In the Studio is a series by writer Jake Brown that allows readers an inside glimpse into the process of making music. Subjects so far have included producer Rick Rubin, Motorhead, Heart, and Kayne West in books for different publishers. Jane's Addiction have now been given their time in the spotlight by Brown, and while there's interesting information gathered about the instruments and gadgets used to create the songs, it is flawed in its presentation and execution.
Nothing's Shocking, Ritual de lo Habitual, and Strays are the main focus of the book. Their first album, the live Jane's Addiction, is mentioned in passing with the introduction of the band. Brown also covers the first two post-JA groups, bassist Eric Avery and guitarist Dave Navarro's Deconstruction and singer Perry Farrell and drummer Stephen Perkins' Porno for Pyros. Farrell's two solo projects, Song Yet To Be Sung and Satellite Party, are also covered but no other work by the other three. The book is up to date for 2010 as the brief tenure of Duff McKagan as Jane's bassist is covered.
The book is only semi-authorized as Brown appears to have only spoken with producers Dave Jerden and Bob Ezrin and engineer Ronnie S. Champage. Band member's comments about the albums and the work on them are taken from previously published interviews, though only the magazines or websites are listed and not any dates or URLs when and where they occurred. It's interesting to read statements made about music and their careers that years later find the band members contradicting themselves. For example, Perkins says what must have been about 1991 when they first broke up that they didn't "want to depend on any set of songs to get us through our career" yet that's what happened on the recent reunion with Avery as they played the same basic set every night on tour.
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