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THIRTEENTH STEP
(Virgin)
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Like Audioslave’s Chris Cornell, A Perfect Circle frontman Maynard Keenan continues to score rock hits as he enters his 40s. Thirteenth Step is the second smash release from Keenan, who also leads Tool, and songwriting partner Billy Howerdel. On the first single, "Weak and Powerless," Keenan gives a nod to the album title in his battle with addiction: "Tilling my own grave to keep me level/Jam another dragon down the hole." The music isn’t as grim as the lyrics: the rhythm section is light on its feet, and the chorus is bolstered by elegant guitar melodies. The band are at their heaviest on the second single, "The Outsider," a brutal memo on self-destruction from Keenan to a certain "medicated drama queen." Opener "The Package" is an eight-minute blow-out that starts quiet and builds into a sweaty, metallic exorcism. The surprise centerpiece is an orchestral cover of the Failure obscurity "The Nurse Who Loved Me," the prettiest of the disc’s multiple chill-out interludes. More æthereal than Tool’s work but just as harrowing, Thirteenth Step is another captivating effort from Keenan, one of rock’s most endearing oddballs. (A Perfect Circle perform this Friday, April 30, at the Centrum in Worcester; call 508-755-6800.)
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