Mer de Noms (French for Sea of Names) is the debut studio album by the rock band A Perfect Circle. The album was released on May 23, 2000. The band A Perfect Circle was originally conceived by Billy Howerdel, a former guitar technician for Nine Inch Nails, The Smashing Pumpkins, Fishbone and Tool.
Howerdel met singer Maynard James Keenan in 1992, when Tool was opening for Fishbone, and the two became friends. Three years later, Keenan offered Howerdel, who was looking for lodging, a room in his North Hollywood home.
This provided Howerdel the opportunity to play demos of his music for Keenan. Pleased with what he heard, Keenan remarked, “I can hear myself singing those songs.” Although he originally desired a female vocalist, Howerdel agreed that Keenan would be a good fit, and A Perfect Circle was formed a short time later.
The two rounded out the band’s initial lineup with bassist and violinist Paz Lenchantin, former Failure guitarist Troy Van Leeuwen, and Primus drummer Tim Alexander. The band played their first show at LA’s Viper Club Reception in August 1999, followed by a larger-scale, more widely publicized show at the Coachella Festival the following October.
While initially in talks to sign with Volcano Records Tool‘s record label Keenan stated that they instead chose to go with Virgin Records, who Keenan felt better understood that Keenan meant for the band to be an equally important band to Tool, not a minor side project.
After the initial shows and securing a record deal, the band entered the studio to begin work on their first album. Alexander was soon replaced with Josh Freese, who previously worked with Howerdel on the Guns N’ Roses album Chinese Democracy, with Alexander‘s only studio contribution being drums on the album version of the song The Hollow.
The symbols on the front cover of the album can be translated to La Cascade des Prénoms, which translated to English means the waterfall of first names. Various instruments featured on the album include acoustic guitars, violins and xylophones.
Most of the album’s lyrics were dedicated to various people that lead singer Maynard James Keenan knew. The track listing consists of various names such as Judith, Breña, Rose, Thomas, Magdalena, Orestes, and Renholdër (for musician Danny Lohner).
The song Renholdër is a reference to guitarist and sound engineer Danny Lohner and reads Re:D.Lohner backwards. Lohner did not know the song was about him despite his first name being sung albeit in a distorted fashion in the song.
The album entered the Billboard 200 at No. 4, making it the highest ever Billboard 200 debut for a rock band’s first album. It sold over 188,000 copies in the first week, and was certified platinum by the RIAA later that same year.
Three singles were released in promotion of the album, Judith, 3 Libras, and The Hollow, all of which hit the top 20 of both the Billboard US Modern Rock and Mainstream Rock charts.
Tracklist:
- The Hollow
- Magdalena
- Rose
- Judith
- Orestes
- 3 Libras
- Sleeping Beauty
- Thomas
- Renholdër
- Thinking of You
- Breña
- Over
Japanese edition - Orestes (Demo)
A Perfect Circle
Maynard James Keenan: vocals (tracks 1-12), gord (kalimba) (track 12)
Billy Howerdel: guitar (tracks 1-11), bass (tracks 1-6, 8, 10, and 11) background vocals (tracks 1, 4, 5, and 9-11), keyboards (track 5), piano (tracks 9 and 12)
Josh Freese: drums (tracks 2-11), percussion (track 9)
Paz Lenchantin: violin (tracks 3, 6, and 9), bass (track 7), backing vocals (tracks 4, 5, and 9)
Troy Van Leeuwen: lead guitar parts at end of song (tracks 7 and 10)
Additional musicians
Tim Alexander: drums (track 1)
Luciano Lenchantin: viola (track 6)
Draven Godwin: percussion (track 8)
Kelli Shafer: backing vocals (track 9)
Production
Billy Howerdel: production, mixing, sound engineering
Alan Moulder: mixing
Frank Gryner: drum engineering
Eddy Schreyer: mastering
