A Perfect Circle

I thought reviewing A Perfect Circle's new album, eMOTIVe, would be freaking hilarious because, well, what isn't funny about anything related to Tool? So my friends and I got really high and popped in the promotional video of APC's take on John Lennon's "Imagine," ready to laugh our asses off. But "Imagine" is all footage of gruesome, bloody heads and starving children juxtaposed with images of white people fishing for dolphins, which really isn't all that funny and is kind of a buzz-kill. In fact, nothing about eMOTIVe is remotely humorous for two reasons: 1) A good chunk of the album covers really fucking great songs that should never have made it into Maynard James Keenan's hands. For example, the world could have done without a dissonant, oh-so-sensitive, post-grunge cover of "What's Going On." 2) On the other hand, as much as I'm inclined to bemoan the bloody heads, APC is nothing if not earnest. The starving-baby aesthetics may be incorrigibly unsubtle, but then, mousy politics aren't really appropriate for a moody drama queen of a rock band. Just don't listen to eMOTIVe while you're stoned.