The Legacy Of Jane's Addiction: A Thread.

[Diabolik]

I've been thinking about this as I re-listen to bootlegs and albums lately.

Whats the real legacy of the Band and Perry? I used to think they were this immortal band that would forever be looked at as the amazing thing. Now, I'm not sure.

They almost seem like a cool footnote now.

[Larry B.]

I think by now it's common knowledge that Jane's destroyed their legacy. They've come to the point where the two studio albums are still considered very, very good, but the band itself is a joke.

I think it was in a video that Creep posted a few days ago where Dave is in some sort of radio show and one of the other presenters says something like "the winner of the contest gets to be the next bass player for Jane's Addiction." That sort of thing.

The only member of the band whose "legacy" hasn't been tainted is Eric, but even so he won't be making any list of best songwriters, bass players, band members, band leaders... he's just the only one who didn't completely fuck up after leaving Jane's Addiction.

[Mescal]

Yeah, the albums are good, but they sound dated.

I don t think they generate a lot of new fans. Unlike let s say guns n roses.

They had this mysterious coolness about them and they most definitely lost that. (Ok guns n roses too, but I think their albums hold up better)

[Mescal]

And we are like hardcore fans and we think they are a joke, imagine what a casual fan must think.

And like Larry said, even Dave thinks they are a joke. So pretty much everybody except Perry

[JOEinPHX]

To the casual listener they were always the "dog barking song"/"Jane Says" band.

Musicians from their time period still hold them in high regard. But many musicians from their time period are reaching the point of sadness as well. I think only Pearl Jam and Henry Rollins made it out of the 90s with their respect in tact. And maybe Faith No More, but only because they split before they had a chance to ruin anything.

At this point the only way Jane's gets their ass kissed for an reason relates to their breakup being the catalyst for Lollapalooza. Everything else is just "drugs and conflicting egos caused multiple breakups, see them while you can" whenever a tour is announced.

Still, no one goes. Because at the end of the day they're still the dogs barking song/jane says band to most people, and the die hards are all too old to still be riding this rollercoaster.

[Matz]

they're the ones with that shirtless guy right...

[JOEinPHX]

they're the ones with that shirtless guy right...

Yeah but at least he wears a bra during the 3 songs he comes onstage.

[Diabolik]

Yeah, the albums are good, but they sound dated.

I don t think they generate a lot of new fans. Unlike let s say guns n roses.

They had this mysterious coolness about them and they most definitely lost that. (Ok guns n roses too, but I think their albums hold up better)

That's a really good point...I wonder if kids listen to NS or Ritual and get excited. Doubtful. I totally agree that G-N-R is a better gateway drug then a Jane's album.

[blackula]

Kids into rock, punk, metal...whatever will always get into Jane's. The Who are a 50% traveling joke now but the original albums will always stand up.

Gun's 'n Roses is far more of a joke than Jane's nowadays. I listened to Appetite recently and it's still a good album but nowhere near NS or RDLH, obviously that's just opinion. Legacywise GNR is way more fucked up than Jane's. Although it didn't end up working they tried with EA in 2009. Axl has Slash removed from the audience at a Vegas GNR show. Steven Adler begs for a HOF reunion...nothing. Strays kills Chinese Democracy and I'm sure in 15 years when the follow up comes out TGEA will kill that as well. Perry talk singing ANR? Did you see that Axl footage at that benefit a couple of years ago? Perry even wins in old man faded rock star style over Axl. Perry went from fringe rockstar to lame LA showman, Axl goes from being the biggest rockstar of his time to some reclusive Michael Jackson type figure sans kid touching.

[Noonesshocking]

I was 12 in 2001 when they did jubilee, and it was kind of the first time they were on my radar because the local radio station was really excited about it (not just doing obligatory hyping). So even at that age, I got the impression there was something special and cool about them. From there I started looking them up online and you could just kind of tell there was a real reverence toward them. I think the real damage to the legacy was actually done between '03 and '07. Before '03, Jane's playing out was still kind of cool story, and nobody had heard strays yet or seen that album's cover, so there was still a bit of mystique. Post 2004 breakup... well, we all know. I don't think a 12 year would necessarily be drawn to the mystique like I was.

I think they really could have reversed the damage if '08-'10 had panned out differently. Basically, if the rest of the band had followed Eric's vision (which was not at all unreasonable), things would be fine today. There were moments during that reunion era that were easily the best since relapse, and all that really needed to be done was make a cool, interesting record. Bummer.

[bman]

Oh God. Who Cares. This is one of those 'How did u get into Janes' threads.

Legacy means nothing. You either like them or you don't. In 10 years from now Led Zep wont even have a legacy.

[JOEinPHX]

The legacy of Jane's Addiction ultimately was destroyed by Perry, the man who continues to take all the credit for the band to this day.

Every interview, it's "my band", not "the band"

He can have the credit.

He swallowed the band, turned it into a messy turd, flushed it down the shitter, it got stuck, and he's been trying to pull the turd back out for 15 years, nugget by nugget.

[kv]

In 10 years from now Led Zep wont even have a legacy.

get real

[Larry B.]

In 10 years from now Led Zep wont even have a legacy.

get real

It's bman. Reality isn't a possibility for him.

In 3 years from now everyone will have forgotten about John Lennon.

[kv]

who?

[Romeo]

In 10 years from now Led Zep wont even have a legacy.

Really??

