A Perfect Circle: Eat the Elephant Vinyl Review
Welcome to my first ever vinyl review! In these reviews I am going to break down a vinyl and look at the top 3 things I look for when deciding how good a vinyl is. The music, cover design/inserts, and the vinyl audio quality.
Music- A Perfect Circle (APC) found something in this album that I believe will inspire future musicians to explore what they’ve discovered. Why would I say something so bold? Because I mean it. Several of the tracks on this album share a similar theme of vocalist Maynard James Keenan (MJK) carrying the song with bare bones accompaniment. Not to say the rest of the band falls short, it’s just that Billy Howerdell’s musical arrangement’s complement MJK’s voice so well it feels as though MJK really shines. If you go back and listen to previous APC albums you’ll notice how much MJK has really progressed as a vocalist, and I don’t think these songs would sound as good if he hadn’t gotten better. Again, not taking anything away from the rest of the band as part of what makes this album so good is how well everything blends. Some of the tracks on the second half of the album feel a little uninspired and very unoriginal, but the rest of the songs on this album are too good to ignore. 3.5/5
Vinyl- As for the vinyl itself, this is probably the best sounding vinyl I have collected, that’s why I decided to start my vinyl reviews with it. The audio quality on this vinyl is mind boggling. I’ve closed my eyes sometimes while listening to this album and I could swear they’re playing live right in front of me. And that’s coming from someone who’s seen them perform live in concert! I use studio grade JBL speakers so I can really dig in and listen to the imperfections in my vinyls, and yet this one does not disappoint. 5/5
Design- As you can see, APC has a black and white theme going. It can get a little confusing trying to determine which way is the front and back of the album, but it also adds variety if you like to display your vinyl covers as either side looks great displayed. The black inner sleeve is a step up from the flimsy white ones you see commonly in vinyls, but I would have preferred a more sturdy cardboard sleeve to support these heavy 180 gram vinyls. The inner cover features MJK and Billy and are intended to be blurry, so don’t get confused by the blurriness. It’s intentional. The band picture included stands out to me as guitarist James Iha (pictured 2nd on the right side) didn’t actually record with them in this album as his focus had turned back to the Smashing Pumpkins and their reunion tour during their recording sessions. You also see the blurry theme rear its head again at the bottom half of this picture. The vinyl stickers also have the same heart/octopus that appears on both sides of the cover. All in all, a very solid album cover design. 4/5
I hope you enjoyed reading my review on this amazing vinyl. If you have any comments, questions, or concerns my contact information is below or you can just leave a comment in the comment section below. Thanks for reading!
About Me: I am a classically trained guitarist and trombonist (it’s a word look it up). I’ve received highest honors in state-level competitions back in high school and was pursuing a degree in music until life came crashing down on me. I still create music on my own time and for my gaming podcast which you can also find here under the gaming section of Drop the Spotlight. Email me at maurogarcia@dropthespotlight.com if you’d like to contact me.
