Meet The New Jane's, Same As The Old Jane's
Written: Jul 22 '03 (Updated Jul 22 '03)
|
Product Rating:
|
|
|
Pros: Energetic, full of life, great writing and performances
Cons: Not really a step forward so much as it is a holding pattern, some generic-ness
The Bottom Line: The Bottom Line just ain't sure about that Perry Farrell fella'. Something ain't quite right with that boy...
|
|
|
| headlessparrot's Full Review: Strays by Jane's Addiction |
Thank you! On behalf of the creators of this recording, we thank you for making this investment and hope you enjoy this music for years to come! Your decision to buy this recording is appreciated by more than 40,000 Canadians who work hard producing and supporting music. Many people - including artists, writers, musicians, producers, and engineers were involved in the creation of this recording. Music creators are supported by retailers and music distributors, music publishers, manufacturing, record companies, video producers, promoters, and concert touring groups - all have a passion for music and a desire to continue to create and deliver the music you’ll want to hear and love tomorrow… Thanks again!
More proof - if you even needed it at all - that the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) has totally lost any connection that they ever had with the record buying public. This garbage, printed on a small, green slip of paper fit snugly inside the jewel case of Strays, the newest release from alternative rock pioneers Jane’s Addiction after a several year absence from the music scene. I can’t even begin to fathom the purpose of this secret message. If anything, it only makes me want to download more free music, and it nicely illustrates to us just how far behind the RIAA have fallen in trying to keep up with inevitable trends. But this is an album review, not a rant on the nonsensical practices of the RIAA, so we’ll put it aside for now. And hey, at the very least, it’s good for a laugh. Some of the more astute might try to point out that the fact that I actually bought Strays must be proof that the RIAA must be doing something right. Not so - it’s proof that I’m a music fan and the best way to get access to what I love most is to perpetuate a cycle of evil (which is tragic in so many ways).
Nasty business, that. So let’s try and stay on more positive topics. And on the short list of good moments for music thus far in 2003, the sudden and somewhat unexpected return of Jane’s Addiction is definitely near the top, as is the return of their Lollapalooza festival. Given that it has been thirteen years since the release of their last album of new material (and six since Kettle Whistle, a collection of live tracks, demos, outtakes and various odds and ends that accompanied a brief reunion tour), their return is a welcome one - with or without original bassist Eric Avery in tow - that can hopefully inject new life into a music scene that is quickly going stale. Fifteen years ago, Jane’s Addiction burst on the scene, opening the door for legitimate, powerful and original alternative rock to reach the mainstream, and how poetically appropriate (and welcome) would it be if their return brought about the same change years down the road? The travelling rock and roll circus of Lollapalooza, too, is a welcome homecoming, the Jane’s Addiction-inspired alternative festival that fell off the radar in 1996 when it was headlined by the decidedly un-alternative Metallica. The big question that’s being asked is simply whether this is simply an attempt to cash in on the recent success of other alternative acts like the Queens Of The Stone Age - is Jane’s Addiction simply in it for the earning potential, or are they interested in actually making a statement with new music with the integrity that they’ve always had? If simply hearing the joy and exuberance in the movements and speech of lead vocalist Perry Farrell and guitarist Dave Navarro in interviews and on the limited edition bonus DVD that comes with Strays isn’t enough, then one or two listens of the Strays album itself may convince you that Jane’s Addiction is back and they’ve got something to prove. In spite of bearing a resemblance to the wealth of the quartet’s body of work (which is more than understandable given many of the qualities that always set Jane’s Addiction apart from other alternative group), Strays is a very good record that holds up pretty damn well on its own.
