| Jane's Addiction | 1987 |
| Nothing's Shocking | 1989 |
| Ritual De Lo Habitual | 1990 |
| Kettle Whistle (compilation) | 1997 |
| Strays | 2003 |
Well, I guess this is one of those 'love em or hate em' bands for which I'm on the former side of the fence. To put it simply, Jane's Addiction are either given their due for being one of the pioneers in the underground alternative scene, or an irritatingly pretentious and derivative outfit with a horrible high-pitched dork passing for a singer. Unquestionably, I fall not only into the former category, but I'd also go as far as to declare them one of my favorite bands of all time despite their unfortunately brief career. Really, they only had two full length studio albums out to go along with a (probably only partial) live record and rarities, new songs and live tracks collection, but yet, their catalog is one of the most consistent I've ever come across. Consistently great, that is.
What makes Jane's Addiction so awesome? Well, they essentially combined the mentalities of two of the most influential rock bands ever - the pretentious, epic side of Led Zeppelin (not the bluesy one, though) and the artsy, underground, boundary pushing one of the Velvet Underground, but yet, they sounded like neither one of them. They had their own unique niche - one minute, they could play fast, extremely energetic and tight funk rockers, the next minute they'd be going off on long-winded epic storytelling. But it is also important to note that the lyrics are a large part of the band's appeal, mostly written by none other than frontman Perry Farrell, probably the central figure for discussion about them.
First issue with Farrell is his voice. I can understand people's complaints about his voice being irritatingly whiny and thin, but I tend to have a respect for singers who don't quite sound like anyone else, and he's certainly one of them. And love it or hate it, I believe it to fit perfectly with the music Jane's creates. As far as his lyrical approach goes, it does admittedly get quite on the pretentious side, but it's the really, really interesting kind of pretentious. Quite often, they are accounts of really thought-provoking experiences (some personal, some shocking and some just out there), philosophies or neat character sketches. Quite often they don't have logical flow or rhyme, reading more like prose than poetry. But extremely intriguing prose, nonetheless.
But interesting lyrics and frontman personas are just about moot if you don't have interesting music to back them up - unless you're Bob Dylan (though even he can get boring sometimes if his musical and melodical backing is thin). And the actual musicians of the band were just as essential to the sound, if less publicized. First off, there's guitarist Dave Navarro, the guy who probably has the most to do with the more 'epic' character of the music, as his abilities at the instrument are wide-ranging. He has the great ability to be extremely minimalistic when a song in question calls for groove, really flashy and virtuosic come solo time, or use the guitar as a way to create this huge kind of atmospheric sound a la Andy Summers or something like that. Great guitar tone, too.
The rhythm section of the band isn't really less talented, either. While he's not exactly a virtuoso, I wouldn't hesitate to call Eric Avery probably one of the best melodic bassists of the late 80's / early 90's, which was an especially welcome thing at a time when bass players in hard rock/metal bands were quite often overshadowed a lot by flashy guitarists or frontmen. But Avery plays a huge part in most of those instances the band gets into a friggin' awesome groove, and he's got a lot of great independent lines to serve the songs. Then there's drummer Stephen Perkins, who was certainly not a straight 4/4 player, if you know what I mean. He actually has an unorthodox style that involves weird techniques I can't even describe. And he even used steel drums on occasion!
As is common knowledge, the band had an unfortunately brief career, breaking up after Ritual De Lo Habitual in 1990 due to serious tensions within. They did reunite in the late 90's for occasional touring and a couple new studio songs on the Kettle Whistle collection (with Flea of the Red Hot Chili Peppers in Avery's position on bass), and that led to a solid reunion album Strays in 2003. In between, you'd think with such a brilliant career songwise that the members could continue on to similar success, but post-Jane's solo and side project work, from what I've encountered, has been somewhat disappointing, though not exactly bad. Farrell, predictably, had the most success of all, forming the band Porno For Pyros and founding the Lollapalooza festival. But enough of that... on to the reviews.
--Nick Karn
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COMMENTS
i maria pedro's sister loved perry farrel in '88-'89 hair rock was dominating poodle hair rockers were strutting or wanking but jane's addiction were anything but that! jane's did a live record but when they went to the studio they exploded with nothing's shocking i don't see why pedro kept peeking at the 2 girls! anyway the songs rocked then came that naked album cover! man are these guys like the chilli peppers? anyway ritual de lo habitual i don't know how to pronounce it but i liked it i went to lolapalooza in '93 and '94 with my man jake! but i see cute billy corgan!!!!!!! (drooooooooooooooooool!) then came the strays cd and wham! i was ready! jane's addiction was my band!
(reviewed by Nick Karn)
HIGH POINTS: I Would For You, My Time, 1%, Chip Away. LOW POINTS: None.
