Jane's Addiction return to greatness?

[ilovejanesaddiction]

im a lurker digging throught the forum for the past several weeks. i have not been a regular part of the community but the new album has my interest greatly ressurected. The album has grown on me and now i fucking love it totally. 8 songs are just awesome on all levels. Words and Ultimate are cool but just one step below true greatness.

what i'm getting at : does anyone else notice that the public response to the new album and tour has been pretty phenomenal? I don't mean album sales or huge venues. They are not RHCP big, they've missed that chance somewhere in 1990-1991 in my opinion (and probably for the best). But in terms of opinions and reception? I haven't seen the new tour yet live (last i saw them was in spain and england last year) but from what you can see on youtube and the opinions, people are extremely positive. the theater tour seems like a great success. the vids show a great live performance. theyve already played most of the album live and perry claims that they will add the remainder in august 3rd leg.

I can't tell for sure until they come here to play in europe or at least england, but this might be an unexpected period of creative and spiritual rebirth for JA. Both Perry and Dave seem to be in really good places right now. I would say they might slowly work their way back to where they were at least during Relapse if not OG days.

i know this board seems more reserved in praise (except a few select members) but at this point and with evidence provided you really have to hand it to perry: he's still got it and he proved us wrong. i hope they truly make this another great golden creative period for them, one that they should have after ritual. i know without the youth and craziness and heroins it will be different but i feel it's going to be pretty amazing.

[kv]

[Everybody's Friend]

Is bman allowed to post under different accounts?

Where's a mod when you need it?

[Romeo]

Is bman allowed to post under different accounts?

Where's a mod when you need it?

[JOEinPHX]

at this point and with evidence provided you really have to hand it to perry: he's still got it and he proved us wrong.

Ummmm, no.

Dave proved us wrong. The music is pretty phenomenal. And he did the majority of it. He didn't just write a bunch of generic cock rock like everyone thought he would. He upped his game and delivered music that was dark and full of lush textures.

Perry's contributions were minimal and mediocre. He wasn't even a part of the band for this album. He hung out in his McMansion waiting for them to email him the music so he could go into his home vocal booth and throw down his feelings about his wife for the 800th time. The lyrics aren't very inspiring, the cover (while stylistically cool, was just a nod to what Casey did with RDLH) was awful (Etty on the wall and Perry with a 16 inch penis? Right.) and his live performances have been weak in comparison to the EXTREMELY solid live band behind him. Plus he's got background singers and backing tracks for the first time in his life to round out the fact that he just can't be a singer with his dead voice anymore.

And as far as the live show, the immersion theater thing... Yes, cool idea. Props to him for putting on a spectacle. But it wasn't his idea. He got the idea for all that stuff from sitting around his McMansion watching TV and doing what's already popular right now with everyone. And trust me, no one is showing up to see Jane's for the giant bear or the snuff film footage. It's a bonus, but while Dave is soloing during Three Days or Chaney is slamming down on the Mountain Song bassline, or Perk is going into the tribal breakdown of Stop, no one is giving 2 fucks about the clown or the giant bear. They are merely a distraction from the very rich man with the hoarse voice standing in the middle of the stage trying to relive past glories with only 1/5 of the passion and fire he had as a young man.

So, here, i fixed your statement for you...

With all the evidence provided, you really have to give it to Dave, Chaney, and Perk: they've still got it and proved us wrong.

Welcome to the ANR forums.

[JOEinPHX]

PS, you guys haven't really kept this place very lively in my absence.

Don't worry though, i'll spark a few fires for you to keep the place warm.

[Kajicat]

With all the evidence provided, you really have to give it to Dave, Chaney, and Perk: they've still got it and proved us wrong.

I would actually give more credit to Perry than Perkins on TGEA. Perkins was a MAJOR letdown in my eyes. Just boring generic drumming all around. Perry impressed me more than Stephen. But for live shows, Perry is still the weak link of course, as Perkins tends run on all cylinders for live performances.

[kv]

no doubt perk has been generic meh for a while now

[Japhy]

If anything, it feels like it's starting to go flat. There was the relative high of the Twisted Tales lyric vid but the 2nd leg of the tour looks like an after-thought... set-lists are 99% identical each night and it looks as though I Would For You has been dropped completely. I know Perry's been saying that other songs will be on the 3rd leg but what other songs exactly? That 3rd leg needs some proper stand-outs to pick it back up for me.