Part Led Zeppelin and part Cure, part David Bowie and part Jimi Hendrix, Jane’s Addiction have always been a curiosity to me, if only for the fact that it’s nearly impossible to pin them down as a band. Very likely the band that paved the road on which acts like Nirvana and the Smashing Pumpkins would later ride, Jane’s Addiction can only be considered an alternative band because there are so many influences at work that no other title really works. As much metal, jazz, funk, punk and prog as it was straight rock and roll, no name could really begin to describe their vast repertoire of stylistic ideas. Formed in 1984 by vocalist Perry Farrell (who, as I just read, changed his name so that when said quickly it sounded like the word ‘peripheral’), the group would also be home to bassist Eric Avery, guitarist Dave Navarro and drummer Stephen Perkins - the latter two of which were part of a speed metal at the time of Jane’s formation, explaining at least some of the sonic variety inherent in the group’s sound. A live debut, recorded at the famous Roxy club in 1987 would spark tremendous interest in the band as an underground commodity with true potential. A bidding war ensued, won by Warner Brothers, who released Nothing’s Shocking to a great reception both critically and commercially. Aggressive, yet fun and irreverent, Nothing’s Shocking didn’t sell a tremendous number of records, but it introduced the world to the band, who would capitalize on their burgeoning success with 1990’s Ritual de lo Habitual - an album by-and-large considered to be Jane’s greatest record to date and a sprawling masterpiece that truly defined what alternative music was all about at the time. It still does, actually. Ritual de lo Habitual has already been remembered fondly by music history, pegged by many as one of the greatest albums of all time. It was an album that sparked a fire under the ass of alternative music, and it was the album that allowed Jane’s Addiction to give birth to their baby, the Lollapalooza festival. But like so many others bands before and since, the drug addiction and debauchery simply became too much, and the band split up after completing the 1991 version of Lollapalooza.
The fans were, understandably, disappointed, but life went on for the band’s members. Perry Farrell continued to work on organizing and promoting Lollapalooza whilst also forming Porno For Pyros with Jane’s drummer Perkins. Navarro and Avery formed their own band Deconstruction, which Navarro would quickly abandon for a spot in the unstable machine of the Red Hot Chili Peppers. Come 1997, a brief reunion tour with Chili Pepper Flea on bass, was announced. The tour was accompanied by the odds and ends of Kettle Whistle, but failed to turn into anything more than just a tour. Solo albums would follow until the rumours of another reunion began to surface. First with Porno For Pyros’ bassist Martyn Lenoble, and then in 2002 with the bassist Eric Avery’s current replacement Chris Chaney - who has played on records by everyone from Michelle Branch and Celine Dion to Andrew W.K and Rob Zombie. The new Jane’s Addiction went into the studio with Bob Ezrin, and the result is Strays.
Like I said previously, the Jane’s Addiction sound is hard to pin down and describe, but it’s one that you can immediately recognize upon hearing, if only due to some of the individual traits of its members. After all I said, it would be terribly amusing to admit that I don’t own a single Jane’s Addiction record prior to Strays. That said, I’ve heard all or most of each of their three previous recordings, enough to give a fair evaluation of what I saw. While they were generally a fairly straightforward rock band, they were also very versatile and drew on a number of influences to craft a unique and inimitable sound. The most obvious of these influences was metal, which can be traced back to Navarro and Perkins, who both spent time in a speed metal band. The two create absolutely enormous instrumental parts, but always tastefully. When it’s appropriate, Perkins is capable of achieving an absolutely monstrous, thundering sound and Navarro can rip through the fast, chugging and ultra-heavy riffs. That said, they also always knew when the music needed something more subdued, and both were equally adept at fashioning intricate and interesting sonic textures, psychedelic soundscapes and even soft acoustic pieces. Eric Avery always had the word ‘funk’ in the back of his head, relying on thick, funky and groovy licks that were always the basis of what the group did. Those deep, low bass riffs were always catchy-as-hell, drawing the listener into a song through a memorable bassline that just oozes funk. Together, the guitars, bass and drum always found a way to blend styles, using great hooks to create a mishmash of metal, jazz, and as contradictory as it sounds, punk and progressive rock. Farrell’s instantly recognizable high register was always the icing on the cake, his screeching near-whine so unique that no one has ever been able to duplicate it.
Part of the reason for the success of Jane’s Addiction, I’ve always felt, was the air of mystery and sexual ambiguity that the band seemed to use to their advantage. A simple look at Perry Farrell’s elaborate wardrobe and his manic, theatrical performance style are enough alone to prompt the is he/isn’t he arguments, and were Dave Navarro not porking Carmen Electra, he might be under similar suspicion. But that was the air of mystery around the group that only furthered them. And lyrically, they tackled a lot of issues that others wouldn’t. Farrell and his bandmates knew where they came from, and they wrote lower/middle class anthems that found a way to identify with the prostitutes, the homeless and the junkies. The big problem with that now is that they’ve been so far removed from their roots that those same ideas simply can’t hold up. Luckily, on Strays, the band finds a way to stay true while also avoiding trying to tackle the issues that are no longer relevant to them.
I guess the first thing you’ll notice about Strays is the album cover, which, for possibly the first time in the history of Jane’s Addiction, doesn’t feature a set of female breasts (or nipples, at the very least). The second thing you’ll notice is that Dave Navarro is actually wearing a shirt - something that you don’t really see often at all (I’m dead serious too, he must have been told to dress up). But I’m getting totally off track, because the cover isn’t the point.
Truth be told, there really isn’t anything that sets Strays apart from any previous Jane’s Addiction album. It’s this fact that is both the biggest pro and possibly the biggest con at the same time. For those expecting the Jane’s Addiction of old, you’re going to get it. For those who want to see a band progressing and trying new things, you might have to hold on for a while, because there really isn’t anything about Strays that sets it apart from the band’s past. More than anything else, Strays is somewhat of a holding pattern for a band that’s still trying to grow back into their own shoes after over ten years apart. But while they’ve remained largely the same as they were when they ruled the alternative world, Strays manages to avoid the stigma of a band trying to re-live its glory days (a la Lynyrd Skynyrd). Instead, we see a group of guys who genuinely just want to have a great time, and it really comes through on Strays, not particularly concerned with re-living better days or pretending that they’re the band that they once were. Musical growth is important, but there’s also something to be said for finding a musical approach that works. And Jane’s Addiction was so unique when they first came out that people have come to expect the Jane’s sound - and the band delivers. Part of the reason that we don’t really see any tremendous growth is that a couple of the tracks that appear on Strays are actually much older than this incarnation of the band. Jane’s started the recording of Strays by working on these two songs first (Suffer Some and Everybody’s Friend), and you can tell that when it came time to start the writing process for the newer material, that the band was building off of what they’d already achieved in the recording of those two songs.
Musically speaking, Strays sounds very much like what you’d imagine, with only a few tweaks being made. The first is that aside from a couple of ballads and some softer interludes and intros, Strays is probably the heaviest of all the quartet’s records. Navarro’s sonic attack is absolutely amazing, blasting furious and frenetic, chunky, heavily distorted riffs left and right, but his melodies and riffs still always work well within the context of the songs. Stephen Perkins’ drumming remains largely unchanged - he’s still great at what he does, and despite a new bass player, the approach Chaney takes is very similar to that of Avery’s playing. It’s very funky, high energy, and very rhythmic. Several songs are built upon this solid structure, recalling the days of old. Vocally, years of performing have left Farrell’s voice a little worse for the wear, a little raspy, but it has more character than it really ever had before. There’s also been a change in the song writing process, lyrically speaking as well. The group is so far removed from their roots, that attempts to relate to the same audience that they spoke to ten years ago would come off as ham handed and a little clichéd. Farrell has instead begun to look inside more for his lyrics, revealing a slightly more introspective and thought lead singer - as well as one who isn‘t afraid to speak up for what he believes is right (which can be seen in some subtle political and social undertones that some of the songs seem to possess). His fascination with the darkness of humanity - something that always pervaded the band’s work - is still present, but he’s much more focused. But he’s also learned there’s an appropriate time to simply have a great time, and as such, there are a couple of hard hitting rock songs that are just straightforward and plain fun to listen to. The psychedelic, prog-rock and jazz influence are all still present, but it’s all been slightly more streamlined for the sake of making a point - the point being that Jane’s Addiction is as relevant today as they were when Ritual de lo Habitual changed music thirteen years ago. The only immediately noticeable change is the production. With Bob Ezrin producing the record - a man famous for his work with Pink Floyd and Kiss - the sound is much more polished and slick then some of the group’s older songs, which were a little more abrasive and worked on energy alone. The production has tightened up the sound overall, and multiple overdubs and subtle shading have created an album that sounds absolutely amazing.
Perry Farrell announces his band’s return with a triumphant cry of “Here We Go!” over Dave Navarro’s chunky, heavily distorted rhythmic riffing. Farrell’s vocal are nearly lost in the wall of Navarro’s powerful guitar work, on the opening track True Nature, serving as a perfect way to return for the group. A stuttered, squealing middle section of the song slows to a soft, textural accompaniment before returning to the all-out brutal sonic blast. The echoed vocals of Farrell drive the title track Strays, another in a string of rockers. The best of these particular heavy numbers is the album’s lead-off single (and arguably the album’s best cut) Just Because, filled with squealing, high, descending riffs and Farrell singing as melodramatically as possible, adding an obvious sense of dramatic flair to the track. An excellent solo, an instantly recognizable melody, and a great rhythm underscore a great - if somewhat overproduced song. But then, given Farrell’s flair for the theatrical and dramatic, the overproduced feeling works in the context of the track.
Price I Pay begins quietly, with a soft and gentle repeating riff on which you can hear Navarro’s fingers sliding up the guitar strings. Farrell’s vocals are soft and tender to go with accompaniment, making one of those deceivingly profound yet simple statements, “I always do the wrong thing/But I got a good reason.” From there the tempo shifts and the heavy bass part kicks in, driving things up to speed along with a lightning fast drum part. A clean guitar intro to riffs slowly builds, with instruments adding themselves one by one, before the song erupts in a mess of overdriven, feedbacking guitar. Wrong Girl has a very bluesy, Stevie Ray Vaughan feel to the guitar part, while Everybody’s Friend serves as a reminder of why everyone used to love Jane’s Addiction. The first of two old songs (originally written in the late eighties but tossed aside), the track displays the band’s versatility, a slow acoustic jam filled with raw emotion and hard strummed guitars bordering on buzzing. The simple chorus is absolutely gorgeous, complete with a second overdubbed electric guitar part that soars overtop the acoustic rhythm. Suffer Some, the other older song, is another great number, a funk-metal mix that is completely bombastic. Hypersonic, while far from a bad song, begins to border on sounding a little generic, as does the closer To Match The Sun - psychedelic mess that is filled with some great moments and falters at other points. The kaleidoscope dreamlike atmosphere created by the flanged guitar sounds is mesmerizing and hypnotic, as are some of the heavier parts - but it ultimately doesn’t stay at the same consistency throughout the number.
I purchased the limited edition version of Strays that, for six bucks extra, comes with a fancier casing and a bonus DVD. Honestly, the DVD doesn’t really warrant the extra money. Only the diehard fans would have more than a passing interest in most of what’s found on the disc - live renditions of Strays, Price I Pay, Just Because and The Riches, as well as a couple of interview tidbits that are amusing (at one point Farrell compares Jane’s Addiction to a big erection), but only slightly informative and entertaining. The live versions themselves are solid if somewhat unspectacular aside from Just Because, which is filled with life and energy.
Considering Jane’s Addiction hasn’t recorded an album in over thirteen years, Strays is quite impressive. Matched up against other “comeback” albums, its actually fully impressive, and a marked improvement over most of the bands that record a new album after a long hiatus. It’s a bit of a holding pattern, showing very little of anything that could be construed as “new” or innovative, but Strays is, for the most part, filled with very good songs recorded and performed by a very good band who truly love what they’re doing together again. It’s no Ritual de lo Habitual, but to expect a band to top an album like that would be stupid, and the only people who will be disappointed with Strays are those who go in with expectations far too high. Don’t go for the Limited Edition version of the album, but definitely pick it up, even if you’ve only been thinking a little about it. It’s fun, it’s hard rocking, full of exuberance and the joy to simply be alive and making music, and that’s one of those feelings that can only be produced by a band that is genuinely loving what they’re doing. I’m not sure what I was expecting when I went into the album, but I was pleasantly surprised by both the songwriting and the general consistency of the record.
Recommended:
Yes
|
|
|
|
Epinions.com ID:
headlessparrot
|
 - Top 1000 |
|
Member: Bryan Jansen
Location: Ontario, Canada
Reviews written: 171
Trusted by: 176 members
About Me:
Are you gonna bark all day, little doggy, or are you gonna bite?
|
|
|
- Add to My Yahoo!: 
- Add to Google Homepage: 
© 1999-2009 Shopping.com, Inc.