Mer De Noms (2000)
When this works I love it: dignified beauty and plenty of power to call upon to blast away any doubts. Unfortunately they can’t keep it going past the halfway point. Their songwriting fits Keenan’s output with Tool in terms of quality songs per outing. I actually prefer their sound here to Tool’s usual sound. But despite my weakness for them in theory, their musical dropoff mid-album makes them unable to get any grade better than this.
(“The Hollow”, “Magdalena”)
Grade: B-
Thirteenth Step (2003)
One of their best songs yet is on here. So I didn’t buy it totally without reason. And I sort of liked ‘Mer De Noms’. So it’s disappointing that nothing else here comes close to their best songs. As always with a Maynard James Keenan band, there’s filler (more here than on ‘Mer De Noms’).
(“Weak And Powerless”)
Grade: C
Emotive (2004)
An anti-war album of covers, that’s what this is. Just in case you see a new cover and think they’ve put out something truly new. The covers aren’t bad, but there’s nothing really revelatory. It’s basically a statement album, with songs only because albums without them don’t generally sell all that well. There’s nothing much here of any real consequence.
Grade: C