A Cabinet of Curiosities is a gift from the Jane’s Addiction archives to its fans, which I most certainly am one. Our paths crossed at a perfect time in the late summer of 1988. I was 21 when Nothing’s Shocking was released and what better soundtrack to the seemingly limitless possibilities of life at that age than a band whose music presented limitless possibilities as well, echoing Thoreau’s line “I wanted to live deep and suck out all the marrow of life.”
They confounded expectations on their albums and in concert presenting sounds, subjects, and moods that alternated between dark and dangerous, raucous and rowdy, sweet and tender. They could even be silly such as the time I saw them in 1989 at the John Anson Ford Amphitheatre where two young women dressed in traditional Mexican attire flung tortillas into the crowd while backed by the jazz instrumental “Thank You, Boys.”
The foursome of bassist Eric Avery, singer Perry Farrell, guitarist Dave Navarro, and drummer Stephen Perkins all excelled as individuals yet their union was more than the sum of its parts, creating many magical moments for those that connected to what they were doing. Unlike many bands that ape their idols, Jane’s used them as inspiration. If you stopped and deconstructed what they were doing, the connections to what came before were obvious, but the quartet absorbed previous ideas and created their own art in the moment.
This set presents three CDs and a DVD, the latter of which was not made available for review. Disc 1 offers 17 demos from 1987, four of which have been previously released, sounding raw like the band did on their first album, the live “Jane’s Addiction.” The entire Nothing’s Shocking is on this disc except for “Ted, Just Admit It…” which starts Disc 2, and there are many differences to discover in the arrangements. An acoustic version of “Jane Says” finds Farrell with an effect on his voice. “Pigs in Zen” is missing the speech “about pain and suffering and being cold,” and the guitar sounds different. The drums are louder on “Up The Beach” as Perkins pounds away. “Mountain Song” adds piano while “Idiot’s Rule” is missing Flea’s horn.
Article comments
1 - Josh Hathaway
Nice work here, Bicho. I agree this is not the way to introduce someone to Jane's Addiction, but it's a nice set for those who are already fans. That 3rd disc -- the live show you attended -- is really, really good.
2 - El Bicho
Thanks, Josh. The show was stellar and some of their videos are taken from the same night, or at least that run. There's something special about catching a band at their peak in a small club.
One of the nights, and I don't remember which, at the end of show some woman made it onto the stage and leaped into Dave's arms. He caught her, she wrapped her legs around him, and they made out as he carried her off. It was so rock 'n' roll.