What You Should Have Heard #10

My Mix CDs

I’ve got a lot of music but limited space to hold it in, especially in my car. So I’ve gone the old tried-and-true way of making mix CDs to have access to as many bands as possible while driving. I’m going slightly old-school since I’m a bit backwards and have no iPod.

Most of the songs will be more upbeat, with probably only the occasional ballad or slower song included. I like to sing in the car, and the more upbeat songs are more fun to sing.

I’ll be going in alpha-numeric order with these, so if you’re wanting to argue with me about what Weezer songs should be included, you’re going to be waiting for a while.

My only limitations are that I use 80 min. discs, and I’m only going to use one disc per band/artist. I will make exceptions for only my most favorite bands with huge playlists (Foo Fighters and Self, off the top of my head), but I’d really like to boil everything down to just one disc.

Here’s the list guide:

Track # - Song Name - Album Name

A Perfect Circle Mix CD

01 – Imagine – eMotive

02 – Passive – eMotive

03 – Counting Bodies Like Sheep to the Rhythm of the War Drum – eMotive

04 – Fiddle and Drum – eMotive

05 – The Hollow – Mer de Noms

06 – Judith – Mer de Noms

07 – 3 Libras – Mer de Noms

08 – Thinking of You – Mer de Noms

09 – The Package – Thirteenth Step

10 – Weak and Powerless – Thirteenth Step

11 – Outsider – Thirteenth Step

12 – The Nurse Who Loved Me – Thirteenth Step

13 – Pet – Thirteenth Step

14 – Judith (Renholder Mix) – Underworld [Original Soundtrack]

15 – Fred’s Slacks – March 2, 2004 Concert

A Perfect Circle is one of the side projects (keep an eye out when I’m at the “Ps” for Puscifer) of Maynard Keenan, the lead singer of Tool. Where Tool is hard rock in a very experimental form, A Perfect Circle is more straight ahead, but not completely. I'd say it's definitely more accessible than Tool is, but that doesn't necessarily make it better...just different. They've got three albums out at present, one of which contains a handful of cover songs and is "a collection of songs about war, peace, love and greed." It's my least favorite album of the three, but contains a KILLER cover of John Lennon's "Imagine." The other two albums, "Thirteenth Step" and "Mer de Noms," are equally good. They're not mind-blowing, but both are very strong albums with very little if any filler. My favorite song can be found on Thirteenth Step and is entitled "The Nurse Who Loved Me," which was originally done by the group Failure on their 1996 album "Fantastic Planet." I really can't describe why I like the song so much. It just works on all levels (lyrics, music, feel, etc.).

Here's a link to APC's official site, which is pretty dead. No news on there since 2008, but a check of their Wikipedia page shows that they are making some new music. There used to be a wonderful site with hundreds upon hundreds of downloadable bootlegged concerts, but it's down for the moment. That’s where I got the version of Fred’s Slacks. If you’re a big fan of Will Ferrell, you might recognize the song. Here's their AllMusic entry.

Here’s the video for Weak and Powerless:

A Perfect Circle - New Music - More Music Videos