A Perfect Circle - Thirteenth Step (Double Black Vinyl)

The second brilliantly moody full-length from A Perfect Circle further cemented the artistic bond between its founders, TOOL frontman Maynard James Keenan and guitarist-composer Billy Howerdel. Keenan is at the top of his powers throughout, bringing vulnerable whispers and a towering tenor vibrato to The Thirteenth Step’s conceptual tales of addiction and recovery. Howerdel’s elegiac string shimmering paints the record with poetic grace. Highlights include “Weak and Powerless” and a stark-but-staggering cover of Failure’s “The Nurse Who Loved Me” — which APC member Troy Van Leeuwen had previously performed in the late Nineties as that group’s touring guitarist.