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Jane's Addiction helped put the word "alternative" on the middle-American map with a scarlet A, but their straight-uprockwas always front and center. OnStrays, the first Jane's Addiction studio album in 13 years, there's no mistaking Perry Farrell's trademark vocal sound (a nasal goose? a banshee in flight?) and Dave Navarro's ever-adaptable guitar style. But the band--only bassist Eric Avery is absent from their classic lineup, replaced by Chris Chaney--hasn't come to party like it's 1991. Sure, the balance of hedonism and earnestness, environmentalism and decadence, remains, but the quartet's approach is that of a unit ready to flex a few new muscles. Listeners will notice roof-raisers like "True Nature" and "Hypersonic" first, but some of the quieter tracks ("Price I Pay," with the classic Farrell rationalization "I always do the wrong thing, but I got a good reason," "To Match the Sun") are among the most effective Jane's mood pieces ever.Straysis certainly a much more apt return than 1997’s odds-and-sods compilationKettle Whistle.--Rickey Wright
Blame Bob Ezrin I know a lot of Jane's Addiction fans. A lot of people my age got hit by this band back when they burst onto the scene, and were all stunned when they split at the height of their popularity. Nothing's Shocking and Ritual are milestone albums to a lot of people I know. But I don't know anyone who likes this album.
Apparently the band didn't either, since they split after making it. Bob Ezrin reportedly hated Jane's classic albums and decided he could do better. He decided to remake JA in his patented, schmaltzy style. Ezrin has built a career out of taking weirdo acts- Pink Floyd, Kiss, Lou Reed, Alice Cooper- and making them palatable for the mainstream. He tries to work that same "magic" here and all that results is a claustrophobia inducing, wax museum simulacrum version of Jane's.
But this is not the same Jane's. The foundation of the band's sound- ie, the sinuous and deeply melodic basslines of Eric Avery are gone. This record was begun with an adequate replacement- Martyn le Noble- and finished with a generic LA studio mutt. Perry Farrell's trademark financial ruthlessness is to blame for this error. Le Noble co-wrote many of the songs and believed he was to be a full member of the band, but Perry had other ideas. The credits tell a disturbing story of this music- Ezrin is listed as co-writer on many tracks, as are other non-band members.
The end result sounds like a 70's band imitating a 90's band. All of the character and spontanaeity is AWOL. What is left is characterless and airless. It's the sound of professional musicians trying to ressurrect a brand name, not the sound of lust-filled crazies trying to blow poseur Hair Metal off the face of the planet. If you're my age and you're looking to relive past glories, look elsewhere. This is not the sound of a Hollywood band, but the sound of a band gone Hollywood.
Without the smack..they ain't jack. When Jane's Addiction first burst on to the scene, it arrived with a purpose. The act came to bury metal, not to praise it. A late-'80s musical landscape still littered with crotch-stuffing, meatheaded, misogynistic hair farmers was ripe for change. And Perry Farrell -- looking like some primal pygmie, pre-op transsexual -- was just the creature for the job. Donning a corset, dreadlocks, goth whiteface and his unique banshee wail, the singer/shaman armed himself with Dave Navarro's monster riffs and the tribal-rhythm team of Eric Avery and Stephen Perkins, and went to work. Combining punk angst with a hippie sensibility, the band covertly infiltrated a vapid music scene with the intent of laying it to waste.
But the operation was only a partial success. The quartet succumbed to its excesses by way of a smack-induced coma before the task was complete, disbanding after its third album. Ultimately, Jane's Addiction only sowed the seeds for the alternative revolution, leaving groups like Nirvana, Soundgarden and Mudhoney to actually complete the mission years later.
Now, after pulling a rock-and-roll version of Rip Van Winkle, Jane's is back. The band has replaced Avery with Chris Chaney and issued Strays, its first full-length album of new material in thirteen years. Say goodbye to the smack-fueled hedonism, Farrell's painstakingly crafted artwork for album covers and a live show with all the stability of an impending train wreck, and say hello to slickly edited videos, ever-present Navarro muse Carmen Electra and CD packaging with a decidedly self-congratulatory air. After a whirlwind of creative insanity, the godfathers of Lollapalooza are now content.
But with contentment can come clarity. Former producer Dave Jerden was justifiably given the boot, ridding the band of the tin-thin studio sonics most prevalent on Nothing's Shocking. The tone of the new album is fat and adequately raw. Strays also boasts the interesting lyrical wordplay of "Price I Pay" -- which sounds a bit like the classic prog-punk epic "Three Days" -- as well as "The Riches," a catchy little juggernaut, and the single "Just Because," which possesses one of Navarro's most driving and hypnotic riffs. While the spastic-metal lead guitar suffers some sounds oblivious to the current musical climate, the uneven hypersonic seems intent on updating the band's sound. It's one of the few tunes in which the group acknowledges the prospect of competing with its imitators.
The problem with this release is not what is present, but the element of experimentation that is so sorely missing. Strays finds Jane's Addiction awakening after a long hiatus to find the music world finally celebrating the group as something that it no longer is: innovative. With Strays, the group once again fails to complete its mission.Jane's Addiction finally hit their peak! This CD is awesome. I love Dave Navarro's guitar playing and the vocals are cool too. This is easily the best album these guys have ever released. The songs are balanced, well-written, and hooky. The production is outstanding. I love the huge guitar and drum sound they have finally achieved. Dave's overdubbed guitar parts add so much body to these songs. I also loved the sound he got with the Chili Peppers as well. It's a real shame that Jane's Addiction fans have not embraced this album as much as previous efforts. I guess the music is too polished and catchy for long-time fans.
