I'm a huge fan of their first two albums. And they're legends in the alternative scene. Yet it seems to be for the first 2 albums only... i've never listened to the rest. Is the rest of their discography worth checking out? the other albums have very mixed reviews. And i've never listened to them myself. What do y'all think? worth it? or stick with the first 2?

It's a mixed bag for the rest.

There are a couple of compilations of interest, one being a japanese import with the remix to "Been Caught Stealing" on it, and a few alternates and live cuts.

Another one, 'Kettle Whistle' has some newer material from it's release year with Flea on the bass instead of Eric Avery plus more rehashes and outtakes of years past.

There's also their very first release on X Records, which is a live SB recording.

Also, if you can find them, there were a few re-recorded, Reznor-produced tracks ("Whores", being one) released as an online promo sampler for the NINJA TOUR.

I have all their stuff and can't bitch too much, if that holds any weight with you

Prost!

The first 2 Jane's albums are must-haves for me, but they made another studio album in the early 2000s called "Strays" that I thought was good, too. The big radio single from it was "Just Because".

They were always a bit overrated to me. I thought their first two albums were ok, but they were never anything I went out of my way to play. Something always annoyed me about Perry's voice.

This is a really good question. And really, I'd say check out Kettle Whistle for the last glimmer of what Jane's Addiction was and could have been (judging from the handful of new studio songs on there, all of which are cool).

Strays (2003) was fine, but very much a typical rock album that lacks the wierdness of the original albums, and The Great Escape Artist (2011) was pathetic lyrically and sounded like modern U2 and modern NIN put together. More ambitious than Strays, and yet somehow way more dull.

Being an LA kid in the late 70s early 80s was awesome .. great punk music bitchin kroq jams ... and the best thing was seeing Janes every weekend at Scream. 4ever a janes addict ...

When you're saying their first 2 albums, do you mean their self-titled live album and then Nothing Shocking or are you starting off with Nothing Shocking and then Ritual? If its the latter, stop what you're doing and get your hands on the live album as its a goddamn smoker of a debut (and I commend the band's courage for their very first record to be a live one). A good amount of folks arent even aware of it to tell the truth and I dont mean any disrespect when I say that. As for Jane's consistency, the debut is great like I mentioned above. "Nothing's Shocking" is a cornerstone for alternative rock even though theres a couple songs I could do without ("Standing in the shower.." and "Idiots Rule" immediately come to mind) but nevertheless is a must-have. "Ritual de lo Habitual"? Dude, I could write a novel about it's importance in my life in terms of helping me on my path to seeking out different kinds of music and high school hook-ups with girls and what. Its a record I listen to and feel nostalgic and amazing over, and its also an album I can listen to start to finish without even considering skipping a track (and I cant do that with very many records). I can also think of two seperate times I wrote some of the album's lyrics in notes in high school to woo and seduce girls I liked. It captures a band on fire creatively and they just hit the nail on the head with some really crazy, ambitious songwriting. The 1-2 punch and heart of the record with "Three Days" and "Then She Did.." is worth the price alone. And dont get me started on the awesomeness of "Aint Nobody Leaving" and "Obvious". Great, I totally just went full-on fanboy with this lol. As for "Kettle Whistle", the new songs they recorded with Flea for it is a mixed bag, but the title song is pretty solid and kind of spooky. But then again, its an album filled with rarities and unreleased stuff that only the most hardcore of their fans would be interested in, and they released it just as an excuse to tour. "Strays"? I'll tell you the truth, I was a first-day buyer of the album and worshipped it during the summer of 2003. I didnt care for "Just Because" as the first single and that song still bothers me to this day. I also always get annoyed when I hear "Superhero" as Entourage's theme song. But beside the above two tracks I mentioned as well as the final 3 cuts on the album, it was a great record for the time. Nowadays, I tend to skip alot more songs on it. Theres a song on it called "The Riches" that I consider to be one of Jane's very best songs, and songs like "Price I Pay", "Wrong Girl", and "Everybody's Friend" are great tunes as well. But theres a certain element thats missing from the album. The first 3 Jane's records sounded dangerous and volatile, but Strays sounds too squeaky clean and polished, and I blame Bob Ezrin for that. And the missing presence of Eric Avery is obvious too. Its a mixed bag now for me, but considering the album's competition at that time, it was incredible. "Cabinent of Curiosities", the box set they released, is for the hardcore fans BUT it contains a live album from 1990 that is a must-hear. You hear a band on the verge of imploding and the live renditions of the songs are CRAZY intense (Whores and 1% especially). As for their most recent (and probably final) album, "The Great Escape Artist"? Well, the less we say about that piece of shit, the better. I was so let down by that record, it hurt my soul lol. Anyway, this post was longer than I thought it would be so let me finish it off by saying that seeing Jane's Addiction live is a must. I was only 5 when they originally broke up but I caught them in 2003 on Lollapalooza and in 2009 when Avery finally relented and re-joined when they toured with NIN, and THAT was a mind-fuck of a show. Playing after NIN is no small task to complete but Jane's made Trent Reznor and co. their bitches that night with ease. So yeah, Avery left again but if they tour again and hit your area, you gotta go dude. And lastly, Eric Avery and Navarro did a one-off album together after Jane's originally broke up called Deconstruction and thats a pretty cool album thats worth your time to seek out. And Porno for Pyros, while considered "Diet Jane's Addiction" in a way did 2 good/great albums as well thats worth your time too. I hope this helped, and I hope Jane's music affects you in the way it did for me. Enjoy your journey!

[Edited 1/12/15 12:07pm]

[Edited 1/12/15 12:46pm]

I just had to add another thing real quick: After calling "The Great Escape Artist" a piece of shit in my post above, I started to feel bad about it. So, I dusted the album off and listened to it. And you know what? I was really enjoying it! Maybe at the time of it's release, I just wasnt in the right headspace to listen and absorb a new JA album and that could be why I was so disappointed in it. But now, I can definitely see myself listening to it a few more times in the near-future. It IS their worse album, but not nearly as bad as I initally thought.