Jane's actually had most of their catalog written in the first year or so of their existence, and conceivably could have released it right in one shot on one monolithic record, but they wisely decided to spread it out. What's unusual about their first offering on the independent Triple X record label (they were an underground sensation at the time) is that it's actually a live record. But don't decide to pass this one up just yet - Jane's Addiction were certainly a powerful presence as a live band (especially Perry Farrell), with arguably even more energy coming through in the performances here than on the studio efforts (and given that we have side one of Ritual as evidence of how energetic they could be, that says a lot), and this is really one of the rare concert efforts that I would actually recommend to even casual fans.
Why? Well, not just because of the outstanding performances, but because that only three of these ten songs can be found on other official releases, with only one of them being an album track. And there isn't a single weak one among them! Regarding those three songs, "Jane Says" is the one song that made its' way onto Nothing's Shocking, and while it's not as good here in a laid-back version as it would be in the studio, it's still fine enough (more on it later). "Pig's In Zen", meanwhile, was merely a CD-only bonus cut from said album, and this one probably tops the studio version for me, since the infectious hand claps functioning as a rhythm make it an even more entertainingly provocative song than later (including the spoken middle portion). Elsewhere, the face-ripping "Whores" can also be found on Kettle Whistle in an earlier live take, though it's just as powerful here as there.
There are also a couple covers that give you a good insight on where the band was coming from and would be headed - it's pretty cool enough that the band plays The Velvet Underground's "Rock And Roll" and the Stones' "Sympathy For The Devil" (here re-titled "Sympathy") as if this stuff were meant to segue into each other, but there's also the interesting novelty of Farrell take on different vocal intonations in the band's take on the songs than in the originals, and they mostly work! Plus, Dave Navarro's electric soloing and Eric Avery's capable acoustic guitar backing add a fine dimension to the sound. One of the best ways to display your talent as a band is to reinvent the songs of others, and Jane's do quite a fine job here.
The remainder of the material, though, is all non-album, and it's great enough to the point that it makes no difference to me whether some of it was actually performed live or not. "I Would For You" and "Chip Away" actually don't sound like live versions to me - neither of them have audible crowd noise, and the latter in particular sounds way too layered to be such (this one is still frightening as the closer of the set, with the simply overwhelming onslaught of tribal drums and vocal layerings, with a quiet rapping-sing portion, and I have to love the way it just stops at the end), plus you can hear very audible vocal echoes on several tracks. Who cares, though - the former track I'd easily say is one of the best songs Jane's ever pulled off as an absolutely hypnotizing bass guitar ballad with subtle touches of keyboards. The atmosphere alone brings the lyrics to life, and it's something.
The other three are also fairly excellent listening as well. "Trip Away" (not to be confused with "Chip Away") is a furiously tight and fast opener reminiscent of the future Ritual opener "Stop!" in structure (especially how it turns slower and atmospheric to a good, though not as great, effect). In addition, "1%" is a rare glimpse of a political song from the band, and it's not really preachy at all, but an exciting tight rocker with a provoking chorus of 'the gang and the government are no different' and a great punkish twist in the middle. Finally, "My Time" is actually, of all things, a midtempo harmonica-led anthem that clangs along at a really catchy and engaging pace. Admittedly, this stuff isn't quite as epic, melodic or tight as the next two efforts, but it's still a simply excellent debut anyway in capturing their uniqueness and stage presence well. I see no reason why all Jane's fans shouldn't be required to own this.
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(reviewed by Nick Karn)
HIGH POINTS: Idiot's Rule, Mountain Song, Ocean Size, Ted, Just Admit It, Jane Says, Up The Beach. LOW POINTS: Summertime Rolls.
An album cover featuring naked siamese twins strapped to an electric chair - what a first impression that gives off, eh (especially as a major label debut)? Despite the rather ironic connection between album title and its' artwork, though, the actual music here is mostly fabulous. While the live sound of the first one could be a bit unpolished and raw, the production style on here is able to add different dimensions to the songs, so it's even easier to see the quintessential Jane's sound in place. Expansive, provocative, funky, hard-hitting, and gentle - it's all that stuff and more, as the tight chemistry of the entire band works wonders here. It's almost difficult to describe what exactly makes this stuff so special at first, but the overall mood of this record (and the next one) is something that I've never quite encountered before.
Take the opening, near instrumental rush "Up The Beach". It's essentially based on a simple repeating four note bassline, with very very little in the way of lyrics (the only real words of importance here are 'here we go' and 'home...'), but the way it builds up from that quiet intro to the absolutely breathtaking majestic guitar and vocal interplay (just the sound Dave Navarro gets is amazing, to say nothing of the appropriateness of the guitar breaks, and it's equally awesome how well simple 'ooh' and 'ahh' vocal intonations work here) is just phenomenal. "Ocean Size" can boast a similar sort of epic grandeur, with that wonderfully flowing, fast acoustic intro bursting into a loud, booming anthem with the vocal yell of 'THREE FOUR!'. Gorgeous anthemic melodies, too, especially the 'I want to be... aaaaaas biiiiiiig as the ocean, yeah' and the quieter 'it ain't easy living...' ones.