[trevor ayer]

With all the evidence provided, you really have to give it to Dave, Chaney, and Perk: they've still got it and proved us wrong.

I would actually give more credit to Perry than Perkins on TGEA. Perkins was a MAJOR letdown in my eyes. Just boring generic drumming all around. Perry impressed me more than Stephen. But for live shows, Perry is still the weak link of course, as Perkins tends run on all cylinders for live performances.

i think perkins simple beats may have been the result of the producers that stepped in ... 4 minute songs and simple beats seems to be the theme .. there were some good ideas in there but all the "space" got sucked out of this band .. there is not an empty minute on this record .. no breathing room .. perry has something to say from about 10 seconds or less into each song and does not stop until the end .. somebody told them to make all the songs vocally oriented

these songs are more standing in the shower than ted just admit it ... not even an aint no right bass intro to hang out with for a few seconds .. too many lyrics .. perry would do well to remove every other lyric and see what happens .. space is what would happen .. might actually sound like janes again .. imagine that

i like dave .. he has some good ideas on this record that did not get capitalized on .. they go by quick and could have been drawn out more and added as a focus of the song .. like broken people .. that guitar riff is pretty but it goes by like a short solo .. its the melodic guitar lines that made janes along with the good basslines .. stays was all guitar riffs .. not what janes is about .. tgea had lil guitar melodies but they dont get the opportunity to be heard because perry sings over everything ... janes made the right move with this tour and setlist .. its as good as it could be with the material ... its still bad material tho ... but its much less painful in this setlist format ... was nice to hear i would for you and classic girl too .. a return to greatness would take a great album and they have not come close yet .. i would never bother with this music if it didnt say janes on it .. its not good enough to bother with ..

[bman]

I was wondering where 6767 went! Where were you? Janes never changes set lists. They never really did. Total Bummer. Total Bummer that whores and Would for You are not in the set much anymore either. They'll add Summertime Rolls and Splash in August. I wish they'd change it up. But 6767 is wrong. Perry is CLEARLY the bright spot on this tour. He is bringing the mood every night and slaying the crowd.

[nausearockpig]

Wanna get a feel for the album? Do this: queue up your playlist or cd player with xxx, ns, ritual, strays & TGEA. Listen to them all with no gaps or pause and then have a think about what u just heard.

Sorry but it's far far away from a return to greatness.

[bman]

I think Underground, End to the Lies, Twisted Tales and Irresistable Force are GREAT songs.

[Larry B.]

I think Underground, End to the Lies, Twisted Tales and Irresistable Force are GREAT songs.

But we all know your criteria stinks

[nausearockpig]

I think Underground, End to the Lies, Twisted Tales and Irresistable Force are GREAT songs.

Do u think they're as good as yr fave songs on xxx, ns & ritual?

[kv]

come on you know what he is gonna say..it's either gonna be "yes" or "it's better then any other music out there today"

[nausearockpig]

true. hopefully it will give him pause to think about what I'm getting at. Either way, I'm glad he likes it, I'm annoyed that it's what it is, but whatever.. I was up late last night cos i couldn't sleep so i posted in a bazillion topics..

[blackula]

It's a return to not embarrassing themselves, not greatness. With help from producers they put out an artier album than Strays and they've sounded great playing the hits live. They are what every 70's, 80's, and now 90's touring bands are...a nostalgia act. They are amazing at what they do live, they can still bring it and Perry has sounded pretty good the last few times I've seen them, but they tour the hits 26 years after writing them. The only thing they've returned to is the setlist.

[JOEinPHX]

They are what every 70's, 80's, and now 90's touring bands are...a nostalgia act.

Not all 90s bands are nostalgia acts.

Bands like Pearl Jam, Nine Inch Nails, and Foo Fighters are still writing hits and selling records.

[kv]

most of them are though

[Essence_Smith]

They are what every 70's, 80's, and now 90's touring bands are...a nostalgia act.

Not all 90s bands are nostalgia acts.

Bands like Pearl Jam, Nine Inch Nails, and Foo Fighters are still writing hits and selling records.

They're still commercially viable...I don't think any of those bands have done anything really exciting in years and clearly aren't at their peak anymore...they're good but they used to be GREAT...I think what they mainly haven't done is embarass themselves...

[JOEinPHX]

Opinions. Assholes.

