Mer de Noms

Infobox Album | Name = Mer de Noms
Type = studio
Artist = A Perfect Circle


Released = May 23, 2000
Recorded =
Genre = Alternative rock
Alternative metal
Length = 44:25
Label = Virgin Records
Producer = Billy Howerdel
Reviews =
* Allmusic Rating|4|5 [http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:rlkcikb0bb79~T1 link]
* "Rolling Stone" Rating|2.5|5 [http://www.rollingstone.com/artists/aperfectcircle/albums/album/157587/review/6067719/mer_de_noms link]
*Ultimate Guitar (9.9/10) [http://www.ultimate-guitar.com/reviews/compact_discs/a_perfect_circle/mer_de_noms/index.html link] | Last album = N/A
This album = "Mer de Noms" (2000)
Next album = "Thirteenth Step" (2003) |

"Mer de Noms" is the first studio album by the alternative rock band A Perfect Circle. The album was released as a compact disc on May 23, 2000. It was certified platinum by the RIAA on October 31, 2000. The album entered The "Billboard" 200 at No. 4 with 188,000 copies sold.

Overview

Most of the album's lyrics were dedicated to various people that lead singer Maynard James Keenan knew. The title of the album is French for "sea of names". The track listing consists of various names such as "Judith", "Breña", "Rose", "Thomas", "Magdalena", "Orestes," and "Renholdër" (for musician Danny Lohner). Some people consider this a possible motif for the album.

The sigils on the front cover of the album can be translated to "LA CASCADE DES PRENOMS", which translated to English means "The waterfall of first names."

Track listing

All music and lyrics written by Billy Howerdel and Maynard James Keenan.
# "The Hollow" – 2:58
# "Magdalena" – 4:06
# "Rose" – 3:26
# "Judith" – 4:07
# "Orestes" – 4:48
# "3 Libras" – 3:39
# "Sleeping Beauty" – 4:10
# "Thomas" – 3:29
# "Renholdër" – 2:24
# "Thinking of You" – 4:34
# "Breña" – 4:24
# "Over" – 2:21
# "Orestes" (Demo) (Japanese Import Bonus Track) - 3:24

ymbols

Inside the insert the track names appear to be randomly spelled out in symbols. The symbols can be seen in the background of the front cover. One way to decipher the symbols is to match the song titles using the normal alphabet with the song titles inside the insert.

The symbols which have popularly become known online as “APC Text,” “Mayan,” or “Elegant Mayan,” have become surprisingly widespread, appearing in tattoos, computer fonts, and independent artwork. The following is a key for ciphering and deciphering the symbols:

Inside the insert there are twelve pictures (one for each song) and next to each one a song title, and beneath that a portion of the song's lyrics all written out in the symbols shown above. An example of this would be the drawing of the red octopus, which has the song name "Orestes" and "Sever this umbilical residue" beneath it.

Personnel

*Maynard James Keenan - Vocals, Gourd (incorrectly spelled in the album as "Gord")
*Billy Howerdel - Guitars, background vocals, lead vocals ("Renholdër"), bass, programming, keyboards, piano, production, mixing, engineering
*Josh Freese - Drums, percussion
*Tim Alexander - Drums ("The Hollow")
*Paz Lenchantin - Violins, string arrangement, background vocals, bass ("Sleeping Beauty")
*Luciano Lenchantin - Viola ("3 Libras")
*Troy Van Leeuwen - End Lead Guitar ("Sleeping Beauty" and "Thinking Of You")
*Draven Godwin - Percussion ("Thomas")
*Kelli Shafer - Vocals ("Renholdër")
*Alan Moulder - Mixing
*Frank Gryner - Drum engineering
*Steven R. Gilmore - Sleeve art direction, design, digital photographic manipulation
*Sean Murphey - Photography

Charts

;Album

;Singles

ee also

*List of works in irregular time signatures