So says the guy who spends hundreds of dollars a year to see a novelty act

[Matz]

why even pay attention to a comment like that that's so fuckin outthere

[panicparty]

I think one of the reasons Jane's doesn't have "legacy" impact is down to a huge amount of what made them great being how incredibly good they were live. Some bands do their best work in the studio, some do it on stage in front of an audience. Much as I love the albums, there isn't a song on them that I don't think they did a million times better live (ok, there's some songs they've never done live as far as I know, but if they did, they'd be better too).

If you're investigating Lennon, Zeppelin, Guns'n'Poses, the Who, you can enjoy their finest work on the albums. It's too late now to experience what made Jane's truly great, because it's long gone and won't (can't) come back.

[someguy]

Bman lol

[Mescal]

Kids into rock, punk, metal...whatever will always get into Jane's. The Who are a 50% traveling joke now but the original albums will always stand up.

Gun's 'n Roses is far more of a joke than Jane's nowadays. I listened to Appetite recently and it's still a good album but nowhere near NS or RDLH, obviously that's just opinion. Legacywise GNR is way more fucked up than Jane's. Although it didn't end up working they tried with EA in 2009. Axl has Slash removed from the audience at a Vegas GNR show. Steven Adler begs for a HOF reunion...nothing. Strays kills Chinese Democracy and I'm sure in 15 years when the follow up comes out TGEA will kill that as well. Perry talk singing ANR? Did you see that Axl footage at that benefit a couple of years ago? Perry even wins in old man faded rock star style over Axl. Perry went from fringe rockstar to lame LA showman, Axl goes from being the biggest rockstar of his time to some reclusive Michael Jackson type figure sans kid touching.

Yeah, ok on the Guns N Roses legacy being more fucked up than JA.

And turn it any way you like; NS sounds dated unlike AFD. Its production sucks - it needs a remastering job, I'm pretty sure everyone here agrees.

[Mescal]

I think one of the reasons Jane's doesn't have "legacy" impact is down to a huge amount of what made them great being how incredibly good they were live. Some bands do their best work in the studio, some do it on stage in front of an audience. Much as I love the albums, there isn't a song on them that I don't think they did a million times better live (ok, there's some songs they've never done live as far as I know, but if they did, they'd be better too).

If you're investigating Lennon, Zeppelin, Guns'n'Poses, the Who, you can enjoy their finest work on the albums. It's too late now to experience what made Jane's truly great, because it's long gone and won't (can't) come back.

Dunno, I've never seen them in their heydays (86 - 91), and I got into them after that listening to their cd's.

Even though, the first time I was blown away by them and starting actually listening to their cd's was after I saw the Hammerstein show on MTV and I was like, wooooow who's that band Flea's playing with.

And one of the best shows I ever saw was JA in 03 (or was it 04) - And that made me visit the Jane's Boards and really got me into them.

So eeuuuhhmm, I suppose I agree with your post

[JOEinPHX]

Kids into rock, punk, metal...whatever will always get into Jane's. The Who are a 50% traveling joke now but the original albums will always stand up.

Gun's 'n Roses is far more of a joke than Jane's nowadays. I listened to Appetite recently and it's still a good album but nowhere near NS or RDLH, obviously that's just opinion. Legacywise GNR is way more fucked up than Jane's. Although it didn't end up working they tried with EA in 2009. Axl has Slash removed from the audience at a Vegas GNR show. Steven Adler begs for a HOF reunion...nothing. Strays kills Chinese Democracy and I'm sure in 15 years when the follow up comes out TGEA will kill that as well. Perry talk singing ANR? Did you see that Axl footage at that benefit a couple of years ago? Perry even wins in old man faded rock star style over Axl. Perry went from fringe rockstar to lame LA showman, Axl goes from being the biggest rockstar of his time to some reclusive Michael Jackson type figure sans kid touching.

Yeah, ok on the Guns N Roses legacy being more fucked up than JA.

The thing is, as much of a trainwreck as GnR is, that's always kind of been their thing. They were always the unpredictable firework about the explode at any time. That danger is part of what made people like them so much. So nothing that happens in that band, especially with Axl's weirdness, is unexpected. It's part of their charm.

They still play arenas. They were still voted into the rock n roll hall of fame.

Axl can trot out whatever lineup he wants, and people will still go see it. Their legacy is as being unpredictable. I don't think it's as fucked up as you think it is.

[phenobarb_bambalam]

Bman lol

[LJF]

Funny I was just in Jamaica and One afternoon I sat down on the beach and listened to the LA Paladium show from 1990. I was thinking about writing in here a thread about reconnecting to JA. Now some of this could be influenced by my kind of having a feeling of reconnecting to some old days, because of my state. But I was really blown away again by this CD, it really brought me back and made me realize how much I truly loved this band.

I think a lot of people on here have a hard time not being clouded by their experiences with the group, mainly Perry I think. I wasn't part of this board or the former board when all of that shit happened. Try to disconnect from that or those experiences and see what you think about those early recordings. To me they easily stand the test of time and really are works of beauty. They are still magical.

Separate the music from what Perry has become and their last two CDs. Give it a try and I think you will find that they were and are still unbelievable CDs.

Somewhere along the way most on here have become cynical towards the group. Maybe rightfully so, but don't let what they or mainly Perry have become ruin what those early CDs stood for for you. As I said I had a great experience reconnecting and did those songs really take me for a ride.

[JOEinPHX]

Of all the amazing things you could have listened to on the beach in Jamaica, and you went with a Jane's Addiction bootleg?