Jane's Addiction - The Great Escape Artist

[3LB]

Before I had heard of the term grunge, a friend of mine turned me onto this band, what he termed 'psychadelic meets garage'. I remember one writer way back when saying "listening to Jane's Addiction is the aural equivelant to sharing a dirty needle" or something like that. Some of rock's greatest acts always seemed to be able to conjure up a palpable sense of menace. Sabbath, Crimson, Metallica, Pantera, Tool, Opeth at times, Led Zep at times, but Jane's Addiction rivaled the best punk or metal bands for pure vitriol and danger. Like the line in Pigs In Zen, "some people should die, that's just unconscious knowledge", sounded like a psychopath on the verge of a killing spree. I still listen to Nothing's Shocking and Ritual de lo Habitual quite often.

Well, I've had this a few days now and I think it's killer. Not as sleazy as the first couple of albums, but not at all spit and polished as their under-the-radar comeback, Strays from '03. More attention is paid to atmosphere on this one and although its not quite the druggy vibe they once had, it still rocks. They present the material like a band that still wants you to hear the song. No anger or vitriol in the lyrics or delivery, but still disenfranchised, wiser but bitter. And there's plenty of space in the production and mixing, something aspiring stoner rock bands should take note of.

This band predates grunge by a few years but defines that movement as well as, oh say Pearl Jam, but seems to have matured better than many bands of that era.

[Finch Platte]

Hey, thanks for the review. I've been slightly intrigued by the reviews I've read about this release, but everytime I think about buying it, I find something else instead.

[Slosh]

I never considered them grunge. I always thought of grunge as having some Black Sabbath influence in their sound (Melvins, Alice In Chains, Soundgarden).

The only post-Jane's Addiction albums I liked were the first Porno For Pyros and Dave Navarro's Trust No One. But those were long ago and I've since written them off, but I'll check out this new album thanks to your opinion.

NP:

[nobody]

I didn't know they had a new one out and I really haven't listened to these guys on years.

Still, I will always remember working at a record store and Nothing's Shocking coming in, finding the album cover interesting and then dropping the needle and being totally blown away.