A Perfect Circle will be releasing a box set/greatest hits album ,titled Three Sixty, on November 18th that includes the band’s first new track in 9 years, “By and Down”. This review is going to be quick. Why? Because I’m busy.

Just kidding. It’s going to be a quick review because… well… what the hell can I say about a greatest hits album from a band that has only really released two albums in their career? Sure, APC put out eMOTIVE in 2004 as their “3rd record”, but it was mostly a collection of cover songs.

Doesn’t count.

So, that said, what can we expect from Three Sixty? Probably a mish-mash of songs from the band’s two real albums (Mer de Noms and Thirteenth Step), with maybe a few covers mixed in. And that new track.

…after looking over my press release, it turns out I’m exactly correct. Except that I missed a few live tracks that are listed.

I’m a fairly big fan of A Perfect Circle, and in many ways I prefer them to Tool (also a big Tool fan). But there’s just not much to say here. If you’re also a fan, you’ve heard most of this release already. The only real thing worth paying attention to is that there is a brand new track! Yes, I was excited too. And “By and Down” is… ok. It sounds like A Perfect Circle… so that’s good, but the mediocre production value on the song really stood out to me. It comes across as a 5 and a half-minute, spacey, elaborate demo. The music and vocals are largely forgettable (except for “pied piper float on down the river”… I still have that in my head). It’s ok. I’d venture to say that every other studio cut on this compilation is better.

Bottom Line:

So, should you buy it? If you’re a casual fan, no. If you’re a die hard fan? No. Just go buy the new track. Unless iTunes makes it an Album-Only purchase, of course.

Rating: 9/10 (for the quality of the original songs that are included)

But Really: 3/10 (for being an unnecessary box set/attempt to rake in more money by Universal)

Here’s the entire track list:

Standard Edition

01. The Hollow
02. Judith
03. Orestes
04. 3 Libras
05. Weak And Powerless
06. The Noose
07. The Outsider
08. Blue
09. When The Levee Breaks
10. Imagine
11. Counting Bodies Like Sheep To The Rhythm Of The War Drums
12. Passive
13. By And Down

Deluxe Edition

Disc 1

01. The Hollow
02. Rose
03. Judith
04. Orestes
05. 3 Libras
06. The Package
07. Weak And Powerless
08. The Noose
09. The Outsider
10. Blue

Disc 2

01. Imagine
02. Passive
03. People Are People (live)
04. Counting Bodies Like Sheep To The Rhythm Of The War Drums
05. When The Levee Breaks
06. By And Down
07. 3 Libras (live)
08. Gravity (live)
09. Fiddle And The Drum (live)