"Strays"
Capitol
2003
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Guitarist Bob Navarro said that the band's success made "this time in the band's career
the most comfortable and enjoyable it has ever been. We have never been happier, freer and more unified."(1)
In criticism, we'd say it shows in the lyrics and the album title. The original album title was going to be "Hypersonic," the only song mentioning politics in the album. When Capitol put it out, the title ended up being named after another song "Strays." Five days after release the album had already reached Amazon sales rank 16. It sounds like "Jane's Addiction" found too much success in love lives. Included in that privilege, stripper-type dancers grope them on stage during the Lollapolooza tour,(2) which still tends to attract the most progressive of the new rock, if there is any breaking through. The music still has some edge to it, true to previous albums from 13 years ago--and that's probably enough recommendation for most people. It's just that the lumpen rebel thing in the album is gone. VHS1.com disagrees with us. According to VHS1, "Just Because" is about doing something good for someone else for no reason at all. For us, it's a rather undeveloped song, though we admit we see VHS1's ideological point. "'Our scope is a lot wider now,' frontman Perry Farrell said. 'We're still on the road, but it's no longer about 'What can I do tonight?' It's more like, 'What can I do with the entire world tomorrow?' " "'I think the celebrations are bigger now,' drummer Stephen Perkins added. 'We're married and have kids. You can take those kinds of great victories into the music, and you don't have to party all night to get there anymore.'"(3) The song "Hypersonic" says Amerikans should not be tied to the Arabs through dependence on oil. They are singing the praise of hydrogen or other alternative renewable energy. "Yeah, I'll uproot you terrorist," "Hypersonic" tells us in simplifying terrorism as derived from oil. While we do not agree with the Jane's Addiction approach to the Mideast peoples, we do appreciate that Jane's Addiction looked at least a little deeper toward the source of energy we use. It's the beginning of thinking about the causes of problems instead of just their symptoms. It's just that this song is not enough to carry Jane's Addiction in our minds. We want more when we hear about claims of serving the "entire world." We will hold out hope for more in the future. At least when Jane's Addiction is on tour with Lollapalooza, Tom Morello takes care of the politics with his "Axis of Justice" tent. If Jane's Addiction has the destiny of being one of the bands that is "there," but without political lyrics, it's still a contribution. That's more or less what the old revolutionary MC5 did too. It's lyrics were not usually that hot, but it was there for progress, in the right place and time.
Note:
"Ritual de lo Habitual"
This band has a strong political flavor from the word go. The Album sleeve contains the First Amendment of the U.S. Bill of Rights guaranteeing "free speech." The next item is a political speech to blood-suckers about their children. "Been Caught Stealing" is about the excitement of lumpen childhood--the joys of shoplifting. The music well conveys a sense of speed, excitement and release when done shoplifting.
There's a little anarchist thing going on here, talk of inter-racial relations, gender equality. The album also has a lot of blunt music and words: "Cut myself, said 'So what?' Motherfuckin' took the pain." The music matches the choppy, blunt words. It's good fast, edgy music. |