Album Review: Billy Howerdel - What Normal Was

I remember when A Perfect Circle seemed to come from nowhere. I didn't know about Tool at the time, so when I first heard "Judith", it was something completely new. It was also amazing. I wouldn't be as into "Mer De Noms" as a lot of people were, but the band was something unique from anything else I was listening to. They would move off in directions I didn't care for, but I certainly saw the talent in what Billy Howerdel did with a guitar that was different from the norm. He was a textural guitarist in a world of flash and power, and there was an undercurrent of art to his work we don't often get to hear.

For his first ever solo album, we are treated once again to a new experience. Despite being known as a guitar player, this album is rooted in 80s synths. This is where Billy's age and my own become a hindrance, because he is making the music of his youth, and I am just younger enough than he is to have always hated that sound. The music closest to his heart is the exact stuff I didn't want to hear anymore when I was falling in love with music.

The biggest revelation of the record is Billy the singer, as his voice sits beautifully in the mix, a combination of Maynard James Keenan and Bjorn Strid's clean vocals. If you wanted to think of this record as the more Cure-like dark side to The Night Flight Orchestra's bright yacht-rock nostalgia, it would give you a good idea what we're dealing with.

There is a distinction to be drawn here. The production on the record is beautiful. The sounds are lovely, balanced, and set an ominous atmosphere that accentuates the best parts of Billy's voice. For the vibe and sound he is going for, I don't think he could have done any better. It sounds like a throwback, but also very much of the time. It balances the past and present very well, and creates a little world in which this music is the most important thing.

However, the songs themselves don't have as much going for them. Billy's work has often been very subtle, and that continues here. With the focus on atmosphere, and his voice not being reliant on power, the songs are left feeling a bit dull. There are moments where he tries to inject more melody, and those are wonderful, but the stretches between them have very little going on. It's enough that I find myself growing bored and restless, waiting for the song to finally deliver me the cathartic moment of release. But those never come.

Billy has accomplished something, but also left me scratching my head. I'm impressed by his production and layering, and how he has stripped most of the guitars out of the music while still keeping my attention. That is something. I'm less impressed by the songs that leave the hooky elements on the cutting room floor. It's an album that has a great atmosphere, one I'm sure will come in handy in certain moods, but these songs are not memorable. They come and go like ghosts, disappearing when you blink your eyes, leaving you wondering if you ever saw anything at all.

What that adds up to is that "What Normal Was" is the sort of album that is interesting to hear once, but perhaps never again. It is a testament to talent, but not songwriting. It is... confusing.