Rhino/Warner Brothers
From here on in, there was a degree of tension in the air that was only exacerbated by Ice-T singing “ Cop Killer” with his metal act Body Count. When headliner Jane’s Addiction took the stage, the combination of full frontal assault and explosive tribalism reignited the crowd’s desire to make the summer home of the Cleveland Orchestra one large mosh pit of frenetic dancing, body slamming and purging of life’s demons. For a band that split shortly after this date, the members held it together quite well musically. Frontman Perry Farrell was more the provocateur than the elder statesman/spiritual guru of today. He fanned the flames of the madness with an ongoing between-song banter blending God and sex; the most incendiary of which dealt with the Supreme Being coming down to the stage to service him. With shoes, bottles and shirts already being tossed around, a glow stick ended up perfectly (?) targeted; a direct hit on Farrell’s cheekbone. He fell down as if shot. Got up wobbly and exited stage left. Show over.
Evidence of this last statement can be found on the demo-filled disc one of Cabinet. Other than enhanced production the material isn’t too dissimilar to the final product heard on the albums. While it may lead you to pause for a second in regards to dropping some dollars on this release, if you embraced the group the first time around and you need a musical release to blast against the cacophony of the 21st century, Jane’s still provides a perfect soundtrack to alienation and frustration. Mainly, I bring it up to point out how well-planned out Farrell, guitarist Dave Navarro, drummer Stephen Perkins and bassist Eric Avery did things during their brief comet-like existence together.
Besides the 20 demos, the three-CD/one-DVD set compiles rarities and live performances and includes 30 unreleased tracks. It concentrates on the band’s early recorded output the peak era from its brief association with Triple X records in 1987 to major label releases, Nothing’s Shocking and Ritual de lo Habitual. A few surprises do pop up among the demos such as Farrell’s ode to his cat, “Maceo,” and “City,” both of which were revisited for the Kettle Whistle release and “Suffer Some,” which eventually came to life on the 2003 reunion (minus Avery) album, Strays.
DVD