As great as that sound the first two songs on here display, however, there's much more to Nothing's Shocking than that. There's also the tight and energetic, somewhat groove-styled songs as well. "Had A Dad" in particular is a very catchy riff-based tune with lyrics about Perry Farrell's dad abandoning him, plus the tribal-sounding 'they're beating on each other...' middle countermelody is a welcome addition to the song. There's also the very intriguing "Standing In The Shower... Thinking", another fairly excellent rocker that brilliantly alternates between observations on politics, women and other stuff like that with 'back to reality' lines like 'the water hits my neck / and I'm pissing on myself', all with a catchy as heck, extremely fun vocal melody.
Also slightly foreshadowing the later refinement of a certain type of epic sound on Ritual, there are also two longer songs here. Well, "Summertime Rolls" I don't really dig that much - it is a dark, slightly unsettling love ballad slightly in the vein of "I Would For You", and you'd think that would be a positive for me, but in terms of atmosphere and melody, it really isn't as captivating, and at its' slow, over 6 minute pace, it takes a bit too long to build up to a more conventional, unenergetic climax, and if anything lets the album down a little, it's probably this song. At least it's made up for by "Mountain Song", though - great booming atmosphere and awesome bassline again, fabulous guitar atmospherics, and hypnotizing 'cash in now honey...' refrain. Catchy!
But what about the simply awesome "Ted, Just Admit It", a 7 minute epic based on serial killer Ted Bundy, in whose verses the album gets its' name from? Friggin awesome is what it is - the rhythm section here really understands the importance of dramatic minimalism of building up the song with a fantastic simple bassline and subtle but extremely effective percussive fills. But you know what else totally makes the song awesome? It's that repeated echoey use of 'everybody, everybody...' in the verses, which have a great mysterious tone to them, and that intense tribal fury with the 'sex.... is... violent' chant is an absolutely stunning climax where the band races to the end.
Finally, there are the last three tracks on the original album (a studio version of the nasty "Pig's In Zen" from the debut is included as a CD only bonus), and "Idiot's Rule" might be my favorite on the whole darn thing. Yes, that pure funk number featuring Flea of the Red Hot Chili Peppers on trumpet. This is where Farrell really gets to demonstrate his frontman acrobatics, Avery gets to show off more of his awesome basslines, and it comes out as the most rousing 3 minutes on the whole album (with a great drum bang at the end). In my opinion, it's even better than "Jane Says", the only leftover from the debut, and the first well known song from the band - a great Caribbean styled, Lou Reed-inspired acoustic storysong that's got some of the more moving lyrics on the album. And appropriately enough, the whole record closes with a snippet of loungey music as a goodbye of sorts called "Thank You, Boys". Yeah, and thank you, Jane's, for providing such an awesome experience. But wait until the next one...
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[email protected] (Hammons, David F.)
How in the world could that song EVER be considered to be a "Low Point" on that album?
summertime rolls! That is great song.
(reviewed by Nick Karn)
HIGH POINTS: Three Days, Classic Girl, Then She Did, Obvious, Stop!, Been Caught Stealing, No One's Leaving. LOW POINTS: None.
Now this serves as proof that tension bringing a band to the absolute breaking point isn't always a bad thing. See, like The Beatles 20 years earlier, the members of Jane's Addiction were totally fighting with each other, both creatively and personally, but yet still managed to create a towering masterpiece that, in my opinion, nothing in my alt rock listening experience has topped yet. At the time, this record turned out to be the swan song for the band until their subsequent 'relapse' tour and reunion album several years later, and if that standing had held, it would undoubtedly have been one of the greatest ever. Basically, the album can be divided into two parts that are actually quite uneven when you try to split them in half - side one, in the first twenty minutes, showcases the 'energy' of the band with some of the most energetic and incredibly tight rockers in existence, and side two is where they showcase the really ambitious and maybe even pretentious long epics in the last half hour. And both sides are among the most spectacular music I've ever heard by anyone.
That's about the only way I can begin to start off this review. First off, we have one of the band's minor hits in the opening "Stop!", a furious, out of the gates rocker that certainly lives up to its' title in the awesome groovy dynamics it has - like the ultra-effective 'stops' after each verse, the constantly shifting guitar parts and rhythm, another vintage bassline, some of the most interesting and aggressive lyrics ever to come out of this band, and fast pace of the singing in that slower, gradually building middle section ('the water will run...') is honestly one of those transcendent moments when I just know an album is going to be a classic, and I can't even explain why. Even the fast acapella rap works as an incredibly fun and riveting moment, and the music then shifts back into its' original form before coming to a, well, complete stop. Amazing.
The next two songs are basically just as tight and exciting. "No One's Leaving" is another rip-roaring blast that basically toys with your senses - they hit upon a killer groove here for Farrell's amazingly catchy rap about racism in New York City (with great guitar breaks and simple but oh so groovy bassline), and then at the end of each verse, the music stops and starts on a quiet background for the last two words of the chorus before starting back up again. Oh, and the bridge part where it keeps stopping and starting ('I wish we all waved...') is equally as awesome. Then there's "Ain't No Right", an extremely entertaining speedster, with a 50 second rhythm-heavy intro almost unrelated to the rest of the song that's goofy beyond words in the vocal tone Farrell employs here. And the rest of the song kicks ass, too, from the fast bassline all the way to the explosive anthemic chorus, the almost obnoxiously personal lyrics and 'airplane' styled guitar echoing.
"Obvious", meanwhile, is actually a sort of ballad, sorta midtempo song, and this is where Dave Navarro steals the show. Man, his guitar tone is so incredibly majestic during the breaks in the verses. How did he get a sound like that? Great guitar breaks and effective chaotic use of notes towards the end of the song as it slows to a complete stop. But he's not the only great, great feature - the incessant piano line, the brilliant jazzy vocal melody (with the repetition of the 'you're digging something up...' part), and a simply unforgettable seven note bassline just make this song yet another absolutely phenomenal classic. And this is all even before Jane's one and only huge commercial success. But you've all heard "Been Caught Stealing", a story of how Farrell was 'caught stealing once when I was 5...', before, and it's totally deserving of the success it got. Incredibly funky, boasting two great technically flawless guitar solos in the middle, brilliantly lighthearted lyrics, and just an overall fun vibe. It's GREAT!
But if you think side one was a brilliant stretch of music, wait until you get to side two. Four songs, not one of them under seven minutes, and all of them are great. Especially the side opening "Three Days", which has always been one of my absolute favorite extended art rock epics ever, deserving all 10:48 of its' absolute glory. It's got a seriously haunting, epic mood for about the first three minutes, with a chilling 'at this moment you should be with us, feeling like we do...' spoken part that slowly fades out by the time it gets to the opening verse (all on another great bassline). The lyrics are some of the most fascinating stuff Farrell would ever come up with, and they can basically be subdivided into three categories: haunting uh... sexual imagery, political ravings, and some religious philosophizing. They really have an intriguing atmosphere about them, all coming to a climax in the first three minutes with the 'shadows of the morning light...' melody....
After which the song gets just a bit faster with the appearance of another fantastic bassline (which, okay, was partially ripped off from The Doors' epic "The Soft Parade", but I can forgive that), the tension keeps rising and rising until the 4:35 mark brings quite possibly the greatest guitar solo I've ever heard. It's well over two minutes long, but it's simply amazing how much of this I can memorize in my head, and it's equally flashy, meticulously crafted and just so epic all at once. Dave Navarro deserves to be immortalized for that. Following that is a barrage of great rhythmic steel drums, a return to the buildup melody (this time with a religious slant on the lyrics), a brief quiet lullaby at the 8 minute mark, and an absolutely stunning finale to the piece built on another one of the most epic guitar parts I've yet to come across and a gentle ending. And that, my friends, is how Jane's Addiction's finest moment was built.
Okay, now it's time to play a game. Bring to mind one of your favorite 8-10 minute epics, like, say, "Stairway To Heaven". Now follow it with another huge epic of similar proportion and/or structure. You've got exactly what Jane's pulled off in following "Three Days" with "Then She Did..." Has anything like this been encountered on an album before? I really don't know. But in any case, this epic might even be more pretentious and bombastic than its' predecessor, even if the piece has more quieter moments as a whole (i.e. the interplay between almost ambient guitar parts, subdued bass lines, jazzy piano, and a bit of orchestration in the middle section). But it's just as utterly fascinating and powerful - the lyrics this time around focus on some sort of 'starving artist' tale (which later comes to a finish with the heartbreaking closing lines 'unhappy just as you were...'), the main guitar part is just powerfully atmospheric and echoey, and the bursts of orchestration that carry the song in its' sweeping refrain are stunning.
Next we come to "Of Course", which might actually be the weakest moment on the whole album, mostly because it just repeats the same lengthy verse twice during its' seven minute length, but what a lengthy verse it is. Plus you can't forget the way the atmospheric guitar, vocal 'la la la's, and melancholic violins interplay on the slow tempo of the song, and the lyrics just friggin' rule: 'one must eat the other who runs free before him / put them right into his mouth / while fantasizing the beauty of his movements / a sensation not unlike slapping yourself in the face'. Great, great stuff, especially in the context of the song.
And then afterwards, we come to the five minute epitaph for Jane's career - one of the most gorgeous love ballads ever written in "Classic Girl". Navarro's magical, repeating guitar tone comes to the forefront again. The main melody and special atmosphere they hit upon here is something beautiful beyond my ability to express, the lyrics manage to wonderfully express this sentiment in an entirely non generic manner, the groovy guitar-led breaks wonderfully contrast the slower portion of the song, and the way the whole album closes on a simple 'goodbye' and an acoustic chord is perfect. Again, you can easily make comparisons with Abbey Road in that regard. To put it simply, this is one of the greatest albums ever made, right at the dawn of alternative rock in the 90's, and it gave the style so much momentum. Too bad this band didn't get the same recognition Nirvana did in the end, but I'll always take Ritual over them (and most other albums, for that matter) any day of the week. It's just that special.
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COMMENTS
This is 10/10. It is a desert island disc. Three days, then she did, Of course and classic girl are 4 tracks that I can put on repeat and listen to for hours and be transported. Three days particularly - the only crescendo I know like that - with the intense pulsating totally erotic rhythm followed by glorious melody is - Beethoven's emperor piano concerto (mmm)
What i find unique in Jane's addiction, and particularly this album, is that they have the perfect mix of raw male energy , the sweetest melodies and farrell's depth of lyrics for issues like families! mothers! and a beautiful twist on love! three days - The family weakens by the length we travel... Who else writes about families The she did - Will you say hello to my ma? Will you pay a visit to her? She was an artist, just as you were. I'd have introduced you to her. She would take me out on Sundays. We'd go laughing through the garbage.
And classic girl - Such a classic girl, gives her man great ideas. Hears you tell your friends, 'Hey man, listen to my great idea!' It's true I am a villain when you fall ill, that's probably because men never can be. Not like a girl. .
Is this love?
(reviewed by Nick Karn)
HIGH POINTS: Slow Divers, Stop!, Ain't No Right. LOW POINTS: My Cat's Name Is Maceo, So What!
Okay, so maybe Ritual wasn't entirely a swan song. Apparently, the band did get the desire to work together again in the mid 90's, and the end result was a much hyped 'relapse' tour for them. Now, it wasn't a total reunion of the original lineup - Eric Avery opted not to take part in the whole thing, but his spot was taken by a bassist equally as talented (Flea of the Chili Peppers again!) Besides the tour, the new incarnation of the lineup did record a couple new studio songs, though thankfully not a full album, and they ended up on this compilation here, which also includes several early demos, outtakes, and live performances throughout their career. The end result? Well, this collection is good, but unfortunately the older stuff from the glory days of their career do a lot more justice to the band than the studio songs do.
Since both those new creations are somewhat underwhelming. "So What!" is certainly one of the worst songs they ever came up with, as it's basically a pathetic electronic experiment with a lot in the way of noise but very little in the way of melody. Only the 1988 demo "My Cat's Name Is Maceo", also included here with 1997 studio enhancements, comes to mind as a worse offender in the Jane's catalog - what an awful attempt at a jazz-styled horn filled song, and Farrell takes a vocal tone that really really grates on me, a rather huge defender of his voice. At least the opening title track is a somewhat better number than those two disasters, as its' slightly industrial-tinged framework creates a good intriguing atmosphere, though the actual structure kinda meanders around aimlessly for 7 minutes, so it's nothing that special either.
But fortunately, beyond those three songs, there are worthwhile things to be said about this collection. The non-album demos that should be familiar to fans, other than "Maceo", fare pretty well. "Slow Divers" in particular is perhaps the most worthwhile entry on the entire package, as one of the moodiest songs they ever did. The slowly building, repetitive acoustic guitar and bass atmosphere really paints an effective picture of its' title, like you're underwater or something, with some excellent, umm, drug influenced lyrics ('smoke the roach', etc.) There's also the closing 1988 tune "City", a fast, entirely acoustic Dylan-esque number with a relaxing and amusing vibe. There's even demos and outtakes of actual album songs that, while not improving on the originals, still have elements that give them an interesting dimension - church bells that give added drama to the chorus of "Had A Dad", an effectively possessed vocal on "Mountain Song", a laid back swinging rhythm and low register singing on "Been Caught Stealing", and a more raw live sound on "The Ocean".
The live stuff on the whole is probably the strongest material of all, though. I actually prefer the versions of both "Stop!" and "Ain't No Right" to the originals - they're even more explosive and energetic than before, which only helps rockers like that (plus the stage presence of Farrell here is fantastic), while "Jane Says" has an even more pronounced Caribbean feel and an expanded intro. I'm not sure that it's the most deserving song to be on three of their five albums, but I'll take it here. Finally, there's "Up The Beach" and "Three Days", which are a bit more workmanlike in comparison with the others, but still, they're brilliant songs in themselves, so that doesn't matter too much - and I approve of the guitar solo section in the latter getting an additional minute. Good stuff overall. Not the most essential Jane's collection in all, especially since the new stuff is disappointing, but the surprises and live stuff here do make it worth a listen, at least.
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(reviewed by Nick Karn)
HIGH POINTS: Price I Pay, To Match The Sun, Hypersonic. LOW POINTS: Suffer Some.
So now the status of Ritual De Lo Habitual as a final album gets completely thrown out the window. After a few sporadic reunion tours, Perry Farrell, Dave Navarro, and Stephen Perkins decided they still had enough inspiration left in them to actually create another full studio album, though unfortunately, Eric Avery still had no interest in participating for whatever reason. Fortunately, they picked up another replacement bassist, Chris Chaney, that's nearly as effective at fitting in and chipping in his own distinctive parts (though Avery's absence is definitely noticeable upon further listening), decided to collaborate with producer Bob Ezrin of overblown albums like The Wall and such (Ezrin also gets co-writing credits for every song on here, so he's no doubt an important factor in shaping them), and got down to work on their much anticipated 'comeback' album. But how are the results?
Well, I really didn't have high expectations for Strays at all given a few factors - the uneven, dull results of the Porno For Pyros and Deconstruction side projects (reviewed below), the rather iffy quality of their most recent new studio songs on Kettle Whistle, and how much energy and passion they could realistically have 13 years after Ritual. However, while there aren't exactly any orgasmic highs on the level of "Three Days" or "Idiots Rule" or anything like that, and there are a few moments where the album kinda does sound like watered down Jane's (which is part of why the rating isn't as high as their other non-Kettle Whistle albums), there are also several factors that allow me to call this a solid comeback anyway. For one thing, the energy level is still there, as every track bar one really rocks hard on at least one occasion (and even the odd one out, "Everybody's Friend", isn't bad by any means). As is, to a good degree anyway, the funky chemistry between band members, the interesting dynamic shifts, the intriguing lyrics, you name it.
The lead single "Just Because" in particular is fairly representative of most of the album - the repetitive riff and production may be a little too much on the nu-metal side, maybe, but it's got a really unique majestic quality, anyway, probably due to the energetic groove and the way Farrell yells 'OH YOU REALLY SHOULD HAVE KNOWN'. If you happen to like that one, there are a few other stylistically similar rockers like the opener "True Nature", though this particular song has electronic touches used in a much more tasteful, dreamy and understated fashion than the Kettle Whistle crap. The title track, meanwhile, is a perfect song for driving out on an open road as pictured in the liner notes, with a powerful 'and the roooooooooooooad faaaaaaaaades away....' chorus coming right out of the verses. Even the somewhat generic "Superhero" (with a riff you could easily find on a typical indie rock album) benefits immensely from the extra punch in the sound and danceable quirkiness in the melody certain other bands may not have given it.
This is certainly not just a straightforward 'rocking' Jane's album with an updated modern metal sound, though, as much as material like the still really interesting "Hypersonic" (with really neat techno embellishments added to the high speed, out-of-control sound) and "Suffer Some" (the only real 'ehh' low point on here - sounds like a really dull and unmelodic take on "Stop!" to me, with an added 'gospel' section) may suggest otherwise. "Wrong Girl" actually builds itself on an echoey blues riff that sounds straight off a Stevie Ray Vaughan album or something in that style. Of course, when the lyrics and epic styled bridge come in it turns into a pure Jane's song, but that's still a new wrinkle, isn't it? As is the aforementioned spare acoustic song "Everybody's Friend", with very pretty orchestral arrangements later on, and I have to like the chugging riff and somewhat bouncy melody of "The Riches".
The two songs that come closest to all-time Jane's classics are probably the ones that sound the most like their epic side (though they're half the length of "Three Days" - not that this is a bad thing). "Price I Pay" actually goes through an impressive amount of mood shifts within its' 5-1/2 minutes, from bass-led Ritual-esque intro (featuring a quintessential Farrell line 'I always do the wrong thing, but I got a good reason'), to a raw and frantic rocker to a dreamy, electronic soundscape portion and finally a swing section to close things out. The closer "To Match The Sun" starts off just like what I'd expect a song with that title to be like (particularly were it on a Porno For Pyros album), with a quiet 'sunset' vibe over neat electronic tinges, but then it morphs into a powerful arena rocker with fantastic guitar work from Dave Navarro and uplifting melody twists ala "Classic Girl".
A solid album that's much better than I expected to be. Sure, there are flaws, and were it released around 1992 or so, I'd probably see it as a little disappointing, but for 2003 this late in their existence, it's a really good reunion effort. Plus, given the pretensions of Jane's and the production stylings of Ezrin, Strays isn't really that bombastic of an album (even the extra instrumentation is limited to stuff like pianos, organ and mandolin subtly hidden in the mix). It's nice to have them back, in any case.
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| Deconstruction | 1994 |
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released by Deconstruction
(reviewed by Nick Karn)
HIGH POINTS: Single, L.A. Song, Son. LOW POINTS: Fire In The Hole, Sleepyhead, America.
