A Perfect Circle Speaks Out Against The Norm In "Eat The Elephant"

An album that makes a statement is a powerful one, but an album that does that on top of awesome music is sometimes hard to come by. A message and the support behind it don't always go hand in hand, but A Perfect Circle find that perfect balance. A Perfect Circle speaks out against the norm in Eat The Elephant, their first album in 14 years.

Eat The Elephant is very culturally aware, and along the lines of Radiohead's 'The Tourist,' feels like we're starting to miss what's going on around us. 'Disillusioned' nicely sets the theme in place, the feeling of the song very much capturing the title. The dramatic song is about finding your own walk of life, Maynard James Keenan calmly chanting "Take a look around, find a way in the silence / Lie supine away with your back to the ground / Dis- and re-connect to the resonance now / You were never an island" in the choruses to both take you off of any high horse you were on and to bring you back to reality. The big and brooding 'The Contrarian' and the dramatic 'DLB' create that sense of separation as well just in their sound.

While A Perfect Circle does comment on society a lot, the music doesn't take backseat to the message. Everything builds to one core message, allowing for a real message to come across. 'TalkTalk' is big and angry, its brooding, seething anger slamming political hypocrites in the perfect way. 'By and Down The River' is a more progressive epic, the adventurous nature of the song pairing nicely with the idea of searching for what humanity is left in the world. The album isn't all anger, however. There are many more sobering moments that really puts humanity into perspective. Title track 'Eat The Elephant' was a song originally worked on with Chester Bennington for Linkin Park's heartbreaking One More Light, the dark and emotional track fitting in very nicely with both albums' narratives. Keenan longingly croons "Where to begin eludes me / Without you to remind me," trying to overcome the elephant in the room, or, in other words, what he doesn't want to face but knows he has to. 'So Long, and Thanks For All The Fish' is a much more celebratory track, singing praises for the fallen heroes we've lost in the last few years, such as Prince, David Bowie, and more. It's an anthemic farewell and thank you, a beautiful sendoff for artists who changed the world in such a way that speaks to what Eat The Elephant is searching for.

A Perfect Circle speaks out against the norm in Eat The Elephant, using their music to make you question where society is currently at. From disillusionment to angry cries to farewells to the fallen, A Perfect Circle's new album reminds us of one important thing: to be true to ourselves. Follow your own path, and speak out against what you see is wrong, and make the world a better place.

Favorite Tracks: So Long, and Thanks For All The Fish; Eat The Elephant; Feathers; Disillusioned

Least Favorite Track: Get The Lead Out

Rating: 87 / 100

Stream or buy Eat The Elephant on Apple Music, and follow our 2018 Playlist on Spotify: