So I dropped $20 on the new Janes Addiction disc this afternoon. I have to say that I'm a little disappointed. For one thing the I bought the limited edition version with the DVD that included: "Never before seen Live, Backstage, and Interview footage". They didn't (completely) lie. There's a full 20 minutes worth of exactly that. And why has it "never been seen before"? Because it's from the last couple of months. I hate to banter about semantics, but come on! If it's NEW footage, that's different than NEVER BEFORE SEEN footage. The second set of words conotates something that has been vaulted. It brings to mind footage from the past that has not been released. This was not that, nor was it worth the extra $10 to get this 'limited' version. It would have made a nice free-bie.

The record itself is decent, but unfortunately only decent. Unlike previous Janes Addiction records that had various styles and landscapes to them, this is a pretty consistent funky rock record that slows down maybe twice. The previous 'opus' songs (like those on the second half of "Ritual") make no appearance. There are no dreamy tracks like "Up the Beach" or "Summertime Rolls". There aren't any groovy long tracks like "Kettle Whistle" or "Ted Just Admit It". In fact the record isn't even as interesting as either of the Porno For Pyros records. Every track is a perfect 3-5 minutes, and the production is pretty basic. No violins, bells, whistles, really nothing that stood out to speak of.

Let me finish by saying that I simply might be too old. Maybe my ears have been tainted in the 10 years since the last Janes Addiction album was released, but I don't think that's the case. I think these guys just don't have it anymore. Whatever energy there was, is only there in a vague sense on this record. It sounds like Janes Addiction without heart, soul, or ingenuity. It's "formulaic and stale for 2003" if you ask me.


In Prince related Janes Addiction gossip: I have a friend who does photography for bands and was doing some shots at the Lollapalooza tour in Milwaukee and Chicago. She ran into Dave Navarro backstage. She'd never met him before and she said to him "you know you look like Prince". His response was "yeah? Carmen says the same thing".

I love Jane's Addiction and didn't know there was a new album- Thanks for the review- I can't wait to get it!

CynthiasSocks said:

no problem. do yourself a favor and don't by the limited edition.

Oh yeah, Dave Navarro was schtuppin' Carmen back in the day! Can you blame either of them? Now THAT'S a celebrity homemade porno I'd pay to see!

I don't think you're getting too old - I just think Perry has very few functioning brain cells, and even less creativity.

I LOVE Jane's...hell, I don't feel right if I don't have a poster of at least one of their album covers on my walls at any given time...but I'm not gonna buy this one. I'm tired of being disillusioned.

Great review - thanks.

theblueangel said:

I'm not up on my People magazine like I should be, but isn't Dave still 'schtuppin' Carmen?



no problem. it needed to be done. lol.

thanks for the review..I was afraid of buying this album because I didn't want it to taint what I think of when I hear the words "jane's addiction"

then I read a good review and had decided to buy it...

now i'm on the fence again.

I do know that Target and Best Buy have it for $9.99 this week...

hmmm

dave ya need a shave you've had that beard since 1942
i bet its like
Hey me,carmen,AND my beard arent home right now leave a message after the beeepp

this measage is for the beard...





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.
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weird beard edit
[This message was edited Tue Jul 22 20:26:06 PDT 2003 by Christopher]

Is Carmen still Navarro's Good Judy Girlfriend? She's good for you.

Listening to part of the new Liz Phair was enough to scare me off of listening to "comeback" or "reunion" records of bands or artists that really mean a lot to me based on their past work.

As for Jane's -- I can't get past the fucking cover. It looks like a Details magazine shoot or something. And this from a band who came up with some of the most beautiful, twisted covers in rock history??! Blech, I can't hang with that.

Liz's cover was equally generic, and it almost kept me from buying it. I won't make that mistake again.

Heh. Who knows, maybe it's good. I should go to Kazaa and see...if it's good, I'll buy it. I'm just over throwing money away for CD's I'll never listen to.

Endorphin, I Would For You.

theblueangel said:

You'd better!

ps... their covers of Sympathy and Rock-N-Roll are simply 2 of the best covers I've ever heard...damn those tracks defined my highschool summers

My god. I was afraid of this. I bought the album too, and I can't recall the last time I was this disappointed in an album. I adore Jane's Addiction. Their first four albums (counting kettle whistle) are the stars of my collection. But this pile of shit

I like what I´ve heard from Jane´s Addiction so far, but I´ve never listened to any of their albums from beginning to end. If I should buy only one, which one should it be?

get "ritual de lo habitual". i know people will disagree with me, but just get it. you'll adore it for the rest of your life.

smokeverbs said:

I'd agree with this

and then Vibrator will be so hooked that he'll have to get the others

Ritual kicks ass. Get the cool (non-white) album cover if ya can, it's worth it. One of the best posters I've ever had up.

Endorphin, I agree completely. Those covers are ethereal, beyond reproach.

endorphin74 said:

Ok then, everybody seems to agree. Ritual De Lo Habitual it is.

NOTHINGS SHOCKING BY JANES IS THE BEST ALBUM EVER...WOW...WOW...

So many comments! I don't think I've ever started such a successful thread! Thanks guys!

Ritual and Nothing Shocking are on a par in my opinion, but there's something about the second half of Ritual (from 3 days though Classic Girl) that makes a guys just wanna cream...

creepycornerman said:

'Then She Did' is my favorite song ever, in the whole of my life, period, end of sentence. I cried the first time I saw that live...

I saw the video for the first single on tv this morning.I really REALLY liked the song. Hoping to hear the rest of the slbum as well. :Smile:

endorphin74 said:

That's part of that sequence I'm talking about. All of those songs are great. I used to listen to 3 days so much that my roommate was about ready to chuck the disc even though it was his. lol.

Then She Did - Jane's Addiction

Now her paints are dry...
And I looked outside...
At the corner boys...
Ayh, oh, where did you go?
I don't know.
I went to see your pictures...
I spread them across the floor...
So this is where they are shown...
Now they're probably saying to you,
'If you keep it up you'll be born.'
But you won't ever listen,
I'll bet...
Burnt out, grass scorched by the sun.
The buildings remain.
We will beat them all to dust,
I'll bet... Pulled from a headless shell that blinked on and off,
'Hotel.'
Now the nameless dwell.
They hold your key and turn your knob,
I'll bet...
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.
She repaired legs like a doctor on the kitchen chairs we sat on.
She was unhappy, just as you were.
Unhappy, just as you were.
Unhappy, just as you were.
Unhappy, just as you were...
[This message was edited Thu Jul 24 18:08:01 PDT 2003 by creepycornerman]

While I'm at it, I'm going to post my favorite "Porno for Pyros" lyrics, these are too funny...

Bad Shit

got some bad shit - then i walked the beat in venice - i went outside - i been in too long - outside - for some inspiration - did the G-O - did the No-Go - there were stars - there were flies - even the flies dropped like... - what do flies drop like? - stars - but i didn't go down

smokeverbs said:

I absolutely love this album. I've heard the new Jane's Addiction song 'Just Because' and I think that it sounds pretty good but for some reason I have reservationa about just going out and buying the album. I just get the feeling that it would be very hard to recapture the spirit of what made Jane's Addiction so amazing now. They all seemed to have changed so much.

NOTHINGS SHOCKING IS WAY BETTER THAN RITUAL.
RITUAL STICKS SOONER AND NOTHINGS NEEDS 2 GROW..AND WHEN IT DOES U C THE LITE...WOW...WOW...

"Three Days" is my favourite song by anyone, ever.

I've been a fan since 1990 and i love the new album. Sure it doesnt cover as many bases as their other albums but it's consistently good and ocassionally fantastic(Strays, Price I Pay). To me Jane's always exaggerated their image as being arty and profound when basically they were a great rock band with a charismatic vocalist. A friend of mine hates the new era of Janes Addiction because they're actually visible this time around ..oh and their new album lacks a great cover(admittedly its really poor). To a lot of people it's the whole image alt.rock thing and things have changed. IMO Strays is their best album in terms of sheer straight forward hard rock. I admire it's honesty, the band simply wanna rock. To me a track like Superhero is no more throwaway than Standing In The Shower Thinking, it's all down to perception.