Basically a one-time side project featuring Dave Navarro and Eric Avery, with help from drummer Michael Murphy, Deconstruction strikes me as what Jane's Addiction would sound like without the involvement of Perry Farrell and Stephen Perkins. Which means there's more emphasis on the drawn-out epic style of the band, with guitar fireworks, mood shifts often placed within the same song, and stuff like that. While that certainly sounds like an exciting prospect, there are several annoying flaws to this album - as great as Navarro and Avery are as players, they're not exactly great songwriters. There's maybe one or two somewhat memorable melodies on the whole thing, and the arrangements are often lacking - unless you want to tell me playing the same weakass groove over and over again as on "Sleepyhead", "Fire In The Hole" (this one lasts for almost 6 minutes!) or torturing us with repetitive codas on "America" is inventive.
Avery certainly tries to emulate Farrell's prose style of writing lyrics, but while those lyrics definitely had meaning and total intrigue, these lyrics just seem like random unconnected images that are often lost on me (the rap-rock of "Get At 'Em", for instance). He also doesn't have the melody-writing skills to make them come alive at all, or the presence, for that matter - his vocal tone often just sounds like a monotonous drone throughout. In addition, this is quite a long and tedious album considering the lack of awesome song material (there certainly is not over 70 minutes of top of the line stuff here), and the production is rather hard on the ears. Don't get me wrong - the songs aren't bad as a whole (in fact, most of side one is rather good), and occasionally, the atmosphere is captivating, like the water sort of ambience crossed with traditional Navarro guitar fireworks on the instrumental "Iris", but eh.
However, amongst all the filler on the album (a few songs like "Big Sur", "Wait For History" and "One" I can't even remember at all, outside the last one, whose furious ending melts into a sample of "The Star Spangled Banner"), I must stress there are quite a few well-worthwhile moments here. For one thing, Navarro's guitar work is mostly excellent, sometimes hitting the same kind of epic majesty as Ritual's second side. And the whole thing starts out excellent from the beginning - "L.A. Song" is a great 6 minute opener with a quiet, lengthy buildup, after which effortlessly shifts into a prototypical Jane's sort of rocker. The stream-of-consciousness lyrics are also actually interesting for once, with interesting political ranting and imagery, and it's got a great epic coda! What more could you want?
Oh yeah, there's also the best song here, the very interesting relationship ode "Single". It's basically a moody ballad with great guitar atmospherics, an actual well written vocal melody (and great lyrics like 'it's a shame when the parts fit, but the machine won't work'), and effective rises in tension (the 'all I could have done / all I did not do' portion) sandwiched in between very interesting spoken intro and outro sections, which have a focus on the male and female perspective of ideal romantic partners respectively. Neat. Elsewhere, the side closing "Son" is one of two stripped down acoustic ballads (the other is the brief closure of "That Is All"), has a good introspective lyrical slant between son and mother, and another nice vocal hook. Anyway, Dave and Eric, you guys badly needed an editor here, and a co-songwriter that could have developed tracks like the funk-styled "Hope" a little more. As it is, your album's decent, but kind of a chore to get through all the way.
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| Porno For Pyros | 1993 |
| Good God's Urge | 1996 |
I suppose after Jane's Addiction broke up, everybody who looked up to them was extremely curious about what Perry Farrell would do next. But unfortunately, his post Jane's career has yet to really offer any new revelations about his songwriting and performing talents, especially within the confines of this short-lived band. In terms of musicianship, the individual players in Porno For Pyros are somewhat talented (guitarist Peter DiStefano, Perry's old drummer Stephen Perkins, and bassist Martyn LeNoble), but in terms of melodic strength, overall energy and tightness, atmosphere, and all that other kind of stuff, well, this is where the former Jane's bandmates are unfortunately missed for the leader of this band.
Porno For Pyros did have their share of excellent songs to prevent their albums from becoming completely disappointing, and the more mature, mellow approach does work sometimes, but they are ultimately more of a mildly enjoyable footnote in the career of Perry Farrell than a significant independent unit.
--Nick Karn
(reviewed by Nick Karn)
HIGH POINTS: Pets, Cursed Male, Cursed Female. LOW POINTS: Orgasm, Porno For Pyros, Black Girlfriend.
I suppose if you treated Porno For Pyros' debut as a separate entity, without the prior knowledge of Jane's Addiction, you could possibly find more merit within the running time of these songs. But coming three years after the tour-de-force of Ritual De Lo Habitual, this is seriously underwhelming stuff, if you ask me. Don't get me wrong - there are really no truly bad individual songs here at all, but the amount of material actually worth getting excited about is hard to come by. The lyrics actually do display a fairly intriguing, if sometimes not very coherent, mood to them, but this time the interest of them simply isn't supported by great music - a lot of the songs are just lazy funk-styled grooves that could possibly have become really energetic and developed in the hands of Jane's, but here they just seem like empty tunes that lack outstanding qualities, including melody.