[Hokahey]

They are what every 70's, 80's, and now 90's touring bands are...a nostalgia act.

Not all 90s bands are nostalgia acts.

Bands like Pearl Jam, Nine Inch Nails, and Foo Fighters are still writing hits and selling records.

They're still commercially viable...I don't think any of those bands have done anything really exciting in years and clearly aren't at their peak anymore...they're good but they used to be GREAT...I think what they mainly haven't done is embarass themselves...

I...I think I just agreed with ES on something.

[Deconstruction]

If you think this is a return to greatness, then they never stopped being great.

[chaos]

The reviewer states that their performance on 5/29 at the Fillmore was "arena-worthy."

http://blogs.westword.com/backbeat/2012 ... llmore.php

Jane's Addiction at the Fillmore, 5/29/12
By Jon Solomon Wed., May 30 2012 at 11:00 AM

Before closing out an hour-and-a-half long set last night, Jane's Addiction frontman Perry Farrell told a packed Fillmore Auditorium: "I read a review of this tour. It was not good. It said, and I say verbatim, 'Jane's Addiction has no reason for existing. They should just stop.'" While there have been a few breaks since forming in 1985, judging from last night's muscular performance at the Fillmore, there's ample justification to support these guys forging ahead and not throwing in the towel for good.

While Farrell still considers Jane's Addiction part of the underground, as referenced in the show's opener "Underground," one of three songs from last year's The Great Escape Artist, last night's performance was arena-worthy. Taking the stage while Pink Floyd's "Welcome to the Machine" played, the band then plowed through "Underground" with Farrell's wife, Etty, dancing with an opened jacket and white bra and panties underneath. Although there might have been seventeen years between the times "Mountain Song," from 1988's Nothing's Shocking, and "Just Because," the only song played from 2003's Strays, were released, Jane's played each tune with equal force.

"When I was in high school I used to watch all the pretty girls walk by, and they'd say 'Oh, Perry, how are you?," Farrell told the revved-up crowd after a raucous take on the hit "Been Caught Stealing." "I'd say, 'Hey, what you up to you? Wanna go out tonight?' 'Oh, Perry you're so cute, but I'm going out with this guy, and I met him at the club, and he's like 34 and owns a modeling agency.' 'So fuck him. I mean, tell me the truth. What's wrong with me?' She says, 'Well, you're just skin and bones and you got a pointy nose'."

With that Chris Chaney, who's been in the band off and on over the last decade, launched into opening bass line to "Ain't No Right," one of the most energetic cuts of the night, fueled by drummer Stephen Perkins' feverish and thunderous work on the toms.

Up to that point, the band had been motoring vigorously through one cut after another, with guitarist Dave Navarro ripping into one solo after another as Farrell pogoed around the stage with strobe lights flashing until slowing things down a bit on "Ted, Just Admit It..." As black and white video of girls stripping in black bra and panties played on either side of the stage, Farrell asked, "Who doesn't like titties? Men like titties. I like titties. Dave, you love titties. Chris, I wonder how much you love the titties. Women love titties. Yay, let's celebrate titties!" As the song intensified with Perkins riding the toms again, bondage footage was beamed on either side of the stage.

"Mind if I have a seat?" Farrell said before he, Navarro and Chaney played "Classic Girl" sitting on stools. "They say you should never eat or drink on your feet. I don't know how many meals and drinks I've had on my feet. Probably more than I've had in my seat. A lot more. It's okay. That's why they invented chairs, right?"

After "Classic Girl," Farrell yelled, "It's not because I'm going deaf, I just want it louder! It's good for your ears because it's good for you heart. If it's good for your heart, it's good for your cock. If it's good for my cock, well that's fucking good, isn't it? Right? Let's make it louder!"
While, at this point, you'd think the band might have launched into another rocker, instead Navarro got on acoustic and Perkins walked to the front of the stage to play bongos and steels drums on "Jane Says," which had the crowd fervently singing along. Next up was "Chip Away," which featured Perkins, Navarro and Chaney all beating the hell out of toms near the front to the stage, beefy and tribal.

"Ocean Size" came at the end of the set, followed by the thoroughly epic encore "Three Days," which had this incredible gradual build that slowly intensified, like a modern day "Bolero," until Perkins was thundering on the toms as Farrell was flanked by two female dancers wearing ball gags and holding canes.