Thirteenth Step is the second studio album by the rock band A Perfect Circle, released on September 16, 2003. With beginning the second album, the band found themselves starting fresh, without any material to start with, with the exception of the track Vanishing, which originally was intended to be on the band’s first album, but Howerdel could not find the song file in the studio, having accidentally named it test.
Upon finally recovering the track in 2001, it was only slightly altered for its final release, to better match the eventual sound of Thirteenth Step. The title Vanishing was a tongue in cheek allusion to the fact that the song itself had gone missing.
Writing for the album started while Keenan was still touring with his other band, Tool, in support of their 2001 album Lateralus. Howerdel would write most of the music, while Keenan would write most of the lyrics. As such, Howerdel would send work in progress instrumental he would create, and Keenan would write lyrics in between shows, a process they found to be efficient, but ultimately more difficult to balance than they initially expected.
Keenan‘s work with Tool was not the only thing delaying work on the album, as progress was also hampered by other lineup changes, including guitarist Troy Van Leeuwen leaving to be a member of Queens of the Stone Age, and bassist Paz Lenchantin leaving to be a member of Zwan, leading to their contributions to the album being limited to only a few tracks.
Lenchantin would be replaced by Marilyn Manson bassist Jeordie White, while Van Leeuwen would be replaced by Danny Lohner on the album and later James Iha for touring purposes, as Iha did not actually perform on the album.
Once touring for Tool was over with, Keenan returned to the studio to work in person with the rest of the band on the album. The sessions were, as such, marked with far more collaboration, especially between Howerdel and Keenan, now that Howerdel knew who his vocalist was, and what types of ideas he’d support.
At times, this would cause a creative struggle between the two as well; since Keenan was involved with some of Howerdel‘s music writing this time around, he would sometimes give more input in the music, with the two sometimes wanting to move in opposite directions.
Keenan, in particular, wanted to move away from the general hard rock sound of Mer de Noms, feeling that taking that approach again would be “redundant”.
He instead pushed for a softer sound, focusing more on atmospherics and ambience. Conversely, Howerdel preferred the heavier compositions written while waiting for Keenan to return from Tool.
White, relatively new to the band, often played the role of mediator between the two, being able to offer an outsider’s perspective of the situation.
The album sold well, charting at the number 2 position on the Billboard 200 in its premiere week, selling over 231,000 copies and staying on the charts for 78 weeks. The album went on to be certified as gold on November 4, 2003 and as platinum on March 24, 2006 by the RIAA.
Three singles were released from the album, Weak and Powerless, which topped both the Mainstream Rock Tracks and Modern Rock Tracks, followed by The Outsider and Blue, which also charted on the respective charts.
Tracklist:
- The Package
- Weak and Powerless
- The Noose
- Blue
- Vanishing
- A Stranger
- The Outsider
- Crimes (Howerdel/Keenan/Freese/White)
- The Nurse Who Loved Me (Failure cover)
- Pet
- Lullaby
- Gravity (Howerdel/Keenan/Freese/Van Leeuwen/Lenchantin)
A Perfect Circle
Maynard James Keenan: lead vocals, executive producer, artwork direction
Billy Howerdel: guitar, backing vocals, production, engineering
Josh Freese: drums
Twiggy Ramirez: bass, backing vocals (on “Blue”)
Troy Van Leeuwen: guitar (on “The Package”, “Vanishing” and “Gravity”)
Paz Lenchantin: strings (on “Gravity”)
Danny Lohner: guitar (on “The Noose”), additional production
Additional musicians
The Section Quartet: strings (on “The Nurse Who Loved Me” and “A Stranger”)
Jarboe: vocals (on “The Noose” and “Lullaby”)
Devo H. Keenan: backing vocals (on “Pet”)
K. Patrick Warren: instrumentation on “The Nurse Who Loved Me”
Jon Brion: instrumentation on “The Nurse Who Loved Me”
Production
Steve Duda: digital engineering assistance
Andy Wallace: mixing