The opening three song stretch of the album, in this respect, is particularly disappointing. "Sadness" certainly has potential to be a depressing, introspective ballad in particular, but the vocal melody, atmosphere, build, and overall point really isn't there. The title track, meanwhile, doesn't really have much more than a very average funk groove and a repetition of the title in the chorus, a rather wasted opportunity for a 'band-named' song right here, and "Meija" is an average harmonica-driven tune with only a mildly captivating 'everybody get your money...' chant. The whole thing ends disappointingly as well, with the closer "Orgasm" not exactly an, uhh, orgasmic musical experience - just a tale of a girl who had never had an orgasm set to no melody at all. Woohoo. Skip it, and the similarly melodyless social commentary "Black Girlfriend". How boring can things get?
Thankfully, not too much more, as a few songs do save the album from being a bad or mediocre waste, particularly the trio of songs at the end of side one. Interestingly enough, two of them have 'cursed' in the title, with "Cursed Female" being an unsettling ballad that actually has build to it, with an interesting repetitive bassline, a bit of guitar feedback in the background, and lyrical lamenting on how females are 'cursed to be born' and that 'there's none that suffer more'. Good choice for a single. "Cursed Male", though, is actually the slightly better song of the two for me - it starts off as the slowest and moodiest song on the entire album, and dynamically turns into the song with the hugest amount of live energy, with a catchy melody and brilliant lyrics about older rich men ('all the guys that really have the money are too old to have a good time with it').
And finally, the side closing "Pets" is a wonderfully philosophical shuffle dealing with human civilization and whether or not there will be another race to come and take over - it's probably the best and catchiest song on the album, with a very striking 'we'll make great pets' chorus and excellently placed guitar breaks. Too bad there's not all that much else even half as inspired. Other than those three highlights, this is mostly just slightly below average to decent listening - I guess there are a few more defining songs that show how much the album could have been something exciting and incredibly entertaining. For instance, "Bad Shit" is probably the fastest and hardest hitting song (well, outside of the main body of "Cursed Male"), but it really doesn't have a vocal melody to speak of. Same goes with the most tribal-influenced atmosphere of "Blood Rag", though at least the bass-heavy "Packin' .45" does have a semblance of a hook and a somewhat unsettling edge to the lyrics and music, so that's something at least. But in all, these moments on Porno For Pyros are more like exceptions here. High level songwriting this is not.
(reviewed by Nick Karn)
HIGH POINTS: 100 Ways, Tahitian Moon. LOW POINTS: Thick Of It All.
Well, this is a very nice stylistic change from before. Sure, Good God's Urge is still nothing all that earthshatteringly awesome in terms of songwriting, but compared to the often second-rate, watered down straightahead Jane's style of the debut, the idea of Perry Farrell mellowing out a little with interesting neo-psychedelic textures (like electronic influences), a rotating cast of players, somewhat nice melodies and lyrics (which often have either a wonderfully relaxing spiritual or romantic side to them) backing him up sounds quite attractive. Although a few of the songs sound a little like afterthoughts after you're done listening (particularly a couple on the second half), this is a pretty darn consistent record as a whole that never really gets too mellow or atmospheric for its' own good, and it's definitely something you can put on when you're in a peaceful mood and want your soul refreshed. Engagingly unpretentious, too.
The record works best when the atmosphere and beautiful melody are at their best, particularly in the two minor singles. Topping all competition here is "100 Ways", one of the most impressive ballads Farrell ever wrote - it might not be as emotionally devastating and resonant as "Classic Girl", but the rich, rain forest-type atmosphere created within the layering of the music and the gorgeous romantic atmosphere makes it a totally special experience. A little more atypical of the sound, though, is the other single "Tahitian Moon", which does boast a heavy edge to it in its' opening chaotic surf guitar-style, but that great acoustic chorus works very nicely in contrast with the rest of the song, both hard-hitting and beautiful at once. Another minor highlight for me would be the ballad "Kimberly Austin", which is definitely one of the most accurate representations of a 'campfire' singalong you can find here, with a nice romantic mood.
Although the rest of the album doesn't quite live up to these highlights in the middle of side one, the only time it really sags at all is in the annoyingly repetitive and droning ballad "Thick Of It All", which really doesn't amount to anything in terms of atmosphere and melody. Elsewhere, there's a couple of very nice uptempo tracks in the bouncy and catchy chant of the title track and the energetic, almost jam-like "Freeway" (which features Mike Watt and Flea on bass respectively, and Dave Navarro's guitar even appears on the latter). There's not much else to report about the other three tracks, as they are more memorable as mood pieces in the context of the album than individual great songs (especially "Dogs Rule The Night", the most unmemorable of them), but I approve of the electronic textures and bassline of the opening "Porpoise Head" and the completely stripped down closer "Bali Eyes" provides a pleasant closure to things. A nice album, especially if you really favor the mellow kind of style explored here.
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