A Perfect Circle - aMOTION (with CD)

Rating:
Summary: Videos are amazing, Remix CD astounding!
Review: APC never disappoints, if you are a person who cherishes innovation , originality, and unadulterated talent. If, however, you are the kind who expects repitition and stagnation, you perhaps will be better off elsewhere.

A Perfect Circle will always surprise you, and among their strong points (along with TOOL) is that you can always tell which album a song comes from. With every album their sound EVOLVES. As the Phoenix self-immolates and then rises anew from its own ashes, A Perfect Circle discovers itself and its newest music FRESHLY with each album, allowing the album to become its own identity rather than attempting to force it to be something stale that conforms to a mold of what people will EXPECT it SHOULD be.

Rating:
Summary: An APC lovers dream
Review: Come on, a spoken commentary by Maynard? How cool is that, to find out what he was thinking when creating? You have to buy this DVD/CD. The remixes rock! The videos are awesome. Thanks APC for coming out with this value. These guys cannot make a bad product! For all the naysayers out there, come on and listen to the rhythm of the war drums and let your halo slip down a little to tolerate tilling your own grave to keep you level! Maynard rules!

Rating:
Summary: A Fantastic Set Of APC's Odds & Ends
Review: Following up just two weeks after A Perfect Circle's election day release, "eMOTIVe," another release, "aMOTION" comes our way. Basically what this set consists of is almost every scrap of extra APC material. The disc is nine tracks full of remixes, some old, some new. The DVD consists of all of the band's music videos up to now, some we've seen a million times, and others that either didn't air, or were never released. First off, the remix CD. Great choice, as A Perfect Circle seem to have some of the most tasteful remixes of any band out there. A great bulk of the songs were remixed by Danny Lohner and some have either appeared on various soundtracks or on import CD-singles. Probably one of the most note-worthy moments is the "Constantly Consuming" remix of "The Hollow," which isn't so much a remix, as it is a reinterpretation, as done by former bassist (who is still working with the band) Paz Lenchantin. That's right folks. She provides all of the music on this version and even sings it herself. The "Tilling My Own Grave" remix of "Weak & Powerless" is another great one. It definitely "rocks" up the original version (don't get me wrong, the original is untouchable) with some help by Lohner and born-again Limp Bizkit guitarist Wes Borland (you may remember it from the "Underworld" soundtrack). The DVD portion is quite a treat as well. Not only are all the music videos here, but we get a live performance of "The Noose" (my favorite song from "Thirteenth Step") which is very entertaining (they need to put out a live DVD, hint hint), plus four different versions of the video "Blue," all fan-made. Both versions of "The Outsider" video are present, edited and unedited. Don't get too excited though, as the unedited cut doesn't feature nudity, just a long intro to the video -- although, everyone seems to hate the Bikini Bandits idea so much, so who cares, right? Well, they make another appearance in "Thinking Of You," so get used to it. "Counting Bodies Like Sheep To The Rhythm Of The War Drums" is an all animated video that contains some very strong anti-Bush imagery, that I haven't seen (probably for many good reasons) aired anywhere. Maynard and Billy each have their own commentary for the videos. Maynard comments on all of them, and gets into the more intellectual side of the meaning of each song and video, while Billy gives us the more straight-forward story, and sadly, only appears on a handful of the videos. So overall, it's a great package. You have to really appreciate the band and what they do to appreciate this. To those who love to scream "Sell-out," I ask you this question: If they are selling out, why are you buying? Get over yourselves. They make incredible music, and at the end of the day, that's all that matters. And good for them for giving us so much material to tide us over until the next album, which will probably be a long time coming.

Rating:
Summary: I enjoy the remixes better than the videos...
Review: i am a big APC fan, so i felt it was a necessity 4 me to purchase this compilation. "3 libras" is my favorite APC track so i felt buying this just for this video would be well worth it, and in a sense it is. however i am a bit dissapointed w/some of the videos and the subject matter of them. i dont see how the "thinking of you" video w/2 chicks gettin off 2 a vibrator could inspire me to think of APC as the genius band they really are. i just saw that as cheap and not well thought of. oh well. i dont particularly think that the videos are awesome, except for "3 libras". most of them don't seem to have anything to do with the song ["thinking of you," "weak and powerless", although APC did explain that that was their point...]. i would have thought that another video would have been made for "the outsider" and although the bikini bandits convey a point, i don't feel its the best concept APC could have come up with. i do hold the 2 videos with their political stances with high esteem though ["...drums" and "imagine."]needless to say, i enjoy the remix CD far more than i thought i would. the standout tracks would have to be "3 libras [feel my ice dub]" mix, and "3 libras [all main courses] mix (tracks 2 and 7). for a true APC fan, this is a must and if you can get past some stupid material [which there isn't a lot of, but alas IS present], then you should be able to enjoy this.

Rating:
Summary: On Balance, extremely satisfying
Review: I am not into Bikini Bandits. I like a b-movie now and then, but I'd rather watch a Troma horror than a half-naked women flick. Even if I were into Bikini Bandits, though, I'd rather my music videos be music videos. When you're cutting in stilted dialogue, you've turned it into a very long trailer. The DVD has quite enough of those already. The Outsider video is the worst offender in that regard--Thinking of You doesn't interfere with enjoying the music--and I did find that a disappointment, because I very much like that song. But the other videos are well done, and the commentary is well worth it. This may be a practice gaining ground in video compilations, but it's the first in my collection to do it. Kudos for the extra effort.

