Release of Mer de Noms

The band’s debut album, Mer de Noms (French for “Sea of Names”), was released on May 23, 2000. The album was well-received commercially and critically. It debuted at number four on the Billboard 200 , selling 188,000 copies in its first week and making it the highest-selling debut album for a rock band. Mer de Noms was later certified platinum by the RIAA , indicating 1 million copies sold, on October 31, 2000. The release earned the band the “Best Debut Album” award from the California Music Awards. In the album review by Rolling Stone , Pat Blashill wrote that Keenan “added an almost operatic angst to Howerdel’s songs” and concluded that “A Perfect Circle sound like a desperate dream of what rock used to be. Maybe that’s the point.” AllMusic ‘s review expressed that “there’s little question that the addicting combination of Keenan’s aching voice and Howerdel’s accomplished songs and production skills made for one of 2000’s best splashes in whatever was left of ‘modern rock’.”