Remember back when Perry and Jane's were renowned for releasing groundbreaking album covers that did as much for their image as it did for their music?
and
and then
After the band broke up, Perry continued on with Porno For Pyros, and in 1993 their debut album was released:
Now, admittedly, after four years of increasingly creative and disturbing album art, this one was a little
Granted, Perry was on some pretty hardcore drugs around this time, if 'Whores' is to be believed. Plus, this was the album that contained such classis Farrellisms like "Bad Shit", "Pets" and "Meija", so one could excuse the somewhat cartoonish album artwork.
Especially when a few years later their follow-up cover was this:
Now
that's the Perry we know and love(d). A perfect cover for the mystical shit happening on the disc beneath it.
And then...
True, I get the whole "handbill" role that's played a legitimate part of the Jane's legacy. I bought this the day it came out in Nov. '97, but I don't think I've picked it up once since and not thought "what the hell is up with this cover?". You have a truckload of great band photography adorning the inside of the booklet, liner notes by super-fan Henry Rollins, and
this is your album cover?
Perhaps I've been splitting hairs all these years. The live shows from the Relapse era were fantastic when Perry wasn't stoned out of his mind, so all's forgiven.
But then, after a long four year wait (Rev not withstanding)...
I can remember the blank, slightly bewildered look on my face, reflected back to me from the jewel case the day this came out and I picked it up for the first time. In fact, I was making that
same face a minute ago when I went to the website to find the SYTBS artwork again. 12 years, and I still can't figure out what the fuck I'm looking at here...
A few years later...
I wanted SO BAD to love this album when it came out. And after the first few spins, I lowered my expectations and prayed that in time, I would merely
like this album. But time has not been kind to these wishes, and I blame this horrendous album cover for this.
Strays was roundly touted as THE follow-up to Ritual, and at first glance, one could argue it begins at the album cover. In this case, it also signals the end. 'Just Because' may have been the first thing we heard, but there were 10 other songs on there to give us hope before we actually heard the mess that Strays truly is.
The album cover is just plain inexcusable. Even if Capital had the band by its balls, I have a very hard time believing Perry circa-1991 would have even entertained the idea of letting this fly.
Years go by...then:
Even for a compilation album, this towers over the Strays artwork. But...that's like saying MJ's 'Invincible' artwork was better than 'Blood On The Dance Floor's, or 'Generation Swine's album art was better than Motley's self-titled album's artwork. Truth be told, this one wreaked of the Warner Bros. slapdash cash-in, and who could blame them? Would YOU want to chance another album the likes of Strays?
There's no rarities here, either. And how fucking
dare they include 'Superhero' and not 'Then She did...'. That's just a slap in the face.
Little did we know, dark times were just ahead:
I remember this making Pitchfork's "Worst Album Covers of 2007" list, and their caption was something to the effect of Perry being a "cosmic smurf".
That's putting it kindly, to say the very least. The only thing WORSE than this album cover is the expanded artwork someone posted earlier in this thread. To think that Etty actually read the backlash against it on Xiola at the time and probably convinced Perry to crop it down just makes it even more hilarious.
More years go by...then:
I remember rushing to Best Buy the day this little number dropped to get my hands on that ultra-limited 5-disc version with the extra CD of live tracks (success!!), speeding home and lighting up what brothas everywhere would agree was “some bomb ass shit” and then immersing myself in this experience for the next five hours or so.
An experience. The way Jane's was originally meant to be enjoyed as.
Even if the Disc 1 demos all sounded virtually identical to their studio counterparts, even if there was no “Gift” on the DVD or hi-def Milan ’90 in its entirety, this still felt like a gift from the original band. Something I never imagined I’d have in my Jane’s collection. GGU notwithstanding, it had been nearly 20 years since anything Jane’s or Perry-affiliated had looked this good. I’m sure whatever I was toasted on at the time deserves some due credit, but the box content artwork had me
dazzled, it was that good. Coupled with the fact that I’d be seeing both the original lineup of Jane’s and my favorite band co-perform multiple times in only a few weeks, at the time this felt like a dream come true.
And that live version of ‘Whores’ on the DVD absolutely
knocks.
But dreams are always followed by reality. Eric quit, all new material by the original lineup was vaulted, and instead we were treated to:
Universally mocked upon its unveiling, this is admittedly an improvement over Strays and that Satellite Party abomination, but that's not really saying much. From the artwork to the music to the live shows behind it, TGEA signifies the epic fall from grace that Jane's and Co. now embody. And since I'm just pissing on a grave at this point, I'll let it go at that.
The artwork for Live In NYC isn't bad, but for all of the reasons people have already listed plus others I won't get into, why bother
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