Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

The Great Escape Artist, by Jane's Addiction

Jane's Addiction walked away from music at the top of their game. In the late '80s and early '90s, they brought art back to rock 'n' roll with two studio albums that had the poetry and sexuality of the Doors, the driving intensity of Zeppelin, and an L.A. street-savvy grit that made their sound their own. Jane's fought out of a pool of teased hair and excess and were in part responsible for drowning the hair-metal beast.

This year, aided by another art-rock notable, TV on the Radio's David Sitek, Jane's dropped The Great Escape Artist. On the first song, "Underground," Perry Ferrell belts out, "I'm a hustler, hustler, I'll never give up the underground," and as the statement lands over a wall of over-produced guitar riffage, it lacks a certain sincerity. Had he shouted this with ratty dreadlocks slithering serpentine across the stage in 1986, it would have been believable, but this current band conjures Entourage, reality TV, and a perfectly preserved shirtless Dave Navarro.

Sponsored
Sponsored

The young hunger and edge that made Jane's Addiction so potent and important in the first breath of the '90s is what's missing on this album; it isn't terrible, but it does nothing to further their legacy. And though Sitek contributes certain tones that keep the album relevant, the absence of original bassist Eric Avery reveals how important his push and pulse was to the sound and movement of Jane's Addiction. If you're a Jane's fan, satiate your curiosity with a listen, but if you're delving in for the first time, take on Nothing's Shocking and think about the sea of mediocre '80s rock it surfaced from.

  • Album: The Great Escape Artist
  • Artist: Jane's Addiction
  • Label: Capitol
  • Songs: (1) "Underground" (2) "End to the Lies" (3) "Curiosity Kills" (4) "Irresistible Force (Met the Immovable Object)" (5) "I'll Hit You Back" (6) "Twisted Tales" (7) "Ultimate Reason" (8) "Splash a Little Water on It" (9) "Broken People" (10) "Words Right Out of My Mouth"

The latest copy of the Reader

Please enjoy this clickable Reader flipbook. Linked text and ads are flash-highlighted in blue for your convenience. To enhance your viewing, please open full screen mode by clicking the icon on the far right of the black flipbook toolbar.

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Syrian treat maker Hakmi Sweets makes Dubai chocolate bars

Look for the counter shop inside a Mediterranean grill in El Cajon
Next Article

Poway’s schools, faced with money squeeze, fined for voter mailing

$105 million bond required payback of nearly 10 times that amount

Jane's Addiction walked away from music at the top of their game. In the late '80s and early '90s, they brought art back to rock 'n' roll with two studio albums that had the poetry and sexuality of the Doors, the driving intensity of Zeppelin, and an L.A. street-savvy grit that made their sound their own. Jane's fought out of a pool of teased hair and excess and were in part responsible for drowning the hair-metal beast.

This year, aided by another art-rock notable, TV on the Radio's David Sitek, Jane's dropped The Great Escape Artist. On the first song, "Underground," Perry Ferrell belts out, "I'm a hustler, hustler, I'll never give up the underground," and as the statement lands over a wall of over-produced guitar riffage, it lacks a certain sincerity. Had he shouted this with ratty dreadlocks slithering serpentine across the stage in 1986, it would have been believable, but this current band conjures Entourage, reality TV, and a perfectly preserved shirtless Dave Navarro.

Sponsored
Sponsored

The young hunger and edge that made Jane's Addiction so potent and important in the first breath of the '90s is what's missing on this album; it isn't terrible, but it does nothing to further their legacy. And though Sitek contributes certain tones that keep the album relevant, the absence of original bassist Eric Avery reveals how important his push and pulse was to the sound and movement of Jane's Addiction. If you're a Jane's fan, satiate your curiosity with a listen, but if you're delving in for the first time, take on Nothing's Shocking and think about the sea of mediocre '80s rock it surfaced from.

  • Album: The Great Escape Artist
  • Artist: Jane's Addiction
  • Label: Capitol
  • Songs: (1) "Underground" (2) "End to the Lies" (3) "Curiosity Kills" (4) "Irresistible Force (Met the Immovable Object)" (5) "I'll Hit You Back" (6) "Twisted Tales" (7) "Ultimate Reason" (8) "Splash a Little Water on It" (9) "Broken People" (10) "Words Right Out of My Mouth"
Comments
Sponsored

The latest copy of the Reader

Please enjoy this clickable Reader flipbook. Linked text and ads are flash-highlighted in blue for your convenience. To enhance your viewing, please open full screen mode by clicking the icon on the far right of the black flipbook toolbar.

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Now what can they do with Encinitas unstable cliffs?

Make the cliffs fall, put up more warnings, fine beachgoers?
Next Article

Gonzo Report: Downtown thrift shop offers three bands in one show

Come nightfall, Humble Heart hosts The Beat
Comments
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

This Week’s Reader This Week’s Reader