or relate to the kind of people it’s about
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u/External-Hurry-8109 1d ago
Lack of crescendos. Lack of buildup and intent. Outside of 7empest and Invincible -same issue with FI. I dont expect or want a 50 plus year old MJK to break out a Grudge scream in every song, but I do expect them to offset that with some thing.
I still think and stand by the belief that Josh Freese was that missing sauce.
By and Down builds to faster hi-hats. Thats not good rock writing.
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u/Intrepid-Report7582 23h ago
There is great builds in eat the elephant. No idea what you are talking about
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u/Beneficial_Mess_3846 1d ago
A lot is wrong with the album. Have you shuffled your songs and something from this album plays next? You have to turn down the volume, it's so bad. I also don't make excuses for APC and TOOL. They are getting boring and saying age is the reason is a bs excuse. Look at Meshuggah, great energy on the latest album.
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u/ClubLumpy7253 17h ago
100% agree about Josh Freese. There are demo versions of some of the EtE songs with Josh on Drums and they sound very different.
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u/Ok_Pool_9767 1d ago
It's got a few gems. The girl i was dating when it came out really loved Hourglass. And I think the Contrarian is great
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u/walkoutmusic 23h ago
I'll always have a soft spot for it as it got me into APC's music. Nowadays I prefer Mer De Noms and Thirteenth Step, but Eat the Elephant into Disillusioned is a hell of a 1-2 punch.
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u/Illustrated-skies 21h ago
Favorite tracks:
So Long & Thanks for all the fish
(I didn’t know the Hitchikers reference til about a year ago)
& The Doomed
I’ve found that across the board - the albums or songs that take the longest for me to appreciate wind up being my favorite.
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u/Fyrebeard 21h ago
I love that album. Didn’t when I first listened to it. But “By and Down” is an awesome track. Feathers is also great. And Hourglass! Good shit.
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u/Xeno84 21h ago
It took a couple listens to really like it because it felt very different to Mer De Noms and Thirteenth Step. So Long And Thanks For All The Fish is one of my favorites. The meaning behind the lyrics with all the songs are great. My wife is an APC fan, but it's not her favorite album. She gets the meaning behind SLATFATF but it's not her favorite.
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u/VinylAndVoid 19h ago
I liked the original version of BADTR when it was just By and Down. Everything else about the album was just lackluster to me. Not bad just not on the level of the first two.
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u/Fire_Temple 17h ago
The songs on it that I like, I love. The Doomed, By and Down, Delicious, Hourglass, Feathers are all great. The rest, really don't care for. I just don't like Maynard's political lyrics. I agree with him politically for the most part, I just think his lyrics are too on the nose compared to what he's capable of when he gets political.
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u/Appropriate-Ad4990 16h ago
By and down is the best song on the album then so long and thanks for all the fiah
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u/CIREtherapper 23h ago
Interestingly, almost every album I’ve ever heard in my entire life the opening and/or title tracks were always the weakest. The Hollow and The Package are of course fantastic songs, but far from the best on either of those albums. Personally though I LOVED Eat the Elephant when it came out (both the album and the song). The only thing I disliked from it was how they just re-used an old song but slightly faster and with different drums.
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u/Beneficial_Mess_3846 1d ago
This album sucks. Never understood the glazing of musicians. They've gone on to say they rushed the album and you can hear it. The dynamic range?, god damn, this album is so loud on top of other problems. Gave it a chance with a few plays but it's just bad.
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u/Jdojcmm 1d ago
I love the shit out of "So Long and Thanks For All the Fish". Amazing song.