As for the remix c.d., I don't know how many of these remixes have already been commercially released--I do know that the Renholder mix of Judith is on the Underworld soundtrack. But even if you could assemble them all elsewhere, it's certainly easier to have them all here. There are some excellent remixes in the bunch. The audio cd may be better taken in chunks, unless it doesn't bother you to listen to two remixes of the same song back to back.

The negatives of the set may bother you more than they do me. But, personally, I am quite happy with the collection in spite of its drawbacks. It falls short for me in some ways but excels in others, which earns it my subjective 5 stars.

Rating:
Summary: The remixes were good, the DVD on the other hand...
Review: I have been a fan of APC for quite a long time now, but watching this DVD has taught me one thing -although they make GREAT music, APC's music videos are complete crap. Especially the ones featuring the "Bikini Bandits." What were they thinking?!
The one good thing about amotion was the remix CD that came with the DVD. Unlike a lot of remixes out there, APC's are actually worth listening to.
My favorite song on this CD is the "3 Libras (Feel My Ice Dub)" but all are good and deserve to be listened to, especially if you're a fan.




Rating:
Summary: Maynard's Midas touch?
Review: I was disappointed a bit with this dvd/cd. Sometimes I think Maynard is just trying to take advantage of the fact that alot of people are going to buy anything and everything with his name on it. For example, take the DVD version of Salival. (...).

The videos really aren't that great. None are groundbreaking, cinematically. And none really follow the themes of the songs. Then there are the videos for Blue made by fans. The one is a-typical in that the main figure has the trademark-wanna-be-goth black, oily hair and self-loathing expression tattooed on his face. Gee, creative! Then there's another which really just looks like the director wanted to showcase his portfolio of different video software effects. Third video for Blue looks like it was done by the guy who animated Eminem's Mosh video, but on a much more restricted budget....apparently a budget that couldn't even afford a writer.

I'd say the worst part is the slap in the face to fans in the form of a few videos pointing out, in Adbusters fashion, how capitalism is ruining the world....and then immediatly following that up with plugs for Bikini Bandit stuff. An ad for an upcoming full-length movie with one of the Bikini Bandit babes introducing Maynard as "the driving force behind Tool and the mastermind of A Perfect Circle." Whether this is intended as sarcasm or not could be argued, but for clarity's sake Maynard is probably neither.

I like APC. I like Tool. I like them alot. But this dvd/cd set will probably only satisfy collectors who just need anything by APC or Maynard.

Rating:
Summary: Better than i expected, still disappointing
Review: I won't go into what this DVD/CD combo provides, just read the other reviews.

The remixes in my opinion are actually quite good compared to other remixes that bands have done. I'm not real happy that there's more than 1 remix of a few different songs, limiting the variety on the 9-song CD, but it's still a good listen.

The DVD exceeded my expectations for the sole reason that you're able to hear commentary from MJK (and Billy) during the videos. MJK's is especially interesting as he provides his own personal thoughts on what the video is supposed to represent, what the song means to him, and what he was thinking or going through while writing it. These viewpoints are the most rewarding part of the DVD.
However, as other reviewers have commented, there's way too much Bikini Bandits stuff on here. Okay, do the video for the Outsider and that's it. But all the promo stuff (with MJK in the hot-tub(?)), and the Thinking of You video (which is quite lame), and even the little promo card for the Bikini Bandits that comes in the liner notes.....It's all too much for my liking. I bought this because i like the band a lot...not because they're friendly with bikini-clad females and are using this medium to promote them.
I also thought they put 3 too many Blue videos on here...even though they're contest winners.

Rating:
Summary: If you are a fan then buy it otherwise buy mer de noms
Review: The remix stuff was okay towards the end of the cd. At first it was like a damn dance remix album then they started to do the songs in different ways without makin it sound like a wannabe nine inch nails or bjork. The version of "The Hollow" that is sung by a female singer (not sure who) is actually the highlight of the album. I'd buy just for that song alone. This album was better the eMotive by far. I didn't like that one at all.
The dvd is cool because it has everything that apc has put in terms of video... which turns out isn't very much. It's cool cause I aint ever seen some of this stuff. The whole bikini bandit thing gets kinda tired after a while. It was funny at first but... I don't know... it got kinda lame. Anyways buy this is you are a fan but if not I suggest you go with Mer de noms or 13th step. Those I guarantee you will love.

Rating:
Summary: apc could do better
Review: well the dvd is kinda a disapointment, there should be more live stuff on it but its worth your buck because of the commentary with maynard, if your a fan of maynards you will appreciate it anyways despite the disappointing videos. the remixed cd is alright.. a couple of the remixes are badass like the one for judith, but there is a bunch of remixes for the same song... like there is 2 for 3libras and 2 for the hollow... and the 2 for the hollow suck! billy sings one and the girl sings the other, which she cannot sing at all! but like i said, if u are a true fan of maynard you will appreciate anyway...