Back in May, A Perfect Circle‘s Billy Howerdel told ABC Audio that plans were in the works for a 25th anniversary edition of the band’s debut album, Mer de Noms. Those plans are now complete.
Sept. 25 will bring a two-LP zoetrope vinyl edition of the album, and Oct. 10 will see the release of a One-Step DSS audiophile version.
The zoetrope vinyl has four different animations, one on each side of the vinyl, including the band’s glyphs, images from their first photo shoot, clips of the David Fincher-directed video for “Judith” and the APC logo.
The One-Step DSS version is the definitive audiophile version of the album, created from files transferred from analog flat masters. It’s limited to 3,000 numbered copies.
Mer de Noms, which means “sea of names” in French, was originally released May 23, 2000, and debuted at #4 on the Billboard 200. At the time, it was the highest-charting debut album by a rock band. The album’s three singles — “Judith,” “3 Libras” and “The Hollow” — all hit the top 20 on Billboard‘s Modern Rock and Mainstream Rock charts.
A Perfect Circle was formed by Tool‘s Maynard James Keenan and Howerdel, who’d worked as a tech for Tool, Nine Inch Nails and Smashing Pumpkins. Mer de Noms includes includes contributions from musicians like Queens of the Stone Age guitarist Troy Van Leeuwen, former Pixies bassist Paz Lenchantin and drummer Josh Freese, who until recently was playing with Foo Fighters and is now touring with Nine Inch Nails.
A Perfect Circle performs at the Louder Than Life festival on Sept. 20 and the Aftershock festival on Oct. 2.
Copyright © 2025, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.
