Joined by The Vandals drummer Josh Freese, ex- Failure guitarist Troy Van Leeuwen, and bassist/violinist Paz Lenchantin (later of Zwan), the band rehearsed the music that Howerdel had begun and finished their debut album ''Mer de Noms'' (French "Sea of Names"). At this time Tool was tied up in negotiations with their record label, allowing Keenan much time to complete the work. While the band's first single, "Judith", brought some comparisons to Tool, the album is quite different.Between Lenchantin leaving the band for Billy Corgan's new band Zwan and van Leeuwen becoming the new tour guitarist of Queens of the Stone Age, the band was in need of a new bassist and guitarist for their live performances. These positions were taken over by ex-Marilyn Manson bassist Jeordie White (formerly known as Twiggy Ramirez) and ex-Smashing Pumpkins guitarist James Iha.To separate his appearance from Tool, Keenan wears a long wig on his otherwise bald scalp at all ''A Perfect Circle'' live appearances, photo shoots and music videos. During the band's first tour, this was a long purple wig, but now seems to be various colours and styles from one live performance to another.The band released their second album, ''Thirteenth Step'', in September 16 2003. A third album, ''eMOTIVe'' was released on November 2, 2004, which contains anti-war cover songs of artists such as John Lennon and Joni Mitchell. ''eMOTIVe'' was recorded with various different past and present members of ''APC'', but mostly by Keenan and Howerdel. On November 16, 2004 the band released the DVD and CD set entitled ''aMOTION''. The set contains the music videos to the singles, as well as some previously unreleased videos, along with b-sides and remixes.Due to Keenan's commitments with Tool, A Perfect Circle experiences a considerable amount of downtime during each Tool album recording, release and tour. This makes the band extremely dynamic in terms of its members. During the downtime, other members of the band seek other projects which can unfortunately mean they are unavailable when ''APC'' is reformed, which was the case with both Troy van Leeuwen and Paz Lenchantin. As of May 2005, Keenan is recording with Tool, Howerdel is planning a solo album, and White is touring and performing with Nine Inch Nails. Iha is currently touring with Vanessa and the O's in Europe. On December 6, Freese took over as drummer for Nine Inch Nails, replacing Alex Carapetis. Carapetis had joined Nine Inch Nails' fall 2005 tour on October 7, due to issues with Jerome Dillon, NIN's previous drummer.
Latest Line-up
- Maynard James Keenan - Vocals
- Billy Howerdel - Guitar
- James Iha - Guitar
- Jeordie White - Bass
- ''Mer de Noms'' (2000)
- ''Thirteenth Step'' (2003)
- ''eMOTIVe'' (2004)
Compilations
- ''Underworld'' (Soundtrack, 2003)
- ''Resident Evil: Apocalypse'' (Soundtrack, 2004)
- ''MTV2 Headbanger's Ball: Volume 2'' (Compilation, 2004)
- ''Constantine'' (Soundtrack, 2005)
- ''aMOTION'' (DVD and remix CD, 2004)
Music Videos
- "Judith" from ''Mer de Noms'' (directed by David Fincher)
- "The Hollow" from ''Mer de Noms''
- "Three Libras" from ''Mer de Noms''
- "Thinking of You" from ''Mer de Noms''
- "Weak and Powerless" from ''Thirteenth Step'' (directed by Brothers Strause)
- "The Outsider" from ''Thirteenth Step''
- "Blue" from ''Thirteenth Step''
- "Counting Bodies Like Sheep To The Rhythm Of The War Drums" from ''eMOTIVe''
- "Imagine" from ''eMOTIVe''
- "Passive" from ''eMOTIVe'' (directed by Brothers Strause)
Trivia
- The song ''Passive'' that appeared on the 2004 album ''eMOTIVe'' is actually adapted from the defunct band Tapeworm (also known as ''The Tapeworm Project''). Tapeworm was essentially a project involving Maynard James Keenan and Trent Reznor (of Nine Inch Nails) as well as Danny Lohner. The project never fully developed due to apparent contractual conflicts that could not be negotiated. During several shows on their tour in early 2001, A Perfect Circle played a cover of an unreleased Tapeworm song, then apparently titled ''Vacant'' (also referred to as ''Perfect Enemy''). The song was never released by any artist until it appeared on ''eMOTIVe'' as the song ''Passive''.