Jane's Addiction - The Great Escape Artist

seachto7

first of all, should this be in the alternative forum??

Anyways, I streamed this online the other day, and not sure what to make of it. There are some really good songs on it, but a lot are same old same old.
The particular stream I listened to had an extra album of live tracks, new and old, which I have to say sounded really really good.......

Kess73

Really like the album. Bit of a departure from Strays (which I love) but still is an album that rewards repeat listens.

Really love the bass sound on it, and how many of the songs are more bass heavy than guitar heavy. It's no Ritual de lo Habitual ( crazy to think that album is out 21 years ) but it is no let down, and stands well alongside the other three studio albums.

Malice

seachto7 wrote: »

first of all, should this be in the alternative forum??

There isn't really a clearly defined non-ambiguous boundary. I like to think of the Alt/Indie forum as "light-rock that I don't particularly like". There is a good bit of crossover between the two forums with stuff like Smashing Pumpkins, Radiohead or The Pixies getting discussed in both.

As for this album I'll definitely get around to checking it out as I've heard good things so far.

Kess73

Malice wrote: »

There isn't really a clearly defined non-ambiguous boundary. I like to think of the Alt/Indie forum as "light-rock that I don't particularly like". There is a good bit of crossover between the two forums with stuff like Smashing Pumpkins, Radiohead or The Pixies getting discussed in both.

As for this album I'll definitely get around to checking it out as I've heard good things so far.

If you have any sort of liking for Jane's Addiction, then checking out this album is a must. They have managed to change their sound quite a bit to how they sounded on Strays, and Strays was a big departure on Ritual de lo Habitual.


Navarro really sounds like he is having fun on the album, just setting off explosions of guitar play at will, and man does he sound tight.

The bass play is what really caught my ear. Dave Sitek is the bass player on the album (Chaney should be returning for live duties), and he really really works well with Perkins on drums.

Basically what we have is a very well produced album that sounds very slick and very new, whilst still retaining a lot of the band's early 90's and early 2000's sound.

As always with a Jane's album, the deal maker or breaker for a lot of folk will be Farrell. He can be a marmite type vocalist. For some his vocals will turn them off the album and as such folk will miss some really good music. For others his vocals will have no adverse effect and they will just enjoy everything as a package.

What is noticeable on this album more than any of the other is that, imho of course, there are a number of songs that have that "stadium anthem" sound in the manner that some U2 and Coldplay songs manage to sound big. Now I hate Coldplay with a passion but they do have that knack of making a song sound big, almost epic in scale, and that is what Jane's Addiction have created at times.

Actually the U2 comparison comes into play with regards to Navarro in places as well. Every now and then he comes out with a riff that could be something the Edge would have done if the edge was as good on guitar as Navarro.:) Basically monster Edge riffs that Edge is not able to come up with.

It is not a great album, but it is certainly a good album which is a cut above a hell of a lot that gets released within it's genre, and if you are a long term Jane's fan like myself, then it becomes a very good album to the ears.

Another thing it shows is that a bunch of 40 and 50 somethings can come up with the kind of rock album in terms of energy and sound that one would expect from a band twenty years their junior.

Now if they can just get out of the habit of breaking up so often and having such massive gaps between albums I will be stoked. 13 years between Ritual and Strays followed by an eight year gap between Strays and this is too much.

Nea

I am eagerly awaiting my copy in the post.

They are a band I have never seen live and hopefully they include Ireland in their future touring plans. I could not afford or justify paying €100 to see them at poxegen when they played there but I was raging that I missed them .

Malice

Your recommendations have yet to let me down so far Kess!

Kess73

Nea wrote: »

I am eagerly awaiting my copy in the post.

They are a band I have never seen live and hopefully they include Ireland in their future touring plans. I could not afford or justify paying €100 to see them at poxegen when they played there but I was raging that I missed them .

I would go as far as to say that the 2000's JA are a much better live band than the 1980's/1990's JA.

Have seen them live a fair few times over the last 20 odd years, and they seem to have gotten tighter and far more energetic in sound live as they got older.

seachto7

any of you heard the live cd with it? It's fantastic.....

Kess73

seachto7 wrote: »

any of you heard the live cd with it? It's fantastic.....

Yeah I heard the live tracks. Really good, the only shame is that there were not more tracks from Strays included.